Heresy Corner's veiled reference to Dan Quayle's spelling problems led me to wonder what he is doing now. The biography on his website tells us: Since leaving public office, Dan Quayle has authored three books: Standing Firm, A Vice-Presidential Memoir which was on the New York Times bestseller list for 15 weeks; The American Family: Discovering the Values that Make Us Strong; and Worth Fighting For.He established and sold an insurance business in Indiana . For two years he was a distinguished visiting professor of international studies at Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management.Currently, Dan Quayle is Chairman ...
Services from Selly Oak Hospital will be transferred to the new University Hospital / QE buildings around 2011. The Selly Oak Hospital site off Raddlebarn Road will then become available for development. There aren't any specific plans to develop the site yet, but the Council is preparing Planning Guidance to guide developers and has now begun a public consultation exercise. It's looking for
Alistair Darling's interview with The Guardian is fairly extraordinary for all sorts of reasons. Firstly, by admitting that the economy is possibly in its worst state for 60 years, he is just illustrating the extent of Labour's failure in government. Worse even than the Tory recessions of the 1980s and 1990s? Worse even than the stagflation of the 1970s following the oil price shock? Blimey, fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a very bumpy ride. But of course, it isn't really happening, as the era of boom and bust is over. Who was it who said that? Oh yes, ...
My Guardian blog on direct democracy has produced some interesting comments. One expresses the understandable fear that if we submit the top 6 popular petitions as legislation, we'll get "pro-hanging, anti-abortion, leave the EU, probably something about immigration, independence for Scotland...and free ice cream for everyone: at which point they're all voted down by MPs [...]
Before leaving Cowley St I sent out the next eFocus, my email newsletter to constituents. The lead story was our victory in the Whickham South and Sunniside by-election which we won with a nailbiting 72% of the vote. I didn't think I was going to fill six pages of A4 as obviously, August is the quiet month. Somehow I did!Now I am on the train heading home for a weekend of gardening and allotment
The next general election threatens to be the toughest for the Liberal Democrats in a generation. You have to go back to 1979 for when the third party faced such a difficult outlook. Then, the voters turned against an unpopular Labour Government and plumped for the Tories - which will almost certainly happen next time. Admittedly, the Lib Dems haven't been propping up the administration as the Liberals had been in the seventies, but should the mood of the country at the time of the next election be as it is now and voters want Labour out, it will be ...
From Pink News: Conservative London Fire And Emergency Planning Authority chairman [and London Assembly member] Brian Coleman has claimed that he has been passed over for a senior post due to homophobia by fellow Tories. Mr Coleman, who is gay, claims that Local Government Association (LGA) Conservative group leader David Shakespeare promised to make him chair of [...]
The Chancellor has used an interview with the Guardian tomorrow (BBC link here) to do say what all the rest of us have known for some time. The economy in the UK is screwed and everybody blames Labour for it. So it's goodbye to the line that 'it's a world downturn, started in the States and the UK will escape the worst thanks to the magnificent skills of the Dear Leader'. First of all we had the growth figures which showed that the US grew 3.3% last year whilst the UK stayed still (hat-tip Guido). Now we have Darling's admission. ...
The Guardian has an exclusive interview in Saturday's magazine with the Chancellor, Alistair Darling: Britain is facing "arguably the worst" economic downturn in 60 years which will be "more profound and long-lasting" than people had expected, Alistair Darling, the chancellor, has told the Guardian today. In the government's gravest assessment of the economy, which follows a warning [...]
I have just about exhausted the stories about the crass stupidity of John Spellar, Labour MP and self appointed Labour attack dog on the Lib Dems. For those who haven't followed the saga, Spellar has produced a document called "Liberal Demolition" full of the most badly researched and brain dead claims about the Lib Dems.One of the claims made in the most recent edition started with the screaming
The Yate Community Plan - based on the views of residents, young people, businesses, community organisations and visitors - is a twenty-year vision for the future of Yate. Key points include commitment to the young people of Yate, in particular a youth café and the long-overdue cinema; and more alternatives to the car for travelling in and around Yate. The plan has been put together by local volunteers, and Yate Town Council's September meeting in September is expected to adopt the plan as policy. There will be a celebratory launch event of the plan on Friday 12th September, 12noon - ...
