LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Thursday 10th April 2008

Who is this man and where is the real Gordon Brown

I was slightly confused as to why Gordon Brown was on American Idol yesterday, but on taking a close look at the actual footage from the show (courtesy of the BBC I-Player) I was not at all convinced it is actually him. Just looking at this picture, it clearly was not Gordon Brown. I have never seen Gordon Brown smiling like this, indeed, nobody in the world smiles like this. But later on, in an effort to genuinely make people believe it was him, they added a caption. But with the caption came an even more jolly look to the ...

Capture the moment

After a day with a bad cold, sore throat and a large amount of reading, writing and phoning on Council issues it was a nice change to get out. Robert Cooper was showing the most wonderful slides set to just the right music. The photographs of Skellig Michael and the hermit huts there, with the celtic music and brief quotes made me really think - and reminds me that politics, whilst an...

An Olympic-standard hoofing for Tessa Jowell

It comes from Marina Hyde and can be found on the back page of this morning's Guardian sports section: "I'm on the record repeatedly being very hard on China on its human rights record," she claimed. "Every time I have been to China I have raised human rights with the relevant ministers."The minister is also on the record - on film, in fact - looking rather awkward as the tracksuited guards muscled in on Gordon Brown's photo opportunity. So she can hardly claim not to have had a clear view of any incident from her position in the dug-out. Yet ...

Less than 30 Never!

I have resisted the temptation to comment on that GQ interview, but since it seems it will not die and continues to crop up somewhere or other every day, I have decided to give in and put in me 10penneth! Fellow conference delegates may recall a speech I made at Spring Conference a couple of years ago, following the last but one leadership election and the media frenzy about Mark Oaten and Simon Hughes' private lives. Amongst other things I berated the media for "caring more about what men do with their willies than what they do with their weapons ...

Local Election Tour or Self Promotion Tour

Whilst I have no hesitation in acknowledging and applauding the sterling work being done by Ros Scott as she visits councillors up and down the country in the run up to the local elections. I do have some serious reservations about whether I actually believe that this is the totally selfless act of someone sacrificing their own interest for the greater good of the party, as seems to be the suggestion here. It seems far more likely, that what we have here, is someone doing a bit of self promotion prior to standing for President of the Liberal Democrats. A ...

Is there a life after politics

So, today marked my last Council committee. Though, a la Frank Sinatra, I will have many more such farewells in the 21 days which remain of my life as a councillor. (Last area committee, last civic occasion, last Full Council, etc.). I took the decision a few months ago to stand down from Oxford City Council when my third term expires but have kept schtum about it chiefly because I hated the

Taxing the Beautiful

Being a confirmed ugo myself, I read this Guardian article with interest: Gonzalo Otalora has written a book entitled ¡Feo! (Ugly!), which calls for the taxation of good-looking people to counteract the natural advantages they have over munters*. "Countless studies show that … it’s easier for them to find jobs; they’re paid more and find partners [...]

Recent Letter from Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg

Click on the following thumbnail to see a recent letter to North East Lincs Liberal Democrats from Nick Clegg, the leader of the National Liberal Democrat Party {letter-from-nick-clegg.jpg}

The Gang of Four ride again

… but this time, it’s four ex-Labour councillors up against the Labour Party in Northumberland.

Labour implodes in Northumberland

Lets face it, it was always going to be a bloodbath for Labour in Northumberland. I guess the Labour party bosses probably thought the best way to get rid of all their crusty old Labour dinosaurs in local government in the North East was to abolish their councils. Its the sort of democracy that appeals to New Labour. Northumberland is undergoing a massive reorganisations. Facing the chop are 6

Big swing to Liberal Democrats in Byrnmill

The next stage of the Ros Scott local election tour '08 took me to Swansea, where I stayed with Swansea West constituency chair Viv Samuels. She and husband Sam were the backbone of the local party in Woodley for many years, moving to Wales two years ago with the firm intention of retiring from the Party..... To them I am really "Sally's mum", as my daughter worked closely with them when she was constituency organiser in Reading during the General Election. On Wednesday afternoon I went along to Morriston High Street to collect signatures on a petition against Post Office ...

