AN 81-year-old grandmother has won her case against the Department for Work and Pensions.As reported, Edna Nixon, of Bader Close, on Grimsby's Willows Estate, was alarmed when she received a letter from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), saying she owed them £1,390.42 because they had been paying her too much severe disability premium.She legitimately started receiving extra money in her pension after she had half a lung removed in 2001, to treat cancer. Despite the major surgery and the fact she suffered with asthma, the spirited and independent pensioner rang up benefit officers in 2005 and said she ...
Yesterday I attended the AGM of the Kettner Lunch (of which I am a Vice-Chairman), at the National Liberal Club on the Embankment. This venerable lunchtime institution, as its name suggests, used to meet at Kettner's Restaurant in Soho — which had been the scene of many of Oscar Wilde's intimate suppers with his dangerous 'panthers', but was relaunched [...]
Plans to increase tolls on the Humber Bridge will put more pressure on the local economy, a campaigner has said. The proposed rise means car drivers will pay be forced to pay £2.90 each time they cross the bridge, 20p more than current prices. Jenny Walton, who leads Humber Action Against Tolls, said: "This rise is no surprise but it will push up costs of everything for people and the economy." The Humber Bridge Board which controls the bridge blamed a rise in inflation and "debts on the financing of the bridge". Tolls on the bridge last rose in 2006, ...
Following on the theme from my post this morning about how we could protect data about us held by agencies of the state by using a sort of a personal key and PIN like your bank's call centre has to validate with you before they can access your data, my mind wandered onto other uses for such a key. It has been a recurring theme in this blog that the internet in particular and modern communications in general represent a great threat to the balance of power between states (and incidentally also global "intermediary" corporations) and their citizens. I say ...
Baywatch with medals. Not original: I read this somewhere once, but it does not appear to be on the net.
The Wapley Bushes Conservation Group is meeting on Sunday 31 August at the Shire Way gate at 10.00 am. They will be doing some general conservation work such as tidying up a small stream that is the habitat of a very rare plant. (No, not this one - this is just one of the Lords and Ladies arums) Please come along and help! Tools are provided, but you'll need to wear wellies or stout footwear and appropriate clothing. If you would like more details please ring Paul on 01454 315851, but you can just turn up on the day. You ...
I'm watching a repeat of Armstrong and Miller and shit. And it has reminded me of brilliant column David McKie wrote a couple of weeks ago: So, far from being an exercise in the slovenly, "I was, like ...", I am now persuaded, is a demonstration of rigour. What the speaker who uses this formula is essentially saying is: "I cannot vouchsafe beyond peradventure that the information with which I am about to present you is truly authentic; but here at least is the essence of what I believe I averred at the time."What a shame that it is now ...
Forty years ago this week the army of the Soviet Union and its allies invaded Czechoslovakia, bringing to an end the 'Prague Spring.' For a few months the Czech and Slovak people had enjoyed increased freedom of speech, and greater press freedom. I recall watching pictures of passive resistance by the people, slowing down tanks, daubing them with paint and chanting slogans. The invaders got the message that they were not welcome! I also remember hearing broadcasts in English from Radio Prague just before the invasion, and how the tone changed after it happened.. The tanks may have imposed Soviet ...
We've had another spate of fly tipping in East Park. Last week I reported a load of black bags, an old mattress, and a fridge. I'm please to say some of these have been cleared. We need to keep reporting fly tipping when it happens, and if it is clear where it has come from, the perpetrators can be prosecuted.
From the Guardian: The Olympics minister, Tessa Jowell, today criticised the British media for running too many negative stories about China that failed to recognise the progress the country had made. "You can get big headlines back home for slating the repressive regime - and there are some aspects that that are profoundly repressive - but there is a great risk of going too far," she warned in an interview with the Guardian.The paper's website has a video of her saying it. Meanwhile in Tibet: a picture is emerging from various sources of Tibet as a country in lockdown. The ...
{humber-bridge.jpg} Plans to increase tolls on the Humber Bridge will put "more pressure on the local economy", a campaigner has said. The proposed rise means car drivers will pay £2.90 each way across the bridge, 20p more than current prices. Jenny Walton, who leads Humber Action Against Tolls, said: "This rise is no surprise but it will push up costs of everything for people and the economy". Humber Bridge Board which controls the bridge blamed a rise in inflation and "debts on the financing of the bridge". Tolls on the bridge last rose in 2006, but a recent study commissioned ...