As you'll know from previous blog entries, I have raised with Dundee City Council the possibility of taking legal action to stop the Dundee Post Office closures. If you click on the headline above, you can read the latest update in today's "Courier." The City Council's legal officers have been making thorough investigations on the legal position and the likelihood of a viable case being made. The legal position is complex and the Greater London Authority's recent attempt to stop London Post Office closures was not successful at the High Court. The Council's legal officers have concluded that the most ...
I heard news this week that a part of Lockleaze (Downman Rd) will be getting help with their parking problems. Its been a running battle since being elected three years ago. Brilliant. The engineers are going to consult with residents over outline plans at the end of next month. The aim is to give help to estate roads that are narrow. Hopefully, it will help prevent the quagmire that arrives when the autum comes, the rains lash down and people find it hard to find space to park on the road. One campaign that came through....
David Cameron came to Worcester today and led a Q and A session at the Guildhall (Worcester's City Hall) or "Cameron Direct" as it was called. The hall was packed full of scary Worcester Conservative party members. The anti fox hunting protesters were absolutely screaming outside. (Cameron made everyone laugh by saying how rediculious it was that they were protesting over something that had already been banned, although he latter had to admit about how he would reintroduce the bill, how he thought it was wrong to be law. As far as I'm concerned Fox Hunting is Sick). And Nick ...
She certainly looks to me like a woman who can spell "potato".The whole post is worth reading.
Yesterday, the morning news was full of reports that Hay-on-Wye (in Liberal Democrat held Brecon & Radnorshire) is Britain's happiest place, and it was a happy coincidence that the campaign took me there, at the invitation of Kirsty Williams AM. Mark and I set off under grey, drizzle-laden clouds, from Bridgend, via Cardiff Airport to pick up the hire car, up the A470 to Brecon, where we visited the constituency office that she shares with Roger Williams, our spokesperson on Welsh affairs in the Commons. We then made our way to Felindre, where our hosts, Margaret and Islwyn David had ...
If you are a registered member of the Liberal Democrat Voice forum - and any paid-up party member is welcome to join - then you now have the opportunity to make your views known on a range of current issues in our September members' survey. Topics we are asking your opinion on include: - the role [...]
The website Trusted Places has published its list of the Five Most Socially Conscious Restaurants in London (well, four restaurants and a 'alternative lifestyles' market). Of the restaurants, all are in this neck of the woods: two in Kings Cross (Acorn House and Konstam); award-winning organic pub, the Duke of Cambridge, just down the road; [...]
Well one way or another this year's US Presidential Election is going to go down in history. Either we're going to see the first African-American occupant of the Oval Office in Barak Obama or we're going to have the first lady elected Vice President as John McCain has unveiled Alaska Governor Mrs Sarah Palin as his running mate. Palin is only the second woman to feature on the big two parties
Oh dear me. Sarah Palin speaking only last month: As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day? I'm used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. And I thought Joe Biden was the gaffe-machine! Taegan Goddard comments: She's completely unknown and has
Well it's about time they had a good old down-to-earth Yorkshireman with a sense of humour at the top in Washington. Oh all right then, I'll be sensible. It's Sarah. Dear young Stephen Tall asks on LDV: Will this spike the Dems' Denver guns? Well there is always a DNC then a RNC bounce. This choice is, in many ways, obvious, in terms of it being a young, fresh, "change" Veep candidate. The two
Good post by Dave Osler over on Liberal Conspiracy on the Israel-Palestine issue. He opens by bemoaning the general quality of the debate on the issue which frankly he is right to do; left-wingers especially get into a tangle over it. I think the main reason for this is the nagging desire to create some perfect solution from afar which accommodates both sides and, of course, both peoples claim the tag of oppressed people with gusto. He makes many worthy points about the double-edged nature of the conflict but rather spoils by slipping in at the end that only a ...
During the two years I lived in Sweden I lost count of the number of times ex-pat friends extolled the virtue of Swedish public transport and compared it favourably to its British counterpart. The Stockholm underground, as every resident and visitor knows, is clean, cool, on time, and runs until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays. What is more, one can get a mobile phone signal deep in the underground stations (not surprisingly, one might think). My friends were right of course. The Stockholm underground is far superior to London's and it is about to get even better. The reason for ...
A quick reminder that you have until Sunday 31st August to get your nominations in (by email to ecampaignteam - ecampaignteam.hat.libdems.org.uk.spam.com (this is spam bot hidden email address, replace .hat. with @ and remove .spam.com for the real one)) for the Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year Awards. The categories and additional information are in [...]
