The Surrey Comet has the story about Zac Goldsmith's 'illegal' donation to the Richmond Park Conservative Association. Goldsmith is their parliamentary candidate, and the Electoral Commission is investigating the allegation that he gave them £7000 when he was not on the electoral register, which is not allowed under electoral law. So the Richmond Park Tories will probably lose the...
This made me smile as I was about to log off my computer tonight. It's not just that Gordon Brown is saying increasingly daft things, It's not just that he sounds more and more like Comical Ali as American tanks rolled in to Baghdad. it's the fact that the BBC publishes them and puts a picture of Gordon Brown next to them which make him look like he is trying to pass a pineapple from his backside at the same time. The BBC has a habit of using certain pictures, some which add gravitas and some which undermine. This one ...
Council Meeting The main items of interest were the three motions - The vote of No Confidence in the Lead Councillor for the Environment as presented by the Tories, the Votes at 16 motion presented by the Liberal Democrats, and the motion about Belmont and Sutton Controlled Parking Zones presented by the Tories. Well, what to [...]
I am currently working on a new design for my site, which I hope will provide a more useful and interactive experience. Whilst I work on it, there is likely to be a few hiccups on the way, so if you notice the site taking a long time to load, or things are working quite as you'd expect, please let me know. Likewise, if you have any comments or suggestions, please leave a comment!
For a laugh, I thought I'd watch Russia Today, the Kremlin's propaganda channel to see what Russians are being told about the conflict in Georgia, and it was clear that the Kremlin has a new agenda. Last week the Russia Today line (fed to them and read out by british journalists taking the money and caring little about the real news) was that the "Fascist democratic government of Georgia launched an unprovoked attack on an defenceless sovereign state". Last week too the line from the Kremlin was about Ossetians wanting independence. Today though the tack of the channel has changed. ...
Welsh Conservative A.M. Darren Millar has found important documents in rubbish bags whilst looking for a bite to eat. The Clwyd West A.M. did not find any left over sandwiches or pasties. Instead he found NHS trust patient documents. These confidential papers relating to individual patients he found in bin bags at his Cardiff bay apartment. Mr. Millar is now writing to Hugh Ross. Chief Executive of Cardiff Vale NHS trust. The Tory A.M. said; 'I am appalled at the lack of protection afforded to this data, particularly given the recent data losses by public services and the nature of ...
{don-foster.jpg} Commenting on reports that many fans hoping to attend Reading Festival who bought tickets from unlicensed resellers have not been sent tickets, Liberal Democrat Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Don Foster said: "It seems that music fans from across the country will be left hugely disappointed again this weekend as a result of these scams. "It's quite disgraceful that ticket touts are getting away with conning people for successive music festivals. "The public needs to have confidence that the websites they're purchasing from are legitimate and that will only happen when we have a proper code of conduct ...
You could come and meet one of your Ward Councillors and improve your health at the samer time! Every Tuesday at 10.00am at St. Michael's Church, in Great Coates Road there is one of the popular Walkwell Walks. The walk is supervised by qualified walk leaders who lead the group in a brisk walk in the surrounding countryside for around an hour followed by an optional social gathering where free refreshments are served. This walk has proved to be very popular, and is regularly attended by about 40 walkers, including myself. You can take a walk in the countryside in ...
After I posted this morning that I had made blackberry whiskey last night, I received a number of queries asking if I were distilling whiskey in a, shall we say not quite legal tax avoidance way! Alas, it was very much the opposite. I had to buy a bottle of the cheapest whiskey I could get (Sainsbury's own brand for just under £9). Frankly I wouldn't know how to distill spirits if my life
If you look at my sidebar you'll see under the 'My Mux' RSS feed An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later. A quick trip to the site gives us the reason {muxtape} Yep, Muxtape, a site that was doing no harm to anyone, that linked each song to where you could buy it on Amazon, that had had no complaints from any artists, a site designed to spread the word of unknown music has been taken off the air while they deal with the RIAA. The say the outage is just temporary and I hope ...
When the definitive history of the social liberalisation of 20th century Britain comes to be written, the name of my old friend Leo Abse, who has died aged 91, will be writ large. An indefatigable campaigner, both as a lawyer and as a South Wales Labour MP (of Polish Jewish extraction), he was largely responsible [...]
