LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Wednesday 2nd July 2008

Blimey! Nicol quits

Another day, another Scottish political leader resigns. But unlike Wendy Alexander's departure at the weekend, Nicol Stephen is going for entirely honourable reasons. It is refreshing to have a political leader who recognises that the needs of his family come first. If doing the job of party leader was, as he says, putting a lot of strain on his family, then he has done entirely the right thing to put their needs first. However, I do wonder whether he would have made the same decision had the Scottish Lib Dems still been in government. Being in opposition can be a ...

Nicol's full resignation statement

"Last week I informed the Convener of the Scottish Liberal Democrats that I intended to stand down as Party Leader. "Today I am formally announcing that decision, with immediate effect. "Everyone involved in politics knows that there are stresses and strains on family life. "But when it goes beyond that, when it crosses a line, something has to be done. "And at that stage - when you have to make a choice between family and politics - there can only be one answer. The health and wellbeing of your family has got to come first. "With four children between the ...

Liberal Democrat Leader resigns

The BBC are reporting that the Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Nicol Stephen has resigned to spend more time with his family. Frankly, the decision has taken everybody by surprise. Still at least he made his decision and went straight away - no hanging around for months, leaving his party in limbo. Nicol is staying on as an MSP.

Cintra meeting - and start of work

Thanks to everyone who came to the meeting last night on the lawns with Ben Stanesby and Andy Gillespie from the Council's Parks department. I think it is fair to say there was a lively debate! For those who could not make it, we discussed the fencing around the perimeter of Cintra Avenue (which, after the meeting, will now include a section in front of 38 Christchurch Rd), a width restriction on one entrance to the service road (now around 2m, which should be good for cars but will stop vans and caravans). The other entrance will have a gate, ...

Peter Hain file passed to prosecutors

As The Guardian reports: The Metropolitan police handed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service following an inquiry into late declarations to his campaign for the deputy leadership of the Labour party. Hain today put any inconsistencies down to an "innocent mistake" and said he had provided police "with all the information they might need"... A Metropolitan police [...]

'Appropriate Rewards' Geoff Hoon, Keith Vaz and..............us?

That leaked handwritten letter, promising Keith Vaz an 'appropriate reward' raises again that old chestnut of cash/votes for honours. Now, it has to be remembered that Geoff Hoon used to be affectionately referred to in military circles as Buff Hoon - so no stranger to the relationship between foot and mouth. But it got me to thinking about how we go about dishing out the honours. We have a buffer in the Peers list, but this has done very little to ensure our presence in the Lords reflects the party, let alone the country. At some time Gordo will see ...

Nicol Stephen resigns as Scottish leader

As the BBC reports: The former Scottish deputy first minister said the stresses and strains the job placed on his family life had become too great. However, he will remain as the MSP for Aberdeen South... Mr Stephen, who has four children aged between four and 12, said in a statement that family now had to take priority. "Everyone [...]

I like Mike (Rumbles)

I voted for Mike Rumbles as Scottish Lib Dem Leader last time around and was in a minority of about 20-25% of party members. Mike Rumbles is a strong, credible candidate for Leader of our party this time around and I urge him to throw his hat in the ring. I will return to the Leadership election in greater detail at a later date - hey give me some credit, at least tonight's news has spurred me on to get back blogging!

Nicol Stephen's resignation as Scottish Leader

Although I didn't vote for him as Leader and had some reservations about his Leadership of our party in Scotland, I know Nicol to be a thoroughly decent human being and determined to put his family first and foremost. There have been straws in the wind recently regarding his growing frustration concerning his severely limited 'quality time' with Caris and their four children. I think that he has taken a difficult decision, especially as he has been the only opposition leader regularly and effectively able to lay heavy blows on that man Salmond, but I do applaud Nicol for his ...

Guardian blog 2 July

My weekly Guardian political blog is now online: covering the Waitrose/Woolworths row, reaction to the death of Ben Kinsella, and the vexed question of biofuels targets.

At least we have the NHS

For whatever faults the NHS may have, at least we have universal healthcare. It's pretty horrible that the USA still doesn't, practically the whole of Europe has it. The USA is the richest country in the World yet people who don't have medical insurance can end up being left to die. And the private hospitals may not be so good either. In New York, a woman had been left collapsed in a waiting room for one hour before someone noticed. It was too late and she died.