Governor of Alaska and mother of five Sarah Palin, has been chosen by John McCain as his Vice Presidential running mate. Palin is due to be unveiled later today at an event in Dayton, Ohio. Relatively unknown in US politics, Her selection was a surprise to many, after McCain passed over many other better-known candidates, including former Massachusetts governor and Presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty. Or if you read the campaign blog here, or reports here, maybe she's flown under everyone's radar. So why Sarah Palin? CBS News political analyst Dan Bartlett, a former adviser to ...
Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, has announced Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate. She is the current governor of Alaska and a mother of 5. She is a conservative Republican who is a life time member of the NRA; is a hunter and opposes gay rights. From what I know of her so far, she is not someone I would even consider supporting for she holds a lot of views that are directly opposed to mine. Undoubtedly, I'll be writing more about her, as I know more of her policies.
John McCain announced his selection of Sarah Palin, the Alaska Governor, as his running-mate this afternoon, in a move that seems to have surprised everyone. It certainly surprised me. It had appeared, over the past few weeks, that he was set to either name a popular, conservative rising star, such as Governor Tim Pawlenty or Governor Charlie Crist; or if he was going to pull a surprise out of the bag, it seemed likely it was going to be Tom Ridge, the former Governor of Pennsylvania, and first Secretary of Homeland Security. Even his former adversary, Mitt Romney was in ...
In a welcome softening of its naval blockade of the Gaza Strip's waters, Israel earlier this week allowed through from Cyprus the two ships Free Gaza and Liberty, which were bringing in humanitarian relief to the stricken territory, as well as 44 peace activists from 17 countries (including Tony Blair's sister-in-law, Lauren Booth). The plan is that [...]
Our next stop was Bridgend, where we had led a coalition administration until this year, under the leadership of Cheryl Green. Whilst Labour are now leading the administration, spirits among Liberal Democrats remain high, and I was the guest at a high-spirited gathering of members for a buffet dinner, with the added excitement of a quiz. I was invited to say a few words about my campaign for the Party Presidency, and was heartened by the positive response from members and activists. I had lent Mark out to the quiz team from Swansea, who promptly romped to victory, scoring 40 ...
An official announcement is due soon, but the febrile media speculation is that Senator John McCain is about to make history by nominating the Republicans' first female vice-presidential candidate, Alaskan governor Sarah Palin: At 44, she is younger than Barack Obama and is credited with reforms during her first term, but she is relatively unknown in [...]
The National Association of Ex-Hillary Clinton Supporters for McCain. The website is ridiculous and when I first heard about this website a few days ago I thought it was ridiculous, after all can only a woman represent women's interests? (I'll leave that for another post) Well laughing I am no more. Today John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his VP running mate, see the women flock! After all looking at McCain you expect him to collapse at some point in his first two years, then America will have its first female President (if McCain wins in the first place of ...
CNN are reporting that Sarah Palin, the current Governor of Alaska is McCain's choice for his VP. So either a black President or a female VP - exciting times.
The Zero Waste Week challenge is to see how little residents can throw away in their rubbish bins over the course of one week by aiming to recycle and compost as much as possible as well as trying to reuse things, like shopping bags, and avoid or reduce disposable items when possible. This year the Zero Waste Week is taking place from Monday 29th September to Sunday 5th October To find out more...
Prime minister Gordon Brown is "set to usher in a new era of council housing", according to the front page of the Times. The paper says local authorities will be given money and new powers to offer struggling borrowers financial help in return for a stake in their home or outright ownership. Town halls could also offer first-time buyers help with deposits in return for a...
It's the silly season, and I have been playing with the wonderful Wordle (http://wordle.net/) over lunch to look at the, er, shape of political thinking in the UK. Here's a tip for a way to make even Gordon Brown's speeches look more colourful: 1. Cut and paste a speech of the dear leader into Wordle at http://wordle.net/create and press 'Go' 2. Admire, collect, print and laugh at the sheer artlessness of political communication in the UK. Compare with those shown here of the speeches at the Democratic Convention, and tell me that UK political rhetoric is as clear about its ...
Speculation about Sarah Palin is rife...
