Apparently lots of people's attention is turning to celebrations of Britishness at this moment, what with us having the Olympic handover, and a shitload of medals and such. The thing is, we Brits aren't that good at unreserved nationalistic pride - witness Steve's suggestion of adopting Mna-Mna for the National Anthem, here. The Last Night of The Proms aside, we like to be faintly self-deprecating and ironic about our displays of patriotic fervour. We don't do all that flashy stuff like other nations. Yes, we know the world would be a better place if we were still running it, but ...
Find out how Chris Rennard completed this sentence in an interview over on PoliticalBetting with himself and Ed Davey.
Small bit of advice to Andrew Lansley. If you have to insist that you are not "nannying" that is almost certainly what you are doing. Finger wagging doesn't stop being finger wagging just because you have the fingers of your other hand crossed behind your back. I know I need to read the actual speech rather than the media precis, but my kneejerk reaction is: what on earth has happened to Reform? They used to be the thinktank that so-called 'Orange Bookers' slammed in everyone else's face as the epitomy of laissez-faire economic liberalism. In the past few months they've ...
Looking back at my last two postings - one praising British Gas customer care, the next calling for a windfall tax on energy profits - it occurs to me that they do look a bit contradictory. So has watching the Arsenal match in between caused a dramatic change of mind? Actually I don't think there's [...]
The appeal hearing was today. We won't know the result until about 6 week's time and I wouldn't like to guess which way the inspector will go. I do believe we got a fair hearing, but whether I or my colleagues there were sufficiently convincing remains to be seen. All I can say is that we did our best and I hope for the sake of the residents of the few houses in Croft Rd who will be affected
A day of rushing and frustration, which I could well have done without as I was not going in to do my voluntary work given my bad head. Some people were splendid, including the Principal of the 6th Form College where there is the big planning application the Council did not tell us as ward councillors about. Also some Council officers were really helpful in giving us good information very...
The European Parliament in Brussels is currently holding an unusual photo exhibition highlighting projects involving Turkish schoolchildren and young people to raise their knowledge not only about what the European Union does, but also about core values such as freedom, equality, security, peace, solidarity and unity. As the up-and-coming generation is the one that in [...]
It may be August, but we've just had our boiler checked for the coming year. And there's a chill in the air as energy prices continue to rise. This week the Sunday Express was even offering 'have your gas bill paid' as a competition prize. We need a fairer deal for energy customers. A cross-party [...]
The Frome Vale Area Forum brings together residents and councillors from Chipping Sodbury, Cotswold Edge, Dodington, Frampton Cotterell, Ladden Brook, Westerleigh and Yate. The next meeting will be held on Thursday 11 September at 7 pm on the main hall of Frampton Cottrell Primary School. Doors open at 6.15 pm - a good opportunity for some networking! This meeting's agenda includes: - An opportunity to ask your local South Gloucestershire councillors questions - A discussion about the Government's proposal for 33,000 new homes in South Glos by 2026 - Decision making on capital grants to local community groups
Dear Michael, I wonder if you would clarify whether or not you are among the 80 Labour MPs reported to have signed a petition lobbying the Government to levy a windfall tax on energy companies, to help families on lower incomes who are struggling with huge rises in their energy bills? If you have not yet signed [...]
The war on fat people continues unabated. This time it's the turn of the Tories to have a go at the bulging waistline of the nation. It's almost as though we are in a political bidding war with each party trying to out do the other on being tough on chubsters. Labour's idea of bullying fat school kids has now been trumped by the Tories. I have previously warned that the inevitable escalation of this war will lead to a fat tax but now I'm beginning to think even more draconian measures will be introduced - electronic tagging for all ...
Another classic (and totally irrelevant to everything else on this blog!!) - more at http://www.richardandkarencarpenter.com/memorial.htm
Yesterday I visited Bradgate Park, which is a few miles north west of Leicester. It is a part of Charnwood Forest - somewhere to take people who insist that the Midlands are flat - and contains the ruins of Bradgate Park, which was the home of the Grey family - as in Lady Jane Grey, Queen of England for nine days. The park was privately purchased from the Grey family and given to the people of Leicestershire by Charles Bennion in 1928. The best account of it is to found on the site of Leicestershire Orienteering Club: The herds of ...