The Prisons Inspection has found that an immigration removal center wrongly detained disabled children and transported families in metal cages. The children had been found to have been detained far too long and left very stressed. The report also said that at the center (Yarl's Wood in Bedfordshire), children were on average detained for 8 days, two years ago and now that has risen to 15 days. The Government's treatment of Asylum Seekers and Immigrants is disgusting. Some of these people have come from extremely troubled regions and they have suffered much and gone through so much to get here. ...
Asif Zardari has been nominated by the PPP (Pakistan's People Party) to be Pakistan's President. He was the husband of assassinated Benazir Bhutto, and huge accusations of corruption hang over him. It is he that really cast a shadow over Benazir's time as PM. So I simply don't trust him to be the President. It is thought that the PPP and PML-N (Nawaz Sharif's Party), will discuss what powers should now be taken away from President and given to the Parliament. Which I think is essential for them to do, as I believe in Parliamentary Democracy. However it's thought that ...
Heart attack victim Neil Doore is putting his best foot forward to help others.Walking has changed Neil's health and lifestyle for the better and now he has become a walk leader, for Walk Well, to help others do the same.Mr Doore (43), from the East Marsh, in Grimsby, said the scheme has completely altered his outlook on his health and life.He said: "Since joining the health walks, my health has improved no end and I wanted to be a part of the scheme to help people like me."In 2005, Mr Doore suffered from a heart attack and was signed off ...
{david-laws.jpg} Commenting on reports that specialist schools failing to reach the Government's GCSE pass rate benchmark could be stripped of additional funding, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said on 20th August: "It would be absurd for the Government to financially penalise schools with lower results. These schools are often the ones in the most challenging catchment areas. "There is a strong case for funding all schools at the specialist status level and then providing additional top-ups on the basis of deprivation." For further information about David Laws visit his website: http://www.yeovil-libdems.org.uk/david.asp
There was a briefing today for councillors about Stockton's recycling revolution which will happen as a result of the scrutiny review I chaired earlier in the year. As the officer doing the presentation said, some tough decisions were taken. My own personal inclination would have been to go further down the road to strong encouragement of reducing waste and recycling whatever we can, but in the
Moves are underway to abolish North and South Humberside once and for all.A campaign has been launched demanding the Prime Minister brings to an end the use of the outdated titles.It has been a decade since the counties of North and South Humberside have existed, but organisations, such as the Post Office, continue to keep the names on their database. Now nearly 300 people have signed an e-petition calling on the prime minister to prohibit the use of the names.The e-petition, submitted to the Downing Street website, claims: "The counties of North and South Humberside have not been in existence ...
{Beijing Logo spoof by Beau Bo D'Or} Image © Beau Bo D'Or Even if, like me, you have studiously avoided watching any of the Olympic coverage, you will probably have seen the odd medals table on a news program or something. They all show the glorious People's Republic beating the evil Empire and its Poodle into second and third place respectively. But hang on, the host nation is the largest nation on earth by population and, whether or not there has been any cheating, such as using babies in the gymnastics or whatever, the simple fact is that their human ...
The new chief executive of North East Lincolnshire Council, Tony Hunter will join a panel answering taxpayers' questions, and the council's performance will come under the spotlight at a Question Time event. The open debate will be part of North East Lincolnshire Council's Community Engagement Week. It will take place at Whitgift Theatre, Grimsby, on Monday, September 15. On the panel will be Council leader Coun Andrew De Freitas, deputy leader Coun Keith Brookes, Great Grimsby MP Austin Mitchell, divisional commander of Humberside Police, Dave Hilditch and the chair of North East Lincolnshire NHS Care Trust Plus, Val Waterhouse. The ...
{dvla-car-clamp.jpg} Crime rates on the West Marsh were slashed during a week of action. Criminal damage, theft from and theft of motor vehicles, and calls reporting anti-social behaviour were all down during the week, which took place between August 4 and 10. The campaign included operations targeting crime as well as "diversionary" events to keep children busy during the summer break. Successes of the week include: Ø Three fixed penalty notices were given out for under-age alcohol sales. Ø There were 40 seizures of alcohol from young people in public places. Ø Three vehicles were clamped by the DVLA. Ø ...