Well, look lets face it, we all cringed a bit when Boris Johnson tuned up at the bird's nest stadium in Peking looking- frankly- rather scruffy. The fact that he seemed to be treating the great occasion with a certain amount of levity was certainly noted with disapproval by his Chinese hosts. Personally I was only relieved that he did not drop the Olympic flag- and a couple of times I must say my heart was rather in my mouth. It was not a particularly auspicious start to the next four years of London as an Olympic city. On the ...
It is fascinating that Boris Johnson reckons he 'took a stand' by looking untidy at the Olympic flag handover ceremony: Chinese officials ordered Boris Johnson to smarten up at the Olympic handover ceremony, he revealed yesterday. The Mayor has faced criticism from Chinese commentators for leaving his jacket button undone at the event, an oversight which they say is disrespectful at a formal
Rasmussen Reports now have Obama ahead by 3% (excluding leaners) and by 4% when leaners are included. (46 to 43% on the first measure, 49 to 45& on the second). This is a big improvement on a couple of days ago, when the scores were even (and with McCain ahead on the "leaners" measure. But Obama was showing a similar lead before announcing Biden (rather than Clinton) as his VP choice. So this is a start, but not yet convincing. The tracking poll results are here. McCain is massively more popular than a generic Republican: the Democrats will be working ...
To Glenrothes that is. Yes it appears that the Tim'rous Beastie's cabinet are urging him to break away from Prime Ministerial convention and actually campaign in the Glenrothes by-election. Having taken the barbs of a Scottish Prime Minister staying away from the Glasgow East by election it appears that cabinet colleagues would rather as he is in the neighbourhood, i.e. his own constituency next
The Newcastle Journal has the full story of the Lib Dem city council's move to buy up private sector housing to avert a property slump, and increase the supply of affordable rental housing: Newcastle City Council is buying 15 houses as the first step in a move to help stave off the property slump. The authority [...]
Liberals will be cheering and supporting the continuing attempts by MPs of all parties, and others, to institute fixed term parliaments, but what about the old Chartist demand for annual parliaments? Of course the case for annual parliaments was made much earlier than the Chartist movement of the 1840s, but while four of the six points of the People's Charter were achieved in the last century (I'd argue that we've not really achieved 'equal constituencies, however fleetfooted the Boundary Commission may be) there is still that one glaring omission - annual parliaments. Now you could argue that the fact of ...
The Garston Embassy is hosting a Garden Party on Sunday (31st) - 1 till 5 pm. There's a barbecue, children's activities, entertainment and music. The Embassy is the building on Wellington Street. It's part of the Cultural Village initiative. You can't miss it - think Argentinian flags!! More information on 427 9995.
Barack Obama grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, is on the right in this photo I promise I didn't watch it live. Although, as I was up late watching "There will be blood", I did see some of the run-up to it. I have to mention that Jennifer Hudson really "kicked butt" with her redition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the opening of the last session Democratic National Convention (DNC). I presume that
It was the Notting Hill Carnival and so a day out not to be missed - not sure I had appreciated the full scale of the event - you hear the numbers of people attending in press reports but it isn;t until you are there that you see the full true scale. This event is huge and the impacts upon the local area, the community are huge. Just walking to the Carnival from where I live you could sense the growing crowds - Kilburn High Road was busier and had greater traffic - as we got to Kilburn Lane you ...
Obama has consented to be nominated and make a great speech to 75,000 people at the Democratic National Convention.
This lunchtime's UEFA Cup draw has given Spurs a tie against Wisla Krakow. Not a bad draw - not to say that they won't be difficult to beat. Standard Liege, who nearly put Liverpool out of the Champions League qualifying stage, now get a crack at Everton instead. Hopefully, after home and away matches, Tottenham will be heading into the group stages of the UEFA Cup again. Although at the moment it looks like we'll struggle to beat anyone. I think we could do with another striker as well as Roman Pavlyuchenko...
Yeah I'll admit I had my figurative anorak on as I sat in my bathrobe in the early hours watching Barak Obama's speech accepting the Democratic Party's nomination last night. Boy did he hit it to John McCain on a number of fronts. He reminded McCain that Rossevelt and Kennedy were Democrats neither of whom were soft on homeland or overseas security. He also reminded him that Democrats are
Congratulations to everyone on Iain Dale's list, I was especially pleased to see that our top individual blogger was Alix and to see that so many more women are taking this blogging lark more seriously! That is not to denigrate you guys (would I????) but it has always frustrated me that the gender imbalance in Westminster is reflected in the blogosphere. So especial congrats to Steph Ashley as one of the newcomers who has done so well. And........sloppy kisses to all those of you who voted for me.........without prompting too! I might lobby and canvass hard to be elected to ...