The headline pretty much says it all - Neil, councillor for Highgate ward, is now blogging at neilwilliamslibdems.blogspot.com
The Competition Commission has suggested, perhaps commanded (I no longer know what sort of power the CC has given that most competition issues are meant to be dealt with on a Europe-wide basis) that BAA ought to sell some of its airports, and in particular two of the three main London ones. I am uneasy about this for two main reasons... First off I am deeply suspicious about the timing of the Competition Commission's investigation which seemed to be a (possibly coincidental) reaction to those foreigners (Ferrovial) taking over a British company which had owned those airports for a significant ...
The wonders of modern technology alerted me to Adam's "Stunning structures". He sais: "My initial reaction when I first saw the shell of the building at the beginning of the year, was that it was designed to emulate a butterfly". As I have not been up that way for some time now I made a point of detouring there on my way to the Gym @ the Halton Tennis Centre. The pictures here are mine but very similar to Adam's. It is great these guys got planning permission. In areas like the Lake District it makes sense to have a ...
The next meeting of Yarborough Forward, which is open to any resident of the Yarborough Ward, will take place at the Yarrow Road Community Centre on Thursday 28th August at 6.00pm. This is an opportunity for local residentsto tell some of the people who can make a difference to the area that you live in what YOU want to see done to improve your neighbourhood. Regular visitors at Yarborough Forward meetings include Ward Councillors, Police, Neighbourhood Wardens, PCSO's, e - Factor, Shoreline HP, Health Trainers and Neighbourhood Managers. If you live in the Yarborough Ward why not come to the ...
{jeremy-clarkson.jpg} Downing Street has been accused of wasting taxpayers' money after making a jokey video in response to a petition for Jeremy Clarkson to be made PM. The 55-second clip, on Number 10's You Tube site, was created after nearly 50,000 people backed a call for the Top Gear presenter to be prime minister. No 10 said the clip had been created by a member of staff who had a "spare half hour" and had not cost any extra cash. The clip thanks everyone who signed the online petition and says officials have "thought long and hard" about it. "But ...
{A picture of Vincent Cable} Commenting on today's Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) announcement that mortgage lending in July 2008 was nearly a third lower than at the same time last year, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: "This is more evidence off a housing market in freefall. "As thousands of pounds are wiped off the value of homes each month, the only people selling are those who have no alternative. "Although painful, house prices must be allowed to return to more affordable levels following years of huge price rises on the back of unsustainable levels of personal debt. ...
{A picture of John Barrett} Commenting on reports that thousands of pensioners could miss out on hundreds of pounds worth of backdated benefits as a result of changes to the pension credit, council tax benefit and housing benefit systems, Liberal Democrat Work and Pensions Spokesperson, John Barrett said: "With these changes, the Government is giving with one hand and taking away with the other. "I cannot see any justification for the change in the backdating rules other than to save money for the Exchequer. The simple reality is that some of the most vulnerable pensioners will be missing out on ...
...Only for a few days! The Prime Minister will leave one of his greatest fans Blackburn MP Jack Straw to run the Government as he goes to China. Well lets hope Mr Straw can tell the cabinet or teach them something that will change their minds and stop them wanting to challenge Brown...Hint...Hint Miliband. What do you think?
Latest news on the campaign for local television : Local TV coalition attacks ULTV's letter to Ofcom
I've recently retired as leader of the Lib Dem group on the Council. You can read about it on Lynne Featherstone's website here). One of the great gifts I received from my lovely Lib Dem colleagues on the Council was my own Monopoly set - hand crafted and 'bespoke' - featuring many well known spots in Highgate and beyond - but all in Haringey (see pic). I must admit I haven't played it yet (or any other set of Monopoly in recent years), but it's a very nice thing to have....
The next meeting of East Marsh Involve will be held on Tuesday 29th July (the last Tuesday of the month) - starting at 6 p.m. The venue for this meeting is the Grimsby Neighbourhood Centre which is on the corner of Wellington Street and Weelsby Street. The meeting is open to all residents of the East Marsh, and usually this Community Meeting is well attended. The agenda for the next meeting is as follows: Ø Steve Ryder (CPO Media) Ø Ward Councillor's Funding Requests Ø Aric Lacoste - Neighbourhood Renewal Assessment Ø Neil Cartwright - Community Chest Ø Humberside Police ...