Another rather irrelevant post! Greatest American Hero from the 1980s!
Old rivalries were set aside for a series of football matches designed to help youngsters achieve their goals - on and off the pitch. The games between teams from the East Marsh, Nunsthorpe, West Marsh and, the Grange Estates; formed part of North East Lincolnshire Council's Safer Communities Week of Action on the West Marsh. Organiser Paul Caswell, Humberside Police's divisional youth development officer, runs weekly sporting activities for up to 800 young people aged from seven to 19 throughout the whole of North East Lincolnshire. These weekly events have been extremely well attended and supported by both young people ...
Not the University, but I've just arrived at Cambridge Station to stay at Bottisham, a village outside the city, where David's mother lives. We are here for a couple of days. My mother is looking after the house in Sunniside. This did of course mean that I had to get through rush hour London on the tube and then took an overcrowded train to Cambridge. What a joy that was.---Sent via BlackBerry
There is a little fuss brewing over at Lefty Conspiracy about the America in the World blog. Frankly the sound of repeated comfort-zone positions is pretty deafening, with neither side addressing the arguments of the other much. So the conspiring lefties complain with some justification about being lumped in with the Taleban, when all they are doing is criticising a government. America in the
I recently posted that I would be running a competition. Well, here is stage 1! A quiz, but a bit different to the ordinary, as you'll see from the questions.. 1. If the answer is 15th February 1971. What is the question? 2. Someone with my name was a professor in the United States. Ridiculed in his life time he went on to become the fore-father of his field. I studied History at Cambridge, although I'm not a historian. Who am I? 3. How many paper clips are there in this pot? 4. I wrote a passage, and translated it ...
Since getting back from the West End local community planning partnership meeting at Balgay Church Hall last night, I have been inundated with calls and e-mails from constituents on flooding concerns - Roseangle, Riverside Drive, Richmond Terrace and Osborne Place in particular. Apart from the issues in the West End, as City Council Planning & Transport Convener, I spoke with the "Evening Telegraph" and Radio Tay on the general flooding issue and the situation in the City Centre. The City Council issued a news release on the matter this afternoon and I reproduce this below : CITY CENTRE FLOODING A ...
I wrote yesterday about the hilarious attempt by Labour Attack Dog Little John Spellar, Labour MP for Self-Righteous Indignation Central, to have a go at the Lib Dems. And I promised I would reveal more about "Liberal Demolition", the, for want of a better term, comic he has produced which attempts to highlight alleged failings of the Lib Dems. Well, thanks to everyone who has been in touch.
(For Obama's running mate, that is.) But then again, may be it's possibly Chet Edwards (which would be a laugh - he's George Bush's House representative). Then again, it could be anyone of 98 other people. Biden is gathering his family. And this article nicely argues his pros and cons. But he is a Washington insider - so the Obama change message might take a hit. But I am sure that has been
Just to update you, Labour refused to take a second look at their costly plans to relocate Haringey's Civic Centre when my Lib Dem colleagues forced the issue to Overview & Scrutiny earlier this week. My Lib Dem colleague Neil Williams, Leader of the Opposition until earlier this year, covers it well in his (relatively) new blog. So, no consultation with the public about how Haringey Labour are planning to spend this vast amount of their money. Let's hope they manage the project rather better than their infamous Tech Refresh disaster.
{nick-clegg-visiting-offshore-wind-farm.jpg} On Thursday 21st August, the day that Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg visited Grimsby; and announced ambitious action to improve energy efficiency, and secure the UK's energy independence. It was also announced that E.ON would raising gas prices by a quarter and electricity prices by 16% - I just get the sense that our energy companies are playing a game of leapfrog! Commenting, Nick Clegg said: "Millions of people will get a huge shock when they realise how much it will cost to heat their homes this winter. For the most vulnerable people the effect will be devastating." One ...
Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr. may be focussing on the US Federal Reserve, but he could just as easily be talking about the UK when he writes The current economic crisis "stems from... a Fed-driven banking system that turns credit on and off like a monkey playing with a fire hydrant..."
