Thursday 8th May 2008

11:48 pm

Burma

Gravatar As raised by Nicol Stephen in the Scottish Parliament today, the Cyclone Nargis disaster is a tragedy for the people of Burma. Already suffering from the lowest living standards in Asia and years of misrule and mismanagement, the people of Burma have now been struck by this terrible natural catastrophe. Our differences with the Burmese regime are well known, but our most urgent task now is humanitarian. The latest figures report more than 22 000 dead, probably many more. As of today Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained for a total of 12 years and 197 days. Please click ...
11:45 pm

Oi! andrew neil! nooooooooooooooooooo!

Gravatar Please, for the love of Bob and all that's unholy: kill whoever it was who did that Gentlemen Prefer Blondes graphic! I am EATING!!! * green face * So, Diane, Gordon is a God amongst men? Yes, this one. YAY MICHAEL!!!!!! ILU Mr Portillo! * happy dance * The news of your voting in the Mayoral election goes down very well in this household! Diane is being a bit mean to Michael tonight, too. Perhaps Mad Nad's stupidities have been annoying her? I know Diane is very much on my side on the abortion issue... Hello, my name is Jennie, ...
11:38 pm

Great tits and Jan's cock

Gravatar Norfolk Blogger has quite rightly awarded Headline of the Week to the BBC for its: Great tits cope well with warmingMalcolm Redfellow's World Service also notes this story and goes on to inform us that the RSPB has banished the word "cock" from its website. This leads him to reminisce: Long years ago, Malcolm worked alongside a lovely, if slightly too-innocent-for-her-own-good teacher. She insisted on using Ian Serraillier's 1956 great story, The Silver Sword, as a class reader. (It may subsequently have been edited or re-written: it certainly seems to have gained a new title, Escape from Warsaw). The problem ...
11:33 pm

Question Time and the Boringness of Ming

Gravatar So, QT is on. Ming is talking. And my attention is completely elsewhere... This may or may not be due to Mister Mat making omelette and chips for supper behind me. I are droolin'... Anyhoo, QT. There's Ming the Retired Glorious Leader; Boris Johnson's sister; Tarzan (who Mat tells me isn't a proper conservative because he actually bought furniture, instead of inheriting Chippendale from his family); some Labour twat and Piss Moron. The only one who has vaguely piqued any interest is Tarzan. Oh, I'm so jaded... But why can't Ming be interesting? I know he's old hat, but he's ...
11:32 pm

Different meetings

Gravatar I have just watched the Sharp End interview with Welsh Liberal Democrat leader, Mike German on ITV Wales. He is to step down after the party's October Conference. The thing is that he told the last Conference and the Group that he would step down as soon as possible after the local elections. If he had done so he could have left on a high after our local government successes last week. The new leader would have been in a position to properly capitalise on our gains with a number of new initiatives centred on a fresh face at the ...
11:24 pm

Jeremy Browne MP "talks a lot of good sense"

Gravatar Reading Jeremy Browne's column in the local paper today was a more enjoyable experience than usual. In a much better written article than his conservative opponent [and also cheaper as Jeremy's is printed for free without fail each and every week] Jeremy argues that there is a very fine balance between building affordable and social housing with destroying green spaces. He basically says yes you may not like it if more housing is built on your street but I don't have planning powers, can't oppose every single application for housing and besides, young people in the town can't even afford ...
11:19 pm

Undermining the foundations

Gravatar The Western Mail's article on the failure of the Labour-Plaid Cymru Government to properly fund the Foundation Phase underlines just how much trouble the Government is in. The Minister has found another £5 million to ensure that the pilot schools do not have to make redundancies but has left other headteachers scratching their head as to how they are going to afford to introduce the scheme. The Welsh Local Government Association, teachers' unions and opposition politicians have united to point out that there is still a £10 million shortfall. All the Minister has succeeded in doing is to create two ...
11:15 pm

Steve Galloway stands down as City of York Council leader

Gravatar The Yorkshire Evening Press reports Steve Galloway is resigning as leader of City of York Council, after five years in charge.The Liberal Democrat chief, who has been a councillor for 35 years and party leader for the past nine, said he had enjoyed his time in the top job, but it was time to hand over to somebody younger.I mention this because Steve was a Liberal councillor when I was a student in York nearly 30 years ago. In those days the idea that the Liberals might one day run the city would have seemed pretty fanciful. Steve's career is ...
10:44 pm

Is tactical voting working against Labour?

