LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Saturday 22nd March 2008

In Defence of Faith

That rascal Millenium has been having a bit of an Easter rant, which prompted me to throw my tenpenneth in. There are many of faith and none who wind us all up endlessly. However, I just received a truly moving missive from someone I regard as a real spiritual mentor. Elias (Abuna) Chacour is Archbishop of the Melkite Church in Israel. He is a man who is a refugee in his own country. As a dispossessed Palestinian he took the view that he had a choice, to become a terrorist, to become passive.......or to try to find a middle way. ...

More from Sian Lloyd's memoirs in the Mail on Sunday

Lembit's talk of legal action appears not to have done the trick. The article is here.

Andy Goode, Andy Goode, he's Andy Goode

It was good to see Leicester Tigers outplay Wasps this afternoon. And particularly good, in view of the pundits' pre-match obsession with Lawrence Dallaglio and Danny Cipriani, to see Andy Goode win the man of the match award. Even better - for Leicester and England - Harry Ellis has returned from a long injury break and looks as sharp as he did in last year's Six Nations.

So

12% of freight emissions could be saved by rail and water

In Germany (yes I know I've refered to them a lot) and Austria, you see lorries or the ends of lorries travelling along a railway. You never see that in the UK. It's a great way of transporting goods across the country in an environmentally friendly way. A report has shown how road haullage could be reduced by 22% with greater investment in water and rail transport.

Is it time to "Sex up" the blog

I have had a very weird kind of day. Not one for public consumption, but pals are welcome to call me for the lowdown! So now I am recovering by trying my hand at updating me blog. Many have complained about it, not least the esteemed Paul Walter. So being as I have a night in and am not much of a TV addict I am trying to be clever and add "widgets"......but not quite sure what I am doing...........Duncan...........HELP!!!!I am also considering changing the template. All assistance gratefully received, but be warned if it all goes pearshaped.

Starbucks have to return $100m of tips back to staff

A Californian court are making Starbucks return $100m of tips in which it forced workers to give. Having been to Los Angeles in California when I was 9 I remembered how there was a starbucks to every 500metres. No joke! They were everywhere! About time this nasty corporation got struck at. Even if it does have nice food and drinks.

Doctor Who Season 4 trailer on-line

45 minutes ago the BBC first aired the new Doctor Who trailer, it’s already online via their Doctor Who Site. It seems that U.N.I.T. will be making there appearance in this season (after the name dropping in Reset, and then the raid in Fragments in Torchwood) and for those who haven’t seen the spoilers in the tabloids, both Martha and Rose seem to be making a comeback.

Suspicions pull down Obama's campaign

The issues of race and the Pastor row is thought to be making white voters slip away. It's very worrying the Guardian reports: "The latest poll in Pennsylvania by Public Policy Polling puts Clinton on 56% and Obama on 30%. The same polling organisation showed her having overtaken Obama in North Carolina, which is also still to hold its primary: she has 43% to his 42%." Why do I say it's worrying Obama shows the willingness and strength to stop lobbyist power in Washington. They have huge power of Washington he wants to give to power back to the people. ...

How ten years has changed them

There’s a classic Tony Blair quote that’s been doing the rounds ever since Labour started promoting ID cards: At the Labour party conference in 1995, Tony Blair demanded that instead of wasting hundreds of millions of pounds on compulsory ID cards as the Tory Right demand, let that money provide thousands more police officers on the [...]

Jon Stewart on Barack Obama on Race

Via The Huffington Post: Barack Obama’s full 37 minute speech on race earlier this week is up on Youtube here.

If you want something done, ask a busy man.

I’ve been offered the chance to do a PhD at Manchester and made it through the internal competition for funding. Sadly this does not mean I get funded yet - there’s an internal competition to be put forward into the Research Council’s own competition. That means that I have a vast array of forms to [...]

How online are British MPs

The UK Parliament’s website lists email and website details for all the current MPs. A series of spots checks shows the data to look accurate (though of course there may be one or two errors in there somewhere). So I’ve been counting. And then, of course, I’ve drawn three barcharts. They show in turn, what percentage [...]

West Midlands Safari Park 08 update making good progress

This week Invar Mapping commenced the latest phase of our ongoing survey at the West Midland Safari & Leisure Park. This phase is to undertake the topographical survey of the reserve. The reserve is about 100 acres. So far this last week we have surveyed the carnivore sections (Wolves, White Tigers, African Lions, Cheetahs and [...]

