So here comes the Autumn conference season ! Clarke, clearly back early from his Holiday's launched his " I hate Brown " rant. Whilst PM Gordon Brown (smile to camera!), popped up to Scotland to tell the CBI not to worry he has a cunning plan to help with Fuel bills this winter. How?...... that's right extra socks in bed! ... Apparently all we need is more insulation and then everything will be fine (He clearly doesn't have a wife with feet so cold penguins won't go near them in case they get a hyperthermia - which is why they ...
This week's Private Eye has some fun with the account of his youthful politics that Alistair Darling was allowed to get away with in his widely reported interview in last Saturday's Guardian. According to the Decca Aitkenhead, the reporter who wrote it up:Studying law at Aberdeen, he stood for election in the student union, but not for a party. "I was just quite interested in getting things done." His manifesto favoured "strictly bread-and-butter issues, things like food prices in the student refectory". When he joined the Labour party in 1977, he never expected to be more than a member. "I ...
...on the impending arrival of your third child. And well done for planning this so well that the birth is unlikely to collide with either Spring Conference or election season:-)
Up and down meetings today. A meeting about support for members in getting information left me disappointed. I don't feel it is either reasonable or even possible for Councillors not on the Cabinet to be reading every Cabinet report in detail to extract bits of information that they might need, especially as most need to do this on-line so on the screen. Nor should we have to monitor a number...
I do so love it when a man tries to frame the terms of reference of feminism... Anyway, I have been inspired by Lee Griffin, and now, as a white person, I am going to try and define the terms of racism. Let's have a thought experiment, shall we? I promise it won't be offensive and triggery AT ALL to those of you who have suffered at the hands of racists in the past! Are we ready? Peter is a Guardian-reading, Lib Dem, white British guy who is an anti-racist, and campaigns for the relaxation of immigration laws. Paul is ...
I refer to my previous post at 19.00hrs. I received a phone call that the Jobcentreplus had posted a job advertisement for an Escort. My last blog post gave a link. Which has been changed to ERROR. I have my hunches. Whether a politician has seen this post and quickly notified the Department of Work and Pensions. Another explanation is that there is government Spyware operating who have notified the relevant authorities. Like it or lump it, hunch it or dismiss it many Bloggers are having surveillance software applied to there machines. Such is the power of the blogosphere! Freedom ...
I have just read an asylum case in which the Home Secretary argued that an Afghan Sikh family whose children were unable to attend school due to harassment on the basis of their religion were not being persecuted and should be returned to Afghanistan. This Labour Government disgusts me.
If you click one link today, tomorrow, or even this week make absolutely sure it is this one. Francis Sedgemore has videos of police arresting journalists at both party conventions. A couple of the videos are reproduced below but make certain you click here and read. Very worrying stuff.
Thanks to the wonders of technology I'm writing this on a late train back to Bristol from the East Riding of Yorkshire and from Hull, where I have spent much of the day hearing first hand experiences of last summer's flooding. One of the most alarming conclusions I have come away with is that many of the factors which caused problems last summer have still not been addressed. The flooding in the villages of the East Riding was not primarily to do with the rivers or with coastal flooding - it was surface water flooding caused by too much rainfall ...
I was actually in Holyrood today to see Tavish's debut on FMQs - more of that later so I felt some of the highly charged atmosphere. You could feel Labour's anger from the earlier debate on Wendy Alexander's one day suspension from Parliament for failing to register donations to her leadership campaign. This one has always been a bit of a grey area for me - to me, if she was advised that she didn't need to register the donations to Parliament, then that has to count in her favour. However, she did break the rule, and the punishment meted ...
With the atrocious weather lately, and evenings starting to pull in as autumn creeps up on us, it's worth reminding any teenage cyclists you know to get their lights working. This evening we encountered one lad without any lights at all. Fortunately he was wearing a light coloured shirt, so he was a little more visible than he might have been.