Although lacking the drama of the Ray Lewis resignation, Tim Parker's departure from the London City Hall team is perhaps more of a blow to the Boris project. The media storm created by this news has been limited. I agree with Jeremy Hargreaves that and Londoners are unlikely to be shocked to the core by it. Taxes going up, traffic stopping or rubbish piling up in the street might cause Boris'
{ed-davey.jpg} The Liberal Democrats today condemned David Cameron's failure to probe the Watford Conservative Party following the local parliamentary candidate's sustained campaign of harassment and criminal damage against his Liberal Democrat rivals. Liberal Democrat Chair of Campaigns and Communications, Edward Davey wrote to Mr Cameron to demand action following Ian Oakley's guilty pleas on August 5, but the Tory leader has done nothing. In a second letter to Mr Cameron today, Edward Davey said: "I deeply regret that a fortnight later you have failed to act in this matter or to apologise for the severe distress that this disgraceful campaign ...
{norman-lamb.jpg} Commenting on today's Department of Health study into progress made since the publication of its diabetes plan for England five years ago, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said: "This report shows the NHS has taken a step in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go before people with diabetes are getting the help they need to manage their condition. "But what is most striking about the report is what it doesn't say. Almost no mention is made of the big risk that, unless we effectively tackle obesity, the number of people suffering ...
Welcome to the Mysterious World of Utterly Fabricated Conspiracy Theories. Brown has, it has to be said, a suspiciously handsome head of hair on him. Wirey and slightly greasy looking though it is, it's still hair and lots of it. No sign of a bald patch, no real sign of a receding hairline. On the other hand, poor Dave looks increasingly plummy with each passing year as his hairline slowly retreats the up the slope and, eventually, back down the other side. Brown knows full well that Moustaches, Beards and Bald Patches are electoral death. So it was that Blair ...
{ed-davey.jpg} The Liberal Democrats today condemned David Cameron's failure to probe the Watford Conservative Party following the local parliamentary candidate's sustained campaign of harassment and criminal damage against his Liberal Democrat rivals. Liberal Democrat Chair of Campaigns and Communications, Edward Davey wrote to Mr Cameron to demand action following Ian Oakley's guilty pleas on August 5, but the Tory leader has done nothing. In a second letter to Mr Cameron today, Edward Davey said: "I deeply regret that a fortnight later you have failed to act in this matter or to apologise for the severe distress that this disgraceful campaign ...
{nick-clegg.jpg} Commenting on George Osborne's speech today, in which he attacks the Government for having let down poor families, Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg said: "George Osborne's restaurant has a menu without prices. There is something for everyone, but no one has to pay. "What passes for Conservative policy is nothing but a series of hopelessly vague ambitions. They would rather repeatedly tell us that we are broken than say what they would do to fix things. The only genuine policy they have is a tax break for the richest 6% of people. "The Liberal Democrats know that to create ...
Post Office Ltd have announced the closure of 5 post offices in St Albans - with no appeal. It is a blow to the local community - and Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Brazier has condemned the way it has been pushed through "I am extremely disappointed that they are going to close all five post offices. I am very sceptical that the process was complete and transparent." "I believe it was a done deal from the start and the decision was part of a rubber-stamping exercise that had all ready been made. This result does not bode well for our ...
{A picture of Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay} The average price of homes sold at auction has fallen by almost one fifth since 2007, the Liberal Democrats warned recently. Calculations by Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson, Lord (Matthew) Oakeshott found that the average price of residential properties sold at auction in the second quarter of 2008 was down 18.7% from the same quarter of 2007. This is an average fall of £32,000 (from £170,757 to £138,857).Commenting, Lord Oakeshott said:"Auctions are the real deal with real buyers who have to exchange contracts and pay their deposit when the hammer falls. The published ...
{vince-cable-mp.jpg} Commenting on today's Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) announcement that mortgage lending in July 2008 was nearly a third lower than at the same time last year, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: "This is more evidence off a housing market in freefall. "As thousands of pounds are wiped off the value of homes each month, the only people selling are those who have no alternative. "Although painful, house prices must be allowed to return to more affordable levels following years of huge price rises on the back of unsustainable levels of personal debt. "The Government must act ...