Indy

The Independent today announced the 80p Euro on its front cover with a huge splash story. However, the paper itself was priced in the top-right corner "80p / E1.10". Doh.

Voting for Boris Johnson: A Sacrifice for the Greater Good

We citizens of this extraordinary and amazing city will be going to the polls on 1 May to elect ourselves a new Mayor. The polls of the last few weeks have seemed to indicate that this year Londoners really have finally had enough of Ken Livingstone. Personally I still find that difficult to believe: the man who is so far the only person to have held this post is one of politics great survivors and more importantly the issues that have made the headlines about him so far City Hall intrigues about how a couple of tiny organisations were funded, ...

Tony Blair's Palestine by Chris Patten

I have just received this extremely thoughtful piece written by former governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten :- Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has many positive attributes, including great charm. He will need all his skills to address the bewildering range of global tasks that he has taken on since being shoehorned out of office by his dour successor, Gordon Brown. His initial daytime job, after running Britain, was to bring peace to the Middle East by helping establish the governing institutions of a Palestinian state.Since then, Blair has become an adviser to banks (which need all the advice ...

The subtleties of the English language: a practical demonstration

There was good news this morning when the High Court ruled that the Serious Fraud Office’s decision - under pressure from the Government - to drop its investigation into the Al-Yamamah arms deal between BAE Systems and Saudi Arabia was “unlawful”. The BBC quotes BAE’s position on the ruling: “The case was between two campaign groups and the director of the SFO. It concerned the legality of a decision made by the director of the SFO. “BAE Systems played no part in that decision.” The same article mentions BAE’s earlier position on the inquiry: BAE argued that the SFO probe ...

If you're good and keen enough, a team of five can beat a team of twelve

I visited Amir Laksari today to find out more about the Sparrows. Mr Laksari came over from Iran as a political refugee in 1986 and soon after he joined a wheelchair basketball team, becoming very heavily involved. Traditionally the Sparrows Wheelchair Basketball Club has been mainly a refugees / ethnic minorities team. Something like 30% of the people in the team and half the people on the Management Committee are from Haringey - albeit Haringey wouldn't negotiate a reasonable price for them to use Tottenham Leisure Centre to practise and play so instead they had to go to Hackney. The ...

Hello Witney! Is That You David

Chris Evans has started a Tenacious Ten slot on his drive time show on Radio 2 recently, it's a slot where listeners text in with tenacious links to that day's subject selected from a short list of two by Jonnie 'Sport' Saunders. Well upon looking at my hits for today I realised I'd had a visitor from Witney, constituent of David Cameron, leader of the Conservatives. What is most strange is the

Is it laziness

Im trying to get my head round the fact that there are still people in the UK who arent greening up the way they live. Despite the hundreds of articles and programmes on climate change, advice in every magazine on how to be greener and a huge range of environmentally friendly products, theres still a very large percentage of the population who just arent changing the way they live. What really interests me is whats stopping these people There isnt an excuse for not being greener, and believe me Ive heard many over the last few years. Laziness of course ...

Headingley and Hyde Park and Woodhouse Wards Local Election Hustings

A Consortium of local community groups are arranging a Local Election Hustings for the "twin" wards of Headingley and Hyde Park and Woodhouse. An oppertunity to really debate leeds 6 politics or meaningless because of the inevitable packing by party Groups You decide. 7.30pm to 9.30pm Monday 28th April at Headingley Methodist Hall. The Church is opposite Somerfield on the Arndale centre and the enterence is off Chapel Lane. All 11 candidates atdning in the two wards have been invited.

Hey 1968, its time for a break

Well, that year is back. You know the one 1968. We have a new round of newspaper articles rehearsing all the old arguments. The slogans and the demonstrations were youthful posturing and an embarrassment, says Tom Stoppard. No, we really made a difference, replies Magnus Linklater. Every day, BBC Radio 4 tells us what was happening exactly forty years ago. The BFI has a mini season of films about May 68. I have read and watched a lot about 1968 over the years. (I wasnt there, to coin a phrase, being six years old at the time and living in ...