So as the summer is nearly out, to celebrate an excellent Team GB performance at the Olympics, and to help launch my new-look site, I've decided to run a little competition. This competition will have three parts, which we'll call stages, to make it sound posh. Each stage will be worth 100 points. After three stages, the entrant with the highest score wins the grand prize (there are also prizes for coming second and third). There will also be mini-prizes available for the winner of each of the stage. You can enter as many of the stages as you like, ...
Jerry Kirkpatrick explains that "The concept of [a] core curriculum is a product of education czars who think they know what is best for everyone. The government today does not run the clothing industry, but if it did, the "core curriculum" in clothing would probably be the Mao tunic. Instead, our free market in clothing performs extremely well in getting our bodies covered and it does so in a bountiful assortment of styles, colors, and prices."If only we could have "a bountiful assortment of styles, colors, and prices" in education.
Due to our man in Dundee, I have been listening to Dusty Springfield all week. So here is a little more for your delight:
According to an interview with Washington insider web site Politico, Presidential candidate John McCain is suffering from high-level forgetfulness. Senator McCain said that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife own. "I think - I'll have my staff get to you. It's condominiums where - I'll have them get to you," he said*. It's not the most difficult question he'll be asked over the next nine weeks. And as Paul Walter says, McCain's only running for President of the USA. But of course an even more mnemonically challenged man did become President, not just once, but twice. ...
It's my turn to collate the 78th of our weekly round-ups (10th - 16th August ) of the seven most popular click-throughs from LibDemBlogs, plus another five that you might have missed. So, blame me that it's taken all week to show up. Let's get straight down to it, in traditional descending order: 1 Tons More Fun [...]
With Clegg releasing his vision for Britain can the Liberal Democrats be part of the Future in this country. Many people will argue that we are the third largest party that doesn't mean that the Lib Dems can not come out second at the next general election. The status of a Labour Government is degrading day by day and i don't even think there party is going to stay in one piece with cabinet ministers challenging Brown. with all this in mind i ask the question that can the Liberal Democrats have a role in the Future of Britain? Please ...
I am in no way expecting to have anything much to do with the Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year Awards other than turning up to the awards ceremony during conference. However I thought I would have a go at Alex's Tons More Fun meme. So here are what I think were the best bits on Process Guy over the last 12 months: I'm a voter, not a supporter My most popular post over the past year was a plea
Earlier this year I blogged about the battle to keep Camden Passage special. The new owner of the Mall (LAP) has been trying to get rid of the small traders who share it, despite the Council and the community fighting the changes all the way. Having lost their planning application, the developers were expected to [...]
Following my Redlands walkabout at the weekend, here's a few things in the local area which I've got the Council to agree to do: - Sort out the wonky road sign for Huntley Court on Erleigh Rd and got a one way sign on London Road (by Alexandra Road) made brighter - Visit areas blighted by building materials and skips (Granby Gardens, Donnington Road and Hatherley Road) and take appropriate action against those responsible - Write to the landlords of seven private rented properties in the ward which have been turned into dumping grounds for bulky waste - Patch up ...
A collection of local photographs that certainly puts my own in the very deep shade is that of Haringey Labour Councillor Alan Stanton, who represents Tottenham Hale. I recently stumbled across Alan's amazing collection of images of local scenes and street furniture, which can be viewed on photo website Flikr, here. A particulate favourite of mine is this double yellow fiasco, which Alan still seems to be battling with. Alan is an independently-minded Labour councillor who feels strongly about blunders by the Council when it comes to the placing of yellow lines, junction boxes, and the like. He makes a ...
I couldn't quite believe it when this story flashed by as I logged into my email just now. It may or may not reassure you to know that he was driving without a licence.
The Conservatives are all over the media today, criticising Home Secretary Jacqui Smith for the loss of data by a private consultancy. Now Ms Smith's department certainly deserve criticism; as Nick Clegg said, "The government will no doubt seek to blame private contractors, but the rash of data losses over the last two years confirm that there is something much more worrying at stake: this government cannot keep any information safe." The Conservatives have also rushed to pin responsibility for the debacle on Ms Smith. But are they being fair? Compare their rush to condemn the Homes Secretary with their ...