Back yesterday from three days in Edinburgh - a festival virgin! And it was fantastic. I have clearly come to this cultural feast late in life - but enjoyed it hugely. One real bonus - everything was arranged and booked by a friend who has been doing Edinburgh for about 20 years - so knows a thing or two. Without boring you with every detail about what I saw - just to mention one completely brilliant play called Regretrosexual. It's a love story - basically - but a modern one! If you get a chance - go see it. One ...
Commenting on figures released recently by the Office of Rail Regulation, which show that rail fares have rocketed in price since the mid-1990s, Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker said:"It is absurd that rail fares continue to rise well above inflation."Rail is the greenest form of mass transportation and the Government should be taking steps to make it more attractive."At the moment it seems that the more carbon you emit, the cheaper it is to travel."
Commenting on a recent Business and Enterprise Committee report, which warns that energy prices will rise significantly in the near future, with 'serious consequences for millions of households, and especially the fuel-poor', Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, Steve Webb said:"The Government's response to soaring energy prices has been woefully complacent. "The planned rise in the Winter Fuel Payment is dwarfed by the rise that households are likely to see in their bills. These increases hit the elderly and the most vulnerable the hardest, while energy companies receive a £9bn windfall. "Immediate action is needed so that vulnerable customers are guaranteed ...
Follow this link to the NY Times for a great graphic of Olympic medals won by country in the modern era. (H/T Strange Maps).
We all battle away at trying, often successfully, to interest new supporters of the LibDems. So, it is like "manna from heaven" when a ready-made loyal and experienced LibDem activist "drops into one's lap" and moves to one's ward. For a LibDem activist, it is a bit like Christmas. Someone who knows the ropes, has shown proven loyalty to the cause...great! So it was with great delight a few
{john-barrett-mp.jpg} Commenting on reports that thousands of pensioners could miss out on hundreds of pounds worth of backdated benefits as a result of changes to the pension credit, council tax benefit and housing benefit systems, Liberal Democrat Work and Pensions Spokesperson, John Barrett said: "With these changes, the Government is giving with one hand and taking away with the other. "I cannot see any justification for the change in the backdating rules other than to save money for the Exchequer. The simple reality is that some of the most vulnerable pensioners will be missing out on hundreds, perhaps thousands of ...
A great example of how the minimum wage destroys jobs, courtesy of Art Carden at Division of Labour. I was at a coffee shop yesterday when I noticed a sign saying "please bus your own tables" (I paraphrase). I saw a similar sign at an ice cream place last week; I interpret both as examples of the deadweight loss from the state's $8.00 per hour minimum wage. Someone somewhere might be willing to bus tables at coffee shops for $7.00 per hour, but they are prevented from doing so by state law. Granted, cleaning my own table at a coffee ...
There's a lot of rubbish talked about food and the environment. One current fad is to source all one's food locally so as to reduce one's "carbon footprint". The suggestion is that by reducing all those "food miles" one reduces the negative impact of shopping on the environment. Is it true? And if so by how much? The findings of two researchers suggest that the answer to the latter is "not much". According to Christopher L Weber and Scott H Matthews in their paper Food-Miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the United States, Despite significant recent ...
Having finally sat down and read the Bones Report, or at least the Executive Summary, can I just say, "whoops, I should have read that earlier." I'm pleased to announce that I am 100% behind this report. In fact, it's by far the single most impressive document I've ever seen from this party. No, wait: Not impressive. It's reassuring. It's motivating. It's telling me that we finally have Leadership that understands what the problems are and have a clear plan in place to address them. It tells me the Leadership actually understand how to exercise their legitimate, democratically elected authority ...
Only one political party fought the last general election saying that the purchase of Eurofighter should be scrapped. Sadly the Liberal Democrats didn't win, and the country is now stuck with a fighter it can't afford - and hardly wants. This report appears in the FT this morning: Talks have been held with countries including Japan about offloading large numbers of Eurofighter Typhoons that the British Ministry of Defence has ordered but can no longer afford. The talks, which officials say are at an early stage, underline the scale of the cash crisis facing the MoD as it grapples with ...
