Liberal Democrat Voice records the good news that the statistics for fatalities in road traffic accidents continue to show a steady drop. It quotes the following figures: 1994-8 - 3,578 (average) 1999 - 3,423 2000 - 3,409 2001 - 3,450 2002 - 3,431 2003 - 3,508 2004 - 3,221 2005 - 3,201 2006 - 3,172 2007 - 2,946Incredibly, there were far more fatalities than this each year back in the 1930s. A couple of years ago I reviewed Ian Grimshaw's biography of Leslie Hore-Belisha in Liberal Democrat News: Few now appreciate the carnage that reigned in the early years of ...
Blog Meme: What Were You Doing When...? Princess Diana's death - 31 August 1997 If I can remember I was doing some drawing. I heard it on the radio in the evening. Margaret Thatcher's resignation - 22 November 1990 Honest. i was outside 10 Downing str that day chatting to a copper about it. I was doing an A-level Psychology and went for a conference at the big Methodist building in central London. I can remember listening to Hans Eysenck that day and some girl standing up shouting at him call him a racist. Attack on the twin towers - ...
Even after all these years, two things still puzzle and bemuse me about the Liberal Democrats. The first is that a sure fire way of starting an argument within the party, especially amongst the activists, is to suggest any big change to internal structures, processes and organisation. Everyone seems to have a view, an objection, a cross to bear, a score to settle. Curiously, this seems to trigger as much unrest and discussion as almost any big policy argument. Second, whenever the party leadership or "establishment" tries to suggest or, more likely, enforce such changes, they handle the internal communications ...
They say its victors who write the history. But theres more to it than winning. Its having exercise and fun. Whatever sport or form of exercise one does. When Mark and myself get it going on the tennis court. We really want to make sure the other does not get the ball back. Its great fun having the competitive element but its only a method for exercise. Playing is better than winning. (i say this now as a man in his mid thirties, maturity!. A few years ago winning was everything) Mark ( a Plaid supporter- photo of him) is ...
Much Wenlock is not just the spiritual home of the Olympics. It also the venue for Festival at the Edge, which I attended a couple of times back in the 1990s. Although it is chiefly a storytelling festival, my chief memories of it are musical. I heard a young Eliza Carthy play (with Nancy Kerr) and, best of all, I heard the Polly Bolton Band. That year everything was running hopelessly late, and it was after midnight when the band (Polly Bolton, John Shepherd and Steve Dunachie) took the stage in the marquee. Everyone's breath was steaming in the cold ...
Take a trip to Amused Cynicism.
Spending a few peaceful days in the wonderful Swaledale but just picked up this news from Gaza GAZA (23 August 2008) - Two small boats, the SS Free Gaza and the SS Liberty, successfully landed in Gaza early this evening, breaking the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. The boats were crewed by a determined group of international human rights workers from the Free Gaza Movement. They had spent two years organizing the effort, raising money by giving small presentations at churches, mosques, synagogues, and in the homes of family, friends, and supporters. They left Cyprus on Thursday morning, sailing ...
The Games are over, but the buildings remain. The Bird's Nest stadium will be the iconic building of the Beijing Olympics, but I thought the glow-in-the-dark water cube looked stunning too. The London 2012 Aquatic Centre is intended to be an iconic design but has already run into budget problems, adding to the headaches for [...]
I would like to ask questions to all the readers of Lib Dem Blogs and any other person who comes onto this blog. I will answer the questions at the end and can you please leave your answers as comments. Please answer: Why do we Blog? Why are we Party Activists?
Many Blogger's are talking about what facilities Political Parties will give them in the conference season. Iain Dale believes none but according to what i have read the Labour and Conservative Conferences will have free Internet connections from Microsoft available at the conference. If true let me tell you that is a great idea. But what facility will the Lib Dems give to blogger. I may not be going to the conference but i ask this question on behalf of the blogger's at Lib Dem Blogs. What will the Liberal Democrats give to blogger whilst at Conference? Well hopefully by ...