Planning Committee

The agenda for today's meeting was particularly heavy, containing as it did the draft Strategic Housing Land Allocation Assessment. This document, 2cm thick, contains an assessment of every conceivable plot of land in the Borough capable of having more than 10 dwellings put on it in. It then tries to assess whether they're likely to become available and if it might be possible to develop in the

St Andrew's is outstanding: official!

I've just been reading the new Ofsted report for St Andrew's School where I'm a governor. It's really good news: St Andrew's has been graded as outstanding. The inspector says, "The school provides an outstanding education for pupils, where they meet the challenge of high expectations and thrive in a positive learning environment." It's all [...]

The real indefensible postcode lottery

I had my first experience of a school admissions appeal panel on Friday, a strange experience. Robin had been denied a place at our local primary school because we live in a long cul-de-sac in the middle of a large allotment, and the council refused to count the path we use through the allotments to get anywhere on that side of the house. Still, we won, so I can't complain. But sitting in the waiting room with the other parents, each with a thick pile of notes and documents in front of them, I suddenly realised how unfair the current ...

What countries will do for the USA

Since the War on Terror has began, countries have rushed to back the USA up. There is after all no Government in the World on Al-Qaeda's side. Even ultra-conservative Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia are willing to help the USA out. In Chad 60 people were killed by the army following a radical spiritual leader who spoken of 'spiritual war'. 4 soldiers were killed as the followers tried to attack with weapons like arrows. The security minister called them terrorists, however I don't think they were quite yet terrorists, with their rather simple weapons. But of course Chad has every ...

Can economic pressure topple Mugabe?

The German company that supplies the paper for Zimbabwean banknotes has cut its supplies to Zimbabwe. I think this could be good news, it was reported that this could even effect those at the top. Without this paper Zimbabwe can't just keep printing. Inflation is now 165,000% (at least!) Tesco has withdrawn £1million worth of trade. (I'm not going to congratulate them, concidering I absolutely hate them). But the thing is with all of this happening. There's one big question. Will the economic pressure just hurt the poorest, and the ordinary people. Or will it be enough to topple Mugabe. ...

Waitrose again

Surprise, surprise: Waitrose didn't put my comment on their MD's blog. From moderation@waitrose.com Your comment on Waitrose.com was not approved Dear Bridget Fox Thank you for visiting Mark Price's blog on Waitrose.com. Unfortunately we were unable to publish your comment on the site as we felt it is best placed with our Customer Services team. We will be happy [...]

Nicol Stephen resigns as leader of Scots Lib Dems

The BBC website reports: Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader Nicol Stephen has resigned from his role to spend more time with his family.The former Scottish deputy first minister said the stresses and strains the job placed on his family life had become too great.However, he will remain as the MSP for Aberdeen South. Fraser Macpherson has the text of Nicol's statement to party members in Scotland.

Nicol's shock decision

As the greatest fan of Nicol Stephen, I'm really sad at his decision to stand down as Scottish LibDem leader, but I have sent him a message wishing him, Caris & the family every good wish. Here's Nicol's message to party members : Last week I informed the Convener of the Scottish Liberal Democrats that I intended to stand down as Party Leader. Today I am formally announcing that decision, with immediate effect. Everyone involved in politics knows that there are stresses and strains on family life. But when it goes beyond that, when it crosses a line, something has ...

UPDATED: The constituent, who Labour MP said could 'stick' his vote, comments on Liberal Burblings with full text of letters

UPDATED: The constituent, Gary Scott, to whom David Clelland MP wrote telling him to 'stick' his vote, has been kind enough to comment on this blog posting (below) and has generously given a link to the full text of his letter (text below) and David Celland MP's reply (above - click to enlarge). I have to say that David Clelland MP is clearly out of order. The letter from Gary is 'par for the

At the Rennard BBQ

It's the highlight of the Lib Dem social calendar - the Lord Rennard staff bbq. And we are here now supping on a significant quantity of Cava (with me eyeing up the empty bottles - oooh just think of the champagne I could make with this bottles!) Nick Clegg has just arrive and that's enough Lib Dem name dropping for today. Anyway, the food is now ready. Let me at it.---Sent via BlackBerry