British National Party Preach to the Unconverted: A question of free speech

The Guardian is reporting that several journalists at the Hampstead & Highgate Express (Ham & High) have got their knickers in a twist because their editor, Geoff Martin, decided to run an advert from xenophobic, white supremacist peddlers of fear and lies, the British National Party*. The editor has defended his actions in an editorial: So why [...]

All Change in Devon

Big changes are afoot for how local government is organised across the county of Devon. Some view the exercise as an opportunity to expand their area of political control; others see it as a thr...

The politics of the West Wing

I feel like being trivial today so here we go: the West Wing. Let me start by saying that I really enjoy the show. Its well written, has rhythm and is generally well acted. Now, let me demolish it. The boys' club: There is an underlying patronising attitude to the female characters, which I can't stand. It would have been nice if the writers had put more effort into making these characters

New look

Let me know what you think.

Britain's Democratic Deficit

And while I'm on the subject of democracy and human rights I would like to draw attention to our own government's rather sinister double-speak on the issue. According to Gordon Brown and others, the anti-Olympic Torch protests were a symbol of Britain's vibrant democratic values. Or something. The fact of the matter is that the police are using new anti-terrorism legislation to arrest people for demonstrating democratically. That's right, following the Labour Party's example (when an elderly delegate was expelled from its annual conference for heckling Jack Straw over the Iraq war, under the 'Prevention of Terorrorism' Act) the guardians ...

Local Planning applications Twerton

We have two planning applications this week. The First application is for the erection of a two storey side extension at 31 Sheridan Road. The application was first registered on 4th April 2008 and a decision on the application has to be taken by 30th May 2008. The application reference number is 08/01078/FUL and you can view the application by following the link on the...

Opinion: Why I will be giving Livingstone my second choice and why it grates

I’ve got a confession to make. On 1st May, I will be giving my second preference vote to Ken Livingstone. I won’t be doing this with a song in my heart or anything resembling enthusiasm. Livingstone is a divisive and lonely figure who is incapable of taking criticism or listening to anyone outside [...]

Call-in on decision to raise care charges

A call-in on the decision to increase the cost of home care services for elderly residents has been submitted by the Liberal Democrat Group on Bath and North East Somerset Council. Members of the Labour Group agreed to co-sign the call-in. The call-in has been verified and the hearing will be held within 2 weeks. The signatories are calling on the Cabinet member to reconsider his...

on transport prices in London

Last week I mentioned briefly about the cost of public transport in London and its increase year on year. Today I have undertaken a more detailed assessment of tube travel in comparison with other major cities around the world. In July 2007 the BBC reported that the cost of a single journey in London was £1.50, Paris was £1.20, New York £1, Sydney £1, Tokyo 65p, Hong Kong 75p, Moscow 10p and Beijing 19p. The BBC didnt report on how they reached these figures and owing in part to the fact that the Pound has reached a record low against ...

Chagos update

I've written before about the plight of the Chagos Islanders who were forcibly expelled from their homes by the British government. The latest development in their campaign for justice is the publication of a report that sets out a practical plan for how they could return. See the New Statesman and The Guardian for more details. Liberal Democrat peer Lord Avebury is quoted in the New Statesman

Developer Funding for Local Projects

Test Valley Borough Council executive have agreed to a procedure to allow easier access to section 106 developers funding for local organisations. Funding, which is agreed with developers when planning permission is given, is of three types (1) funding for roads and schools which is administered by Hampshire County Council, (2) funding for leisure and local services administered by Test Valley Borough Council and (3) additional funds for local projects. The new rules will make it easier for parish councils and other bodies to apply for this third category of funds. Speaking at the executive meeting St Marys councillor Rod ...

Another reason why encouraging Boris Johnson is a really, really bad idea...