Coming soon: The Pope says that there is this thing with a ballustradey sort of arrangement which he occasionally walks past, seeing a few people gathered looking at it him from the other side.. Sir David Attenborough on ursine beasts which have been known to occasionally frequent wooded areas having had several full meals in the preceding 24 hours. Sir Cliff Richard has spoken for the first
Liberal England has come in at no. 49 in the Total Politics top 100 UK political blogs poll. (Total Politics published nos. 101-200 yesterday.) Last year this blog was voted no. 53. As (unlike the Lib Dem list) the 2007 and 2008 polls were run on exactly the same basis, this is does mark a small improvement. Thank you to everyone who voted for me. The full 100 can be found on Iain Dale's Diary.
Commenting on Tuesday' Reform report, which calls for a national police force and elected sheriffs, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "This report is right to highlight the repeated failures and centralisation of crime and policing policy under previous Labour and Conservative governments. "However, a single elected sheriff could lead to a 'Wild...
So - six more visits to sheltered and supported housing. I am so enjoying this. It is so rare to get the time to sit down and just talk - not just about what is wrong or issues to take up - but about all sorts of things. Overall, so far, the places I have been to are pretty well looked after and the residents are worried more about things around their locations. Lots of paving stone problems, overhanging bushes and branches - and the never-ending problems with bus drivers who don't pull into the kerb. Did my bit on ...
To be sung to the tune of 'Wild Rover'... "I've been a Returning Officer for many a year, and I've spent all my money on ballots and stamps." Indeed, I've been a Returning Officer for many years now, and genuinely felt that we ask an awful lot in the pursuit of candidates for mostly hopeless causes. I wrote an article for Liberator nearly two years ago in which I outlined the timetable for a
I am a blogger but i haven't done any leaflet writing until today. Now i have designed and written a FOCUS Leaflet about Political Blogging. Can you please leave some feedback on what you think and where i can improve.
This is the fortnight of lists and awards in the political blogosphere. Not only has Iain Dale produced his annual little list, but the Lib Dem Blog of the Year awards are once again upon us. All of which may seem a little self-indulgent. And it probably is. But there's a serious point to blogging, [...]
For those Lib Dems attending conference in Bournemouth at the end of next week, you may or may not be interested to know that I am running the members' photo ops again. If you are on the party's daily bulletin email list, you would have received a flyer tonight about the photo ops.This conference, I've lined up Steve Webb, Vince Cable, Sarah Teather and Nick Clegg (the latter is by invite only).
The EU want to censor blog's. This is another wacky idea by a group who has power to shut up people who like to speak their minds. The Post can be read at Iain Dale's blog. I am not sure how this matter was raised but my best guess is that it was by a MEP like Saj Karim who is disliked by about 50 bloggers and he doesn't like any Lib Dem Blog as far as I have heard. Mr Karim and his Crew want to stop us from speaking out and telling the world the truth but they ...
I have just had a phone call from an old pal who lives in the North of England. Hes drawn my attention to this! .....ha ha ha They are advertising a job for an Escort at £60 per hour. There at it again. Last year the cleverclogs from the jobcentreplus carry on team did something similar. The dead tree trunk brigade reported it. Well 60 quid an hour and the quote "There is no obligation to consider making an application for this vacancy" says it all about the Jobcentreplus . Quick quick do the link before the dumb authorities take ...
With the summer over, this was me, Bob and Rachel on our stall at a memorable Highgate festival in June. It was the start of summer. And yes, it rained. Yet with Autumn a new political season starts. We had our first, post-summer meeting of the Liberal Democrat council group last night. We worked up our key campaigning themes for the coming year, the issues on which we want to focus attention. People were looking forward to party conference next week, but also keen to campaign in the by-election that's pending in Alexandra Ward. Polling day is to be the ...
Karl Rove and a slew of commentators (on the Palin issue) get well and truly barbecued by the Daily Show. This is brilliant.
We're used to getting estate agent flyers through the door - but today a message arrived that's a bit different. "Dear owner/resident, We are currently scouting this area for film locations for a television commercial due to be aired nationally in the next few months. We require access to a property in this neighbourhood where we are able [...]
