So the GB team arrived back today lots of photo opportunities gold medals blinging (is that a real word?) and guess what there was Mr Brown (Prime minster- current) smiling away. Now I'm sure he was just doing His PM bit. But was it just me that thought as I watched him, two things first of all didn't he look like he was just hanging of the tails of the success of the athletes ? .......and secondly, doesn't he still look like he doesn't believe he should be there !
Not a day for politics. Head still a bit funny, but determined the rest of me isn't going to seize up, so an outing to Fountains Abbey with our family. Loverly views and atmosphere, great walk. But their elderflower ice cream, only avaiable there - delicious. Worth the trip for that alone
Jimmy Page's appearance at the Olympic closing ceremony yesterday reminds me of this video clip. It shows him playing skiffle 50 years ago.
That is the question I constantly find myself returning to when I consider the Bones Report. The quandary can best be summed up by the paper's claim that "across the whole party we have expenditure of £15m, yet only just over 10% of that was campaign expenditure through the main Federal Party budget." You could be forgiven for thinking that 90% of campaign expenditure is controlled locally and regionally. Is then, the main agenda of Bones to centralise the party still further or democratise that which is already centralised? The answer seems to be a bit of both, but I'm ...
Instead of purchasing a novel in paperback form I have been able to download last years Pullitzer prize winner for Free. On a 'borrow' basis . I must delete it when finished. Forget the pun, but this is quite a novel idea. To be able to read a work of fiction on the monitor screen. As with everything there is advantages and disadvantages. With this e-book I can increase the size of the font by using the Format function. There is no phraffing about looking for my reading glasses. Instead of having to turn the page, i scroll down. Good ...
Further to another incident involving an air rifle I quickly logged on to the Number Ten site to create a petition. I had always meant to create a petition asking for the ban of air rifles after discovering that a local shop sells them freely alongside gifts and toys, indeed even advertises them in the local paper. I've known two people suffer injuries from air rifles, one was shot very close to her eye from a passing car whilst walking on the pavement which meant she went to hospital. She could quite easily have lost the sight in one eye. ...
I live in Oxfordshire but I spent the first 32 years of my life in London. I am consequently a proper Londoner and remain proud of that great city, despite my strong attachment to my new home. I was thrilled when London beat Paris to get the 2012 Olympics and increasingly excited as the handover ceremony from Beijing to London approached. This growing excitement was cruelly shattered as I watched in horror a shambling, almost simian oaf emerge into the fabulous Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing to represent the entire UK, in turn saluting the crowd (!!!), placing his hands ...
The next meetings of our local Safer Stronger Community Groups will be held as follows: Yate area - Shire Way Community Centre - Tues 9th September 7pm Chipping Sodbury area - Horton Village Hall - Weds 15th October 7.30pm These meetings bring together representatives of the police, councils and other agencies. Sometimes it's hard to find out who is responsible for dealing with problems - these meetings are an opportunity for residents to raise issues, so that a coordinated approach can be taken.
I've been having a bit of a row with Iain Dale this evening, after I made a throwaway remark about his new enterprise, 'Total Politics'. I think that he's been a bit touchy and defensive but... I am, however, going to criticise one element of the latest issue of 'Total Politics'. This article is the sort of article that adds nothing to political dialogue, and is, to be honest, a bit of an insult
Today I had an email from the US Democrat vice-presidential candidate, Joe Biden. Of course, millions of other people both in the United States and around the world will have received it too — which makes it even more extraordinary. Howard Dean, former presidential hopeful and now Chairman of the Democratic Party was the first [...]
Mon 25th
21:14
What do you call someone who tries to poison everything that is good about working together ?
The answer, of course, is Alex Salmond. Forget that team GB did so well, forget that people from all over the UK with their own separate national identities worked together as a team and proved to be more as a team than merely the sum of their parts, forget that at a time when conflict and argument seems to be splitting nations, people from across the UK showed that unity brings strength and from this strength comes extraordinary achievement, Alex Salmond uses it a a pathetic attempt to waive his nationalist banner and detract from everything that has been achieved ...
Spurs have had a consistent start to the season - two games played, two 1-2 defeats. So far thoroughly depressing, next game is at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. But to make this weekend's match even worse, when we we arrived in Tottenham at about midday to head to the pub we had a bit of a shock. Bootlaces, the pub we used to drink in the most, has closed down (as you can see on from the photo). The first pub I visited in Tottenham was the Coach & Horses - and along with Bootlaces and the Bricklayers that made ...
