I want this book - and I think you do too
Admit it, you do really want this book don't you Shame about the price though - and that's despite it being a mere paperback. Friday 28th March 2008
10:42 pm
Admit it, you do really want this book don't you Shame about the price though - and that's despite it being a mere paperback. 
10:22 pm
Fascinating things to do on a train
I am currently on the train heading home though it was very nearly a minor miracle that I caught the train. My tube got stuck for ages at Oxford Circus, then at Warren St, and then between Euston and KX. But fortunately I caught the train with a minute or two to spare. I am currently watching one of those David Attenborough programmes about life in very odd places - this one is about life in 10:22 pm
Who is protecting our health workers
I have not had much time to refer to the current controversy over the protection of Welsh health workers until now. However, having reviewed all the reports and taken in the snippets of interviews I caught on Radio Wales, I have to say that I agree with Alun Michael, Baroness Ilora Finlay and a number of other commentators. It cannot be right that NHS workers in Wales have any less protection than those in England. Health Minister, Edwina Hart, may well be correct when she says that the important thing is to have practical and effective measures in place to ... 9:41 pm
We, who are about to fly, salute you...
Never let it be said that the life of a faceless bureaucrat revolves entirely around bits of paper. There is, I confess, quite a lot of paper involved but Ros is still working through the process of weaning me off of the stuff. As part of that process, and because she has a wonderful sense of humour, I was driven to Milton Keynes today to try body flying, otherwise known as indoor skydiving. 9:19 pm
Read All About It: Another Boring Post By 'Stupid' 'Idiot'
How depressingly sigh-worthy. Friday night it is, and surely one would expect the young Julian H to be out a-dancing, a-drinking and a-frolicking with the lovely young women of London. Yes Of course!, they cry. So what a shame that, like the marvellous Alex Wilcock (who, admittedly, I have only met once but boy, was he marvellous for all of those five to ten minutes) I am provoked into reacting to a boring blog attack from Norfolk Blogger Nich Starling. He has labelled me stupid, and filed his post about myself under the term idiots. One finds this strange behaviour ... 
9:08 pm
Are you a better cyclist than David Cameron
Find out here. And don't kill the dog! 8:49 pm
Carla Bruni trivia
Thanks to On An Overgrown Path I can reveal: French first lady Carla Bruni has some interesting classical music connections. Her mother Marisa Borini is an actress and classical pianist who is reported to have had an affair with Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli.Depending on your sources Bruni's biological father is Maurizio Remmert, an Italian businessman who now lives in Brazil Marisa or Marisa Borini's husband, the contemporary composer Alberto Bruni Tedeschi ...Tedeschi's distinctions included writing four operas and having one of them filmed with a cast including Charles Aznavour, his own daughter Valeria Bruni and Isabel von Karajan, the daughter of ... 8:41 pm
A Modern Fable
The river is in full flood. The small island will certainly disappear under the water. The Antelope turns to the Scorpion and says, 'I could swim, but the water is fast and I will find it difficult to see the bank. I could be swept away.' The Scorpion, by now increasingly scared of the rising waves speaks up, 'Well I could stand upon your head and act as your eyes while you concentrate upon swimming.' 'No,' the Antelope says, 'You will only sting me.' 'But that would be foolish. For if I were to sting you, you would drown and ... 8:39 pm
House Points: William Hague and Iraq
My House Points column from today's Liberal Democrat News. Turning Tories There should be a public inquiry, of course. Not an inquiry into the Iraq war, but an inquiry into William Hague. It could look at the effects of allowing children to take an interest in politics at too early an age and also at the effects of teenage binge drinking -- they can be almost as damaging. But what it should really look at is Hagues conduct over Iraq. When war was declared in 2003 he was all Churchillian cadences. Like almost all his fellow Conservatives, he was determined ... 8:33 pm
John Stuart Mill: Victorian firebrand
Tessa Mayes reviews Richard Reeves's book of this title in the Spiked Review of Books. I wrote an article on Mill in a recent issue of Liberator. 7:43 pm
All of a Twitter
I have been on Twitter for about a month now. It works very simply. You sign up, find people to follow and follow them. You can post brief messages via Twitter. If someone is following you they will see the message when they log on via the web or they can sign-up for a text messaging service. During the last four weeks, Mick Fealty 'twittered' about the Budget, Lynne Featherstone became the first MP to Twitter (according to one blogger but if there is an MP who beat her to it apologises to them) and No 10 Downing Street signed ... 7:22 pm