I have a decent compost heap, but I'm the only Highgate councillor without an allotment. But I've still been doing my bit these past two weeks, looking after my fellow councillor Rachel's plot up in Shepherds Hill (see pic). In my case, 'looking after' can be taken to mean picking and eating. Though things got a bit out of hand with the courgettes - and here's an artichoke that didn't get the chop in time (see pic). Allotments are now so popular, that Haringey has long waiting lists for many of its 26 sites - and some have closed their ...
Lib Dem Conference: On Lib Dem Voice: Reportage | LDV Events | Contribute On the official party website: Conference home | Vote-by-vote coverage As you may remember, we're running a few events at conference - we first blogged about them here. Well now, thanks to the miracle of Facebook, you can let us know whether you're coming. [...]
Over the last week I've had an explosion of US readers (seven times the previous week) courtesy of Google, CNN and (bizarrely - thanks to Michael Palin) No Left Turns. You're all very welcome.I'd also like to particularly thank my regular reader and correspondent in Florida (you know who you are) who is very patient with me! Also welcome to a new tranche of Canadian readers. Today has seen
Not in the top 50 Lib Dem blogs, probably not in the top 500 political blogs, what is a blogger to do? I could, on one hand, give up and dedicate myself to the dark arts of party bureaucracy - I have a purple belt in assertive minuting and am a black belt in standing order usage - or sit at home stroking Cincinnati and plotting my revenge on everyone who voted in a 'slasher movie' orgy of blood
France is working to reengage Syria with the international community. (And it seems I am once again agreeing with Nicholaz Sarkozy!) Since 2005 with the assassination of Rafik Hariri, Syria has been left isolated. Sarkozy has become the first western head of government to visit the country in over 3 years. The West may have just reasons for isolating Syria. Syria supports Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas. But this does say to us that Syria takes seriously its role in the Middle East and that it wants an active part to play in the Middle East. Isolating them would clearly make ...
I read with interest the announcement of the new Policing proposals by Chris Huhne today. For me the most interesting parts were the emphasis on reducing the prison population, and the requirement for every police officer to undergo regular fitness checks. This last point is long overdue. It seems obvious that we should have a Police Force "fit for purpose". We wouldn't dream of sending soldiers out to battle who were unfit, and it seems to me to be blindingly obvious that Police Officers who are out on the streets should be in adequate-enough physical shape to do their jobs ...
Because the weather forecast is bad, Yate Town Council has decided to postpone the Picnic in the Park event scheduled to take place in Kingsgate Park this coming Sunday, 7 September.
Thu 4th
17:29
Worth More Than A Pitcher Of Warm Spit - Why The Vice President Matters, and Why They Can No Longer ...
The Vice Presidency has always had its critics. Woodrow Wilson's Vice President, Thomas Marshall, who often derided his own office, was fond of telling the story of the two brothers. One went to sea, the other became Vice President. Neither was heard from again. When offered the Whig party's nomination for Vice President, Daniel Webster is supposed to have responded "I do not propose to be buried until I am dead". Such was the disdain, and apparent hollowness of the role, one observer back in the 19th century was reported to have observed the Vice Presidency was "about as challenging ...
We had the latest local NO2ID meeting this week. The local group meets on the first Monday Tuesday* of each month from 8pm at the Castle pub, Pentonville Road (corner of Baron Street). We sit on the big table at the back - this time shared by two charming American tourists, who were staying at [...]
Still no sign of anything at lembit4president.co.uk. I did however get around to looking at the source code - it's not just a 404 but actually a frame linking to an external site which is currently 404 - which points to a page on dilatedsky.co.uk. This also draws a blank, but it is registered to a Neil Noakes, whose entirely unenlightening LinkedIn profile can be found here. James Graham - internet detective. Meanwhile, new Lembit links on teh internets today include a characteristically surreal appearance in a Hooting Yard entry and, via Liberal England, the announcement that Lembit will be ...
For all those who still think everything is going well in Iraq and that the Surge has been an unmitigated success, you should check out asharq alawsat's interview with Massoud Barzani, President of the KRG. The fall out over the provincial elections and the time bomb that is Kirkuk is causing heavy rifts betweent the previously cooperative Baghdad and Hewler (Irbil in Arabic) Governments. A choice quote is Barzani describing the Maliki government as "totalitarian". This is a very real problem. The Iraqi tinder box has not gone away. There are enough military and political problems that the threat of ...