London house prices are plummeting according to the latest monthly report from property experts Rightmove. But not in Islington. Islington property prices have gone up by 5.2 per cent on last year, while London prices are down 3.8% and the national fall is 4.8%. I'm an Islington home owner (leaseholder) myself, so you'd perhaps expect [...]
With official figures confirming the widely held view that the UK economy is going to hell in a handcart, you'd expect an august organisation like the BBC to report this important news to the public they allegedly service. And bless them, they tried the darnedest. Unfortunately, there is no try, there is only do, or do not... Because what the Beeb are actually reporting is "UK economic growth at
Is it any wonder that the Chinese are winning so many medals considering the judging in some events seems very heavily biased in their favour. Watching an Irish boxer earlier in the day showed just how biased these so called "unbiased" officials are. The Irishman was, according to the judges, not able to land a single scoring punch in the whole fight. Despite this, the replays clearly showed the Irishman landing a number of scoring punches. Seemingly the Chinese boxer only had to fart in order to score. Then later on in the Bronze medal fight in the Taekwondo, the ...
My mobile phone seems to have gone walkabout as the last time I can remember having it was last Thursday so apologies if you've phoned in that time, I'm not ignoring you just not known that you've called. Should you need to phone me for any reason then please try the house or office. I shall publish a post when I either find the damned thing or bite the bullet and buy a new one. I'm positive it's in the house somewhere but just can't find it. it's not even worth my while trying to phone it as it's set ...
Fri 22nd
14:42
Jacqui Smith: It's not my fault, it's my contractors that are rubbish (whinge, whinge...)
Jacqui Smith's startling insight into how the details of 84,000 prisoners managed to wind up on a memory stick which promptly went missing: "This was data that was being held in a secure form, but was downloaded onto a memory stick by an external contractor," she said. "It runs against the rules set down both for the holding of government data and set down by the external contractor and certainly set down in the contract that we had with the external contractor." Well, duh. {wrong-mike.jpg} more animals You've got to marvel at how these bozos get out of the house ...
First and Foremost, I am currently listening to an EXCELLENT documentary about Flanders and Swann on the radio. Lots and lots of clips from At the Drop of a Hat and inveterate fanboying. Well worth seeking out on the listen again, if it's on there, or finding the repeat when it's on. puddingcat, you want to catch this. Secondly, Nick Clegg is feeling the bite of the Credit Crunch. Awwwww. Poor baby. Forced to slum it at Sainers like the rest of us. Still, at least we Lib Dems now have our own version of the WebCameron incident for people ...
Who's Who In The Liberal Democrats went live this week for all of us to put in our entries. It a great concept, particularly in turning it into a form of social networking site, so hats off to Jo Christie-Smith for being the driving force behind it. However, I've come a cropper in composing my entry. [...]
Brian Coleman, the out of the closet GLA member for Barnet, has complained that he has been prevented from taking the top job on the Local Government Association's Fire Committee because of 'lobbying by a group of homophobic, bigoted (Tory) old farts.' Really? Or was it the fact that the appointment, which carries a nice £10,000 allowance, would have taken Coleman's overall public sector salary close to the six figure mark. Coleman registers his public sector interests on the London Assembly website as follows: • GLA member - £50,582 • Councillor, London Borough of Barnet for Totteridge Ward - £9,735 ...
Following the revelation of yet more utter incompetence in government data handling the BBC asks... How should our details be protected? A computer memory stick containing the personal information of tens of thousands of criminals has been lost. Who should be responsible for keeping our personal information secure? Well, I posited a suggestion ten years ago now when I was on the Lib Dems' Civil Liberties Policy Working Group. At the time ID cards were but an evil glint in Liar, Liar, Tony Bliar's eyes but there was a clear feeling that they were pushing in that direction. But it ...
My latest Guardian blog, covering the Olympics, Tory legacies and Equitable Life is now online.
Boris Johnson has benefited from Olympic fever, his mayoral honeymoon and the fact that it is summer (allegedly) by keeping publicity low over his loss of senior officers. However he will not be pleased with today's FT leader, which extrapolates from his first weeks in office to a possible Conservative government. The Conservatives are looking to establish themselves as a government-in-waiting. Indeed their entire purpose seems to be 'being tthe Opposition' and 'preparing for power' so the performance of Boris will be viewed as a pointer to their competence and credibility, should the current opinion polls be true. Boris has ...