Traffic survey for zebra

{Nick and Armand call for a zebra crossing} The highways department will be conducting a traffic survey to asses the need for a zebra crossing over Bathwick Hill on Thursday 3rd July. Cllr Coombes has pointed out that the results of this survey will soon be irrelevant as the opening of Tesco will change traffic and pedestrian patterns and more importantly the University is on Summer holidays and so the 12,000 students and 2,600 staff will be mostly missing from the statistics. The traffic team leader has suggested that another survey may be carried out in the future. It is ...

Come on Tim!

Andy Murray has just lost his Wimbledon quarter final to Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-2 6-4. So despite all the excitement and drama of the past 10 days, he has failed to reach the semi final. Now reflect that Tim Henman reached the semi finals at Wimbledon four times. It makes the way that the Guardian-reading classes insisted on treating Henman as a figure of fun look pretty silly. I fear it may look increasingly silly as the years go by.

Conservatives keep the red flag flying

According to the main story in today's Guardian, the Conservatives have ordered their council leaders to stop co-operating with the Labour Government. In particular, as there might be a Conservative Government in two years. But what I can't help but think is how much this reminds me of Sheffield in the bad old days of [...]

Wednesday activities

Today started with a site visit to look at various manhole covers on Perth Road west of the Invercarse Hotel - these have sunk (as the photo - right - shows) and the site visit with a local resident and City Council officials has resulted in various repairs being raised with Scottish Water and British Telecom. Thereafter, I attended the first meeting of the Whitfield Regeneration Board (in my capacity as Planning & Transport Convener). Some hours of 'day job' work later, I attended the handing over to Stagecoach Strathtay of a petition of some 526 signatures to help save ...

Dr Liz Dick

Dundee Liberal Democrats were extremely saddened to learn yesterday of the death of Dr Elizabeth Dick, a stalwart of the local party, and, before the days of the LibDems, of the Dundee SDP. Liz stood for the SDP (and later Liberal Democrats) in Dundee West at a number of general elections and in the 1999 Scottish Parliamentary Election. Back in 1983, she came third with 7,976 votes (17.1%), three votes ahead of the SNP, the best result in a generation. It was the real start of building the organisation in the city. Liz was extremely active in the Scottish Liberal ...

Saucers over Market Harborough

It is not just Shropshire. A UFO has now been sighted over Market Harborough - indeed, more or less above my house, judging by this report from the Harborough Mail: A baffled office worker who saw a strange silver ball hovering in the skies above Harborough has appealed for other witnesses to come forward.Rachael Berry said she saw the shiny, metallic looking ball moving above fields near to the Brampton Valley Way before it disappeared from her sight near Clack Hill.Miss Berry (33), of Stockwell Close, witnessed the phenomenon from her office at Cps Ltd, in Sovereign Park off Lathkill ...

A Food Co-op for Tottenham

News from Sustainable Haringey has hit my inbox of a launch day for a food co-op in Tottenham - on Saturday July 19th. Thought I'd stick the email up here so anyone with an interest has all the details. Hope the launch goes well and the scheme will provide more choice for people who want to buy locally produced food at affordable prices. If you want to know more, then please do contact them on the email or phone numbers below. A FOOD CO-OP FOR TOTTENHAM Interested in affordable fresh, UK-grown fruit and veg? Sustainable Food and Trial Food Co-op ...

What are the Lib Dems doing about David Davis?

Today David Cameron joined David Davis on the campaign trail in the Haltemprice and Howden by-election in support of Mr Davis's candidature. Perhaps he did so through slightly gritted teeth - the former Tory shadow home secretary's resignation put in the spotlight Tory divisions on 42 days just at the point when pressure was piling [...]

PMQs: Nick tackles Gordon on mental health problems

At this week's Prime Minister's Questions, the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg highlighted a serious issue paid scant attention in society - the lengthy waiting lists facing millions of NHS patients with mental health problems. No surprises that Gordon Brown side-stepped the question (it's what he does), though it sparked a quick-fire response from Nick: [...]