When news about the Tory candidate in Watford being charged with a nasty campaign of criminal damage and harrassment against local Lib Dems broke, I thought he looked strangely familiar - but I couldn't work out why. One of my old university friends reminded me recently - the Tory involved was unfortunately at university in Durham at the same time as me and involved with the Union Society. I think he was even President. Small world, eh? (Apologies to my friend Kirsty for saying that...)
I have been going through a lot of templates on this blog and some of them i haven't been most fond of until i reached this template. I hopefully will be sticking to this template. What do you think of the template and if you dislike it can you please suggest me a better template?
The Daily Telegraph reports that last two summers, which have been wet, have been bad for butterflies: Garden species such as small tortoiseshell, peacock and red admiral seem to have been among the worst hit.Butterfly Conservation, which conducts an annual survey through volunteer spotters, says an accurate picture won't emerge until early next year when all the data has been analysed.Chief executive Dr Martin Warren said: "There is no doubt that it has been dire for most species and unfortunately it follows an already bad run of summers."We are really concerned about the small tortoiseshell which has been in long-term ...
Above is Labour Leader Councillor Dunning's report from his attendance at the Steel Alliance meeting in the House of Commons at which he represented Redcar and Cleveland Council. The report appears on pages 245 to 247 of the Business Papers for the Cabinet Meeting to be held on 2nd September 2008. Councillor Dunning is naive if he thinks that this report is good enough to justify him representing a Council that is responsible for spending hundreds of millions of pounds on behalf of the public. The Council attends meetings and conferences all over the country. It is important that the ...
{p1010781.JPG} We have a new addition to the family! Tamsin and I adopted the above ginger cat from the RSPCA in Rochdale, and he has been finding his feet at home today. He is called Mac (after Macavity the Mystery Cat, of TS Eliot and latterly Andrew Lloyd Webber fame). He only has three legs, and thus he has middle names including Tripod and Reliant Robin. Right now he is sliding about on the floor in the lounge. It is very exciting. There are lots of cats in the neighbourhood, but none with quite the same number of limbs, so ...
So, we're safely in Devon. We've Done Stufftm. Actually got out of the house and walked all the way to the beach via the Slapton Ley nature trail this morning, threw the ball for the dogs lots, walked back up the hill and made lunch (my Granny has managed to comment that a) I'm getting a bit fat and b) I need to eat more already, I love my Granny's food). Then we went to the local pub, listed in the Good Beer guide (Jennie had looked it up) so we knew it would have something. We go in, there ...
Council officially returns from recess tomorrow and, like buses, I have waited weeks for a meeting only to see several looming on the horizon now as three are coming over the next three nights. Tomorrow it's another meeting of the Resource and Performance scrutiny commission, on Thursday it's the Licensing panel, and sandwiched in between is a meeting of the Lib Dem Council group where we'll reconvene to discuss the issues that have been happening whilst people have been away. The bank holiday weekend has not been as relaxing as I'd hoped, and I now find myself at the depressing ...
Nick Clegg was down in Cornwall again on Friday to see the problems facing local fishermen and to meet a young couple who are struggling to be able to afford to live in the village which is their home and where they work. First off was Newquay harbour to meet fishermen and talk to them about the problems they face. Chief among these is the mountain of forms that need to be filled in the whole time. But they are also concerned with the lack of young people now entering the industry. In the past a fisherman could get a ...
The wonderful AFC Wimbledon are currently sitting top of the Blue Square Conference South having won their first five games in the league after promotion last season. Lovely
We were round at my brother's house for supper last night and watched the programme on plastic surgery - Super Botox Me - on Channel 4. The presenter (Kate Spicer) is the daughter of a good friend of my mother ans she has known Kate since she was 15 or so. So as Kate (now 39ish) had needles stuck into every part of her face and laser treatment that gave her the sort of panda eyes a child might draw when only given the red crayon, my mother would exclaim 'Oh Kate!' every three minutes or so before reminding us ...
It's here. Go read it.
We're in for a real treat this season at the Rose Theatre, with three productions by Peter Hall. The Bath Festival production of a stage adaptation of Henry James' 'The Portrait of a Lady' opens tomorrow, directed by Peter Hall and with a script by his wife, Nicki Frei. This is paired with Ibsen's 'A Doll's House' which opens on 9th September. The two plays should offer a...