Hats off to George Osborne for coming up with a good, low cost, effective policy which will help those most at risk without having adverse consequences and will make for a more efficient working of the energy market. His policy is to give people without bank accounts who can't pay for energy bills by direct debit the chance to have an account at the Post Office for that purpose. More details are required but in principle I like the idea. A lot. Am I wrong? What have I missed?
Following a news report of a fire on the A1060 Roxwell Road, I've discovered that our Fire & Rescue service carries a report of all call-outs on their website.
Wolverhampton Liberal Democrat Councillor Claire Darke has called on Government to support the Great Britain Deaflympic team.
There's been a decidedly mixed reaction to Clegg's energy independence by 2050 announcement. I've left quite a long comment on Alisdair's blog, which I feel I may as well repeat here: Please take this in the spirit it is intended. I don't wish to be labeled a climate denier or anti-environment, or anything similar. Energy independence is an arse-headed idea. Not only would it be near impossible to achieve, it isn't a desirable end in itself. Debunking two arguments for "energy independence": 1. It will provide impetus for creating a thriving green economy in Britain. 2. We cannot rely on ...
The links is to a good article on Community Care where a GP argues: There is no parallel between being underfed and overfed Obesity cannot be connected with child abuse According to David Rogers, public health spokesperson for the Local Government Association, "parents who allow their children to eat too much could be as guilty of neglect as those who did not feed their children at all". The
The Financial Times leader today uses Boris Johnson's record to ask whether the Tories are ready for office nationally. The verdict is not entirely favourable: ...Boris Johnson's first few weeks in City Hall have raised disturbing questions about the fitness of the Tories for office....For most voters there has been little to show for Mr Johnson's seismic victory. Despite his masterful election
Over recent weeks there has been some fuss about the failure of the Liberal Democrat high command to publish the Bones Report on party reform. Yet I've notice that since the executive summary has been published it has all gone a bit quiet. On the blogs I have only seen one post of unqualified support and then this morning this. It only goes to show that people are far more interested in real or
As this blog is approaching two years of age, I thought it important to find out a bit more about the many people who take the time to read my rants. So in true Iain Dale style, I have put together a very short survey which you can take part in HERE, and I can genuinely assure you it will take no longer than one minute. Thanks for your participation.
Sunday: Mr Balloon flies into Tbilisi, the besieged capital of Georgia, to stage a lightning press opportunity. Well at least he went! Since making a GESTURE is about all that we seem capable of, then this was a pretty grand gesture to make. On the other fluffy foot, Mr Balloon is in a better position to make BELLICOSE pronouncements since he ISN'T in a position to put anybody's life on the line to back up his JINGOISM. I just can't recommend his Neo-Con rush to have Georgia join a NATO that can afford neither people nor arms to defend it. ...
The Independent relates how La Famille Clegg is having to tighten its belt: -No more Waitrose - it's Lidl Sainsburys for the Cleggs now -Belt tightening caused by a "painful" move from a fixed rate mortgage -Turning down the heating -No more hotels abroad for hols - it's shacking up with the in-laws -An Electric moped used instead of a car ("Hurrah!" on the green front) It is good to see that
Today's post brought the first catalogue for this Christmas. It's from Water Aid. Usually a cataloguearriving so unseasonally early is penalised by not being used for the purchase of Christmas cards and other seasonal goodies (although I suppose the weather has been pretty unseasonal - so maybe the good guys at Water Aid have been as confused as my plants!). But in this case I support Water Aid and I like quite a few of their cards. So what do I do? Answers on the back of a recycled Christmas card please.
The Government has a habit of loosing USB Sticks and now they have done it again. But this time its the Prisoners information. The conservatives were quick to comment about the Government despite them being the people who emailed a list of peoples voting preferences to a radio station at the Crewe and Nantwich By Election. Both Parties The Labour and Conservatives are loosing information and this can not go on. They probably end up loosing the ballot boxes at general election time. People shouldn't trust this government with a pound coin never mind your personal information. With all these ...
The one thing which unites all energy policies is that they are idiotic. The latest proposals from Nick Clegg are probably the most absurd I've heard in a long long time. They seem designed to give opportunity to rent seekers to extract money from the tax payers. They are an extension of the policies which have led [...]