Just for the record, I did not write this. That is all. Share This
All children should be removed from the National DNA Database immediately unless they have committed a serious sexual or violent crime, according to new Liberal Democrat plans published today. The proposals would dramatically increase safeguards for all personal data in the wake of numerous Government and private sector data protection failures. The Liberal Democrats' plans include: Strengthening the role of the Information Commissioner and doubling his budget Removing under 16s from the DNA database, except those convicted of a violent or sexual offence Properly informing citizens of opt-outs from government databases Introducing extensive civil penalties for serious breaches of data ...
The party has been using the internet in various guises as part of its policy process for quite a few years now (e.g. with the http://consult.libdems.org.uk site), but I think the Facebook group for the new women's policy working group is a first. It'll be interesting to see how much it adds to the overall [...]
A Local Business man who's taxi base and takeaway had to move from its location as the Council wanted to build a Train Station and Bus Station together went through a lot of trouble but now he has achieved his goal. The Business man was refused a taxi base as taxi drivers protested about it then these taxi drivers protested about him having a takeaway but finally yesterday he got it. The Protesters were a group of hackney cab drivers who's cabs aren't even safe to be on the streets yet they complain if a man who has been in ...
It's all getting rather exciting over in the US with rumours aplenty that Barack Obama will be announcing his VP running mate in the next 24 hours, or 48 hours, on Saturday, Friday or shortly depending on who you are reading. There's also some significant rumours courtesy of an advertising blog, that it will be Kathleen Sebelius because of some leak that an ad agency is working on the Obama/Sebelius marketing etc. This is all to be taken with a major pinch of salt because, well, it's just a rumour but it would be really great if Sebelius was his ...
What on Earth is happening in City Hall? If you want to know if a ship is seaworthy, look at which way the rats are running. It doesn't look good. Today's latest debacle suggests that he is rapidly turning into the liability for David Cameron that some of us predicted he would be: He wrote: "If you believe the politicians, we have a broken society, in which the courage and morals of young people have been sapped by welfarism and political correctness. "And if you look at what is happening at the Beijing Olympics, you can see what piffle that ...
I am just back from holidaying in a small Castilian town near to Salamanca called Bejar. My inbox filled up and I needed to push some urgent work stuff through the email account. I was desperate. My work provides me with an iPass account but the supposed access points in the Bejar area did not exist. These were listed as being in two service stations in the town, but having hung around both of them with a laptop (a noticeably abnormal activity in that locale) I found no wireless networks at all. The single internet cafe I found would not ...
{Img_1287} Following my post earlier in the week about issues on Hexham estate, I was alarmed when I heard from RBC that we have lost another Neighbourhood Officer for the area, only a few months into the job. This is a real worry, and begs questions about whether the areas and responsibilities these officers have to deal with are manageable. My fears were compounded when I received an email from a resident who lives on the estate on the same day, who complained that as far as she is concerned 'no one person is looking after the estate'. She felt ...
The resignation of Boris Johnson's right hand man, Tim Parker, is a blow for the Mayor and for those wanting more effective (and cheaper) London Government. From reading Tory blogs, it appears that Parker's plans for a cost-cutting drive across the GLA were too much for the local government types that the Mayor has surrounded himself with. Which is a pity because Parker was one of the few talented people brought in by the Mayor. As I wrote on his appointment: Up until now, Boris's appointments have been a mix of local government worthies (who seem more interested in sucking ...
Hat Tip: Donal Blaney
I had a good chuckle over this - how the might fall! Come on Team GB! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7571901.stm
Do you know how much of your porn is extreme? | The Register Here's a cunning plan. Change the law so that some stuff that was perfectly legal will now become illegal, and then NOT TELL THE POLICE how to deal with it or make the judgement. You can't even ask what you need to destroy. FFS (tags: labour law porn stupidity)
"To the beloved memory of Harriet Mill" | OneHourAhead Brilliant. One Hour Ahead visited JS Mill's grave. So very cool. (tags: js+Mill gravestones Pictures) halcyon_shift: I took today off, pretty much. I did a l Don Doll has scripted a little trick to let you display a random LJ userpic, useful for all you layout creators. Could also be used for sites that allow you to post off site avatars I guess. (tags: livejournal code icons) antipholus: Big Dick Spam Email Haikus That nice Mr Papps writes haikus out of spam subject headers. Sure, it's not an original idea, but ...