Leeds United leapfrog the Saddlers with a Beckford double

Live on Sky Sports (a 5.20pm, start), Leeds United faced Walsall at Elland Road with just one change to the starting line-up, Alan Sheehan replacing the suspended Andy Hughes. Using the long ball at every opportunity United looked good. In the second minute a long ball from Neil Kilkenny left Jermaine Beckford with only Clayton Ince, the Saddlers goalie, to beat but he shot wide. One minute later another chance for Beckford went wide. Walsall, a good footballing side, were proving hard to break down. A 25 yard shot from David Prutton, after 17 minutes, sailed over the bar. From ...

Congrats to Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone thinks she has become the first MP to use Twitter. She’s not entirely right, Alan Johnson had a go during his Labour deputy leadership campaign, but stopped when he didn’t get in, so that probably doesn’t count. I’ve written about this at length over on Lib Dem Voice, so I’m not going to duplicate it here. In the process of writing the piece, I signed up for Barack Obama’s twitter feed, and I’ve just received an email from the Twitterbot: Hi, Alex Foster. Barack Obama (BarackObama) is now following your updates on Twitter. Check out Barack Obama’s profile ...

Lynne the twitterer

Congratulations to Lynne Featherstone, who has become, she believes, the first British MP to use the Twitter instant messaging system, just slightly less than one year after I first suggested on my blog, and in the forums here (party members only). Those of you unable or unwilling to read the forums will be unaware that the [...]

Teachers ask for 10% pay-rise. World giggles

Teachers are threatening to strike if they don’t get a pay-rise of TEN PER CENT. What the hell planet and / or country are they living on Inflation, either CPI or RPI is only 2.5% or 4.1% respectively. Asking for an annual rise of 10% (I’ll write that one more time, ten per-fucking-cent) is a [...]

The Orange Book-Reclaiming Liberalism - Introduction

I'm going to start reading the Orange Book, which is thought as controversial in being part of the Market Liberal wing. So I'm going to review it, to show what I think of it. Please feel free to disagree with my opinions in the comment box, it will help me to understand it. Today I'm starting with the Introduction by Paul Marshall. Paul Marshall starts with an opening of how, "Liberalism is arguably one of the most successful creeds in political history", agreed. Then seems to praise the economic liberalism and free trade of the 19th Century, well he at ...

Day 2637: Mr God's Busy-Bods and Monsters

Good Friday The GOOD thing about bank holidays is that you get a LIE IN; the BAD thing is when you wake up in time to hear the Cardinal Arch-bigot of Westminster blowing off his Fart for Today. So we woke up to hear Cardinal Carpark Mary-O'Conman opining that whenever he met people who thought religion was a bit RUBBISH these days he was always struck by how FIXED in their opinion they were, compared to the people of FAITH he met who were willing to confess their DOUBTS to him. Not that he admitted to having any doubts himself! ...

Day 2636: Someone trying to make a fast buck in the city

Thursday: Who'd have thunk it!

Good to see the SVR get back on Track

It’s tremendous to see the Severn Valley Railway get back on track. It’s absence has been keenly felt by traders in Bridgnorth. Hopefully the grim weather this weekend will not dampen spirits or visitor numbers. Hopefully this year will be a bumper year for tourists.

Origins of Platt's and Kidderpore...

By nature of the local government boundaries areas that exist, communities that in fact are part of a whole appear to be split in two by nature of one road - so it is with Platt's Lane. Platt's Lane sounds really idylic (and it is) - is one of the most attractive street names around - and yet at the far northern border of the London Borough of Camden - or even on the far south of the London Borough of Barnet is slightly isolated from appreciation. I remember speaking with Peter Cadogan when he blamed a cleric (bishop) of ...

Lunatics finally in complete command of Asylum

The link is to the Daily Telegraph story about children being on the Child Protection Register because their mother smacked one of them. Bonkers.

Tory Councillors say NO to local democracy!