Several strands of International Relations theory were swept aside a few weeks ago by the movements of a Russian tank division. The McDonalds Theory of conflict prevention states that countries with McDonalds franchises dont invade each other or as Friedman put it: 'when a country reached the level of economic development where it had a middle class big enough to support a McDonald's network, it became a McDonald's country. And people in McDonald's countries didn't like to fight wars anymore, they preferred to wait in line for burgers'. Well there is a lovely McDonalds in Red Square, Moscow and another ...
A few weeks ago, with the credit crunch biting and fuel prices rocketing, I decided to invest in a bike. It's been a bad idea. In less than four weeks, the front brake cable has snapped, a pedal has fallen off and to cap it all, the handlebars have come off (while on the Kings Road doing a madcap thing of biking from the sunny uplands of the Surrey suburbs to work in Central London). It's utterly useless and bloody dangerous. Even the accessories like the pump have failed to work! This is not some cheap, second hand bike I ...
The US political conventions can often seem rather strange affairs to British eyes. All that frothy hysteria and those balloons dropping from the roof. But this week there was a speech which cut through all that. Given the state of his health, it was remarkable that Senator Edward Kennedy even made it to Denver. It was even more remarkable that he made a barnstorming and passionate speech which
Channel 4 is showing a Powell and Pressburger film every afternoon next week. The details are: Monday 1 September 13:00 - The Spy in Black (1939) Tuesday 2 September 13:30 - One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1942) Wednesday 3 September 13:30 - A Matter of Life and Death (1946) Thursday 3 September 13:30 - Black Narcissus (1947) Friday 4 September 13:15 - The Battle of the River Plate (1956) I have written about A Matter of Life and Death before, but I also have a soft spot for One of Our Aircraft is Missing. In it a British bomber ...
What with her being a Treasury minister, you'd have thought decent economic predictive abilities would come in useful. Alas, her record isn't up to much, for she was dispensing these pearls of wisdom in Parliament as recently as April this year: According to the motion, we are facing an "extreme bubble in the housing market" and [...]
The FT Westminster Blog offers some mild praise for Vince Cable package to rescue people caught up in the current problems in the housing market. What is really telling, though, is that it quotes those Labour MPs who, as recently as April, thought the whole thing was just a big joke. There was Angela Eagle: The Liberal Democrat motion has been much commented on, possibly because it reads like the storyboard for "Apocalypse Now", or perhaps even "Bleak House". According to the motion, we are facing an "extreme bubble in the housing market" and the "risk of recession", and we ...
I have reached that magical milestone, half a million viewings of my videos on YouTube. I am off to celebrate by going to a pub quiz where, if our performance was anything like it was the last time we were there a few weeks ago, we won't win! If anyone really wants to see my videos, here's the link: http://uk.youtube.com/user/jonathanwallace Top viewed video is the one I filmed in the former
Harry Wills has been named as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Glenrothes constituency. A date has yet to be called for this forth coming by-election, which was caused by the death of Labour MP John MacDougall.
A British Gas engineer came today to do our home boiler safety check. They arranged an appointment by phone, and texted me yesterday to remind me about it. The appointment was for the afternoon, and the engineer turned up during the booked time. He was thorough, professional and helpful. All exactly as you'd want it. I've been [...]
In recent weeks, I have received numerous (and I mean numerous!) complaints from residents across the West End about the extent of weeds at road edges and footpaths - I know this is a complaint not just in the West End but in other parts of Dundee too. The photo (right) from Blackness Road is typical ... I have had various discussions with the Director of Planning & Transportation and Dundee Contract Services about these concerns. There is little doubt that the weather has been unhelpful in ensuring the annual weeds spraying programme progresses on schedule, but I am pleased ...