'reward' letter

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7485382.stm Gordon Brown and David Cameron went head to head over a letter from Brown asking a labour MP to vote for 42 Days in return for a reward. If the Prime Minister was rewarding MP's for voting for the 42 Days that just shows how he passed it through Parliament. was this the only reward he offered or where they many more cases? Please comment on this post by using the contact me form

Bush and Cheney want another war

For some time now there has been a rising tide of 'chatter' from segments of the US media that Bush and Cheney are planning another war. Incredibly, it seems that they are even funding Al Qaeda -linked groups to achieve this as Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh outlines in the New Yorker magazine. (Hat Tip: Jon Taplin) "Late last year, Congress agreed to a request from President Bush to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran, according to current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources. These operations, for which the President sought up to four hundred million ...

Boris and the art of mastication

A Lanson Boy says Boris today described himself as a keen exponent of 'pre-masticating policy'. Is this policy-making before meal times perhaps? (When canvassing I often observe that Tories are keen masticators.) After all, Boris once entreated colleagues to 'Go back to your homes and prepare for breakfast'. ...Or does he see the policy-making machine as being a bit like a cow? Perhaps if

Heinz Ad Cleared By Broadcasting Authority

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) have decided there is no case to be answered by the Heinz Ad for New York Deli Mayo. In a statement they said: 'The ASA council considered that while some viewers may have personal objections to any portrayal of same sex kissing there was nothing in the content of the advertisement what would constitute a breach of the advertising code.' Answering

Protocol 7 European Convention of Human Rights

The link is to the table of protocols for the ECHR by country to find out which countries have signed or are parties to particular protocols. Interestingly the UK has still not signed Protocol 7 although it appears that 4 years ago it stated that it would. It is unique in this.

Well said Jennie Rigg

Officially she is below the poverty line. But she's not poor. She's analysed it and demonstrated how stupid the official poverty figure is. It distracts from those who are genuinely poor. It appears that in England that man is born rich, yet everywhere he thinks he is poor.

The Government may shut down this blog.

If you like reading this blog and want to see it and others continue then I would ask that you take some action today. I have received and email from ICELE that I have reproduced below from the government supported platform that hosts this and other blogs. If you want these blogs to continue then please contact the minister responsible. Dear Blogger, You may...

Bath Self Help Housing to Change name.

I have today had a meeting with staff from Bath Self Help Housing association and have been told they are about to undergo a name change to Shape Housing Association. There will be a re launch of the association at the Bath Foyer on 23rd July between 12 and 4pm to which any one is welcome to go along to. I have also been informed that the Garage at The Foyer that is being...

Day 2740: Mr Balloon's Bear Trap; Mr Frown's FIB

Wednesday: Mr Balloon: 'Will the prime minister confirm what he said on the 42 days vote, that no deals were done, no jobs were offered and no rewards were promised?' Mr Frown: 'Yes.' Mr Balloon: 'Well what about this letter what the Torygraph did publish this morning from Mr Buff Hoon to Mr Vaz saying that he WOULD be 'appropriately rewarded'?' It was a bit NAUGHTY for Mr Balloon to spring this on the Prime Monster. But, with the Torygraph publishing it on their website at 11.55am, it was, by five minutes, TRUE. And what Mr Frown said was NOT. ...

Dartmouth Ave renumbering

I have just come out of a meting with Bath Self Help Housing association and have some good news to give for my residents of Dartmouth Avenue. Bath Self Help Housing association have agreed to renumber their properties in what used to be time Pines to using letters instead of numbers on their flats, this should stop confusion with the houses on Dartmouth Ave. The next...

First female 'Daily Politico'

And it happens to be me....

Is Harry going to visit ?

After THIS news, are we to assume Prince William could soon expect a visit from Prince Harry ?

Going For A Burton

The Blue Square Premiership fixture list is out and Torquay United's last league game of the season will be at home to Burton Albion on Saturday 25 April 09. This happens to be my 50th birthday s...

Boris: I'm a pre-masticating anorak

Boris Johnson came to speak at the Local Government Association conference today and was, well, Boris. He did manage to describe himself as an anorak. And claimed to be in favour of pre-masticating policy - whatever that means.