Tory Councillors say NO to local democracy! At a meeting of the High Wycombe Town Committee on March 11th the Tory councillors voted against true local democracy by blocking a review, proposed by Councillor Snaith, to consider the advantages of a town council for High Wycombe. Councillors Green, Lambourne and other Tory councillors had obviously been “whipped” to argue that a town council would cost more. The reality is that the financial numbers that the Tory group came up with are based on “a finger in the air and guess at the cost. The Tory arguments were based on supposition ...

A political waiting for Godot

Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful. Samuel Beckett In a recent post - But actually nobody comes - on his blog, Same as all the others, Simon R discusses the latest book by Clay Shirky - Here comes everybody - and how Shirky's ideas translate to the world of parliamentary politics. For those not familiar with Shirky, here is a brief explanation. He believes that people can organize without being in organizations. These ideas have been around for a while, ask any anarchist or even some liberals, but they have grown in popularity since the 1960s. Steven Johnson ...

I've joined the Twittering classes

Just started using Twitter - after all, if it's good enough for Mayor candidate Brian Paddick, it should be good enough for me too! If you've never heard of it before - Twitter is a free service that is sort of a cross between mini-blog updates and Facebook style status messages. You can sign up to follow anyone you want and then get their updates direct to your mobile phone - free. You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lfeatherstone and Brian is at http://twitter.com/brianpaddick PS I couldn't see any other MP using Twitter, so I think I might be ...

How much of Italy do the Mafia run

A while ago their was this big thing about Naple, Rubbish and the Mafia. Residents closed of landfills that were polluting and making them ill, rubbish filled the streets and the mafia were accused of running the landfills and dumping bodies and stuff there. The latest thing the mafia have done is polluting animal grazing land, which polluted milk and therefor Mozzerrella Cheese!(arrgghhh! - I like mozzerrella) The Mafia seem to be running half of Italy. The Italian Government is one of the most corrupt countries is western Europe. I don't understand it very much. So how much does the ...

Gordon to build nuclear reactors with France

Plans are expected to be announced when Nicolas Sarkozy visits Britain next week, for Britain to join France in building nuclear reactors. France leds to way on Nuclear Power with 79% of it's power coming from it. We know this isn't the answer to our problems with power. Nuclear is expensive and dangerous. We must research and develop in renewable energy. Yes people may complain about that, but their benefits outweigh, unlike Nuclear. Look at Finland and their nuclear program and their problems. Germany is leading the way on renewable energy at the same time as shutting down their Nuclear ...

Will Labour allow a free vote on embryo bill

The Easter weekend row over Labours refusal to say if they will let their MPs have a free vote on legislation which allows the creation of hybrid human-animal embryos for research rumbles on. The BBC website today reports speculation that at least one Catholic cabinet minister, Paul Murphy, would quit rather than support the bill; [...]

Is it time to go to the barricades on the BBC

It seems that there is no definition when it comes to balance and the Lib Dems hardly come into the equation. I noted that the producer of AQ when challenged about the two right wing people on last week’s show (Tory MP and Matthew D’Ancona) said on Feedback`that’s alright - we’ll have two Labour people on another time [...]

Now the US recognises Somali terrorists-will they care about Somalia

An Islamist group called al-Shabab, which literally means "the lads" in Somali, has been added to the United States' list of "foreign terrorist organisations". In the cold war you could be a fascist dictator, but if you went on about your hate for communists and that communists were a threat in your country, the USA would support you. They supported a dictator in the Congo (his fall in the 90s has meant civil war and over 5million dead), in South African the apartheid government said the ANC (Nelson Mandela's party) was full of Communists. Today it's terrorists that catch their ...

Double dose of media on Sunday

{Appearing on Radio 4's The Westminster Hour with Carolyn Quinn} Morning and evening, I'm in the media tomorrow. In the morning it's the newspaper review on Sky for Sunday Live, from 10am. Then in the evening, I'm back on The Westminster Hour: Radio 4, 10pm. If you miss the show you'll be able to listen again on their website. If you want to get advanced notice of my media appearances like this one, you can use the media events service at Flock Together. You've got three choices: Using this feed: or By email: register at FlockTogether and pick Media ...