Many people are happy with what they got in the Total Politics Blog Awards. Especially people who got into the top 100. I didn't but they is always next year, but never the less i still got number 39 in the top 50 Lib Dems. But they was something interesting that Iain Dale said that made me go hmmm... " One big blogger will shock the blogging world by giving up" Who will this blogger be, Is Iain Dale thinking of packing up!
36,000 new Criminal Offences have been put into Place in the last 11 years under a Labour Government. That is nearly one for every day in office. Blair used to probably wake up, and think what can i make a offence and then used to take it to the cabinet after his weetabix. Brown probably spends the night and day thinking as he is a bit slow as Prime Minister, he also needs to come up with a Political Come Back which hasn't been very good so far.
The link gives the detailed spreadsheet for the years 2004 to 2006. Remember that it takes some time for a child to have a destination hence the figures in each destination as a proportion of the whole grow year by year (and the numbers "in care" reduce).
New Labour's love of regulation and targets as the solution to all known problems has become pathological. At the start of this month the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) came into force setting out a totally bonkers 69 "learning goals" for under-fives. The justification from ministers is that it will help to prevent disadvantaged children falling behind educationally though quite how it's supposed to do this is a mystery since childminders will need to spend more time with their paperwork and less with the kids. Motivated teachers will be driven away while timeservers and box-tickers will thrive. In a few ...
I've been reflecting on Sarah Palin's speech, having live blogged it while it was happening. 1. Michael Tomasky in the Guardian has summed it up nicely as a "can of whup-ass", adding the Democrats will now feel free to reply in kind. Of course, there has been no shortage of media and blogging comment about Palin, but the official Democrat campaign has been mooted (apart from one initial
For a trial basis I've added Politigg buttons on my blog posts. Although I have a
I'm surprised to be honest that the Scotsman can only find gripes from 25 people about LIT. As any Tax system that you'd want to introduce is far from perfect and what we must strive for is the best possible, fairest and most comprehensively inclusive system that we can. Some of the Nats Jeff and Richard Thompson have given some pretty clear rebuttal on most of the points so I'll not haver on to much. Some I don't agree with 100% and I may get around to some of them later, but by and large many of the gripes can ...
Mister Andy has every right to be punching this air this fortnight. Last night he made his way to his first Gran Slam semi-final beating the Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-1) 4-6 7-5. Anyone who had money on the Arthur Ashe Court resembling a fight at Madison Square Gardens hopefully wasn't too put out by the sport that actually took place. Mister Andy is only the fifth British man to have reached a Grand Slam singles semi in the open period joining Roger Taylor (not bad for a drummer), John Lloyd, Greg Rusedski and Mister clean ...
This morning I have been discussing a noise complaint with a local resident and the Council. There is a factory in the ward which has houses all round it, which makes quite a lot of noise quite a lot of the time, and also has lorries coming and going all day long. Unsurprisingly residents aren't happy with this state of affairs, but the factory has been there longer than most of them. It's a tricky situation involving trying to liaise with the residents, Council and the owners of the factory, who are sometimes accommodating and sometimes not. At the moment ...
Chers Adhérents, chers Sympathisants, En cette période de rentrée scolaire, le besoin d'une présence forte des Libéraux n'aura jamais été aussi nécessaire face à un gouvernement qui ne cesse de se fourvoyer. Loin d'engager les réformes de fond dont notre pays à besoin (sécu, droit du travail, fiscalité...), le gouvernement préfère créer des taxes à n'en plus finir : sur la seule semaine passée, 3 nouvelles taxes ont été annoncées (RSA, téléviseurs et participation des salariés). Où est la rupture promise ? Consultez le commentaire vidéo de notre Présidente, Sabine Herold. Alternative Libérale est aujourd'hui le seul parti politique capable ...