Sorry to keep on about this but I’m hoping this little comment from Iain Dale’s blog (not him but one of his commenters, Danvers Baillieu)shines some light on why giving any vote for Boris is still a really, really bad idea; even if the fact that he’s incompetent, pointed out yesterday, doesn’t persuade you: "I have just spent an hour or so handing out "Back Boris" oyster card holders outside Bank tube station. In all my years of campaigning, I have never seen such a positive response for a candidate. The card holders flew out of my (and the other ...

Spotted at Charing Cross Station this morning

At about 10.20am - Ann Widdecombe eating a Cornish Pasty! I trust she had been up some time and this was a very late breakfast. Oddly I haev quite a respect for her, mainly because of her attitude to animals (including her cats on her website and fox hunting). But also because she is not scared of grabbing the headlines by making her views known, but actually does it without being offensive. She

English Democrats show their true colours

Sipping my coffee at Bexley station this morning a large billboard poster from the English Democrats leapt out at me from the station car park. I thought the English Democrats were abaove this sort of thing, but clearly not - they are in there fighting the BNP for votes. Of course they will know that had they picked on a different group than the scots they would be vilified. After all Northern

The Social Perils of Being Outdoors

Last night whilst leafleting I stumbled blindly into the type of social situation I try my utmost to avoid at all costs. I think you’ll agree that by running away, I handled it in the only sensible way. I was jamming a leaflet into a letter box, and my idiot-fumblings clearly aroused the householder, who probably thought that war had been declared in his street. When he came to the door I immediately knew who he was, because I used to be friends with his brother. And he asked “Do I know you” meaning of course “I know you, what ...

A good day for justice

If a mafia or gangster committed illegalities within a neighbourhood, yet averted legitimate authority's censure by bringing the mirage of stability by mob law, by employing people in the local community, and by driving economic activity would it be acceptable for legitimate authority to to shy away from confrontation, turn a blind eye and refrain from enforcing the law The answer is no. That hypothetical question is analogous to that which the governement, opposition parties and now the High Court have wrestled with and concluded upon with regards to the SFO's abandoned corruption enquiry into Saudi arms deals. It is ...

Sweeping corruption under the carpet

News today that the High Court has ruled that the Saudi arms corruption inquiry should not have been dropped. Which reminds me, another thing that has happened since I last blogged is that BBC News have changed their website design. I don't like it.

Interest rates down to 5%

It has been announced by the Bank of England that interest rates will be cut by one quarter of one percent to 5%. this is the third cut since December and had been widely predicted. I rather suspect that we will see further cuts before this "economic downturn" passes us by. As someone who is in the process of selling a house without needing to buy another I am finding all the continuing talk of plummeting house prices rather bloody annoying. The media seem hell bent on talking us into recession and the Great British Public are beginning to run ...

ALDE backing for Tibet

The European Parliament voted this morning on a key resolution on the ongoing political tension over China's policy on Tibet ahead of its hosting of the Beijing Olympics this summer. Graham Watson (UK, Lib Dem), Leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, said:"There is no doubt that the cause of the Tibetan people is a just one, and all EU Member States should unite behind a common position, sending an ultimatum to the Chinese authorities that if they wish to have the political legitimacy at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, then they have until August 8th to ...

Gordon Brown looks ridiculous

Dear Gordon, I must say that I find your position of not attending the Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing but not boycotting it either as unfathomable. Until yesterday we had all understood that you were going to attend the ceremony - that's certainly what the Downing Street spin suggested. Now you come out and say that you aren't going but it's not a boycott. Perhaps it's time to show a bit of moral backbone here Gordon. Please come out and back the oppressed people of Tibet by saying that China needs to improve the situation there and you are not ...

Kingston Conservatives break rules about political campaigning

There is one strict rule that all councillors have to abide by - we must not use Council resources and buildings for political campaigning. "Political campaigning" is a bit open to interpretation, but everyone agrees that, at the very least, it covers election campaigns. When Cllr Howard Jones booked the Queen Anne Suite at the Guildhall last week he said it was for a private meeting...