Weekend Can You Spot the Real Thing Competition
Hat tip to Dundee's finest Cllr Fraser Macpherson for setting me off on this treasure trove. First off Spot Kenny MacAskill and Alex Salmond below. Now spot the people trusted the other day with transporting young offenders from court to custody. What do you mean you don't see a Reliance Van above I'm sure Nicol Stephen is sure that Alex and Kenny know the difference. 7:08 pm
Hampstead Old Town Hall war memorial
In the genre of plaques I thought we could branch out into war memorials - this one in Hampstead Old Town Hall is especially impressive. It's to the 32 members of staff of Hampstead Borough Council who dies in the First World War. The Coats of arms is listed in full detail here: I'm a 'friend' of Hampstead Town Hall and have a real affection for it. Thomas Stearns Elliott was married to Vivien Haigh-Wood there there is also another war memorial for the Boer War, it has great architectural plans on display in the reception area (side ... 6:19 pm
A look back at the polls: March
We tend not to be too poll-obsessed here at LDV - of course we look at them, as do all other politico-geeks, but viewed in isolation no one poll will tell you very much beyond what you want to read into it. Looked at over a reasonable time-span and, if there are enough polls, you [...] 5:59 pm
The Liberal Duck
In my last post, I discussed how to spot a liberal duck. This got me thinking about what a liberal duck might do. Well a career in parliament would be no bad thing. So let us assume that our liberal duck, Ms Quack, has been elected to the Commons. The last blog was an attempt to broadly establish what liberalism is, the next thing to do is try and discover how it works in practice. Banning smoking in public is a good test for Ms Quack, MP. Liberals don't like banning things. They prefer to let people make decisions. Ms ... 5:58 pm
First GLA Hustings of the campaign
On Wednesday, I attended my first GLA hustings as the Lib Dem candidate for London North East, organised by City & Islington Sixth Form College. It was chaired by Daniel, a sixth form politics student, who, given it was the first time he had ever chaired a hustings, did very well. The college is based in a very modern and fairly new building on Goswell Road, near the Angel, Islington, and it's where my two daughters took their A Levels. In attendance was the Labour GLA member for the area- who the majority, had never heard of; the Green candidate; ... 5:56 pm
Farewell to Tim Scott
Four years ago Tim Scott arrived in Stone as the Administrator of the Stone Market Town Initative charged with the responsibility of overseeing the distribution of half a million pounds worth of funding designed to regenerate Stone and the surrounding villages. Tim hails from over the River Dove but immediately adopted Stone and soon became a fervant advocate of the town. His job has been far from easy and he has had to endure quite a lot of criticism. But he has always dealt with everyone with great patience and politeness and has carried out his job with enormous efficiency and diplomacy. ... 5:38 pm
500 Police raid North London Street
Yesterday, on Blackstock Road in Islington, North London, we saw one of the biggest Police operations tackling organised crime on the streets of London. Just up the road from where I live, over 500 Police officers in riot gear, raided houses in what was code-named 'Operation Mista', in a 'clean sweep' of the streets which borders Hackney & Haringey. We've been aware that for the last year the Police have conducted surveillance in the area, and yesterday, when the operation was in full swing, local councillors received an e-mail from the Police informing us of the action taken and the ... 5:36 pm
Sack the idiot who thought that letting terrorists out of prison early was a good idea
The early release scheme, whereby the government lets prisoners out of prison early in order to free up more places for prisoners (who will themselves presumably be let out early), is supposed to let people out who do not pose a major risk to society. So presumably, according to Labour, people convicted of terrorist offences do not pose a risk to society You would expect the government will now end calls for keeping suspect in prison for longer as it is utter hypocrisy to want to lock up terrorist suspects for longer but will then let out convicted terrorists early. ... 5:35 pm
This week's FMQs
Again, it was Nicol Stephen who made all the running at First Minister's Questions yesterday - this time pointing out the SNPs hypocrisy on their policy for the prison transport system. This week, the SNP Government privatised the prison transport service for young people for the first time. It gave a major new contract to Reliance. Does the First Minister think that Reliance is the right organisation to carry out that public service I wonder why the First Minister does not listen to his Cabinet members on the issue. Look at what they said when they were in Opposition. "Nicola ... 5:33 pm
New Travelcards - not just for buses!