Vince Cable's proposals on responding to the housing crisis have been getting good coverage. The Daily Mail for example says that: Banks should be banned from seizing homes from families struggling to pay their mortgages except in extreme circumstances, the Liberal Democrats said. People would first be asked to sell off a chunk of their hard-earned property to a council or housing association under a 'buy back' rescue package. It would allow cash-strapped families floundering because of the credit crunch to reduce their mortgage payments without the fear of being made homeless. But the FT Westminster Blog takes a different ...
From The Times: Andrew Lansley says there is "no excuse" for being fat
If there is ever a good idea it is the idea of community councils (which encompass Town councils). But if there was ever a waist of public finances this is it. Community Councils in Wales are similar to English Parish councils. Individuals are elected to represent there communities. Those individuals are paid. These communities in Wales derive from the geography of the Anglican church boundaries. They are distinct from County Councillors who represent there community members on each County Council. At council meetings. These guys who represent communities in this way do share alot of character traits. i) Keep out ...
Fingers crossed for Jo Shaw, the Lib Dem prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Holborn & St Pancras, who is running the Loch Ness Marathon on 5th October. I know Jo, as her patch includes the Camden half of Highgate village, so we discuss local issues from time to time. Jo is raising money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association's North London branch, and is on the Just Giving website, here. ...
I've been to my first ever meeting of full council today - in Neath Port Talbot. It lasted 16 minutes, including a welcome to Ros from both the Mayor and the Council Leader. I'm not going to be critical, especially as the August meeting is held so as to avoid the usual logjam at the first meeting after the summer break that most councils traditionally take. And besides, if anyone had objected to
At some time on the weekend of the 11th to 12th October the current leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Mike German, will stand up to make a speech to our national conference and conclude it by announcing that he is to stand down from that position with immediate effect. Although Mike only assumed the mantle [...]
Is it just me or was the Tories announcement about fat people "taking responsibility" a total contradiction when the Tories said they would oppose a traffic light scheme for food labelling ? It strikes me that the Tories commission that came up with this report (a group chaired by the head of food company Unilever) have fallen for the supermarket and food manufacturers line that food labelling is bad. So no food traffic light labelling under the Tories, but an expectation that people should eat more sensibly. How exactly will the Tories get people to eat more sensibly if traffic ...
With Iain Dale always making him self out to be the best political commentator this has an impact on Political blogger's like Liberal Burbling, Norfolk Blogger or Jonathan Fryer who don't get as much Media Attention as him. I have always found the blogs listed above more interesting then the blog of Iain Dale but him and Guido are in the media spotlight and the good Lib Dem blogger's don't get no media attention. What do you think?
Businessman Harry Wills has been selected to fight the vacant Glenrothes seat for the Liberal Democrats. I spent Sunday up there delivering his Residents' Survey in Leven. If this guy has even half the drive and energy of the last Liberal Democrat to win a by-election in Fife he would make an extremely good constituency MP. Good luck to him and to his campaign team. So, the SNP and the Lib Dems have selected. Labour have yet to pick their lamb to the slaughter. In the absence of any big name volunteers, the Dunfermline Press suggests that Dunfermline Central Councillor ...
It did do my heart good to hear the triple gold medal winner soon to be "Sir" Chris Hoy speak such sense: "I was proud to represent Scotland in the Commonwealth Games. That's something I will always cherish. "Scotland is part of Britain - they are not mutually exclusive. I'm a proud Scot and I'm a very proud Brit as well." As the increasingly obese Alex Salmond tries to use sport as a political football for his own narrow separatism it is good to know that real winners understand that the reality of success is the result of years of ...
This afternoon, the long-awaited, over-budget, imaginatively named Darlington Eastern Transport Corridor opened. Eager to sample the delights of riding alongside it, I hopped on the bike and gave it a whirl. Approaching along Haughton Road from town at about 3pm the traffic was backed up to the railway bridge by the College - so this evening's rush hour should be fun! The majority of
Reader, unlike 92% of You, and 100% of Them, I've read it. It's taken a few weeks, in odd bursts of ten minutes, but I was sustained by an absurd faith that, contrary to what the newspapers would have us believe, most people do not have the attention span of a chicken in a hurricaine, [...]