Back to normal

Sorry this has been quiet for a few days - but I'm about to catch up. ReadMyDay has been offline whilst it migrated to a new server.

Gord in the u.s.a.

Arctic Monkeys fan Gordo Brown made a cameo appearance last night on hit U.S. pop singing talent show American Idol. The show already features one Brit Simon Cowell. Gordo and Cowell are thought to share roughly similar levels of popularity. At times drowned out by the wall of screams emanating from hysterical fans (mostly donned in Gordo-Mania t-shirts), the on-screen British PM publicised that twenty million bed-nets would be sent as aid to Africa. The bed-nets are intended to protect people from the vectors of malaria, namely mosquitoes. Boasting of his generosity, Gordo urged the American public to follow suit ...

When is a boycott not a boycott

When Gordon Brown is involved: Question: Will you boycott the opening ceremony of the Chinese Olympics in protest at their policies in Tibet Answer: No I will not be boycotting the opening ceremony, I will not, however, be attending. Glad that’s been made clear. Gordon ‘decisive’ Brown seems to have landed himself in the worst of all possible worlds [...]

Seating area at corner of Ryehill Lane and Perth Road

In the past, I have raised residents' complaints about the maintenance of this area (click on headline to view a previous item about this from around a year ago). Its owners, JC Decaux, who own the advertising hoardings to the rear of the site have, at my request, undertaken tidy-ups of the site in the past. The area is looking shabby and overgrown again and the seating needs completely replaced. I've been back in touch with JC Decaux and I have been promised that new seating will be in situ by Tuesday of next week. The company has also arranged ...

Scary Smile from Brown on US Idol

Gordon Brown appeared on American Pop Idol with a quite scary smile. He talks about how his government is buying 20 million mosquito nets to stop the spread of malaria. That's all very nice, but the reality is his government is being very slow at trying to reach the 0.7% of our GDP they need to give for foreign aid (Liberal Democrats have the policy for moving the quickest out of the parties towards 0.7%). I suspect there is something else behind this. Many Americans don't yet even recognise Brown's face, so he appeared on Idol! So actually it's quite ...

Two things, both related to women's status in society.

Firstly, a very apt little descriptive passage for anyone who has ever thought to themselves But sex is nice! Therefore, either rape isn't that bad, or women just don't like sex... * Imagine your favourite dessert. You know, the one you almost always end up ordering at a restaurant even though youve had it heaps of times before. That one dessert of which you always want second or even third servings. The one you ask friends and family to make for your birthday. * Really imagine it. The taste of it. The feel of it on your lips and tongue ...

Come on St Stephen's...

At the top of Haverstock Hill, on Rosslyn Hill, at the bottom of Hampstead High Street, at the top of Pond Street, opposite the bottom of Lyndhurst Road sits St. Stephen's Church - you will gather that it's quite well placed on a key junction. It is without a doubt one of the more intimidating architectural features in the local landscape. It is both heralded by those who love it and openly damned by those who loathe it - I'm ambivalent in terms of preference for it, but am genuinely impressed by the dark, heavy and looming demeanour of it. ...

Thank you Neil

My friend Neil Williams is stepping down after four and a half years as Leader of the Liberal Democrat Council Group in Haringey. With taking control of Haringey Council at the next local elections the ambition and likely result - Neil reckons the next leader will not only need to get feet under table in good time - but must also be willing to commit to the long term after winning. And saint that Neil is - another decade as leader is too much to ask. {Lynne Featherstone and Neil Williams campaigning for the 603 bus} Neil and I go ...

Why mandela couldn't go to the USA

Remember the cold war, the USA was willing to back far-right dictators just to stop Communism. In the Congo they installed a dictator in the 50s who didn't fall until the 1997. (they haven't changed much, a few years ago the CIA sponsered evil warlords to stop the spread of Islamists in Somalia, who although lacked human rights, gave stability for six months, the CIA sponsored warlords were defeated). They also supported rebels in Angola, a civil war that lasted from 1975 and well into the 90s. Ever thought of the reasons why it took so long for the Apartheid ...