Whittington hospital: tell your governors what you want from it

Under the system of Foundation Trusts within the NHS, governors* elected by members of the trust are responsible for representing the views of local people to the hospital. I'm one of the governors of Whittington Hospital in Archway, so this post is really aimed at local people, appealing for any views you may have about Whittington and its development. I'm elected to represent the "south" constituency, which covers Islington, Camden, Hackney and pretty much anyone else who lives south of the hospital - but I'm not going to refuse any comments from anyone in other areas! And I am specifically ...

Blogger gets mega (ish) hits with rants about National Express

BBC London covered this story at lunchtime. A blogger has got 3,000 unique visitors in the last few days (wow! - but it is, no doubt climbing, after being splashed over the TV news and today's Metro free paper) by having a rant about National Express on his blog - I hate National Express. He's even intimating 'direct action' with a poll. It's all a long way from Neil Hannon's ode to the

Just read... House Music: The Oona King Diaries

When Oona King was elected as MP for Bethnal Green and Bow she summed up a lot of what was so different about New Labour after eighteen years of the Conservatives. She was young, she was female, she was mixed race and she seemed fairly down to earth. I admit to having always having had [...]

Was Keith Vaz promised an honour in return for supporting 42 days?

The Daily Telegraph has the story: Gordon Brown is under pressure to reveal whether Keith Vaz, the influential head of a Parliamentary Committee, has been offered a peerage or honour in return for backing the Government's controversial counter-terrorism measures. The Daily Telegraph has seen a private letter sent by chief whip Geoff Hoon to Mr Vaz expressing [...]

Melanie Phillips: you are a self-defeating, dangerous, dolt

Last Saturday, I wrote about the disturbing Times coverage of a 'terror' story. Melanie Phillips, writing for a US audience, has taken up the same issue. She argues that British judges are liberal, outdated, and making the world less safe. She links benefits 'rights' culture with terrorism. You know the score. But the truly remarkable bit in her wrong-headed diatribe is her admission that 'Neither Abu Qatada nor 'U' has been prosecuted in Britain, because U.K. authorities possess no evidence to charge these men with plotting terrorist acts.' She doesn't even think about what that means. She continues to treat ...

Extending the franchise

Equal Opportunities Committee Chair, Ann Jones has an article in this morning's Western Mail in which she highlights the advances made by women in political life. She also outlines other initiatives being taken to involve under-represented groups in the democratic process. Of course all this commitment to democracy on the part of Ann and her Labour colleagues would be more convincing if they had not voted down my bid to give the Assembly the power to reform the voting system for local councils so as to make it more representative.

The Prince and £40 Million of Coke

Prince William has £40m of coccaine in his means of transport. Yet there is no outcry in the press. No calls as to why the daughter of Diana should be close to that sort of thing. The reason of course is that the transport in question is HMS Iron Duke on which the second in line to the throne is serving during his Royal Naval tour of the forces. The coke was not found in his quarters but was

Answers not Lists - Nick Clegg at PMQs

PMQs was a little subdued today. The speculation is that Cameron is pulling his punches as he would rather keep Brown there than contribute to his downfall. But I was impressed with Nick - he asked an important question about mental health, drawing attention to the fact that there is a two tier system. Brown just did his usual and banged on about the NHS and all their investment in mental health services, Nick rightly challenged him, asking for answers not lists. Regular readers will know that this is an issue close to my heart, having grown up with a ...

A right to legislate

Welsh Office Minister, Huw Irranca Davies is quoted in the Western Mail this morning as reassuring MPs over the Assembly's Legislative Competence Order on Affordable Housing. He says that plans to allow Welsh Councils to suspend the right to buy are not "a magic bullet to be used indiscriminately, but it does add a significant new power where there is an acute issue to be addressed. It may well be that existing Assembly policies, by and large, will be able to address affordable housing issues." He added: "The Welsh Assembly Government still remains committed to the principle of Right to ...

Is there a future for BloginaBox / ReadMyDay?

ICELE has been closed down by Communities and Local Government. This means that the future of BloginaBox / ReadMyDay is very uncertain. I have just written to the Minister, Parmjit Dhanda, about the future of this project that encourages councillors and council officers to blog. The blogging platform is an integral element, and it would be disastrous if it was lost. Dear...