Sides of the Argument

An interesting interview from John Harris with Nick Clegg in today's Guardian. I say interesting, but only because Nick's answers are genuinely illuminating and honest compared to the kind of soundbite he tries to offer on TV. But, as usual, the interview suffers from some silly assumptions from the interviewer. I don't think I can sum it up any better than Harris's final comment: a new kind of

Zimbabwean Police jailed for supporting MDC

A police chief was allowed say he wouldn't allow "puppets" to take control over Zimbabwe, clearly referring to the MDC (Movement of Democratic Change-led by Morgan Tsvangirai). But under the Police Act, which forbids Police Officers to take part in politics, five police officers have been arrested for taking part in the MDC. One of them was arrested simply for showing an MDC sign of an open hand.

My school goes up in flames

Last night, David, Richard and I went down to the Marquis of Granby, a pub a few minutes walk from Streetgate, the next village down from Sunniside where our house is. After dinner, we left the pub and at that point, noticed smoke billowing from a site somewhere in Whickham. Given that it was dark, windy and we were having to look at the fire from a considerable distance and across the expanse of

The Liberal Democrats glimpse their narrative

Since the 2005 general election, there have been bursts of debate within the Liberal Democrats about the partys need for a narrative, to provide a clearer political identity. Liberal Democrats havent had a narrative of their own for years because our leaders havent provided us with one. (Suggestion: if you belong to a political organisation and your leader cant tell your story, then get yourself another leader). There are signs that this is changing. Yes, really. Nick Cleggs speech to the Liberal Democrats spring conference in Liverpool a couple of weeks ago told a story. No surprises who the villains ...

You've got to Hand it to him........the Tories in Turmoil

On Tuesday evening I was sat in Portcullis having a quick cuppa with Bedford MP Patrick Hall to lobby him on behalf of a local charity, when I received a phone call from Toryboy Cllr Peter Hand to ask if I had seen the Beds on Sunday website. I hadn't, but he informed me that he had decided to stand against his group leader on the County Council, Madeline Russell, which was now big news in Bedford! I had no sooner put the phone down than it rang again. This time it was my other Toryboy, Cllr Andrew McConnell - ...

Police to give Cameron cycle safety advice

Boris Johnson yesterday said there should be "zero tolerance" of cyclists who break the rules of the road. When asked about his own boss' cycling mishaps, he blustered, saying: "Show me the evidence !". Obviously, Boris doesn't bother to read the press before he ventures out in the morning. The Mirror reports today: Bike menace David Cameron faces a humiliating lecture from police safety bosses

Independent: Only the LibDems were right on Iraq

Andrew Grice in today's Independent: On Tuesday, the Conservative Party will propose an inquiry into the conflict to ensure all lessons are learnt. It, too, is trying to rewrite history. Without its support, Mr Blair would have lost the crucial Commons vote and Britain would not have gone to war. The only party that doesn't want to rewind the tape is the Liberal Democrats, whose opposition to

Benvie Road Steps

Last year, the Benvie Road steps (to Lochee Road) were cleaned up, following my raising residents' concerns about their condition (and at that time, a load of paint that had been covering part of the steps area). You can read the original article by clicking the headline above. I have recently received further residents' complaints about the steps here and I raised the matter with the City Council. The City Engineer has now responded positively as follows: The steps at Benvie Road were again checked by the area inspector who did not find them to be slippy at the time ...

Affordable housing

I was pleased to see the Scottish Liberal Democrat Housing spokesperson, Jim Tolson MSP, this week raising in the Scottish Parliament the affordable housing shortage. Jim said, The Liberal Democrats see housing as a basic human right and believe that it is incumbent on the Scottish Government to build environmentally sustainable homes, which produce cleaner and safer communities. The SNPs Budget includes a six per cent real terms cut to spending on affordable housing in the first year. Additional spending on affordable housing supply is, at best, less than 20 per cent of what is needed. We are extremely concerned ...

I'm pleased it's been said, but for teachers it's been obvious for years

So someone has finally put their head above the parapet and stated that parents who indulge or spoil their children are more likely to turn their kids in to unruly trouble makers at school. It's not rocket science, but it is so obvious to anyone who has been in a classroom. I have taught many children in my years of teaching who know that they can manipulate their parents and get frustrated and disruptive when their first encounter me or another teacher and find that they must take responsibility for their actions. In most cases teachers have been able to ...