Local Housing Allowance

The 7th April saw the launch of the new Local Housing Allowance (LHA) scheme, which aims to make the Housing Benefits system clearer. The LHA is a national scheme which is being managed by Bath & North East Somerset Council. If you are not living in Bath & North East Somerset then please contact your own council, I previously published an article about this a while ago but I thought that an...

Beijing Games to 'rebound'

The head of the International Olympic Committee has said the Bejing game will "rebound". Perhaps he is right, once the torch gets into China! The pictures from the torch relays are really quite odd. We're seeing someone carrying to torch desperately smiling and showing it as a happy event, surrounded by a huge amount of police officers looking quite miserable, crowds aren't likely to even be able to catch a glimpse of the torch, except a bit of light. Barack Obama has recently joined calls for a political boycott, which Bush is very unlikely to listen to, although maybe in ...

Back with a bang, out on a high

In the next day or two I'll try and do some blogging about what's been going on in the last couple of weeks to keep me away from updating this blog. In part, of course, it's been the GLA election campaign, out delivering leaflets for my exceptionally hard-working flatmate Monica Whyte (Lib Dem GLA candidate for Enfield & Haringey) and our Lib Dem mayoral candidate Brian Paddick. But for now it's just a quick one with some breaking news. At our Haringey Lib Dem Group meeting last night, our leader Cllr Neil Williams formally announced that he will be stepping ...

Disappointment as parking call-in dismissed

Liberal Democrat Councillors have expressed their disappointment that the scrutiny call-in, which had been organised to look into the increases in parking costs in Bath, has been dismissed. The panel voted, by four votes to three, to dismiss the call-in, with Conservative Councillors from outside of Bath backing the original decision taken by their Conservative Cabinet colleague. The...

Al Yamamah: High Court rules against Labour

Well - hurrah! The High Court has just ruled that it was illegal for the Serious Fraud Office to drop its investigation into corruption around the Al Yamamah arms deal with Saudi Arabia. Of course - the reason the SFO dropped the investigation was that the Prime Minister and Attorney General put heavy pressure on them. As I've said before - so much for Labour's 'tough on crime' rhetoric when they put the pressure on to axe criminal investigations when it suits. What now Well, Gordon Brown - here's your chance to step up and show you really are a ...

Serious Fraud Office acted unlawfully

The BBC is reporting that the High Court has ruled that the Serious Fraud Office “acted unlawfully” in shutting down its inquiry into the BAE/Al-Yamamah arms deal. The court has criticised the director of the SFO for “failing to resist threat from government”. The judicial review case was brought by Campaigns Against Arms Trade who had said the decision to drop the inquiry was illegal under international anti-bribery agreements. According to the BBC’s coverage, the Labour Government was concerned that the SFO’s investigation would jeopardise a deal to sell Typhoon fighters to Saudi Arabia - an economic consideration rather than ...

High Court rules against Government over Al Yamamah

Breaking news: the High Court has just ruledthat the Serious Fraud Office acted unlawfully in dropping the probe into corruption allegations around the Al Yamamah arms deal. The Court has criticised the SFO for failing to stand up to Government pressure and has said that the SFO broke the law as a result. As the Government [...]

Backdown or Boycott

I've heard more crap about the Olympics than I can bear in the last week. I've watched IOC President Jacques Rogge tell the world he was "saddened' by violent protests in Europe and that the Games would bounce back from this 'crisis'. I've watched BBC reporters deliberate on how Britain can stand up for Human Rights and yet not 'offend' China. I've watched athletes, from Tim Henman to Steve Redgrave, tell us how we should keep politics and sport separate. I have seen noone, at least noone in the mainstream press, talk about China's broken promises to the world. Why ...

Gordon Browns Tony Blair Impression

Prime Minister Gordon Brown on American Idol last night does his best Tony Blair impression. God I wish I could embed the video, but you’ll have to go to the BBC News site to see Brown imitate his predecessor.