The new National Travelcard is proving very popular - around 44,000 South Gloucestershire residents have already applied for their new cards, which will give them their free travel on local and national bus services. That's over 5,000 more than last year. The new cards will replace the existing Diamond Travelcard from next Monday (March 31st). Any resident aged 60 or over and most people who are registered disabled can apply for the new passes. Our local scheme is even better than the government version. Within the Greater Bristol area - Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol City, North Somerset and ... 4:52 pm
Almost 150 sign Save Our Hillside on line petition
The on line petition has now reached 143 with 99 formal objections also being registered. I will close the Petition at 4pm on Monday 31st March. The Petition will be forwarded to Bath & North East Somerset Council so if you have not signed the petition and would like to do so then please follow the link save our Hillside and also register your comments before Monday. 3:58 pm
Lights off it's Earth Hour this weekend....
Invicta fm are organising an Earth Hour this weekend, encouraging everyone across Kent to turn off our lights for one hour between 8-9pm tomorrow, Saturday 29th March. More info about the idea at: www.invicatfm.co.uk/ www.earthhour.org/ 3:53 pm
Secondary Schools Council Debate: Lib Dem Reaction
Bath and North East Somerset Council met last night to discuss issues relating to the forthcoming review of secondary school provision. The Cabinet will have to make a decision on schools in May, and last night's meeting was a chance for issues to be aired and discussed in public by parents, school governors and Councillors. However, as was made clear at the start of the meeting, no decision was... 3:32 pm
The Danny Alexander Interview
It was a cosy and intimate affair in the Leaders office for our interview with our Work & Pensions spokesperson and Nick Clegg's chief of staff, Danny Alexander earlier on this week. Chocolate Easter Eggs in lieu of the traditional doughnuts were handed out and the Millennium Elephant took his position on the coffee table (separating me from the chocolate but then that is probably a good thing!!). Now, whilst the notes I made on the answers to everybody else's questions are copious, my notes on Danny's responses to my own questions are a little threadbare. I am a very ... 3:20 pm
Paul Walter on Nicks first 100 days
At the tail end of the leadership campaign, I wrote for Lib Dem Voice about what our new leader should do during his first 100 days. That boiled down to a media blitz hitting the ground running, etc, etc. Never mind shadow cabinet appointments or internal party anorakking, the new leader had to be [...] 2:36 pm
Are you registered to vote
I've received my polling card for the London elections on May 1st. If you haven't had yours yet then either it is in the post (give it a day or two) or you're not registered to vote. So what should you do if you'd like to vote but don't appear to be registered - or you suspect that your polling card may have gone astray Go to this page on Kingston Council... 2:33 pm
Like a new character in a soap opera
Listening to an old episode of Armando Iannucci’s Charm Offensive while trying to work out what is wrong with my Matlab script and liked Dave Gorman’s description of Cameron: “He is sort of like a new character in a soap opera, and they have signed him up for five years but the writers haven’t quite worked out what his mojo is yet and they keep having to try and reposition him daily until they find the one the audience likes” 2:12 pm
Ye Olde Style Polle
Wiche hande dostow employe Sinistre or dextre Spurred by this post from Pink Dog and the subsequent comment about the proportion of left-handed people in the population at large (11%), and the possible over-representation of left-handers in the Lib Dem support base, I decided to run a poll. Unfortunately, Wordpress blogs, or the idiot-proof ready-hosted ones I use, [...] 2:04 pm
Meanwhile in eve-of-poll Zimbabwe
With the elections in Zimbabwe on March 29th, the website of Socwanele, the Zimbabwe Social Action Support Group, gives sombre latest information. Particularly striking is the google map of election violations that include: Voter registration problems Food supply (cutting off opposition areas) Unlawful detention Vote buying Political violence. Political cleansing Murder Looting This political cleansing story as an example, from Umguza district near Bulawayo: two little sisters are in primary school. They're only 11 and 13. But outside school they were confronted by a gang of men armed with axes and clubs. The men told them that they would be ... 1:54 pm