Hah, managed to fiddle around and get a better method, and it works, yay! These are all links from June that never got posted... FactCheck: are we drinking less? - Channel 4 - News Yes, yes we are. Well, I'm not, I'm drinking loads more than I used to, but even though I'm officially a binge drinker I don't think it's an actual problem. Stupid neo-puritan moralising nannies (tags: alcohol politics) synecdochic: Announcing Dreamwidth Studios. Coming Summer 2008. This could be interestingâ"a full fork of the Livejournal code platform, making it easier to install and doing many of the things ...
Last night I went to the Boogaloo in Highgate for Trekstock - a gig in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. Had an excellent night. I was there because my old housemate Wade is a massive Starsailor fan and the main attraction was an acoustic set from their singer James Walsh (top photo). I'm not a big Starsailor fan, but the night had the added bonus of being close to home and, of course, for charity. So I got very excited during the day when I found out that the Holloways were also playing. I've seen them live a bunch ...
"If someone had said to me a spacecraft had landed on the meadows last night I would have said 'well I heard it'."More on the BBC Suffolk pages. Later. And also in the East Anglian Daily Times.
Ben Judah is in Georgia. Read his post about arriving in Georgia. This is his guest post from a refugee camp. The Man from Gori Mirian wears '90s Reebok trainers, black badly-cut jeans and a lumberjack shirt of the worst imaginable quality. He is holding a rubbish sack filled with a few books, a family-photo album, more ugly clothes and a lock of his girlfriend's hair wrapped in a green elastic band. He tries to speak English very quickly, over-annunciates the 'o' and spends half the time looking for a blue lighter he claims somebody has 'stolen' from him. His ...
I have been spectacularly busy at work recently, hence the lack of a post yesterday, and this one which, as you will see in approximately nine lines time, will come to its conclusion. In the last few days though we have begun to print the latest St Mary's Focus, which will start to hit doorsteps shortly, and I have been limbering up for the resumption of Council business next week. There have been lots of interesting issues cropping up over recess, not least of which is the job evaluation / equaly pay issue which I know has affected a lot ...
... this is already shaping up to be essential reading for anyone who is even vaguely interested in the workings of the Welsh Assembly Government. Don't bother if you don't actively like a controversial tone and a liberal peppering of swear words.
I was in campaigning in the Pimhill ward of Shrewsbury and Atcham Council last night. There is a by-election there next week so I was out canvassing with the candidate Helen Woodman and here team.
"...I've got a recipe for cosmic flan" I suppose that's what the SONG is about then.
I was reading a post on another Lib Dems blog through LibDemBlogs and i come across a post that said that Boris is the 100 day free trial to Cameron. The person who has written that post is someone like myself who can see through the Conservatives. I don't think its a 100 day trial more like a long period that will continue to drag until either Boris step's down or his time in office comes to an end...finally is what the people will be saying! Just feel some sympathy for the Londoners who are going through Hell everyday since ...
Tuesday's show started well and got progressively better through the day. "More poofery" Like Richard Herring, Stewart Lee and Simon Munnery, David Benson is an act I see every year if he's on. His shows tend to be gentle but entertaining, well-suited for mid-afternoon in a rainy Edinburgh, and he has a charismatic, conversational style that lends itself to whatever subject he chooses to cover. David Benson Sings Noël Coward is this year's show and it was the subject matter rather than Benson's performance that let me down a little. He was more entertaining between songs than some of the ...
Being a Liberal Democrat is great. It means you're a member of a sensible party for normal people; with imaginative policies and a leader who makes sense. We're also special as an internally democratic party: party members determine party policy and major decisions are made by committees elected by the party conference because most of us believe [...]
Now it's officially called IMP. That no longer stands for Interface Message Processor, which has an honourable place in the history of the internet, but for Interception Modernisation Programme, which I fear will not. Or, as per El Reg, the überdatabase. I refer to the plan to start keeping all of our electronic communications in one giant shoebox. It will be big, that is not in question; in fact it will be enormous. And, of course, we're not allowed to know how enormous because the government can use both of its favourite excuses - commercial sensitivity AND security implications. Must ...
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The grand tour of Scotland is over and I'm heading back to London through the mist and rain which has characterised much of the last 10 days. On our return from Orkney, we spent Sunday night in a country hotel just ouside Aviemore and managed to get a short walk by the loch before we headed off down the A9 to Glasgow. A members meeting had been organised in Glasgow city centre by Robert Brown and Jo Swinson, after which we headed over to Edinburgh for our last 2 nights in Scotland. Going straight from the Highlands to Glasgow was ...