Gravatar The Conservatives have made great claims about their decision to hold their spring conference in Gateshead. It was a sign, they suggested, of their revival at least of interest in the North East. This explanation was trotted out by Conservatives last week on tv whilst commenting on the local elections generally. The equivalent would be Labour claiming a revival in the South every time they hold a
10:37 pm

Why Not Join the New North East Lincolnshire Community Database?

Gravatar Are you interested in tackling crime in your area? Do you want to help your hospital to improve service? Do you want a say in how your council spends YOUR money? Would you like to give your opinion on some housing developments? Would you like to tell your MP your opinion? If YES to any of these read on….. Please join the Northern Lincolnshire Community Database now! by registering on www.CommunitySurveys.net and you will be able to communicate your opinions to some of the agencies that control so much of our lives.  If you have ever had any contact with Grimsby, ...
10:20 pm

Nick Clegg Bloggers' Interview

Gravatar Bounding in nervously like a young boy on his first day at a new school*, Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats and MP for Sheffield Hallam, greeted the massed horde of Lib Dem bloggers with all the enthusiasm you’d expect from his youthful good looks and powerful sex-drive. Thanks to Millennium Elephant and Daddy Richard, [...]
9:49 pm

BBC Question Time: open thread

Gravatar After Paddy last week, it’s the turn of another former Liberal Democrat leader, Ming Campbell, to represent the party on the panel on tonight's Question Time (broadcast on BBC1 and online from 10.35 pm GMT). The panel will also include the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (and future Labour leadership contender?) James Purnell, senior [...]
9:43 pm

Sinderins Court Update

Gravatar As reported in tonight's "Evening Telegraph", I am pleased to learn from Home Scotland that the residents' lift in Sinderins Court that has broken down some 17 times recently, has been repaired and has been working normally over the past few days. Residents had contacted me following the breakdowns, expressing concern about the broken lift. Although I am pleased that the lift appeared to be back operating again this week, I sought assurances from Home Scotland that a permanent solution to the regular lift breakdowns was found. Home Scotland has now replied saying : "I can advise that the lift ...
9:36 pm

Singapore's Anti-Democracy

Gravatar Singapore has many things going for it. It is prosperous, authentically multi-cultural (despite the large Chinese majority) and squeaky clean — in fact, they even banned chewing gum for many years, so as not to mess up the streets and the transport system. Singapore has an airport that regularly tops the ‘favourite airport in the world’ [...]
9:25 pm

Does British foreign policy support too many dictatorships ?

Gravatar In the wake of the cyclone in Burma it was being reported the other day that Britain will be sending a donation to support efforts in the country. Of course this is the right thing to do. But I was a little shocked to hear that Britain is a long term donor to Burma and has been for some years. When you take in to account that we send millions each year to Zimbabwe, it makes you wonder how many other dictators are sustained and aided by the the British taxpayer. Some will argue that the aid the UK sends ...
DataFlame
9:09 pm

Headline of the week " Great tits cope well with warming "

Gravatar The wonderful headline " Great tits cope well with warming "from the BBC website is bound to drive traffic up on anyone's blog, that is if you want people coming to your blog doing a search fro "great tits". Read about it HERE.
9:08 pm

100 years and a day ago - Asquith announces the introduction of old age pensions

Gravatar I'm terrible for remembering people's birthdays a day or so too late, and it's the same with anniversaries of significant events. So I failed in my intention to post yesterday on the anniversary of H.H. Asquith's announcement in his budget of 1908 of the introduction of old age pensions. But no other Lib Dem blogger appears to have posted on the subject, and it is worth commemorating, so forgive this being a day late. Although Asquith had succeeded Campbell-Bannerman as prime minister a month earlier, he had already prepared the budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer and chose to present ...
8:46 pm

Mixed fortunes inside the M25!