Needham Market FC - the path to glory

Today is a huge day for my town. Needham Market football club have reached the semi finals of the FA Vase and are playing the away leg in Lancashire against Kirkham and Wesham this afternoon. For a town with a population of under 5000, it's a great achievement and a real credit to the people who have run the club over the years. The President, Derrick Bloomfield, has been involved with the club for 64 years, and is someone I got to know when I was a councillor and the club were trying to move to their current ground. It's ...

Stating the bleeding obvious .

Research for the National Union of Teachers (NUT) has found that a youngster trained at home to get his or her own way by throwing a tantrum will have an impact in the classroom. No kidding Sherlock! Talk about stating the bleeding obvious! Im no trick cyclist, Cambridge graduate or researcher for the National Union of Teachers (NUT) but I could have told them that for nothing. Where have our teachers and academics been the past 20 years If they are only just coming to terms with the fact that some parents just cant say "no" when their children demands ...

The Three Torchwood Tease

OK BBC Three moved their first look of Torchwood from Wednesday to Friday for last night's penultimate episod of series two Fragments. Goody I thought we get two this week and then finish off next week. Then and this is not giving too much away for those who have yet to see it on BBC2, as its in the teaser at the end of the previous episode aired on 2 last night, loaded all the cast into a

Council crack down on junk gardens

{Echo 2008-03-20} In Thursday Echo we had the front page How does your garden grow. The article is about the Environment Protection Team taking four households to court over the state of their back gardens. All of them had been asked several times to sort them out, and finally the magistrates fined them over £150 each. Hopefully other households in Lincoln will realise that the mess in your backgarden affects your neighbours and that the council have a right and a duty to sort it out.

Politicalbetting.com: Watch Paddick

Top punter Mike Smithson is tipping readers of his politicalbetting.com site to watch Brian Paddick in the London mayoral election. With the collapse of support for Ken Livingstone, he now thinks Brian is the only man who can save London from a Boris Johnson mayoralty. You can read Mike’s comments here. The Nick Cohen comments [...]

The Winchester Passion - report

The Passion happened last night (Good Friday) and brought thousands of people onto the streets of Winchester to see this dramatic re-telling of the Easter story. Apart from a sudden downpour during the early stages at Oram's Arbour, the weather was cold but dry. We visited all three main locations but spent most of the time in front of the cathedral where we were able to watch the action

A question to all you teachers out there

I have just been sent a copy of the latest BNP leaflet, still waiting for my copy to be dropped through the door. In the leaflet, it attacks current school policy as well as the Tory's proposed policy. The last paragraph really takes the biscuit. It starts by saying that many teachers have left the profession, then goes on to say that those teachers who remain are either: a) demoralised b)

Old school

Today's Guardian letters' page contains some interesting ripostes to John Harris' article alleging that Cameron's Tories were appropriating the anti-Thatcher music of the 1980s for themselves, which I blogged about here. Martin Daulby of New Mills, Derbyshire points out that Paul Weller sent his kids to private school, made pro-Tory noises in the early days of the Jam, both in interviews and lyrically - "Whatever happened to the great empire" etc - and, rather than going underground, actually resides in swish St John's Wood. It is left to Darren John Maughan of Bromley, Kent though to point out the ultimate ...

Election Results: Thursday 20th March 2008.

Arun DC, Yapton Results not yet fully available. (Apparently they are pinned up outside the Council Offices if anyone wants to read them. They will not be on their web site until Tuesday 25th March). Conservative 620, Labour 212, BNP 205 Havering LBC, Gooshays BNP 865 (38.0; +9.8), Lab 741 (32.5; +6.6), Con 489 (21.5; -5.5), UKIP 70 (3.1; -7.6), National Liberal Party 62 (2.7; +2.7), LD Ian

Human/Animal Embryos

So the controversy about the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill rages on, and the head of the Catholic Church has launched a scathing attack on the idea of producing hybrid human/animal embryos. I'm afraid I must admit that I agree with Cardinal O'Brien overall. You might say that this is unsurprising, since I am a Catholic. However, regular readers will know that I don't believe that Church doctrine, or the doctrine of any religion, should be unthinkingly transposed into law unless it complies with a liberal principle, most importantly the harm principle. My objection to the Bill is as follows: ...

Should we be worried .....

The Department of Health has approved plans which will allow doctors at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, to administer untested cancer drugs to terminally ill patients You may very well think we should, I couldn't possibly comment.

Saturday 22nd March 2008

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