Bournemouth - a preview

I'm back at my desk in Westminster having just returned from Bournemouth where the Local Government Association is meeting for its annual conference. I used to be a regular visitor to the town as a child but nowadays I only get there for conferences. Being accustomed to attending our Party conferences there, it felt rather disorientating to be there for a cross-Party event. The Lib Dem Group had asked me to be the speaker at their dinner, and I was happy to oblige. I enjoy public speaking (just as well really) and love to catch up with my old friends ...

Did 41,000 votes go missing in the London elections?

I've blogged previously (here and here) about some of the errors which came to light in the London election results. None of these were serious in their own right, but they do cast doubt on how good the checking processes really were. Now a comprehensive review has suggested that up to 41,000 votes went unaccounted [...]

Bridge Closer to completion

It seems that our beleaguered Half Penny Bridge may be a little nearer to completion although nearly 3 months late already it has seen an improvement over the last week or so. The river footpath is now open for much of the day which is a bonus for the many pedestrians and cyclists that use this route daily. The Bridge is not expected to be open until late August which will...

Boris - Shining with Pride?

Last night I went with Yas to the Pride reception at City Hall. It was a lovely evening with good company, just a pity about Boris really. Now he clearly plays on his bumbling image, but frankly there are times when I think it is plain ignorant and disrespectful - last night was one of them. Friends of mine who attended the LGB T Mayoral hustings told me that he had apparently said something like 'yes.....L...G...B....T er yes that's right isn't it? Er yes I'm all in favour of it!' Now he has had a little time since then to ...

Haltemprice by-election candidate calls for EU referendum

More than ten years after ex-Tory MP Walter Sweeney lost his Vale of Glamorgan seat, he is making a comeback by standing in the Haltemprice and Howden by-election. So why has he chosen to re-enter national politics? And why is he standing as an independent against Tory MP David Davis? Paul Linford suggests a revenge match. I had to ask... Mr Sweeney tells me: Ma chere Femme de Resistance,

Hezbollah's military wing joins the proscribed UK terror list

The Terrorism Act of 2000 contains a list of proscribed groups which the Home Secretary feels are 'concerned in terrorism'. If one 'arouses reasonable suspicion that he is a member of supporter of a proscribed organisation', then you can be prosecuted for a terrorist offense. Hezbollah's military wing has been added to this list. What does 'supporter' mean? There are plenty of people who 'supported' Hezbollah during the 2006 summer's war with Israel. Can they be convicted of a terrorist offense? Is it illegal to now saw that 'we're all Hezbollah now'? Whilst I find many of the arguments supporting ...

Surgery tonight

Just on a quick lunch break and thought I'd remind you that iIf you're a Fortis Green resident and have any issues to raise, you can always drop me an email - or write to me or telephone me. But my Lib Dem colleagues and I also hold surgeries, three times a month, for any of our residents who want to come and talk to us in person. Tonight I will be doing our surgery, from 7pm at the United Reformed Church Hall at the top of Tetherdown, by the Fortis Green/Queens Avenue junction. Our other monthly surgeries are from ...

Have your say on proposed closure of a Bath Post Office

It has been announced this morning that Bath & North East Somerset Council's Enterprise and Economic Development Overview and Scrutiny Panel will be co-ordinating a public meeting to give people the chance to have their say on the proposed closure of the Southgate Road Post Office. The meeting will take place from 9.30am to 11.00 am on Tuesday, 15 July in the Brunswick room of the...

Klimt exhibition

Went along to the Gustav Klimt exhibition at Tate Liverpool yesterday. What a fascinating collection! The ground floor section is really just the Beethoven frieze - but upstairs there is room after room of material. I actually felt I didn't have time to do it all justice. My recommendation for anyone who hasn't been yet - and it's open till the end of August - would be to do a bit of research on Klimt, work out some things you particularly wanted to see, and then home in on those. The good news is that in August the gallery is ...