To vote or not to vote
Its that time again of a long series of doubts, questions and lack of information. No, Im not talking about the elections in Cardiff!! Im referring to the Italian elections being held on the 13th of April. Voting by post, I only have time until the 7th apparently. I havent thought much about it, I havent checked the political parties websites and know very little about the candidates. It 1:53 pm
Lib Con
CentreForum today published 'Lib Con: can the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats co-operate'.One of the authors, Mark Bell, has also written a summary for the Guardian's Comment is Free website ('Power of the Lib Dems'). You can read the whole report on the CentreForum website.Peter Riddell also refers to the report in his article exploring the recent surge of interest around changing the voting system ('Preferential votes give Tories cause to consider poll reform')Lib Con follows a previous CentreForum publication 'Lib Lab' published last autumn which is also available from the CentreForum site. 1:50 pm
100 days into Nick Clegg's leadership
Over on Liberal Democrat Voice, I've posted an item on Nick Clegg's first 100 days as party leader. 1:43 pm
The most stupid of gaffes - Giving the Green Party free publicity and credibility
Fifteen years ago I attended a Lib Dem campaign training day in North Norfolk where Chris (now Lord) Rennard taught us how to campaign like professionals, not amateurs. it was an enlightening day and was one of the great spurs that eventually drove us on to victory in North Norfolk some eight years later. At the end of the day Chris did a question and answer session about anything and everything to do with his political history. When asked about campaign gaffes he has seen in the past, he told us of an SDP candidate who, so sure if his ... 1:41 pm
Election Results: Thursday 27th March 2008
Abbots Langley PC, Leavesden LD Stephen Giles-Medhurst 865 (91.6), Lab 79 (8.4). Majority 786. Turnout 24%. LD hold. Hertfordshire CC, Bedwell Lab 1452 (56.5; +1.0), Con 625 (24.3; -0.6), LD Len Lambert 329 (12.8; -6.8), UKIP 165 (6.4; +6.4). Majority 827. Turnout 29%. Lab hold. (Percentage change since May 2005). Rothwell TC, Trinity Con 487 (49.1), Lab 337 (34.0), LD Daniel Garside 167 (16.9 
1:40 pm
Graham's blog entry 28 March 2008
While most MEPs returned to Brussels on Tuesday after a short Easter break I set out for Kosovo with three of my colleagues to meet government and opposition representatives there and to be briefed by UNMIK and KFOR on the security situation. It was my first visit to Pristina and I was fortunate enough to have among my companions Slovenian LibDem MEP Jelko Kacin, a former defence minister who knows the whole of ex-Yugoslavia. We met the President and the Prime Minister and leaders of the political parties and came away convinced that the overwhelming majority of Kosovo's Serbs and ... 1:36 pm
Lib Dems respond to report of Maladministration at Forest Heath
Press Release: Embargo Immediate, Friday 28th March 2007 Lib Dems respond to report of Maladministration at Forest Heath Ian Radford, Lib Dem Group leader on Forest Heath has responded to the verdict by the Local Government Ombudsman of maladministration by the Council. Cllr Ian Radford (Lib Dem) said We have received and read the Report issued by the Local Government Ombudsman into a planning decision taken by Forest Heath District Council in 2006. This report is clear in its finding of maladministration. Cllr Radford continued It has sadly confirmed our opinion of the lack of control and professionalism shown by ... 1:22 pm
Tommy The Trot's Tribulations (Part 967)
According to an "exclusive" in this morning's Daily Record it would seem that the "Flying Squad" are targeting Tommy Sheridan. I just hope this story is a bit more reliable than their load of cobblers about mince which was published earlier this week. It would appear they took DNA samples when they searched his house last December and they are now off to Denmark to interview Katrine Trolle, a Danish former SSP member who claimed to have had sex with Sheridan in his marital bed. She claimed to have had sex with him on a number of occasions during the ... 12:55 pm
The value of polling stations
Having spent yesterday in Stevenage, working a District and a County by election, I have to ask the value of polling stations, and especially the number we have in each ward. Stevenage Borough Council, in its last review of polling districts, had recommended 3 polling stations per ward. In practice, therefore, we had situations where there were two polling stations within a few... 12:48 pm