Gravatar Try as I might I can never keep up this blog during the local election period. It's partly that there's always another leaflet to write, or deliver, or canvassing to do, but also that I'm too focused the election campaign to write anything that would be of any interest to those other than anyone involved in Watford elections. But here we did well - comfortably ahead on the popular vote in the Watford constituency (which includes part of Three Rivers District) and winning 14 out of 17 seats. We narrowly missed out on two more seats. Indeed we and Three ...
7:20 pm

Progress at Eldon Square Gardens

Gravatar {Eldon_square_gardens_april_08_pic} The restoration of the King George V Memoral Gardens (better known as Eldon Square), off Eldon Road continues apace. Today Parks officers informed us that the hard landscaping work should be completed by 12 May, which is a little later than planned. The reason for the delay is the fact that tree roots have been exposed as part of the works which required a slight tweak to the design to ensure that the wheelchair access to the Gardens could be maintained. The Parks team have told us that they anticipate the Gardens will be re-opened to the public around ...
7:12 pm

Chris Huhne on the politics of public behaviour

Gravatar Word reaches LDV from think-tank Demos that Chris Huhne, the Lib Dems' shadow home secretary, has contributed an essay to a new publication out today, The Politics of Public Behaviour: how governments should respond to the public consequences of private decisions. Pamphlet editor Duncan O'Leary explains more: [It examines] the social effects of personal decisions on marriage, [...]
6:35 pm

Tributes to Ray Michie

Gravatar Here's a round-up of some of the tributes paid to Ray Michie (Baroness Michie of Gallanach), the Lib Dem peer, and former Argyll & Bute MP, who died yesterday. Please use the comments thread to let us know of any we've missed or to pay your own respects. > Obituary - The Herald; > Obituary - The [...]
6:03 pm

Opinion: Breaking the cycle

Gravatar Figures carried on the Liberal Democrat's national website reveal some quite shocking statistics. Over 70,000 young people have been admitted to hospital for self-harm related injuries in the last four years, an increase of 35%; 4,000 have been admitted for eating disorders, which represents an increase of 10%. Defining self-harm can be problematic. I have [...]
6:01 pm

John Stuart Mill's tomb

Gravatar On an Overgrown Path (from whom I have borrowed the photograph) writes: He is buried alongside his wife in the cemetery of St Veran on the outskirts of Avignon and his tomb, seen in my photos, is marked 'En hommage à John Stuart Mill Défenseur des Femmes'. The plaque has been added by Centre d'Hébergement et de Réinsertion Sociale "Stuart Mill", a refuge for women victims of violence in Paris.That blog also has another photograph showing the plaque in greater detail.
5:59 pm

on crime and the causes of crime

Gravatar Tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime. So we were told by Tony Blair. The Labour government, of course, would never admit that one of the causes of crime, is the criminalisation of innocent people due to overzealous legislation. Such zeal was revealed by Nick Clegg, to be a new criminal offence every day since New Labour came to power, standing at around 3,000 in 2006 (backed up by Channel 4's fact checker). In that year the Independent reported that, It is now illegal to sell grey squirrels, impersonate a traffic warden or offer Air Traffic Control ...
5:47 pm

Cats for Obama

Gravatar With supporters like Leo from Antioch, CA, how can he lose? Thanks to Paula Keavney.
YouGov
5:19 pm

Obama's VP

Gravatar So, now that it is all but certain that Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for President, the question arises who will he pick to be his Vice Presidential running mate. In order to answer this question lets look at the attributes a presidential candidate looks for in picking a running mate: 1) Bringing a divided party together/appeasing the base. After a bruising primary battle in 1980, Ronald Reagan offered his main rival George H W Bush the VP spot in an attempt to unite the Republican party. Likewise John Kerry offered his main rival John Edwards the No.2 position ...
5:07 pm

Mandelson speaks out

Gravatar The Guardian tell us that Peter Mandelson has accused Gordon Brown of making a "very big mistake" in scrapping the 10p income tax rate. The European Union Trade Commissioner said Brown had also breached the party's philosophy that the government should help the neediest in society. He went on to warn the prime minister that he risked losing power unless he identified himself more clearly with the principles that won Blair three general elections. Meanwhile, the former junior development minister Sally Keeble has warned of an impending split in the party over the 10p tax rate. The paper tells us ...
5:03 pm

How does one free a nation?