I have been in exasperated communication with the Council today regarding the continuing drama of the missing street sign on Butterstile Lane. The sign has been missing, presumed nicked, for three months now. I reported it when it disappeared, and since then the forlorn signposts have been standing vacant like a football goal waiting for a cross bar. I have blogged about this before, expressing my shock at the Council's advice that it would take ten weeks to replace a sign. I was of the view then that it'd be quicker to design and build my own iron forging plant ...
I am not usually one for watching a lot of sport but the Beijing Olympics have had me transfixed. The success of 'Team GB' is all the sweeter for being unexpected. I have felt very proud of the sportsmanship shown by our athletes win or lose and the example this sets to our young people watching [...]
Melksham TC, Melksham Spa LD Jon Hubbard 713 (51.4) Con 562 (40.5) Lab 112 (8.1) Majority 151 Turnout 29.6% LD gain from Con
Another day, another large-scale data loss by the Government, this time featuring the Home Office and its contract PA Consulting. A memory stick was loaded up with the following, and then lost: Information on around 10,000 prolific offenders Information on 30,000 people from the Police National Computer Information on all 84,000 prisoners in England and Wales The prolific offenders information (and possibly the others) was also unencrypted. Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg's view? "Charlie Chaplin could do a better job running the Home Office than this Labour Government."
From 1 September Bury Library Service are launching a three month pilot scheme to reduce the cost of borrowing DVDs. The scheme will allow library members to borrow DVD's, which have been in stock before the 1 April 2008, for just £1 a week and DVDs added to stock after 1 April at £2.20 for a week's loan. Additionally, library members who also have an Active Lifestyle Discount Card get the added benefit in being able to borrow any DVD and benefit from a further 50% discount. To see if you may be eligible for a discount card check the ...
Plans by the Conservatives to use the Post Office Card Account scheme to allow low-earners to receive the same discounts on their energy bills as those paying by direct debit is actually very sensible. It makes me wonder why the government have not taken this step already. One possible answer is that Labour have not yet settled the future of the Post Office Card Account. Maybe, once they have done that then a similar scheme will emerge. It needs to. The only problem with the Tory scheme is that they have not gone far enough. In particular they are silent ...
Well done to all the local students who will have got their GCSE results yesterday. I know our local schools are going to be proud of their achievements again this year - I'll let you know more analysis when this becomes available. In the meantime, the individual results for our local high schools are below: Parenthorn High School Prestwich Arts College St Monicas RC High School Across Bury, provisional figures indicate that 68% of students have achieved five or more A* to C grades, an increase of 5% on last year. Bury students have also excelled in the new benchmark ...
I promised to update people on Indesit's service. The new fridge freezer came last Friday. One of the first things to happen is the plastic cover below the freezer door fell off. The traces of glue suggest it may be the one that was damaged last week and somebody has bodged a repair. I can't be arsed to go through the Indesit nightmare and exchange it, I will sort it myself. I didn't realise
Yesterday's energy policy push by Nick Clegg has received wide coverage in the media, including: Daily Telegraph: The thinking of Nick Clegg, the LibDem leader, is both fresh and dramatic. He envisages energy self-sufficiency in this country by the year 2050 and claims this can be achieved cleanly. The LibDem plan is based on a combination [...]
Fri 22nd
09:24
Glass half full or half empty ? Is there anything Labour will not try and take the credit for ?
Tom Watson MP has put on his blog the rather odd headline that the average age of people in the UK has risen from 37 to 39. His headline seems to be trying to take credit for this as a Labour achievement. Perhaps the alternative headline would be that putting aside immigrants who live in the UK (and do not hold British passports), British citizens are having less children because we simply cannot afford to have children due to rising prices, lack of childcare provision and the need to have two incomes in households. Could it be Tom Watson MP ...
Has Boris lost the plot? First he backtracks on bendy buses. Now there are fears he's abandoning plans for better public spaces too. When campaigning to be Mayor, Boris said "At their best, London's open spaces are quite simply breathtaking.... Our environment has an enormous impact on our sense of wellbeing, and it is vital that [...]