A shopping trip to town today with just me myself and I*. All three of us felt really inspired, not just by the drug addicts having the decency to move further down the river to keep away from the families who like to sit up by Morrisons, but by Taunton Cricket ground which is being re-built before our very eyes. Scanning the plans onto the internet for this phase of the development last year makes it really interesting for me as I know exactly what's going on. Project Taunton is the reason for my interest in planning and it's really ...
Health inequality isn't a sexy topic; we have to work to keep it on the agenda. It shames the government, and it's hard to fix. Now there's another report adding to the evidence that poverty is bad for your health. And that the Government's failing to do much about it. [...]
We came down from Cambridge this afternoon to London and are now sitting in the back garden of our house here. I've just watched as a fox merrily wandered through the next garden. Whilst fascinating to watch, it is not such good news for our next venture - keeping chickens. That chicken run is going to have to be doubly secure.---Sent via BlackBerry
{Collapsed ceiling} Thank goodness - residents of Warberry and Cumberland Road have finally been getting compensation from Thames Water for the damage caused after Thames doubled the water pressure without warning following the replacement of a water mains. The result? Numerous leaks and serious damage - including a burst boiler causing a ceiling to collapse. At first Thames dodged accepting responsibility, but now they've agreed to pay up. (If you've experienced similar problems following replacement work, just get in touch with my office on 020 8340 5459.)
I've never really understood what a meme was. I looked it up on Wikipedia once and lost the will to live. Basically in blogging terms it's one of these quiz things that one person asks and then tags loads of other people to do it. Iain Dale, the Tory one, not my tribute blog started one off asking what people were doing at the time of certain great world events. No doubt I am committing some huge blogging sin by answering it before I was tagged to do so, but I never was one for convention. I just liked the ...
I've blogged before about Labour's plans to sell off the Civic Centre and move to Woodside House, so just to highlight the new story over on my website about how Labour decided to go ahead with the plan:Labour members of Haringey Council's 'watchdog' committee have voted to ignore residents' views and rejected wider democratic discussion on controversial plans to spend £12 million on a new Haringey Civic Centre... Liberal Democrats, who forced the special Overview and Scrutiny meeting, pointed out that this was the largest discretionary capital expenditure since the Council's ill fated Tech Refresh IT fiasco where a £10m ...
Rich and I really enjoyed the closing ceremony of the Olympics. Spectacular acrobatics and fireworks; and a celebratory atmosphere that was about fun not triumphalism. Although Britain's got plenty to be triumphant about. It was weird and quite nerve-wracking seeing Boris walk out to represent our city in front of the world; would he drop the [...]
This story says it all. What a publicity seeking arsehole the man is.
Many thanks to Cheadle Muslim Association for the excellent fair at the mosque in Heald Green. We went along with my sister and her kids and we all received a very warm welcome and had a great time, with all money raised going to the School for the Deaf. I look forward to visiting again.
We had a great day out in Manchester yesterday. First we watched the world-famous Manchester Gay Pride parade from Deansgate. As always it was good fun and the kids were weighed down with stickers, flags, badges, sweets, balloons, keyrings and other freebies, much to the amusement of the ladies next to us. There were a host of other events over the 11 days of Manchester Pride, from theatre and film to clubs and workshops. When I think that only a few decades ago homosexuals could be locked up (and still are locked up, or worse, in many countries), it's great ...
Cameron played it clever by taking a Brit Holiday but he didn't really. He wanted to sympathise with the British people with the credit crunch and show that he was from among them and he took a British Holiday but that was a cover up he has now taken his family on a luxury yacht. This guy is a cartoon a made up fantasy this is just a minor show of his true colours and the charm has been cracked. Not someone to trust Cameron. What do you think?
Will he be holding anything in 2012 or will he be getting honoured for a spectacular event?