Green-Gate; a Clarification
To satisfy one's paranoia I would like to clarify that the posts below by the Green Party are entirely their own views and not my own. No collaboration over the text occurred - indeed I published both the letter and the article entirely unedited. The article was (and still is) intended to be the first of a short series in which Greens, Tories and pro-Ken Labourites can argue why us Lib Dems should give second preferences to their candidates. My own views on rival candidates to Brian Paddick and options for second preferences will be voiced in due course. For ... 12:38 pm
12:28 pm
Forgotten Chernobyl I haven't
It is as if the entire Government has forgotten the Chernobyl disaster - because it is too inconvenient to tell the public to contemplate a reduction in "living standards". Well, here is a reminder. From The Guardian: "When a routine test went catastrophically wrong, a chain reaction went out of control in No 4 reactor of Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine, creating a fireball that blew off the reactor's 1,000-tonne steel-and-concrete lid. Burning graphite and hot reactor-core material ejected by the explosions started numerous other fires, including some on the combustible tar roof of the adjacent reactor unit. There ... 12:24 pm
Further to this weeks PMQs on housing repossessions
…it appears from this report in the FT that the Prime Minister didn’t so much provide correct figures in answer to Nick Clegg’s questions as, er, provide made-up ones: Mr Clegg said house prices were falling faster than at the start of the last property crash. He quoted Ministry of Justice figures showing that more than 95,000 orders to repossess [...] 12:20 pm
The Byron Reports Analysis
The Byron Report, on children and the internet has come up with this piece of Venn diagram pseudo-analysis that looks like it’s come straight out the mind of Chris Morris, the genius behind Brass Eye and The Day Today: It would seem that we now live in a truly post-satire age. The front page also [...] 12:19 pm
Blackness Road/Glamis Road
I have for some time had complaints about the condition of the roadway and roundabout at the junction of Blackness Road and Glamis Road. The roadway and kerbing is in poor shape and the roundabout drab. I have raised this with the City Council and have received the following feedback : "Blackness Road/Glamis Road junction is included in the carriageway resurfacing programme for 2008/09. Work is scheduled to begin in April 2008 and will last approximately two weeks. Included in these works is the lifting and re-laying of the kerbing on the roundabout and around the south east corner of ... 11:51 am
Labour again!
Welsh Labour leader, Rhodri Morgan, trundled down the M4 to the Liberty Stadium in Swansea yesterday to launch his party's local election campaign. Presumably, Labour chose the Liberty Stadium because they want to be associated with successful football and rugby teams. It will not do them much good. As Plaid Cymru's Helen Mary Jones said: "Even for the Labour Party this campaign has come up with a surprising lack of new ideas; voters can only expect more of the same from this party which has obviously run out of steam as anyone who has a Labour council is aware. It ... 11:42 am
Reforming schools
On Tuesday Michael Gove delivered a speech at a CentreForum meeting called "Making opportunity more equal: closing the achievement gap in our schools" The full text is available from the CentreForum website.It picked up a fair amount of press interest including the BBC ("Tories attack 'opportunity block'), The Mail ('Failing schools to be taken out of council control, Tories pledge') and The Telegraph ("Tories to end town hall grip on failing schools") which also made it the subject of one of its leaders ("Michael Gove's idea to free our failing schools")Gove's analysis of the growing gap between the advantaged and ... 11:23 am
Proud to nominate Mary DAlbert for St Marys
I was proud last night to join many other local residents in signing the nomination papers for Mary DAlbert to be the Liberal Democrat candidate for St Marys ward in the local elections on May 1st. Marys long-standing record of hard work and local activism is to be admired, as is her sommittment to the local party and its efforts to make Prestwich and Bury better for local people. I have no doubt that she will be a very capable Councillor working continually for the people of the ward. Mary has lived in Prestwich for decades, and is not ... 11:18 am
W960 + Picodrive + mobiPad + Wiimote = Fun!