The Tory Blogger Iain Dale bag on he spot when he talks about how Political Parties are not using the Internet to promote themselves. You can read the Article HERE. For once i can say that i have to agree with Iain that Political Party's don't really make good use of Bloggers. The Republicans in America have set a path that i think the Liberal Democrats need to follow which is to give Bloggers rewards for blogging. If Political Parties in the UK followed this lead then let me assure you that Politics will be a more interesting game. People ...
During a recent visit to Bannerman House on the Ashmole Estate, we noticed that the front security door was not working. It turns out there was a faulty power supply that was at fault. We complained to the council and got it replaced. We have since checked out the door ourselves and can confirm that it is now working.
49 will enter... 49 will leave. But in a slightly different order. Keep filling in the survey folks! On a related note, while this initiative is rooted out of a scepticism that Iain Dale's list is particularly representative, I really don't understand Tim Ireland's vendetta against Dale sometimes. This latest post is a typical example. He is attacking Dale's refusal to list the "60+" blogs that linked to his latest top blogs project, yet Google Blogs quite clearly shows that 95 blogs linked to it. Not exactly Earth shattering is it?
Excellent news that work is to start soon on extra security gates at the rear of Kings House on the Mawbey Brough estate. This kind of practical measure will, we hope help to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in the area. Congratulations to all the tenants and residents who campaigned for this. Re-launching the TRA on the estate, which ward councillors have strongly supported, is helping improve the estate and as local councillors we are continuing to work with local residents on issues like getting a car club bay on the estate and improving the estate's playgrounds.
Annesley and Felley PC, Annesley LD Rachel Madden 168 (72.7) Ind 63 (27.3) Majority 105 Turnout 24.2% LD gain from Ind Camborne TC, Camborne South Con 304 (29.9) Mebyon Kernow 289 (28.4) LD 263 (25.9) Lab 161 (15.8) Majority 15 Turnout 19.4% Con gain from LD Rotherham MBC, Wickersley Lab 871 (31.1; -4.8) Con 824 (29.5; -9.4) BNP 538 (19.2; +19.2) UKIP 373 (13.3; -11.9) LD Steven Scutt 191 (6.8;
Cthulhu For President!
One of the things I enjoy most about being a Councillor is that every so often I get to write a speech, and give it, and have people listen to it. Maybe it's because I was always good at "English" at school. Maybe it's because I have ideas about things and relish the chance to give them voice. Or maybe I'm an egomaniac... Whatever the reason, I do like political speeches, even when it's not me writing and giving them. More than any other form of communication, a few words spoken from the mouths of leaders can influence the course ...
Two news stories have ocme out this week about where i am/will be living. My internship in Kirsty Williams' office comes to an end today, but yesterday we found out that people in the county of Powys, where Brecon is located, has been found to be the happiest place in all of the UK :) The top 5 places, that are happiest in the UK are 1. Powys 2. Manchester 3. West Lothian 4. Cumbernauld and Kilsyth and Monklands 5. Macclesfield Whilst the bottom 5 places are 1. Edinburgh 2. Cynon Valley and Rhondda 3. Amber Valley and north east ...
Many people can't see the Black Dog Amazon link - it is between the text and the video. I use the same style of Amazon link all the time, which may explain the lack of Amazon income! Try this
A man named "Barack Obama" is featuring somewhat heavily in the British news media of late. The primary question in our circles seems to be: Is he a liberal? Now, whilst attitudes to trade do not singularly define liberalism, they are pretty indicative of one's wider economic philosophy. The infamous Corn Laws, of course, separated nineteenth-century liberalism from the nationalistic protectionism of that era. Let me thus direct you to here - which is a rather fun site in which you can look up all kinds of voting records in the US Congress on trade. The matrix above depicts Obama's ...
If the Americans vote in the young black guy then they will quickly have an old white guy in the Oval Office anyway, after he gets assassinated - and if they vote in the old white guy they're gonna get his VP in short order after he has a heart attack or cancer or whatever... so I really hope that McCain picks Rice or Powell as VP to complete the circle! UPDATE: McCain has picked a woman, at least, so vote McCain if you want someone from a large disenfranchised section of society to get into power!