Porthtowan

Interesting one at Planning last night. Someone has already got permission to build three houses on the beach at Porthtowan, subject to a condition that a slope condition survey be carried out. I don't know how they got permission in the first place, but now we're just dealing with a condition preventing them building, until everyone is happy that they won't undermine the slope above the development, which could lead to the slope collapsing and bringing the houses above it down. Basically everything is built on a mixture of sand and shale, what somebody called mobile and slightly less mobile ...

Human rights

Ever since my political eyes were opened (thanks to both my wife and the discovery of Radio 4) Ive held the view that the adoption of universal human rights has been one of the most important movements in history. In the UK we are constantly bombarded with messages from the media, and from both the left* [...]

Juggling the Hot Olympic Potato...

The Olympic torch has become one big political hot potato as it is passed(jostled/ rugbytackled/bused) from country to country, presumably eventually back to China in time for the Games later this year. I can't believe that anyone actually thought China would be able to hold the games without having its human rights record put under the spotlight. Of course, Mr Brown has decided he was never going to attend the opening ceremony because that would be a waste of tax payers money to do so...(Didn't he recently go on a big tour to China with Richard Branson when they were ...

WTI reaches new peak

The link is to a US story linking the futures prices of WTI (West Texas Intermediate) to Peak Oil. The nature of the oil market is complex with there being different types of oil and a form of interlink between oil prices and the prices of other energy sources. There is also an interlink between food prices and energy prices. This occurs for two reasons. Firstly, the price of fertiliser (mainly

Party pooper

At one point in yesterday's Plenary proceedings, the Presiding Officer paused before reading out a statement about the first Legislative Competence Order to receive Royal Assent. An adjacent AM whispered to me; "This is where we all clap." I did not join in and nor did a number of others. This is not because I was displeased. On the contrary, the Assembly has clearly taken an historic step forward, whilst the LCO in question is both worthy and necessary, even if in itself it will not change anything. We need to pass measures to do that. My reluctance to cheer ...

Why are bloggers deserting Lib Dem Blogs

Is it my imagination, or has there been a very noticeable drop in the quality and regularity of posts on Lib Dem Blogs With stories of a looming credit crisis, the London Mayoral elections and protests over the China Olympics, you'd think Lib Dem blogs would be awash with posts. But it's not. So, whats goin on If it's not a lack of material, what is it What reason can there be for this apparent lull Can it be that bloggers have simply become weary of blogging about the same old things time after time or even worse they are ...

Top Lib Dem media tarts: Dec 2007 - Feb 2008

Which Lib Dem MPs received the most media mentions between 1st December 2007 and 29th February, 2008 To find out I trawled Lexis-Nexiss online database of all UK national newspapers (and a huge number of regional ones), feeding in the names of each of our MPs in turn, and seeing how many returns were generated. To [...]

When is a Boycott not a Boycott

In March when Gordon Brown announced that he would be meeting with the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibet, Beijing tried to point out how they felt about this. When Nicolas Sarkozy came a calling he announced he was considering boycotting the Olympic opening ceremony. No. 10 issued advise that Gordon Brown was against such a response. That was until yesterday when Gordon did a spectactular

Vote Mugabe or You Will Die

It's been 12 days since the election for Zimbabwe's President closed and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission have yet to release the result of that poll. However, Zanu-PF henchmen of President Robert Mugabe have already started their campaign for the re-run of that vote in areas where the Movement for Democratic Change polled strongly. Armed with AK-47s, shotguns and pistols they are terrorising

Green (and red and pink) Bag Day

Yesterday, we stopped giving away free plastic bags in the shop. Last October I blogged about a survey I was conducting among my customers. The overwhelming view was that customers, even those who relied on our free plastic bags, would prefer us to stop giving away 30,000 bags a year and instead look for environmentally friendly alternatives. I have sourced five alternatives: a cotton bag

What I've been up to by Text today

My daily digest of texts, tweets and status updates. 13:34 Listening to Radio 4's Music Group with Ben Zephaniah and Arthur Smith, Common People is one of the picks. Good Good # 13:50 and Ben's picked Babylon's Burning by The Ruts. One for listen again later methinks, this is top. # Microblogging by SMS, using LoudTwitter and Twitter.