Everton have today made their first signing of the summer, announcing the capture of Lars Jacobsen, Danish International Right-Back, on a free transfer. It is reported that he has signed a one-year deal. Can't say I'm overly enthused. Yes, I'm pleased that we have brought someone in, finally, to help beef-up a hopelessly thin squad, but defence wasn't the main area we need people. On the plus side, since he's a right-back, it could mean he's going to replace Phil Neville there. On the downside, it could mean that this is because Moyes doesn't think he's going to be able ...
The Guardian today raises further concerns about the performance, attitude and approach of HM Revenue & Customs. Its report doesn't make pretty reading for the Board, under its new Chairman, Mike Clasper (left). There can be no question that he takes over an organisation that is in a less than happy state. Major reorganisations stemming from a series of reviews have led to office closures from
It's not long now - just 2 weeks on Saturday - until Saturday nights get totally taken up with Strictly Come Dancing. The BBC have posted this teaser on their website: I am really looking forward to it starting up again. Yesterday's News of the World gave this year's line up as: Girls: Christine Bleakley, Heather Small, Jessie Wallace, Gillian Taylforth, Cherie Lunghi, Rachel Stevens and Lisa Snowdon. Boys: Tom Chambers, Don Warrington, John Sergeant, Phil Daniels, Austin Healey, Gary Rhodes and Andrew Castle. Louise over at Strictly Come Blogging adds Jodie Kidd and Mark Foster from the Sun's prediction. ...
Last night I went to see REM in concert at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester. Suffice it to say they blew the doors off the place. Although being an open-air venue, it doesn't have any doors, but if it had, they would have done. You get the drift. Supporting them were the Guillemots and Editors. I have to say, whilst their performances were decent, I found their songs to be quite samey, particularly Editors, where I found it quite difficult to pick up where one song ended and another began. REM however, were something else. I'd seen them at ...
Liberal Democrats in Bath have long been calling for sensible approach to student housing by Government. On the one hand the Government are asking for outrageous numbers of new housing but then it refuses to count student housing. Bath is a small city and each family house that is taken over for multile let adds to the pressure on our housing stock. Yet if we built 400 student housing units and...
After a week back in Northern Ireland watching Olympics, being used as a climbing frame and punch bag by my nephews and generally relaxing I am back in Scotland. First well done to Team GB and NI at the Olympics 4th in the medal table, if we're counting Northern Ireland we can also lay claim to one of Ireland's bronzes. Gordon Brown is promising honours all round. Might be enough for me to wear
Mon 25th
14:43
The perpetuating myth of Harold Wilson, the 1966 World Cup and his General Election win
James Lawton, a writer I very much enjoy reading, slipped into his piece in today's The Independent the recurring myth that England's World Cup victory won Harold Wilson the General Election in 1966. It is a myth that needs to be debunked. The General Election was in March; the World Cup final was on July 30th, so England's success [...]
I get a lot of invitations to attend events or support causes, but occasionally something unusual crops up, and when I was invited to answer some questions on my favourite books for 'Total Politics' magazine, a new venture headed up by a group of mostly, but not wholly, Conservatives, I took up the opportunity with a will. So, here's my contribution...
Time to move on. My new big idea is promoting the idea that we're in a political dark age. I think, in fairness, it needs no explaining.
As part of Ros Scott's campaign team, I've visited a lot of our Local Parties in the past year. Whereas, in the past, I had an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of structures and personalities in London (almost anorakish), and an awareness that the rest of the country existed, I am suddenly obliged to process a lot [...]
I was going to rant at length about this Paxman story, but why would I bother when Anton has done it for me, and so much better than I ever could? Paxman is from Doncaster, and is showing all the sterling qualities of Yorkshire masculinity that made me pick a guy from Devon right there. Find out Which Movie Villain Are You at LiquidGeneration.com! Peter Black has a fantastic post about the London Olympics (from the PoV of a non-Londoner):Many of us already feel as if London has sucked all the money and good-will that is available from the rest ...
Oh, if there is one thing I don't like about human nature, it is tribalism. I try to avoid it where it exists in politics: red, yellow, blue, or green; dogged loyalty and occasionally the sort of blind hate for 'the other side' that one would more usually associate with football hooligans. And yet, and yet. I am getting the fear about David Cameron in a big way. I tell myself that anyone who goes into politics has to be doing it motivated by something good and laudable - a desire to fix something broken. After all, that is how ...