Have you been reading Judah in Georgia? If not, you should be. He's out there now and has a host of articles about the crisis, the refugee camps, nationalism, and much more. Have a read.
The Yorkshire Ridings Society (YRS) raised a bumper £558 from the sale of silk white roses on Yorkshire Day, Friday 1st August. All proceeds go to Redcar Lifeboat Station. YRS were assisted by members of Redcar Ladies Lifeboat Guild and Finlay's Newsagents in Eston.
Last summer I read the superb "The Company: a short history of a revolutionary idea". One of the central arguments that emerges from the book is that the creation and legal frameworks surrounding the Joint Stock Company massively spurred on investment and development in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The point of the Joint Stock Company is that external share holders have limited liability, making investment safer and therefore more attractive. However, Chris Dillow calls into doubt the efficacy of external shareholders. He argues that they don't actually make for a more efficient allocation of capital are do not ...
The excellent Bryan Caplan poses some interesting questions. The central point being why are people libertarian in one field but not in the other? He's especially taking aim at non-free market supporters. Try answering his six questions and see what you come up with. I'm very interested in people's responses. 1. Are markets for ideas/culture less subject to market failure than other markets? Why or why not? 2. Is well-intended regulation of idea/culture markets more likely to have unintended negative consequences than well-intended regulation of other markets? 3. Is regulation of idea/culture markets less likely to be well-intended than regulation ...
Kids are on the rampage. Binge drinking is out of control. We need tighter licensing laws. Kids can't get their hands on the wicked booze. Make it difficult to drink if you're under 21. These are the self-defeating rallying cries of today's reactionaries. I offer you a simple, liberal solution. Let teenagers drink in pubs like they used to. I am in a rather good position to judge this issue as I am just old enough (21) to have been allowed, with a wink, to drink quietly in a pub corner underage. My brother (16) isn't. The police are far ...
Listening to the today program this morning on the way to work reinforced the fears I already harbour about the coming of a New Cold War. Donald Maclaren, Britain's former Ambassador to Georgia, was arguing that the West had two solutions to the Georgia crisis: 1, surrender; 2, stand up to Russia. How delightfully black and white, I hear you say. How wonderfully Bushian (43). His "standing up to Russia" entailed putting troops on the ground in Georgia. Yeah, great. He essentially rubbished diplomatic solutions as ineffective. Now is, apparantly, the time to stand up the that beastly Bear. Am ...
I have a touch of blog-itus at the moment which I'm sure will be quickly dispelled by returning to work next week. Just wanted to say how the character of Harold in Neighbours will be sorely missed. I remember the dramatic moment when he was washed away to sea in 1991 - I was 10 and very addicted to the programme, though I had to do battle sometimes as the ITV news was, I'm ashamed to say, quite popular in our house. There was no BBC iPlayer back then so I didn't manage to watch it every day. When I ...
Median Household income has actually fallen since 2000 in the US. Whilst economic growth has been nearly ever present in the last 8 years in America, incomes for a lot of Americans has fallen. There is something behind the "rebuild the middle class" shtick that I dislike so. This means that there has been an effective transfer of wealth from the middle and the bottom to the top. I'm not talking about inequality, I'm not talking about decile share of GDP, I'm talking about absolute income. The average American earns less now. The richest certainly earn more. This fails liberal ...
Some provinces of Afghanistan, notably not Helmand which say a 1% increase, have witnessed a decline in the amount of poppies produced. The country accounts for a huge proportion of global heroin production and the drugs money is in part used to fuel insurgency. So this is a big success of Western Policy? Perhaps not. Western policy is confused at the best of times. I can offer a more sensible answer for the decline which no one can take any positive credit for whatsoever. Global food prices have rocketed. So, at the margins, poppy production will have switched to food ...