I wasn't going to talk about this at all, but since it's gone this far... Apparently, Jo Anglezarke has deleted her blog. Since I am partly to blame for this, I am going to give my side of the sorry tale. Make of it what you will. It came to my attention that Jo had taken against me when I saw a discussion between her and Mark Valladares in a public thread on LDV. Apparently Jo was upset with Mark because he voted for me in Iain Dale's beauty contest. I spent quite some time afterwards trying to be nice ...
I've just finished listening to Senator Barack Obama accept the Democratic party's nomination for the presidency. The bar for him was high - not simply the expectations that come from being an acknowledged orator, but also following the high-octane speeches of the Clintons - and he well and truly cleared it. I'd describe myself as [...]
If you turned up to give a speech, and 80,000 people started waving placards at you with the word "CHANGE" on them - wouldn't you think about possibly putting on a different shirt?
Since the Russians launched their well-planned war against Georgia on August 8th, there have been several opportunities for Russia to reduce the increasing tension with NATO. However, at every stage, the Russian Federation has played hardball. Firstly they have failed to implement the August 15th ceasefire agreement which they themselves signed- keeping their troops well inside Georgia proper. The Russian army has looted the port of Poti and stolen not only Georgian property, but also the property of several other nations too. The have repeatedly attacked rail and road links and have successfully disrupted oil transit from Azerbaijan to the ...
Forget Sat Nav systems the 'crime map' is here. The four Welsh police forces are collaborating in a plan to develop the internet-based system in the hope of providing a unified crime map that will provide statistics for crimes including burglary, car crime and robbery. Apparently, they will be detailed enough to include areas as small as sub-wards, which are often just a few streets. The Police Federation have labeled them as a dangerous "gimmick" and a potential "encyclopedia for criminals". They say that criminals will gain access to an encyclopaedia of where to go out and commit crime because ...
When I travel to events, I normally like to leave a little bit of slack in the itinerary for transport delays, so the fact that I was reliant on First Great Western and Network Rail to get Mark and I to Neath for a set time was mildly disconcerting. However, the two-and-three-quarter hour journey on the 10:45 from Paddington went without a hitch, and we were greeted on arrival at Neath station by Cllr John Warman and Cllr Des Sparkes, two of our now four strong group on Neath Port Talbot council, as well as Welsh blogging superstar, Peter Black ...
It has been a long summer. Not only has the weather made it seem like August will never end but the TV has been dreadful as well. And even if one has been able to avoid the interminable and all-pervading Big Brother on the box (and I haven't as explained in a previous post), it has been all over the papers as well. Still we can all be cheered at the fact that Big Brother ends a week today and by the fact that if we were to seek our own 15 minutes of fame then the means now exist ...
Fri 29th
09:44
When borrowing isn't borrowing: how the Electoral Commission and the media get party debt figures wr...
Yesterday saw the publication by the Electoral Commission of the latest donation and borrowing figures for political parties. Their press release states: As at 30 June 2008, total borrowing [by political parties] stood at just over £33.1 million One problem though. This figure is wrong. For if you go all the way through the press release to the detailed [...]
Is Senator Obama a liberal? At first blush this may sound like a question with a strightforward answer - of course he is a liberal, he believes in fairness, social justice, personal freedom, the responsibility of communities for their members and of their members for the community. He is, most people, would say, very much a liberal. No question. Hold on, though. His acceptance speech at the Democractic convention, filled though it was with references to plans for changes in taxation, social security and public spending was light, nonetheless, on clearly liberal values. Instead Senator Obama talked the tactical talk ...
Last night was another meeting of the Council's Licensing and Safety Panel, which considers private hire and hackney carriage licensing and safety issues for the Borough. Of particular enjoyment was the almost biblical miracle of making a tiny agenda last nearly three hours. There was the usual crop of applications for license, and hearings for those license holders who have committed offences and risk losing their license. Of most interest though was a report on the future of taxi MOT testing in the Borough. At present there is only one facility for drivers to use, but the Drivers' Association has ...
Former Mayor Ken Livingston is to be an advisor to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Mind you what can people like him do except read magazines like Total Politics and read blogs from the like of Iain Dale according to what i have read over at Iain's Blog.
The Men from Lancashire who wanted to shoot Brown are going to be appearing in Court today. What lies will they tell the court. They might just come out with a silly reason like "our cost of living has gone up no thanks to Brown". It will all become clear on what lies they tell!