Last night I went out to post a letter, only to discover that my local post box on Rainsough Brow had been sealed off without warning. A note (clearly printed off someone's PC and without any Royal Mail logo or contact details on it at all) had been stuck in a plastic wallet and pinned to the box, helpfully announcing to the world the blindlingly obvious - "This Post Box has been closed." It also said that the box would be removed within 7 days. And there ended the note. I was surprised and annoyed to find this out - ...
If you, like me, are often kept awake by a partner's snoring, you may be interested in the news that scientists have found a major cause. Apparently growing up with a pet dog increases the chances of snoring in later life by 26%. The research by University Hospital Umea in Sweden found other factors included being hospitalised for a respiratory infection before the age of two, having recurrent ear infections as a child, and growing up in a large family. So my sleepless night can be blamed on a Labrador called Mandy. Great!
The latest Carnival of Feminists is up at The Mind of Genevieve, including my post on what should be included in 'men's' issues but isn't. from last week. She includes a blog from Alas, a blog (yes, again, the fantasitc alas, a blog) looking into some Wrangler adverts that seem to make a woman's dead body chic. It is just unbelievable....
Fri 22nd
08:12
Dramatic rise in dental patients having teeth taken out - because it is cheaper than fillings
{dentist} Patients are opting to have teeth removed because it is often the cheaper option under the Goverment's dental contract More patients are having teeth taken out since the Government's 'botched' dental contract came in two years ago. The number of dentures fitted has gone up, following warnings that the new system favours quicker, old-style dentistry over complex procedures. Figures from the NHS Information Centre released on Thursday also show for the first time that more than 1.1million fewer patients are seeing NHS dentists in England. But it is the changes in patterns of treatment that are causing most concern, ...
And so the Executive Summary was published, to the sound of an orchestra of badly played kazoos. To be honest, after all the conjecture, the result has been a bit disappointing. Not as disappointing as the way the document was handled though... As an object lesson in how not to convey a message of change, the Bones Commission has achieved near perfection. A high-profile launch, some pretty
I've been reading this report from Save the Children The report, compiled for the Campaign to End Child Poverty places Reading 6th from bottom in England in terms of the GCSE performance of the poorest children. Less than a quarter of children entitled to free school meals get five or more good GCSEs in Reading, compared to more than half of similar children in top-performing boroughs such as Kingston Upon Thames. These figures give the lie to Labour's boasts about Reading being a Learning City. It can be a great place to learn, but only if you are lucky enough ...
It's not fair! Nobody ever nominates ME for ANY awards. Can't they see how brilliant I am? I have been in the Golden Dozen five times! And there are a whole heap of other posts I wrote that are far more brilliant than the ones that actually got in the Golden Dozen for those weeks. I am clearly better than anyone else who ever wrote a blog anyway, because I have a degree in creative writing and I have worked for a Lib Dem MP. Nominate me! There is nothing more important in life than blog contests, and all those ...
...but I didn't speak up because I was not in jail. (with apologies to Pastor Martin Niemoller) Now it seems "mens rea" is at risk in the British legal system. In a case highlighted in the British Journal of Photography an academic at Sheffield University who ran a legitimate business in his spare time creating artsy photographs of models and children to make them look like fairies by superimposing images on each other (I know, I can't quite imagine it either, but presumably to make them look ethereal - and he has exhibited such work in local art shows and ...
I'd never been any further north than Dingwall until this trip, but I'd have to say that Orkney is well worth the trip. A place that evokes feelings of bleak remoteness, yet a place where you're rarely out of sight of a house. Ros and I were there on business, but Alastair Carmichael, the unexpectedly youthful MP for Orkney & Shetland, took the time and trouble to show us some of the sights of
The McCain camp is in full scale meltdown after making jibes at "the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd" (okay, I exaggerate slightly). This has lead to Wired running this rather imaginitive and amusing thread. Truth to tell, it is an odd target of Team McCain considering the physical resemblance of their candidate: {funny pictures} moar funny pictures Share This
Friday Now this is where the bite of the credit crunch starts to get NASTY; people are losing their homes. Repossession orders, the lenders' first step towards kicking someone out of their home, are up by 24%; and last week we learned that full repossessions are up by 48%! "This suggests that we are on track for a repossession crisis very similar to the early 1990s." warned Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Mr Vince "The Power" Cable. The terrible irony is that the Government recently BOUGHT a major bank. You may have heard of it, it was called the Northern Rock. ...