I squeezed in two shows after getting to Edinburgh on Monday afternoon. "I'd like to meet Gandhi. I think we'd have a lot to share" The Headmaster's Son is Richard Herring's latest stand-up and, as the title suggests, takes as its theme his school years as the son of the headmaster. Very much in the style of his last show, The Headmaster's Son takes a bit of time to get going, and peters off a little towards the end. It was educational though: some of his tales of school were sufficiently similar to my own that I figure there are ...
I was always under the impression that parading prisoners in a degrading way, showing them of for the sake of humiliation or putting them before TV cameras was against the terms of the Geneva convention. So why were the Russians parading Georgian soldiers ?
Idea courtesy of Iain Dale
Today is the 17th anniversary of the August coup in Moscow. The hardliners of the Politburo conspired with the Soviet military and security services to overthrow the reforming Communist, Mikhail Gorbachev. However, as we know, the coup failed and the Soviet Union disintegrated. In the past week, we have had to confront the fact that the defeat of the hardliners was by no means as complete as it seemed at the time. The secret organs of the Soviet state have turned out to be far more robust than we had hoped. Indeed, almost any figure of consequence in the modern ...
Earlier this week, Guido poked fun at The Guardian for publishing an opinion poll where the voting intention figures added up to 101. Of course, there isn't really any mystery or error in all of this, because figures are nearly always rounded off to the nearest whole number when these sorts of polls are published. [...]
Via Liberal England: An alarming story from The Herald: Scottish Liberal Democrats have been warned by their auditors that ... it may be deemed, in accounting terms, to be no longer a going concern, after nearly a tenth of its expenditure last year was not met by income... But, as the Herald points out, other [...]
Shocking facts in today's Guardian, which tells us that the UK has become the sixth largest net importer of water in the world, with every consumer indirectly responsible for the use of thousands of litres a day. Only 38% of the UK's total water use comes from its own resources; the rest depends on the water systems of other countries, some of which are already facing serious shortages. A new study calculates that: · Average household water use for washing and drinking in the UK is about 150 litres a person daily, but we consume about 30 times as much ...
Those of us south of Hadrian's Wall who find Alex Salmond's smug grin off-putting should be glad we don't live in Scotland, where a media application three times a day must be truly nauseating. Now it appears he is closing in on sainthood, a full two years before Salmond's promised referendum on Scottish independence. A Scottish Government photo, reproduced here, shows His Scottishness with a huge halo. Has Alex been at the Ready Brek? You would have thought with a Highland constituency, he would be able to face East Lothian without the protection of a hot oat cereal, but then ...
Congratulations to the Racecourse, home of Wrexham Football Club, which has been officially recognised as the oldest football stadium in the world still hosting international games. The stadium has a 200-year history as a sporting venue, an acolade that will be recognised when a certificate from Guinness World records will be presented at the ground at the Wales v Romania under-21 game on Wednesday. The BBC tell us that "the aptly-named Racecourse was initially known as a horse racing venue, and staged its first contest - the Town Purse - in 1807. At the time it offered a prize of ...
Last week I organised a site visit to look specifically a street cleansing problem. I felt this wasn't necessarily about people not doing their job but was more about timing and management. Today I saw the results. An extra visit had been made to deal with an area that had become a particular problem. Now you can't stop people dropping litter it seems. No matter what anyone says there is a significant minority (and I am afraid it looks to be more adults than children) who do it. So there will never be a street that is 100 per cent ...
I started off by thinking I would just dip in and out of the Olumpics coverage - but I am hooked! It is great to see a focus on sport that is not all football (with the odd nod towards rugby and cricket). For some "minority" sports this must be their highlight in terms of TV and other coverage. Hopefully they'll be able to recruit off the back of it.
It must have seemed like such a good idea to someone to run Boris Johnson as the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London. It seemed he had very little chance of winning, but would raise the party's profile and, frankly, fill the embarrassingly huge gap that no-one else was coming forward to be the Tory candidate. But then, just as in 2000, the voters of London made the calculation that in the grand scheme of things the Mayoralty of London wasn't really that important, and so seized the opportunity to vote for the maverick outsider candidate as a cost-free way ...