Gravatar So for my sins I somehow decided it would be a good idea to go to the 'Free Palestine' demo in London this Saturday. Although I've always been a skeptic of these sought of movements (I don't think I can actually name a modern one that has succeeded in its aim) I think it'll be an interesting and enlightening experience. I'll try filming it and post my reaction later on Sunday. The reason I think most people are skeptical of these sought of movements is the way they tend to be dominated by the hard left, and indeed the stall ...
4:57 pm

That dismissal register - the Home Office is involved

Gravatar There’s been much outcry about this proposed database of staff dismissals and allegations (quite rightly) but its been claimed that that it is a private sector project. According to the BBC this is not so: The register is an initiative of Action Against Business Crime (AABC), which is a partnership between the Home Office and the British [...]
4:34 pm

Come on ...

Gravatar Well, we've certainly seen variety in the productions at the Rose! - from a naked Romeo, through the exuberance of The Ragged Child to a sparkling Peter Hall production of Uncle Vanya. This Saturday there's a spectacular aerial dance show from the amazing Ockham's Razor. I remember catching a glimpse of them on TV some time ago and thinking that I must try to see them live - and here...
3:23 pm

Jock's response: The positive case for negative campaigning

Gravatar Dan Paskins takes me to task for moaning about Labour's tactics against me when they put out that "scurrilous" leaflet while others, including he says the Lib Dems, are doing just as negative things in their leaflets. I should treat it, he says, as an opportunity to debate those issues if I feel so strongly about them and accept that, in such a debate, I might win over some people, or at least their respect for making the case rather than whining. He provides an example that, in our East Oxford wide tabloid, we ran an article asking whether Andrew ...
2:45 pm

Hallelujah!

Gravatar Yes! My ticket to see Leonard Cohen at Edinburgh Castle in July arrived in the post today. This should be a great occasion and probably a once in a lifetime experience for me, as I doubt LC will be having too many tours after this one. It was also my first time buying something on eBay and it was good to have a wholly positive experience for my debut purchase.
2:39 pm

Linkspam for 8-5-2008

Gravatar liz_marcs: When Living History Becomes "Just History"... Horrifying story from Liz about the Auschwitz block 24 brothel and the hidden history of the aryanised jews forced into it (tags: auschwitz history) Drugs policy: Brown fiddles while... - Liberal Conspiracy DonaldS: imagine that if we were to hand the supply-chain for curtains, or orange squash, or embossed stationery, over to criminal gangs, trouble would follow. I'm no fan of state regulation - but I'm finding it difficult to think of a market more suited to regulation (tags: drugs freedom prohibition reform) uk.people.gothic's FAQ Ah.. innit sweet? Horribly dated, but taking itself ...
2:36 pm

Thinking inside the box?

Gravatar I've had a hectic week and am still getting my head round most of it! I was elected parent governor at Churchfields Junior School (I think I slightly alarmed the Head Teacher at the count with my rejoicing. I didn't start making victory speeches or anything, though I will admit to a modest amount of knocking-up the day the ballot closed.) Then came the London elections, followed by another count. This time it was at Alexandra Palace and involved considerably more ballot papers than the school one: Probably about two million as compared with about two hundred at Churchfields. At ...
2:34 pm

Yet another facet of our "Big Brother" society

Gravatar It's being reported a number of private sector employers are clubbing together to produce an online database of workers accused of dishonesty and theft. The National Staff Dismissal Register (NSDR) is going live later this month. Reed Managed Services, Mothercare, Harrods and Selfridges are amongst the companies who have signed up for the scheme which will allow them to check whether job applicants have faced allegations of causing loss to employers & suppliers, fraud, forgery, damaging company property and theft. Employees who have had any of these charges levelled at them will be included on the database regardless of whether ...
2:09 pm

The vexed issue of flags... (great pun!)