Andrew Lansley says that the Tories shouldn't go on about obesity but makes the second speech by a senior Tory in two months about it! Could Lansley actually define what he means by obesity? Technically it is 25%+ Body Fat ratio for men and 32%+ for women. Now let's see how many Tory shadow cabinet members are above that. Certainly N.Soames. But many besides. Can David Cameron honestly say
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev: "We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a new cold war... Russia is a state which has to ensure its interests along the whole length of its border. This is absolutely clear." var sid=134;var vid=10058; ShareThis
One of the issues which is exercising liberals (proper JSM style) about the Democrats is their heavily protectionist rhetoric. Here are the voting records on barriers and subsidies of Biden, Obama, and McCain. I don't buy the argument that the anti-trade rhetoric is just for campaign purposes. If you look at the voting record it appears that these convictions are deaply held. It's a bit scary to think what the Democrats could achieve with control of the White House and Congress. Guess who's position I like?
Some interesting analysis of the Democrats' Denver Convention to anoint Senator Barack Obama as their presidential nominee over at the Electoral Vote website: The traditional media seem to have picked up on ... [a] theme that the Democrats are letting McCain off easy. Long-time Clinton insider James Carville has been all over TV saying that the [...]
I have just voted in the LDV poll. Of course I would have preferred a poll that allowed us to prioritise, I also enjoy the socialising, fringes, general buzz..........but of course the highlight for me is the debate. Despite my occasional :-) moanings about stuff, I am rather proud that we do still have a process in policy making that involves the membership. If political activism is about anything it is surely based on the premise that collectively we can achieve more than we can on our own. When we lose the link with our grass roots to my mind ...
The Kings Cross access petition has now reached over 600 signatures. If you've not yet signed up, you can do so here. Meanwhile Islington Council Trading Standards have been busy, raiding the 'Bookshop' at 4 York Way (operated by the delightfully-named Ballaction Ltd) and seizing hundreds of illegal DVDs and videos. Ballaction have now been convicted [...]
I've been sent some details about an event in Liverpool about Genetically Modified Foods. Very current issue and it sounds like it could be an interesting evening. I have posted all the details I have below. ************************ The British Association for the Advancement of Science are holding a GM debate in Liverpool on Sunday 7 September, 6:30pm. Becky Price from Genewatch and Clare Oxborrow from Friends of the Earth are speaking, along with the CEO of the Food Standards Agency, and the director of the Science Development Network. A summary of the event is below. It's £3, open to all, ...
At least, according to the home page of the Scottish Lib Dems, which is still saying that the result of the leadership election will be announced on Tuesday. I must say, not updating the site for 24 hours after the result has been declared looks a tad unprofessional. It's not exactly difficult to update a website, is it?
The Times, BBC and Telegraph all have reports and you can read the full report for the UK here; and for Scotland here. The six main recommendations of the Commission are as follows: 1. establish Electoral Management Boards in Great Britain, including all Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers for each area 2. provide the chairs of [...]
Before I start, I should note the wise words of a Party insider, who has reminded me that the Bones Commission report is only an advisory one, and far from binding on anyone. Deep in the executive summary is a suggestion that the Party's regions in England be realigned with the European regions used for elections to Brussels. As a bureaucrat, believing in neat organisational pyramids, I can see
Who are you to vote for? McCain the mad war mongering authoritarian leads the GOP, a party of big government, interference in the economy and your personal lives. Obama leads the charge for the Democrats with the rhetoric of hope but the same old politics. The Democrats wish to regulate your life and 'fix' health care by [...]
The Scottish Liberal Democrats have elected Tavish Scott as their new Leader. He secured 1,450 votes, representing a 59% share of the turnout. Ross Finnie polled 568 votes (21.3%), and Mike Rumbles won 439 votes (17.9%).
An email drops into The Voice inbox alerting us to the news that Baroness Ros Scott's campaign for Lib Dem Party President will officially be launched on 1st September: The I'm4Ros website goes live on 1st September - Ros is kicking off the opening of nominations with a campaigning trip to Kingston. Two other names have been [...]
Well the other parties in Scotland had been writing off the Lib Leadership Election as an irrelevance but it is interesting in some of their statements just what they really think. As I'm currently reading Barak Obama's 'The Audacity of Hope' one thing that is equally apparent in US as well as UK politics is that you don't use negative campaigning unless you are worried and in a tight fight.