Three weeks ago David Cameron took a holiday in Cornwall in front of the media spotlight to show solidarity with British families affected by the credit crunch. Yet in secret he has taken his family on a luxury holiday on board a yacht in the Turkish Rivera. "The break was dubbed an opportunistic attempt by Cameron to show himself as a humble stay-at-home politician who had tightened his belt and gone on holiday in Britain in the wake of the credit crunch" Says the Daily Mail. 'Bucket and spade' Dave has shown his true 'blue' colours by holidaying on a ...
I am sick and tired of hearing Jacqui Smith saying the latest loss of government data is not the fault of the government and is instead all down to a contractor breaking rules. Why do these firms break rules ? Is it perhaps because they know the government will do nothing ? If Jacqui Smith really wants to show the government is taking the issue seriously and that they do want to win the trust back of the electorate then they shoudl sack PA consulting, the firm behind the data loss and rule breaking, and strip them of any other ...
Paul Walter draws our attention to the excellent article by Carole Cadwalladr in today's Observer in which she underlines how the characters in Gavin and Stacey, which David Cameron claims to admire so much, are the very anti-thesis of the perfect Tory family: David Cameron's problem isn't with his reading of Gavin and Stacey, it's with his reading of everything else. Examine the facts. Nessa is a single mother whose baby is the accidental product of a one-night stand and who is no longer with the child's father. Stacey's mother appears to have no means of support and her uncle ...
Despite spending too much time reading blogs than I probably should I still really don't read enough of them to have an accurate picture of who should win the different categories in the Liberal Democrat Voice Blog of the Year Awards. In my view James Graham remains the must read blogger, Alix Mortimer writes with a style that is a joy to read, and from time to time Alex Wilcock hits a nail on
So a successful Olympic games for Team GB (what happened to Northern Ireland by the way?) but a particularly good games for Yorkshire which by my reckoning came away with three Golds and two Bronzes (For the record these were: Andy Hodge - rowing; Paul Goodison - sailing; Ed Clancy - cycling; Joanne Jackson got [...]
Two things. 1) I won my category in the Blog Awards. You all have very bad taste. This puts me through to the second round, so, y'know The Yorksher Gob - {SB's blog of the Year: Sexiest Male Blogger} Vote me for overall winner! View Poll: SB's Very Prestigious Blog of the Year Awards - Phase Three - The Overall Winner 2) We're off to Devon to visit family as of this afternoon. Staying at my octagenarian grandmothers in Slapton, where we're likely to be completey net deprived, travelling back Thursday. We'll likely visit people with internet and/or go to ...
Cancer patients under a Labour Government are being forced to remortgage homes to pay for the medication as they is a shortage and it is being rationed to patients. This is not good for Brown especially for him and his government at a time like this. With the conservatives biting the ankles of the Labour Party and the media showing that people rather vote the Conservatives (which is desperate) it isn't looking good for Brown. Can Labour sort this out or will the ballot at the next general election sort out the future of the Labour party which most likely ...
The next time someone complains about "all these foreigners coming in to take our jobs" I shall point them to this story in The Observer. Our fruit growers are desperately short of workers:- Immigration rules and the strong euro have led to a shortage of foreign fruit harvesters. I get seriously fed up with the media (not to mention UKIP and their ilk) who actively blame "foreigners" for various
Transport for London are proposing to extend the red route restrictions on Holloway Road to Sundays. Lib Dem objections have meant the process has been suspended for now but the threat of the extension is still very real. The decision to extend the operation of the A1 red route seems to have been made without any [...]
This morning I went to Meeting for Worship at Quaker House, Brussels, for the first time for several years. When I visit 'the capital of Europe' these days, it's almost always during the working week, for meetings — and indeed I will be at the European Parliament for most of the coming week, to [...]
The prancing about with a frisbee at Padstow was just for show. Now he's getting down to a real holiday on a luxury yacht. Bless him.
In the Observer, Carole Cadwalladr mounts a very skilful deconstruction of David Cameron. He tries to be "one of the people" by harping on about his love for Gavin and Stacey. However, the characters in the programme are the very antithesis of the perfect family which Cameron strives to encourage: What's occurring, Dave, is that you're unable to spot a bandwagon without leaping on board it and
So Biden will be BHO's running mate. Check out the McCain camp's quick fire response video. Simple, yet effective.