The disappearing flag and the unfortunate halo. The latter is presumably the result of some slightly clumsy lightening of the photo (though if it was another party's leader in the photo, you can imagine the sort of intemperate comments that would appear from SNP supporters about how this was the lowest and most desparate acts [...]
In the past I have reported two stories about the Snailbeach District Railways. The first said that there were plans to reopen the line. The second said that two of the scheme's prime movers had died in a car crash in Switzerland. Both these reports were from the Shropshire Star, so I reasoned that they must be true. But people have left comments on both postings suggesting the scheme is a hoax or a fantasy. One of those messages directed readers to a Yahoo group (SnailbeachOversight) devoted to this theory. Intriguing. Liberal England will investigate further. In the mean time, ...
Downing street have responded to the popular campaign for Jeremy Clarkson to be the Prime minister. Which received nearly 50,000 signatures on a petition on the petitions.gov.uk site. The video response can be seen below:
Am I the only person irritated that the medals rankings are based almost solely on gold medals? Under the current system, National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are ranked first by number of gold medals, then to differentiate between teams of the same number of gold medals, silver medal number, and then bronze likewise. This seems to be the standard system. An alternative is to simply use the total number of medals, which can often be signifcantly different. For example several people involved in Team USA have argued that they are in fact 1st in the Olympic medals rankings, although at present ...
If you haven't heard about Team GB doing remarkably well in the Beijing Olympics, where have you been? We've already met the target of 35 medals as set by UK Sport, which threatened it would 'review' funding if this target was unmet. While this may come as a massive suprise to many, several experts has suggested that we actually shouldn't be too shocked - as investment in sport in the UK, particularly in terms of Olympic events, has, so many say, increased significantly over the last ten years. Track-cycling has been highlighted by some, who say that just 10 years ...
... for this. Sing cuckoo, folks.
I will get back to the reviews shortly, but Alex has asked that we do this meme before the 25th, so I'll get it out of the way now. Here are my posts from the last year that contain the most substance, or which made points I'm especially bothered about: The Vexed Question of Green Car Taxation Are "Religious Rights" Special? Tax Credits as Tax Cuts The Atheist Delusion Lib-Connery
Labour have caused outrage across Wycombe as they ignore local opinion and announce the closure of 3 Post Offices in our area. Hazlemere, Desborough and North Town are all scheduled to close by the end of the year despite strong local campaigns. {Steve Guy and Post Office campaigners} The Liberal Democrats will continue to fight these closures. The post office has always been an integral part of community life; so many people rely on their post office.These closures represent the worst of Britain, an uncompassionate and faceless society. Please help us keep this issue high up the political agenda by ...
It's been a while since my last post; I've been on holiday. However, not very much has happened anyway! The Tesco loading bay is still inexplicably held up in the system and I've issued another request for information. The Quarry Road footbridge at the University is on target, due to be delivered through the city early on Monday morning, 1st September. The bridge is prefabricated entire and will be under police escort. Meanwhile, this being August, there have been no council meetings; my most recent was a wonderfully intricate scrutiny panel with representatives from four councils reviewing the West of ...
An alarming story from The Herald: Scottish Liberal Democrats have been warned by their auditors that they may be forced out of business if they do not tackle their financial debts.The party has been told it may be deemed, in accounting terms, to be no longer a going concern, after nearly a tenth of its expenditure last year was not met by income.The newspaper goes on to say: In the Scottish LibDem case, expenditure reached £766,000, and the deficit ran to nearly £75,000. Liabilities exceeded assets by £22,131.The auditor, PFF (UK), concluded that it could sign off last year's accounts ...
Dear Mr Khalid Mahmood MP,
Wednesday: Oh Mr Prince Charles! GM crops DON'T cause Climate Change! Ever since being appointed PRINCE OF WAILS, Mr Charles has been famously shooting his mouth off about anything and everything that he finds "Absolutely Ghastly". Yes, he's not so much monarch in waiting as Britain's Battiest Blogger. But as a living, breathing example of SELECTIVE BREEDING taken to its most ludicrous extremes (his claim to own all of Cornwall depending entirely on his dodgy assertion that he's some special "breed") you would think that Mr the Prince would be a TINY bit more cautious before condemning anyone else's GENETICS. ...