I’ve just managed to test mobiPad with a W960. The software allows button presses on the Wiimote to be sent to the phone via Bluetooth. Having it run in the background with Picodrive allows me to play Micro Machines. The quality of the emulator is brilliant and the response time from the wiimote is fast. Just need to look at some of the other emu’s now. 11:15 am
Turns out Hillary wasnt lying
Newly unearthed footage shows that Hillary Clinton wasn’t lying when she claimed she landed in Bosnia in 1996 under sniper fire: 11:08 am
Panic! Panic! Hold on, is the economy really in a worse state than 1982
The Telegraph has breathlessly flourished a new poll showing that the “feelgood factor” is worse than at any point since records began. In, er, 1981. What this suggests is that the general public genuinely believes the current slowdown in the economy (note, not even a recession, just a reduction in growth) is a worst economic situation compared to the dole queues of the early 80s and the negative equity of the early 90s. Now, I have my criticisms about the government and things could indeed get much, much worse than they are now. But I would humbly suggest that this ... 11:00 am
"Vive le Royaume-Uni! Vive la France!"
We've experienced a rather odd phenomenon over the last couple of days. In Nicholas Sarkosy we seem to have a President of France who is more popular in Britain than he is in his own country. For a liberal there is a lot about Sarkosy that should worry us. For me the deal on nuclear energy this week is particularly worrying. But there is also a lot to like. I was really pleased to see him 10:54 am
Kiwi Fruits
In addition to my weekly dollop of political blog I have written a piece about free speech and censorship in New Zealand. The South-Sea Poms are grappling with a slide into small-nation paternalism. In the UK we should be vigilant about succumbing to these same follies. 10:51 am
Terrible news for Londoners !
The terrible news for Londoners is that Damian Hockney will not be running as a candidate in the Mayoral elections. "Who is Damian Hockney" did I hear you say Well he is well known amongst a certain group of people who watch politics closely, although if you lived outside of London, or indeed outside of Mr Hockney's family, you might easily be forgiven for seeing him as something of an irrelevance. Mr Hockney stood in the last Greater London Assembly elections as a UKIP candidate and on the back of a big surge for UKIP got himself elected to the ... 10:50 am
So much to do
It has been rather busy again- so blogging has been exceptionally poor. I have been sorting out a house move and a probable job move at the same time, and since this involves two countries and I also have plenty of other work to complete, it has proven very tricky to blog in any organised way. I hope normal service can be resumed shortly. 10:28 am
Terminal 5: At last an Irishman called Willie speaks !
All the media have searched in vain for a BAA or BA manager to explain the Terminal 5 cock-up. Willie Walsh of BA was all over the media, like a rash, when the Queen opened the place and admired the absence of queues. But now: Not a manager to be found to talk to the waiting world. GMTV have been hanging on the BA Helpline since midnight last night, listening to their hold music and recorded " 10:23 am
In praise of Lewis
Click here 9:55 am
Are we making the most of blogging
My recent blog posting about Twitter (it’s a text message blogging service, which I’ve just started using) was unusual -in that in triggered off a sequence of other blogs posts, both on Liberal Democrat sites (e.g. on this site and on Alex Foster’s blog) and also on others (e.g. Puffbox). I say unusual - because it’s rare to see a story [...] 9:52 am
on faceless bureaucrats
According to Nick's recent email we are "leading the fight against the faceless government bureaucracies that let us all down" According to civilservant.org 5.8 million people (out of 29 million) work in the public sector and around 540,000 are directly employed in the civil service (verified by the Office of National Statistics Table 4). Now depending on what definition of bureaucrat Nick meant he could be saying to 540,000 people at a minimum that they are faceless and do nothing but let the country down. It would have been more apt to say "lead the fight against those distant government ... 9:29 am
Baggage hell, computer games, end of ashes to ashes...