One Planet Bournemouth

I caught the 08:12 from Clapham Junction this morning on my way to the LGA Conference in Bournemouth. It was my good fortune to run into Sue Riddlestone and two of her colleagues from Bio-Regional - who are based at BedZed in Hackbridge - on the platform and we got talking about the challenges to creating a zero carbon community. Bio-Regional are Sutton Council's partner on the Sustainable Suburb project in Hackbridge. They have been doing an excellent job carrying our home energy audits to help local people to identify ways to save energy. The audits are a little different ...

Art For Arts Sake

www.torbay.gov.uk/lighthouse-june08.pdf   It's taken a long while to get the arts up the agenda in Torbay but things are starting to happen and this link will take you to a whole world of activi...

Bush finally gets round to taking Mandela off the US Terror list

Unbelievable. US President George W Bush has signed a bill removing Nelson Mandela and South African leaders from the US terror watch list, officials say. Mr Mandela and ANC party members will now be able to visit the US without a waiver from the secretary of state.

What teachers are writing to me about

Have been receiving letters from worried teachers about Big Brother! No - not the one on the television - but the fact that from September 2008, each child living in the UK will be issued with a unique number at birth which will be required to access services (schools, health visitors, housing, benefits etc). If a family moves, the number remains "attached" to the child, so - the plan goes - children can no longer slip through the net, as in the case of Victoria Climbie. A laudable intention, and whilst understanding the need to protect children and for agencies ...

Where Will France Steer the EU?

France took over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union yesterday and here in Brussels there is considerable speculation as to what exactly that will mean, given the 'period of reflection' currently going on in the wake of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Nicolas Sarkozy has of course set out his priorities, [...]

MP says stick your vote

Post courtesy of Blogger Whilst reading Lib Dem blogs i came across this link to a blog that i found very disturbing. A Labour MP said to a constituent to stick his vote where he pleases. Is this MP capable of actually doing the job he is elected for if he is saying to people that they don't have to vote him? Please read the blogging from the link above and make a decision. I will appreciate if people sent me their opinions using the message box.

Women stabbed near Home Secretary house

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1369364.ece A women is stabbed only yards away from the home of the Home Sectary and now she wants to up her game. The home Secretary and the Labour Government need to increase the time they lock people up for carrying knifes. And they need to give the Police more powers to deal with knife related criminals. The main issue that the government need to address is how to prevent people from going down the 'carry a knife' path in the first place. The government really needs to up their game!

A Post Full of Lovely Things

Because sometimes, things conspire to make one feel a bit down, and one needs one's faith in human nature restoring. So these are the things that have made me feel warm and squishy today: {[info]} livelongnmarry, bid on something if you can afford to, offer something for sale if you have the time to make or do stuff, and feel righteous! Our Glorious Leader has written an article that has impressed {[info]} scriboergosumfd. While I agree with James' caveats, especially the one about ordinary families, I am glad that Nick is reaching out to people, especially people as intelligent and ...

Seymour Hersh discusses covert opertations in Iran and the escalation to war

Watch this video of Sey Hersh on al jazeera (top) and CNN (bottom) talking about his most recent New Yorker piece, which claims that Bush has escalated covert operations within Iran.

Greeting and Grandees

Nearly bumped into David Cameron this morning as he pulled up on his bike and nearly collided with me . 'Oops', he murmured. Last week also on a Wednesday our paths crossed in the Gents where he was patting down his hair before PMQs. Again physical proximity led to no exchange of civilities. This led to me musing on the sociology of everyday life in Parliament.MPs are constantly on the move around the Palace of Westminster and its offices trooping off for votes and meetings- so your paths cross all the time. Most people - visitors and researchers excepted- know ...

on vote fraud

Open Rights Group is today reporting that the electronic counting system used to count the votes for the London Mayor and Assembly had serious deficiencies. Over 41,000 ballots went unaccounted for, as a result of the electronic counting process used. Although not enough to affect the result of the Mayoral contest, Open Rights Group claims that in the Assembly elections, In at least two cases, the margin of error was greater than the winning candidate's margin of victory, leading the group to conclude that there was 'insufficient evidence' for it to say that the results were accurate. The deficiencies highlighted ...