Issue 3 of 'Total Politics' has been published and, whilst I wouldn't normally promote a magazine which, thus far, has been less than entirely friendly to anyone other than Conservatives, I feel obliged to bring your attention to this item... Clearly, I'm going to have to buy a new house, as the staircase is utterly unsuitable to sweeping down in voluminous skirts...
The drama in Zimbabwe continues. The world prevaricates, Mugabe procrastinates, the Southern African states hesitate and the people's suffering continues. And now MDC MPs are being arrested and the election of the Speaker of the House becomes the latest battleground in this sorry tale.When will the world wake up to this preventable disaster in the making and help the people find a positive future...
With more then 10 000 hits and only three months have gone by since i started this blog i am actually quiet grateful to all the people who always read my blog. I thank all the people who have promoted my blog to other readers. I also thank all the people who comment on the blog and i ask them to continue commenting. Please continue commenting on, reading and promoting my blog.
According to reports the youth are being criminalised for things that can be dealt with informally. I think this true as many people have been arrested for petty things but a more serious crime is sometimes not given as much attention as it should. Do you think the Police Criminalise the youth for petty crime?
Well done to all our athletes in the Olympic games. As a keen cyclists I have been following our cycle team with a keen interest and it has provided some great events in so many different styles. Team Bath provided a number of our athletes and Heather Fell got a silver medal. Apart from the great cycling the star for me was the Bolt from Jamaica and three fantabulous races....
A quick salute to a couple of people who are a lot fitter than I am. This was at the end of the Ringmer Triathlon, and the weather was fairly filthy - it was after all a Bank Holiday Monday. There were a lot of people around pushing their bikes and walking very, very slowly. I'm not entirely sure what the pirate gear was for; perhaps they're practising for International Talk Like A Pirate Day.
Just watching the closing ceremony on BBC iPlayer on my laptop. It turns out my laptop is officially better than my telly as the quality and sound are breathtaking. Mind you, I am listening through very expensive headphones. (I was also able to take a screenshot - don't you just love the pink, red and orange...lush!) The choreography is wonderful but three things have annoyed me. First of all our section looked dreadful. David Beckham and a big red bus shows no imagination at all. The choreography in our section was poor. I could have designed better myself. Also the ...
On the eve of the Democratic National Convention it is a great relief that: (a) The Florida and Michigan delegations have had their full voting rights restored. and (b) Hillary Clinton is set to release her voting delegates to Obama. Both these things should go some way to further restoring the unity of the Democrats. They urgently need that unity. Polls show that there are a significant
Bob Innes has asked me to have a go at the latest meme to be doing the rounds in which we are asked to say what we were doing during some significant historical events. As it is still raining then here goes: Princess Diana's death - 31 August 1997 I was in bed. The radio alarm went off at 6.30am or some other such unearthly hour so I went downstairs to watch the coverage on the television. The tragedy took place during the Assembly Referendum campaign, which was promptly suspended. I had planned to deliver leaflets that day and went ...
Mon 25th
11:02
Your chance to do something about the things you don't like about the Liberal Democrats
This autumn, conference representatives will elect members of the major committees responsible for running the party. If you have strong views that we should do things differently, then why don't you stand? We are a democratic organisation, but our decisions will only reflect what members actually want if people do put themselves forward. Information about the elections has now been published, and the deadline for nominations is 24 September. You only have to get two voting conference representatives to support you, and you don't even have to be a conference rep yourself to stand. Of course actually standing for election ...
It's my turn to collate the 79th of our weekly round-ups (17th - 23rd August) of the seven most popular click-throughs from LibDemBlogs, plus another five that you might have missed. My, that came around again quickly this week. Let's get straight down to it, in traditional descending order: 1 You're asking me? Jo's reaction [...]
Today, I am in Witney!
Posted by Glynis; Elderly residents in Greenhow Walk, Redcar have experienced various problems as a result of the building site for the new hospital. Intermittent loss of TV signal is being caused by the timber site boundary wall being so close to the bungalows, and about the same height as the residents' TV aerials. Residents have been disturbed by loud banging as early as 7.30am Vandalism and anti social behaviour has been caused by local youths attempting to enter the compound. I have been working with John Hannon and Ian Swales in an attempt to deal with the problems and ...