Sometimes bigger isn't better, as ably demonstrated by the new baggage handling technique at T5 in Heathrow yesterday, which must be rather embarrasssing after watching a programme all about how they'd tested the baggage handling capacity before the terminal opened. Computer glitches are to be blamed, though I'm sure those passengers who have had connections missed, business plans destroyed, holidays ruined and a night on a T5 bench will consider it more than a glitch. Talking of computer glitches, I am delighted that a review of the computer games industry has found that ratings need to be overhauled. First person ... 9:18 am
Allen's West
There's an application in now for outline planning permission for the Allen's West site on Durham Lane. The new owners of the site want to be able to build houses and a care home on part of the site and keep light industry and warehousing on the remaining part. Although they've produced an indication of what they'd like to put where, the only definite thing they're asking for at the moment is 8:44 am
Michael Connarty Won't Walk the Walk on Post Offices
Michael Connarty has been all over the local press in West Lothian and Falkirk recently about his desire to save local Post Offices and the services they provide. Well that week there was a chance for him to suspend the closures he has been so adamaent about over recent months, when a Conservative motion was put before the House of Commons caling for a suspension of closures. Did he walk the 8:34 am
Lords of the Flies
Thursdays in the House of the Lords are usually debating days rather than being used for legislation. Two long debates of around 3 hours take place in the main chamber, whilst a number of short debates happen in the Moses Room, in an off-Broadway kind of way. I had tabled for debate a question on fly-tipping, prompted by a rather good report from the Countryside Alliance. I've disagreed with the C.A. on a number issues in the past, but in this case they produced an excellent piece of work called "Fly tipping - time for action" which contains a lot ... 7:45 am
Your chance to shape Lib Dem policy on the UKs response to Globalisation
Globalisation is changing our world. Liberal Democrats have generally welcomed it as well as putting forward views about how we should seek to influence its development. But it is a fact and it has consequences for own domestic UK economy. A policy working group chaired by Lord (Robin) Teverson is looking at what Britain needs [...] 7:37 am
Labour Still Ignoring Whole Picture
Apparently Gordon Brown is going to carry on the Labour trend of picking out fictions about Local Income Tax rather that looking at the whole picture when he address the Scottish Labour conference in Aviemore this afternoon. Even the press are picking up that Labour are using fictional figures. Nothing new there is was a tactic I first came across in the 2005 Genreal Election, then it really 1:29 am
In Memoriam Shusha Guppy
The Persian writer, singer and composer Shamsi ‘Shusha’ Guppy, who has died of cancer, was a remarkable creature in many ways. The daughter of a Grand Ayatollah in Tehran – and possibly directly descended from the Prophet Mohammed himself — she was urbane, open-minded and often wily. When one of her sons, Darius (one of Boris [...] 1:08 am
Suffolk County Council say 'Yes' to Hill
Out on the campaign trail in Hertfordshire today news reached me that Suffolk County Council have said yes to employ Andrea Hill for £220k! Look out councillors your Chief Exec may be looking for a bigger pay rise this year. I feel for the tax payer who pays these inflated salaries. 12:36 am
Via prolificdiarist, regarding gender roles
A poem (yes, I know) about gender roles:For Every Woman by Nancy R Smith For every woman who is tired of acting weak when she knows she is strong; There is a man who is tired of appearing strong when he feels vulnerable. For every woman who is tired of acting dumb; There is a man who is burdened with the responsibility of knowing everything. For every women who is tired of being called an emotional female; There is a man who is denied the right to weep and be gentle. For every woman who is called unfeminine when she ... 