I heard Labour Culture Secretary Andy Burnham telling us how Labour has slowed down the selling of school playing fields (10,000 sold off under the Tories in '79-'97 compared to just 140 under Labour) and how far more children are doing two hours of sport now than under the Tories. That's all true: Labour have pumped a lot more money into school sport than the Tories did and, apparently, 86% of school kids now do at least two hours of school sport/PE each week, compared to under 30% when the Tories left power in 1997. But Andy Burnham then went ...
After viewing several editions of Mock the Week, I have come to a conclusion. Russell Howard is not funny. He is like a schoolboy who plays the class clown: briefly endearing, he soon becomes annoying. So get on with your work, Howard, and stop disturbing the other boys.
The Conservatives held on, by just 10 votes, in yesterday's Pimhill by-election in Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council.
If you have heard Tony Benn interviewed recently you will know that he is fond of saying there are five questions we should ask of any politician: "What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you use it? To whom are you accountable? How do we get rid of you?'Except that, as Oliver Kamm points out, that is not precisely what he said to Saddam. It was more: "I have 10 grandchildren and in my family there is English, Scottish, American, French, Irish, Jewish, Indian, Muslim blood, and for me politics is about ...
Now in my third month in Scotland, I'm on my second by-election. Glenrothes has come around following the tragic death of John McDougall. It is one of four Parliamentary seats in Fife; we hold two of them, Sir Menzies Campbell in North East Fife and Willie Rennie in Dunfermline (which as you will recall we won [...]
Jo Anglezarke has killed her blog. I don't know why, but I am sorry to see it go. I enjoyed it.
Fri 29th
01:36
Why targeting is a bad thing if you are a Democrat, and why the national presidential polls are rubb...
The 50 State strategy by the Democrats means they are fighting everywhere. This has meant some huge fundraising efforts, but it will reap huge rewards. Unlike the Lib Dems, the Democrats can raise the cash, which is why it is not the right model for us. But it means at every level they are in there competing. Let me explain the problem. In the UK I talk to people in Lib Dem/Tory marginals who say
Iain Rubie Dale (one of two Scottish Lib Dem bloggers kind enough to comment on my post on my blogging block) refers to the return of the Black Dog. Led Zeppelin fans among you may be confused. Indeed many of you may be suffering from confusion. The Black Dog he refers to is depression. In recent times I have had to deal/am dealing with with three close family members suffering from bad clinical
Thanks a lot to Bridget Fox for kickstarting the debate, both on her own blog and at the Guardian, over the motion "Giving Citizens a Voice in Parliament" which David Boyle and myself will be proposing at party conference next month: This process might not have stopped the Iraq War (no legislation there) - but it could potentially have reversed such controversial measures as the poll tax or the Dangerous Dogs act, Section 28 or the hunting ban. And it could ensure a real public debate on issues like nuclear power, ID cards, or a third runway at Heathrow. Even ...
Paul Walter is full of praise for Bill Clinton's speech to the DNC. I watched the introduction Beau Biden made before his father's speech and found it utterly compelling. Their Conventions really are a very different beast compared to our conferences!
Hillary Clinton ending the roll call vote at the DNC was crucial, not only to show the DNC as united, but also, to use a phrase "piss on the GOP'S cornflakes". It is full on cheese, with a big chunk of stage management, but superb.
Am home from Devon and have discovered a few things. 1, SPOILER ALERT!! Don't click here to find out who is going to be in Strictly this year if you don't want to know. Damn. And I was hoping to get away with not watching it. But any opportunity to hear THAT voice... Rawr... 2, The Swedes have done a thing which I am not sure if it's good or bad. I don't think the government should decide what truth is. I'd be happier if they'd withheld state funding from faith schools, but let them be private if they liked... ...
Marvellous though it is to come fourth on Iain Dale's big list of Lib Dem bloggers, I have to admit to being a little dubious about the list as a whole. The lower ranking places seem to be essentially random. Nor does Iain Dales' reassurance on Lib Dem Voice put my mind at rest: Just to clarify, that last year a panel of half a dozen LibDem bloggers ranked the blogs. This year they were all voted for by blog readers - 1,142 of them. That may be true, but since each one of them only had ten votes and ...
The West Midlands Liberal Democrats will be hosting a Agent Training on 20th September 2008