I lost a few friends on facebook yesterday. They were fellow bloggers and the problem was with my blog. I'd deleted someone previously, but the reason had nothing to do with my blog or their blog. It was quite simply to do with someone annoying me via facebook and making me feel embarrassed and uncomfortable by what was appearing in the news feed for everyone to see. You have every right to remove someone if they annoy you via facebook. Cyber bullying is very subtle and it's very easy to bully someone by going to great lengths to leave them ...
Blog Award Winners, please help yourself to one (or two if you are innerbrat) of these shiny banners for your blog: Small (for sidebars etc.): <a src="http://pics.livejournal.com/miss_s_b/pic/000q1we1" align="center"></a> <small><a me for overall winner</a>!</small> <a src="http://pics.livejournal.com/miss_s_b/pic/000ps0a8" align="center"></a> <a me for overall winner</a>! <a src="http://pics.livejournal.com/miss_s_b/pic/000pze71" align="center"></a> <a me for overall winner</a>! <a src="http://pics.livejournal.com/miss_s_b/pic/000pxgrb" align="center"></a> <a me for overall winner</a>! <a src="http://pics.livejournal.com/miss_s_b/pic/000prg3w" align="center"></a> <a me for overall winner</a>! <a src="http://pics.livejournal.com/miss_s_b/pic/000q0eg3" align="center"></a> <a me for overall winner</a>! <a src="http://pics.livejournal.com/miss_s_b/pic/000pw739" align="center"></a> <a me for overall winner</a>! <a src="http://pics.livejournal.com/miss_s_b/pic/000q2f4s" align="center"></a> <a ...
The Sunday Times reports that Boris Johnson harbours ambitions to be Prime Minister one day. They say that this may cause a rift between the London Mayor and David Cameron and urge the Tory leader to watch his back. There is just one problem. Boris Johnson is no longer an MP. The chances of him becoming Prime Minister instead of Cameron are therefore infinitesimal. Are the serious papers really that desperate for stories during the summer months?
Never let it be said that this blog is afraid of a bit of plagiarism when it comes to reporting all the hot news, especially if it means that I have to do less work. In this case, I am grateful to Matt Withers for summarising the interesting bits from Dylan Jones's 'Cameron on Cameron'. His sacrifice means that I do not have to burden my local library for a request that they obtain a copy, let alone actually read the tome. Matt does not admit to reading the whole book, in fact he specifically refers to 'the parts I ...
Back on 12th August, I mentioned that I had asked the City Council to ensure the bushes it is responsible for maintaining beside the footpath on the east side of Ninewells Avenue are trimmed as they were overgrown - click on headline above to view the earlier story. I have now been advised by the Council that Tayside Contracts are to cut back the foliage that Roads Maintenance is responsible for to ensure the footpath is not obstructed.
Boris Johnson has said that after serving two terms as Mayor if re elected he will challenge Cameron to a Conservative Leadership Election and at this time the Tory's might have a government which will mean that he would become Prime Minister. This is going to have an effect of Cameron's and his relationship. If Boris was to become Prime Minister then the country would just end up getting run down. He probably introduce a Boris day on which Tory's walked around looking like clowns a bit like what Boris does every day! Do you think this comment by Boris ...
Vince Cable contributes the My Week feature in today's Observer: As I struggle to get my head round collateralised debt obligations, peak oil theory and the real, effective dollar exchange rate, it is an occasional relief to be summoned from my work to admire the bull's testicles...