Dear oh dear, what is this obsession with Peter Hain, Adam Price and Eluned Morgan all about? Why exactly does the Western Mail keep up with this pretence that politicians of its choosing can be parachuted into the Welsh Assembly to take on the mantle of First Minister/future leader of Plaid Cymru etc? Do they not realise that there are democratic processes that must be gone through both to get the individuals concerned into the Senedd in the first place and then to get them elected to leadership positions? Playing musical chairs with internal party processes has become part of ...
UCU activist shuts down Harry's Place. I'm not a reader of Harry's Place, but it appears to have been shut down (there's no DNS entry for the domain at present) after a complaint from a University and College Union activist from Sheffield complained to their web hosts about an article claiming that she linked to and [...]
Fed up of losing Hillary Clinton gave a speech that will go down in history. Instead of using the luxury of self-serving personality squabbling they are going to let issues serve themselves. Focussed on winning they are going all out for November.
Bath & North East Somerset Council and Avon and Somerset Police have carried out a successful safety check on taxis and private hire vehicles in Bath. During the operation, on Wednesday 20 August, 45 vehicles were stopped at random by the Police and then checked for compliance with licensing laws by the Council's Licensing Team. Mechanical Safety was checked by the Vehicle...
Two separate developments could have a significant effect on whether we end up with a second casino in Torquay, or on where that adult amusement arcade will be located. Adult amusement arcades would b...
The news is today covering a report from the Electoral Commission about the way we run elections in this country. One of the recommendations is for people to register individually on the electoral roll.This makes a huge amount of sense. At the moment one person fills the form in for everyone in the household. Mistakes can and do creep in - people get left off or wrongly included. (Household pets also get included as a joke sometimes). I do think also that there needs to be a little more identifying information - a NI number or similar. I am told ...
Latest press release about the Free Gaza and Liberty, knowing Palestinian students who have risked their lives and been injured getting out of Gaza to start university here, I am particularly pleased to hear that the boats will be taking Palestinian students with them when they leave tomorrow: The FREE GAZA and LIBERTY will leave Gaza for Cyprus on Thursday morning at 9:00 am. Several Palestinian students who have been denied exit visas by Israel will travel to Cyprus on the boats. One Palestinian professor will finally be able to go back to teaching in Europe and one young Palestinian ...
Yesterday Tavish Scott did win the nomination to be leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats with 59% of the vote. From where I was sitting he was advocating a great deal of continuity, had the backing of most, though not all, of the establishment of MPs and MSPs etc in Scotland. However, 41% a sizable minority, did still vote for the other two candidates who advocated some sort of change in
A grant of £90,000 has been made to Bath & North East Somerset Council to contribute towards the cost of re-developing displays and improving access at the Roman Baths in Bath. The Council is spending over a million pounds this year on plans to improve the site, which is a scheduled ancient monument and an international tourist attraction. The £90,000 grant has come from the...
Both my teams are in Bath for big matches at the weekend. Having won their first five games of the season in Conference South, AFC Wimbledon will travel to Bath City on Saturday for a challenging away fixture. And the Cornish All Blacks will be at the Rec to take on a Bath United side (basically a mixture of Bath Rugby's first team and academy) in their final pre-season match. Both kick off at 3pm. So which am I going to go to? Actually neither. I will instead be taking photos at the wedding of Stephen Kearney, the Lib Dem ...
The special meeting of Prestwich Local Area Partnership meeting organised for 4 September has been cancelled and will be rescheduled in the near future. As soon as this meeting is arranged it will be posted on the notice board outside Prestwich Library as well a notice sent out to every resident in Prestwich. The meeting was to discuss the plans for the development of Prestwich Town Centre, but it felt best to do this during the consultation period which will be starting shortly. The next scheduled meeting of the LAP will take place on Thursday 2 October at 6.30pm at ...
We have received only one planning application that we need to let you know about this week and that is for a change of use from dwelling house to no 2 self contained residential flats at 19 Poolemead Road Whiteway Bath BA2 1QW. The application was first registered on 7th August 2008 and has a decision date of 2nd October 2008. The application reference number is...