Was it Oscar Wilde who said words to the effect of "When you're tired of London, you're tired of life" ? Well I disagree. I tire of London very quickly whenever I go there. I can manage a weekend but much longer than that and I get fed up with sky high prices, poor service, people walking straight in to you and a general lack of manners found elsewhere in the country. Don't get me wrong. London is a great place with some amazing buildings and places to visit. It's just not a place I like to spend lots of ...
The Labour Government's green aspirations have developed a hole beneath the water line this morning with a Guardian report that the UK department responsible for slashing buildings' carbon emissions has emerged as amongst the least energy-efficient: The 10-year-old glass and steel offices of the communities and local government department in central London have been granted an F rating for energy efficiency - the second worst possible under a new labelling initiative. The revelation is likely to be embarrassing to ministers because they drew up the rules requiring the energy use of all public buildings above 1,000 square metres to be ...
I have to admit that I am bored with the Olympics closing ceremony and the arguments over that London bus, the video, David Beckham's kick and the brolly brigade. Marina Hyde sums up the 'Beijing is going to kick London's butt' argument brilliantly in today's Guardian but somehow I cannot bring myself to really care, no matter how good the prose: At times during this ceremony it felt as if London would have to prise the Olympic torch from China's cold, dead hands. Come to that, at no point in either the opening or the closing ceremonies would it have ...
The Times has an extract from Ferdinand Mount's memoirs about his time as head of the No 10 policy unit and Mrs Thatcher's speechwriter. The whole thing is worth reading, but this is particularly fine: My son Harry had briefly taken up autograph-hunting and he worked the room, clocking up the white-faced Whitelaw and Parkinson for starters. Then Harry moved on to get a signature from Denis Thatcher. Would it be all right to ask Mark Thatcher for an autograph, too? "I wouldn't bother if I was you," said Denis: "the boy can scarcely write his own name" - which ...
This week I've been from John O'Groats to Lands End - well, almost, I think Orkney to Newquay should qualify. There were six free days between my trips to Scotland and Wales, and when I was invited to Cornwall to do some events there over the Bank Holiday, it seemed perfectly natural to accept. So off I set, accompanied by Mark, who has been described by an old friend as my "short-suffering" husband, for the West Country. After a pretty dismal summer, the sun was actually shining when we arrived, and Padstow was absolutely packed with visitors, all of whom ...
I was watching the 10 O'clock BBC news last night. They summarised our successes at the games, they covered how amazing the games were and they covered the closing ceremony and what to expect at the next games. There was no report about the Chinese human rights record, during the games. They should have covered that, because China made human rights promises. It promised to allow protests and to give media freedom. Protests weren't aloud to take place even in the park allocated for protests. Freedom of the press was limited too. The BBC didn't cover this and they should ...
The Fife and Tayside Local TV working group has now made its submission in terms of the Digital Dividend Review Consultation to Ofcom, the media regulator. It is great to see the momentum behind the campaign for local television in Tayside and Fife, summed up, I think, by a brief quote from the submission to Ofcom : "The Fife and Tayside Local TV Working Group (FT-TV) welcomes this further opportunity to comment on the proposed allocation of digital spectrum and reiterates previous requests that the Angus and Craigkelly transmitters are included in this process. "We note that following previous lobbying ...
Holiday-makers off to the seaside may be on the lookout for Blue Flag beaches. If you're in Islington, why not visit one of our Green Flag parks? Eight parks around Islington have now been recognised as Green Flag winners. Whittington Park and Royal Northern off the Holloway Road, Gillespie Park (home of the Ecology Centre) [...]
As we reach the August bank holiday the news explodes across the political scene that the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has chosen this time of year, and this extraordinary economic climate, to switch allegiance. It truly is the height of the silly season. Clegg has defected from Ocado to Sainsbury's. Janet Street Porter, for the [...]
It's scary - some bits of it are just like Yorkshire; other bits decidedly not. The landscape is very homely. The roads are... well, they make the roads in the dales look like autobahns. Mat's granny (who we are staying with) has no internet, but wandering about the house discovered an unsecured wireless network, so I CAN get online. I doubt I shall be spending a lot of time online, but if there's anything urgent...
The Lunar Society is hosting a debate sponsored by Martineau Johnson about whether Birmingham should be planning a radical response to climate change? The debate is on 14th October 2008 starting at 7.00pm, at the Town Hall in Birmingham.