Does this disgust you

Now, I’m not saying our police officers shouldn’t be allowed an opinion, and I’m certainly not saying they shouldn’t be allowed to run a blog, indeed, I am not trying to say anything of that sort. However, I do find it quite alarming that our police officers, people whose responsibility it is to take care of us, can say things such as I found on Sergeant Simon’s blog - the sheer brutality of what he writes is just frightening. Just in case you don’t have time, here are some choice quotes from this Police Sargeants’ personal blog: “Billy the Burglar ...

More interesting findings about Medway Council..

Well well well. It appears Medway Council are having a rough time of it. Former Conservative Councillor John Ward was forced to resign after he suggested that parents on benefits should be sterilised! What century is that guy from! Can we really trust people that think like this to run our country Newspaper report - The Mirror More from KentOnline.co.uk Reported in The Telegraph And even the Daily Mail didn’t like it.. On his resignation, Ward said “I have today, after a lot of thought, resigned from the council… ….I wasn’t going to do so originally, but in today’s Soviet-style ...

Medway Council - home to cybervandals

Having a general browse of Wikipedia earlier, I came accross : this on Wikipedia it seems that someone at Conservative-controlled Medway Council, is not only wasting taxpayers time and resources, they’re also wasting the time of volunteers on the Wikipedia site, who have had to trace the user, and report them to the Ja.net network, which provides the infrastructure to all .ac.uk and .gov.uk domains in the country. Just remember people - if you’re going to fart-arse about online in taxpayers time, and with taxpayers resources, it really isn’t that difficult to track you!

Living Islam Out Loud - American Muslim Women and Linking with British Muslim Women

I have just spent 5 days on the road on a project that is being run by Faith Matters, an interfaith and conflict resolution organisation that I founded in 2005. Faith Matters also runs Faith and Finance social regeneration projects. The project entitled 'Living Islam Out Loud,' brought 4 American Muslim women to the UK to have dialogues and discussions with British Muslim women and to develop further trans-Atlantic links. Well, what can I say I have had the privilege of spending these days meeting empowered, focussed and courageous Muslim women who are working in social regeneration schemes, within promoting ...

NUS is full of Cnuts

I was amused last week to read that NUS’ decision to drop its opposition to tuition fees marked “the final decline in student radicalism” - we went way past that stage over a decade ago! Back when I was a student I remember the then president of NUS going round the country urging student unions to ditch their policies on restoring student grants with a view to stopping the “Tory” plan to introduce tuition fees. That president was one Jim Murphy. One of his first acts as an MP just a year later was to vote in tuition fees. That ...

English Settlement

Flicking through my old vinyl tonight I came across the 12" single of Senses Working Overtime by XTC and the album it came off - English Settlement. It is a while since I had a musical interlude. So here are two classic singles off the album. Ball and Chain and Senses Working Overtime

Higher fares, worse service. Sounds familiar

Fortaleza and London don’t have much in common, but a mutual grumble is that commuter train services have got worse in recent years, while fares have soared way above inflation. Interestingly, the public response has been different in one important way. Whereas train and tube commuters in London continue to squeeze into carriages in ever larger numbers despite [...]

Day 2654: Brian Begins

Monday: Mr Brian has launched his campaign to be London's next Mayor, pledging a Contract with Londoners and springing into action with CSI Liberal Democrat. He then clashed with the other candidates, the Labour's Mr Mayor Ken and Mr Balloon's bumbling bounder, Suicide Boris, on Newsnight. Boris (Tessa Jowell isn't going to ban ME from calling him that!) had earlier been broadcasting in black and white to disguise his florid appearance emphasise his gravitas and seriousness. He was very serious. Very serious INDEED. UNFORTUNATELY, Newsnight then proved that he DIDN'T KNOW the costings of his own centrepiece Bendy Bus policy. ...

Thursday 10th April 2008

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