Gravatar Here are two flags I found flying locally - the first is the Green Flag awarded to Queen's Park and the second is the new Union Flag flying from Hampstead Police Station (the team in blue seem rather proud of the new one :-)) So I went back to when flags first came about and their purpose. It all starts in ancient china (don't most things innovative?) and then spread across the far and near east. However, our linguistics gives a clue in that the study of flags come from vexillum - Latin for flag - and the study of ...
2:06 pm

New Councillors Induction

Gravatar Last night I had the honour of accompanying the newest member of the Liberal Democrat Group Councillor Mary D’Albert to the new Councillor’s induction at Bury Town Hall. Mary will make an excellent Councillor for the St Mary’s ward of Prestwich, joining our existing team there of Donal O’Hanlon and Richard Baum. Mary is the wife of Vic D’Albert who is one of our Councillors here in Holyrood Ward. After 17 years of Vic going to council meetings it will be excellent to have Mary there too! tim
1:47 pm

Hot Hot Heat

Gravatar The continuing warm spell meant that last night I took advantage and mowed the lawn. The occasion also saw the juddering debut of my new strimmer. Such is the exciting life a Councillor leads in the week after an election. So now my lawn has stripes on it, which I must admit are wavey in parts due to the fact that my lawnmower has the turning circle of an oil tanker, rendered even worse by the fact that in turning it I regularly ended up inside a shrub. I have scheduled a barbecue for Saturday night, so expect that sky to ...
1:36 pm

Freedom of Information: independent report shows positive effects

Gravatar The Information Commissioner has employed Continental Research to examine “stakeholder perceptions” of the FoI Act, one of the few liberal measures of the Blair government. I have a copy of Continental’s 39-page report, which reveals that “stakeholder” means the officers of 522 sample public authorities who deal with FoI. You might expect these officers, who in most [...]
1:31 pm

'I was fired - no one will employ me?' says employee who made a mistake

Gravatar The BBC are reporting today that a new database of fired employees will be launched later this month. This database will allow companies to access past employment records and find out if you have been dismissed for a 'crime' you may not have not been charged with or let alone found guilty of. This is a disaster for our rights. The database does not need to contain actual...
12:14 pm

Liberal Revolution disagrees with Libdem Revolution!

Gravatar I saw the very good blog have to disagree with it. It’s not because there’s anything wrong in proving we can be entrusted with power by `getting into bed` with one party or another - it’s just that it would be a game orchestrated by the other players. As it stands we have front bench [...]
11:53 am

Government-sponsored harassment

Gravatar Sometimes I just can't believe what I'm reading. Note that the proposal apparently includes repeated stop-and-search without a full record being made. The potential for abuse (both by the police and by malicious neighbours) is horrendous, and can only lead to a further deterioration in trust between the police and minority ethnic communities, who will inevitably be disproportionately affected.
11:50 am

New Lib Dem leader to take on Haringey Labour

Gravatar At our AGM last night, Haringey Liberal Democrats elected Cllr Robert Gorrie as the new Leader of the Opposition. He's pictured in the tie here with our retiring leader Cllr Neil Williams (although, of course, Neil will continue to be a Highgate ward councillor). Robert will be a great asset to the group and to the people of Haringey - with a forensic mind and a strong track record of getting things done. Some more info on Robert from the official press release:Robert Gorrie was elected in Hornsey on a massive swing in 2006, taking the previously safe seat from ...
11:31 am

Europe Is Culture Too

Gravatar If one relied mainly for one’s information on the Daily Mail and the Sun (as, alas, millions of people in Britain do), one might believe that the European Union is all about banana-straighteners and widget directives.  One of my main tasks, in articles and speeches, is dispelling such Euro-myths. But there is another, important side to [...]
11:30 am

Henley by-election: HQ opens Friday

Gravatar We previously blogged Nick Clegg’s message asking people to help in Crewe (polling day a fortnight today). Now here’s a message about Henley, which is also gearing up for a by-election campaign, on the assumption that Boris Johnson keeps to his promise to quit as an MP: As the film says, the Henley Campaign HQ [...]
11:20 am

Cannabis to be Reclassified

Gravatar Cannabis will be upgraded from a Class C to a Class B drug, in a shock reversal of Tony Blair’s reclassification just four years ago. The move comes shortly after a concerted campaign by the Government’s drugs advisory board, Associated Newspapers, to upgrade the substance. The board were concerned about the mental health of its readers, [...]
11:16 am