Poverty

You know something that makes me feel guilty? I live below the official government poverty line. According to the report by the Joseph Rowntree foundation that came out this morning, I am REALLY poor (we are currently surviving on just over half their minimum figure, INCLUDING rent). And yet... I have enough to eat. I spend social time with my friends. I have a bath every day, with Lush bubble bath. I have a roof over my head. I have reliable, fast internet access and a good computer. My daughter gets three meals a day and an education. I have ...

What planet is Terry Wogan on?

I am having a funny week. I seem to be gravitating towards Radio Two for some reason. Goodness knows why - their music playlist is a bit like 'Groundhog Day' - not exactly 'I've got you, babe' repeated everyday - but near to it. Anyway, Terry Wogan is a funny old bird isn't he? Chauffeur driven from his Thameside mansion to roll out his show and sees fit this morning to comment on a report by

Aims for MMUnion (and other SUs)

JR Hartley has written some interesting aims for the new executive at the Students' Union for Manchester Metropolitan University which are quite transferable to other unions across the country. A session or interview with the various officers on Fuse FM every so often (which could be recorded and put on the website) is a potentially good idea. I'm already pretty sold on the blog updates!

Twerton Councillors Surgery Saturday 5th July

I am not able to make the usual monthly Councillors Surgery this month but my ward colleague Councillor Gerry Curran will run the Surgery at The Hut Hinton Close Newton Road Twerton. The Surgery will run form 10am till 11am and no appointment is required. For those still unsure where to find us it is the old school wood huts between the Junior School and the Cost Cutter...

Only in the Netherlands...

In the Netherlands now you can't smoke tobacco in restaurants and cafes. But, by a quirk of the law (not to say logic) which would only happen in that wonderful country, you can smoke pure cannabis spliffs. But not tobacco and cannabis mixed blend cigarettes - which are milder than the strong pure cannabis spliffs - the latter of which the government wants to discourage - but hasn't banned. I

Boris Johnson - two months on

Just days after his May 1st victory, looking out from his 8th floor office across the skyline of our great capital city, Boris Johnson repeated to me his early days mantra - yes, I was elected as a Conservative, but I am now mayor of the whole of London and will govern for the whole [...]

The Number One Reason To Vote "NO" To An Elected Mayor In The Referendum On Thursday - A Mayor Will Be A Disaster For Local Democracy

Tomorrow (Thursday 3rd July) the people of Bury will have their chance to vote in a referendum. The referendum will ask whether or not we should change the way the Council is run and have an elected Mayor instead. I will be voting "NO" in the referendum, and have already written about how a Mayor will cost a fortune and do nothing to stop congestion charging. But the biggest reason I have for voting "NO" is because an elected Mayor will be a disaster for local democracy. At the moment, there are local elections in three out of every four ...

The Coffee Crunch

It is possibly a sign of the times that that monolith that seemed to want to not only have a branch on every street corner but ever corner of every street corner Starbucks is feeling the pinch. Having doubled in size since 2004 they are cutting, sorry 'reverse overgrowthing' 75 of their workforce and cutting 600 stores in the US. 500 of these stores already exist and 100 were part of a planned

What a banker!

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, a group of Guardian readers wondered if people yoked to the furnace of the capitalist machine were as odious as they thought. Their problem was how to find out. Fortunately, Cityboy braved the bull and bear pit so they don't have to, and has penned a 'heavily trailed in The London Paper' yarn about it. 'Cityboy: Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile' is a

Another education cock-up

Electronic is the way forward. Saves time and energy and makes the whole process more efficient. Yeah right! Well those are just a few reasons that we have been told about the changes to the reporting arrangements for this year's end of Key Stage tests. And as per usual there have been cock-ups from day one. Love them or loathe them, and I certainly loath them, end of key stage tests have an

Sustainable fish on sale in Belsize

Fish counters are disappearing all over Britain as global stocks decline, quotas become tougher and fish becomes more expensive, so I'm delighted to see that Budgens has started selling fish in its Belsize Park store. This is not only a welcome revival of a dying trade, but both Budgens and Pomona (the grocer a bit further down Haverstock Hill) are making very creditable attempts at having sustainable fish sourcing policies. Almost all the fish from both Budgens and Pomona comes from Loos in Cornwall which is a small port negotiating with the Marine Stewardship Council for the right to brand ...

Wednesday 2nd July 2008

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