As announced last night, the winners of each category were as follows:- Best Fandom Blog by a Single Person: lizbee - Best Political Blog by a Single Person: The Very Fluffy Diary of Millennium Dome, Elephant (LJ feed = elephantfeed) - Best General Blog by a Single Person: innerbrat - Best Group Blog or LJ Community: Feminist SF (LJ feed = feministsf) - Prettiest Blog Design: ginasketch - Geekiest Blog: Stephen Fry (LJ feed = fryblog) - Best Dead Tree-Based Blog: Bad Science by Ben Goldacre - Wittiest Blog: Mitch Benn (LJ Feed = mitchbenn_site) - Male Blogger I Would ...
In a disclosure it says will be "acutely embarrassing" for Prime Minister, The Independent reports: The Labour MP whose death forced the latest by-election to threaten Gordon Brown's premiership was suing the Government over its refusal to pay compensation for the illness that killed him.
An interesting polling snippet via the unusual source of Teletext: More than 10% of voters who "generally speaking" think of themselves as Labour have said they would vote Liberal Democrat, and 8% would vote Tory. That's from a ComRes poll for the Independent on Sunday.
Janet Street-Porter has a go at Nick Clegg in the Independent: Nick reveals that his wife is "gravitating towards Sainsbury's from Ocado" in order to save money. WAKE UP LOVE! Haven't the Cleggs heard that Netto, Aldi and Lidl are the shopping destinations of thousands of voters who can't even afford Sainsbury's, let alone Waitrose? Nick Clegg seems have started something. The Telegraph reckons
...and is not "liberal" either. There are often attempts by ministers (Jacqui Smith is mentioned in Sunday's Independent for example about the recent prisoner data loss) to shirk their responsibility for government cock-ups. There are also left wing commentators who crow that these incidents are clear proof that "neo-liberal" policies of "privatising" government functions are evil and should be stopped; that the "free market" does not work in the public sphere. But I don't consider such contracting out of work as either liberal nor as implying that ministers are no longer responsible for their incompetence. Nor, even, are they truly ...
Hat tip to Matt Wardman (also posted on Liberal Conspiracy ) for highlighting this CiF piece by Richard Reeves of Demos wondering whether the internet might be killing off the rationale for think tanks. I'm not so sure. If anything the web has made such organizations more visible. Their ideas, more readily available to as many of us who can be bothered to read them, expose the poverty of policy discussion within the established political parties. For those of us who are somewhat tired of the choice between the behemoths that are our mainstream political parties who produce manifestos attempting ...
Progressive blogger Glenn Greenwald has illustrated the double standards of the GOP with their view of `kept men`. Of course any campaigning such as this has to be worked out smartly - what goes around comes around - you simply have to let time synch in rhythm. As they say `if you live by the book, [...]
I am probably the last person entitled to complain, but I can't help noticing that Nick Clegg is given to drawing badly outdated comic parallels. On Friday he said: "Charlie Chaplin could do a better job running the Home Office than this Labour Government."And on Saturday it was: "Frankly the Keystone Cops would do a better job running the Home Office and keeping our data safe than this government, and if this government cannot keep the data of thousands of guilty people safe, why on earth should we give them the data of millions of innocent people in an ID ...
The poll is now closed, and here is the result: View Poll: SB's Very Prestigious Blog of the Year Awards - Category Vote Congrats to lizbee, Millennium, innerbrat, Feminist SF, ginasketch, Stephen Fry, Bad Science, Mitch Benn, matgb and innerbrat again. Commiserations to all those who fell by the wayside at this stage, especially those who lost out on going forward by only one vote - Boing Boing and pink_weasel. Theoretically the final stage should have ten options in in; however, since innerbrat won two categories there are only nine people who are category winners; there is therefore the option ...
Saturday: "In the end, Doctor, you are JUST another Time Lord," says Mr Davros. "Oh Davros... I am far more than JUST another Time Lord," replies Mr Dr Sylv. Or rather he doesn't because that exchange was cut from their confrontation over the Hand of Omega, and yet somehow EVERYONE manages to know about it anyway. Nowadays, Mr Dr David will tell you that he is "...not just a Time Lord. I'm the LAST of the Time Lords." But does that make him "more" or is there something more to it? What exactly was that mythical exchange supposed to mean? ...