Making progress against MRSA and C. Diff at RHCH

Gravatar I was very encouraged to see today’s Hampshire Chronicle report on how Winchester’s local hospital is making progress in the battle against MRSA. Back in January, following an invitation, I accompanied the RHCH Medical Director, Dr Kevin Stewart, on one of the daily ward rounds by the executive team to inspect the hospital environment and see that action is taken on areas that need work. We spent two hours visiting the hospital - mainly in Florence Portal House - seeing the improvements that are being made and discussing the infection control programme. I’ve been particularly interested in infection control for ...
11:15 am

Plug for new book - climate change

Gravatar New Friends of the Earth book 'How can I stop climate change?' released this week Friends of the Earth's new expert guide to climate change reveals how getting involved in your local community can help to stop climate change - while also being fun, sociable and rewarding. The step-by-step guide to today's hottest issue, provides a complete run down of how you can improve the quality of your life and the planet's - and save some cash while you do it. Featuring real case studies, top tips and a myth-busting analysis of climate change, it's a must-read for anyone who ...
11:13 am

Are the Lib Dems afraid of their own shadows?

Gravatar In her post; Nick Clegg, I won't play footsie with big boys Linda J speaks of being delighted by the news that Nick Clegg has said that he wasn't about to "do deals" with Labour or the Tories in order to achieve reform. I have to say, I think thats a big mistake! Even the most optimistic of us can't believe for one moment that we will go from our present position in the polls to a position whereby we will form the next government. So, what are our options? It seems to me, we have two choices. We can ...
10:57 am

Cats for Obama

Gravatar My cats are supporting Hillary (well we are all feminists at number 75) but some of these felines are rather cute www.catsforobama.com
10:39 am

Just when you think its all over...

Gravatar Popping across campus for lunch yesterday I bumped into a man dressed as a rubic cube and handing out leaflets. A little further along was a man dressed as a bear. These entertainments are part of the campaigning for the Edge Hill student union elections - voting is this week. Certainly a lively form of campaigning - but being old (or rather older) and on the teaching staff I don't have a vote in this one! Looking at the literature I think the rubic cube campaign will edge ahead.
10:37 am

QR-codes - ever likely to take off?

Gravatar While reading the davidthedesigner blog for my latest typography fix, I spotted this article about QR-codes. They’re a sort of square bar-code that can be read by mobile phones. You can generate your own here and get the software here. Are these ever likely to take off? Should we start printing them on posters or business cards? I doubt it - but here’s a test image with a hidden message which you can use to send me your views.
10:34 am

Annual Council - and a new Mayor

Gravatar Annual Council is the occasion when a new Mayor is installed, and yesterday we welcomed Cllr David Berry to the office. The new Mayor is a Liberal Democrat councillor in Alexandra Ward. As we heard, David was involved in computers before some of of the councillors (but sadly not me) were born! David will be supported by Cllr Rohan Yoganathan as Deputy Mayor, clearly hoping...
9:41 am

German announces resignation as Welsh Lib Dem leader

Gravatar And in more LDV news from Wales… Mike German has announced he will stand down as leader of the Welsh Lib Dems after the party’s autumn conference in October. BBC.co.uk has more here.
9:29 am

Clegg: We can't suddenly say: 'Middle Classes - Bog off!'

Gravatar Nick Clegg flanked by Jo Christie-Smith and Alix Mortimer at last night's bloggers' interview in the House of Commons-So said Nick Clegg during last night's bloggers' interview. He said that, as we seek to reduce the deprivation of the less well-off, "we can't suddenly say: 'Middle Classes bog off' ". We have to take them along with us, he said.He also let slip the wonderful phrase: "Buggins
9:14 am

The view from Wales: Lib Dems resurgent

Gravatar Whatever you might say about the Welsh Liberal Democrats we are tenacious. From standstill in last May’s Assembly elections; to summer chaos, as we attempted to forge a coalition with the wrong parties only to see Plaid Cymru walk away to join up with Labour; to a set of local election results in which we [...]
9:09 am

Amazing Alamein

Gravatar {Left to right: John Cockaday, Chair of Amazing Alamein, Andre Gomes and his auntie Ivania Gonsalves} A new environment group has recently established it self in the Alamein Ward and what a difference it has made already!! Set up by local residents, the group will be tackling various environmental projects throughout the ward, ranging from planting flowerbeds, assisting with conservation at Anton Lakes, encouraging recycling, a source of information for the community and much more more. One project has been completed to date; using plants donated to the group by Blakes Nursery on Saturday 19 April at Atholl Court, King ...
8:43 am