Is our election system to complicated? Well that is what some people are saying. Critics have said it is too complicated and it needs to be more simpler. I actually don't think its too complicated if it was then people wouldn't be committing Election Fraud and they have been cases in the past that show it must have been easy for them to commit the crime. I believe that the rules need to be tightened up. What do you think?
A few weeks ago a few men from Lancashire were arrested under the terrorism act at the time not a lot of information was let out according to what i have read that they are being detained under the terrorism act as suspects who wanted to Kill the Prime Minister. Well if what I am reading is true despite Brown being as bad as he is and the Labour Party running the country down, these people are silly or have some metal instabilities. You can not win a battle with the political parties with bullets you should use the ballot! ...
It took about a minute - less than the time it would take me to walk to the postbox. I was pleasantly surprised when the Register of Electors 2009 form arrived today and I saw that I could do my registration online. There is also a 24 hours freephone number I could use instead. I could even send a text, but that will get charged at the standard rate. All these methods allow...
Having just dropped by Gatley Medical Centre, I've discovered that the community police drop-in sesssions which ran from 5.30 to 6pm on the first Wednesday of the month have been cancelled. Don't know why, I'm afraid (perhaps no-one came along).
Yeah it was just like Christmas Day the first site I looked at when I logged on was Ian Dale's to see the Top 40 Scottish Blogs. After being in Iain Dale's first Top 100 Lib Dem Blogs in 2006 before dropping of the edge of the blogosphere last year I was interested to see how my return shaped up. Well I was just pipped out of the top ten at eleventh so thanks for the votes readers and Iain for
The latest copy of an E:Newsletter issued by Bath MP Don Foster is included in a link below. DON FOSTER E:NEWS
It is always good to be able to bring you the latest news as to what our local MP Don Foster has been up to so I have enclosed below a link to Don's latest E:news letter. DON FOSTER E:NEWS
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East Sussex County Council have just released their annual report. For the first time, it reports carbon (or "environmental') footprint targets. There's a table of baseline emissions for 2001/2. Unfortunately, it doesn't state the units, but I think they're tonnes of CO2. The total is almost 38,000t, with schools accounting for 61% of that. Street lighting (17%), social services (12%) and business mileage (5.3%) account for most of the rest. The good news is that their CO2 emissions have dropped by 20% since the baseline year. Unfortunately, they don't give a comparable breakdown, or say how they've achieved this - ...
There's been a lot of coverage of what gold medal winners could now earn through sponsorship. But what does it cost to get a gold medal? Anywhere between £2M and £20M, according to this report. Perhaps with property values and pension funds uncertain, we should be putting our money into sporting futures. Cycling seems to [...]
Nick Perry, Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye said today, "I want to add my voice to those of other local people who have expressed their heartfelt sadness and condolences to the family and friends of Mohammed Al-Majed. "It is right and proper that after an incident such as this that we review the policy and [...]
Liberal Democrats in Hastings & Rye have given their strong backing to ambitious calls by Nick Clegg MP for Britain to become self-sufficient in energy. The Liberal Democrat Leader has called for a major programme to build up Britain's own energy supplies through wind, tidal, wave and biomass technologies. Mr Clegg said, "We have an enormous opportunity [...]
So what is happening to the country of my father's birth? (Well actually, he was born in pre-partition India and his father and him saw the effects of the colonial partition of India. The mass killings and the trails of human misery who were uprooted and who moved from one country to another were the results of the lines drawn by India's colonial masters.) When Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the father and founder of Pakistan, put forward his vision of a modern Pakistan, he never imagined that nearly 60 years on, the country is on the verge of imploding politically and ...
Anybody here on Facebook? Do us a favour and add the blog networks app and tell it I write my own damn blog, will you? It's still not believing me because apparently I have to have ten people tell it I write it... Also, innerbrat (currently second in the bloggotheyear overall winner poll) has written an AWESOME post about Red Riding Hood and rape allegories and related issues which you should all go read.