21 years as a councillor

Gravatar It was 21 years ago today, at the tender age of 23, that I was first elected as a councillor in Gateshead. I gained the seat from the Conservatives who have since all but disappeared from Gateshead. I was the 4th member of the group. Now we are 24.It is amusing in a sense to look back on that campaign. All three parties turned up at the count thinking they had won. The remaining Tory councillor
7:51 am

Nick Clegg - I won't play footsie with the big boys

Gravatar Thanks to the kind heart of Millenium's daddy I got an unexpected bite at the cherry at the Bloggers Bash with Nick Clegg this evening. I was a sub and since everyone turned up I really shouldn't have been there - but since I was in the building I got a special dispensation! I thought I would be clever and try out the voice recorder on my brand new all singing all dancing phone.........sadly it wasn't all it was cracked up to be! So, I am left with my memory and a few sketchy notes. Nick looked and sounded incredibly ...
6:58 am

It's Now or Never: The Convenience of Entymology

Gravatar Yesterday PMQs was more a matter of entymology than what was happening in the Wendy house up at Holyrood. However, Dave leader of the opposition and second most powerful Tory in London asked away: Labour's leader in Scotland, Wendy Alexander, says that there should be a referendum now on Scottish independence. Does he agree with her? Up stood the Tim'rous Beastie, to correctly say that she
6:06 am

What I've been up to by Text today

Gravatar My daily digest of texts, tweets and status updates.22:15 laughing at my old landlord ringing me for the password for the wireless router. 4 months after I moved out... # 00:38 thinks it's worse than that, they're dead Jim. #Microblogging using LoudTwitter and Twitter. {[info]} matgb_twitter is there if you're mad enough.
12:44 am

Cannabis reclassification: what have the government been smoking?

Gravatar Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has confirmed that cannabis is to be reclassified. Currently a class C drug alongside the likes of Temazepam, the weed is due to be upgraded to class B, putting it in the company of Speed. Possession will now carry a maximum prison sentence of five years, whilst dealers face 14 years behind bars. This doesn't come as a great surprise; it's been in the pipeline since Gordon Brown became Prime Minister and immediately launched a review. And as recently as last month, he said that he wanted to change the law, so as to "send out ...
12:26 am

Bumper Linkspam o'Doom

Gravatar Firstly, PHD Comics, as {[info]} innerbrat says, sometimes gets so close to the bone that it hurts. My ambition for right now? Be able to make the rent this month. This blog entry made me cry. I have friends who have been through this, who GO through this, every day. I don't think I could, and will continue to fight for their right not to have to. Greek islanders notwithstanding. Nadine Dorries is evil and must be stopped. When I discovered I was pregnant with {[info]} shrublette, I was already 19 weeks. This was mostly because I didn't believe that ...
12:22 am

Vote Tory, get Labour

Gravatar If, indeed, she has bated her breath as she proposed, yet another by-election would be in the offing following Cllr Bance's self-suffocation. She was eager to see my response to the local elections, which I've been intending to post for some time, but only now have the opportunity. There were two winners in Oxford: the LibDems and Labour. Both parties made a net increase in seats. Both achievements could be said to be remarkable: Labour against the national trend; LibDems against recent local tradition, gaining while in administration -- something Labour never achieved this decade. That said, congratulations to Labour ...
12:05 am

Sodbury housing meeting - come early to be sure of getting in

Gravatar As you may have seen in the recent Chipping Sodbury edition of Focus, Steve Webb MP is holding a public meeting at Chipping Sodbury Town Hall at 7.30 pm today (Thursday 8 May). The meeting will discuss the proposals for around 5000 houses in the Chipping Sodbury and Yate area. As we explained here back in February, this is what a government panel of experts reckons we need to have. South Gloucestershire Council is currently consulting on options for where these houses could go. If these numbers go forward, it is very likely that there will be a major expansion ...

Previous days:

Wednesday 7th May 2008, Tuesday 6th May 2008, Monday 5th May 2008, Sunday 4th May 2008, Saturday 3rd May 2008, Friday 2nd May 2008