Now I am the first to say that the fact that Sarah Palin 17-year old daughter is pregnant has nothing to do with anybody else and should not impinge on her candidacy, even if she does parade her family and use them as part of her campaign. However, her record as Governor of Alaska is a completely different ball game. Stephen Glenn has been carrying out some research of his own and has blogged on some of the reasons why she is not the sort of candidate that any Liberal can or should support. In particular he has focussed on ...
It has been revealed Wolverhampton's Labour Party left the Council's finances with a £5million blackhole.
The agenda for the City Council meeting on Tuesday 8 September 2008 has now been published and should be available here. Items on the agenda include: the "State of the City" report from the Leader of the Council;Birmingham's Sustainable Community Strategy; anda report of the Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee on the Health Needs of Newly Migrant Communities.
Last month I signed up to the One Hundred Months project, which suggests an action a month that we can all take to combat climate change. This month's action is to switch to a renewable electricity supplier. One Hundred Months recommend Good Energy.
Why have people who are ultra Conservative Christian fundamentalists highjacked the term 'pro-life' -Just how are they pro-life? 'Hockey mom' Sarah Palin has delivered her speech to the Republican Convention, and has explained to us UK mothers what a 'Hockey Mom' is: "I love those hockey mums," Palin said in acknowledgement of the crowd. "You know what they say is the difference between hockey mums and a pit bull? Lipstick." Well that's cleared that up then! What has always infuriated me about the utter hypocrisy of the 'pro-life lobby', people like Palin, both sides of the Pond, is that, they ...
A quick reminder to LDV readers that Christopher Bones, chair of the Party Reform Commission, has agreed to answer questions submitted by LDV readers in our members' forum. To put your question to him, please access the LDV members' forum, and use the thread headed BONES COMMISSION ON PARTY REFORM - ask your questions here! [...]
Lib Dem Voice has, we notice, come in 15th in Iain Dale's / Total Politics list of top 100 blogs. More important for the Lib Dem blogosphere is the fact that all the top 10 Lib Dem blogs made it into the top 100, and a further 11 into the top 200. But you won't be [...]
Clark is asking the Prime Minister to step down if he cant shape up the country. The thing that amuses me most about all this Labour party troubles is that will all the Polls against Brown, why doesn't he just take the easy option and go NOW. The Labour Party want him out, the people want him out but he doesn't want out. The odds are against him, he cant last much longer but I think he will continue to fight back! How long will he last as Prime Minister? I think he will be going by May or June ...
All things considered, the storm around the Republican Party's choice of VP nominee should have been highly predictable. Let's face it, John McCain is 72. Were he to serve two full terms, he would leave office aged 81. Eight Presidents of the United States, not quite 1 in 5, have died in office. It may seem ghoulish, but the fact is that there is a significant chance that whoever John McCain might have chosen, they could indeed be called upon to serve as the leader of the United States were- God forbid- anything to happen to John McCain himself. Of ...
Some time ago I was asked to write a short guide to the Liberal Democrat policy process for those wanting to know how it works. After a bit of prodding I did eventually get around to doing it, but the people who'd asked for it then told me it was too detailed! However I do quite often still get questions about various aspects of the process, so I thought it might be of interest, and have posted it up here. It's only six pages, and I hope it's quite clear, as well as comprehensive. I do get many readers here ...
My latest Guardian blog, talking about Sarah Palin in the US and economic struggles at home, is now online. There's also a short piece by my opponent, Emily Thornberry, on being a woman in politics: "There is still a problem with being taken seriously [as a woman].... It's because women are slighter and our voices are [...]
Answer: when the term is used by Nationalists. The Scottish Nationalist government is even more centrist than Labour. Step 1 of central control: every local council in Scotland was "persuaded" not to increase council tax last April. This had an impact on education budgets across Scotland, and in places like Highland have particularly affected rural schools. This makes nonsense of their proposed Rural Schools Bill. Step 2: introduce an extension to income tax to replace council tax (one cheer from us), but fix the rate centrally, thus denying local authorities the power to set it according to their individual needs. ...
Best entry I have seen on the death of the iconic Don LaFontaine is Steve's. mle292 links to news of the free RATM concert that was supposed to happen outside the Republican National Convention. Land of the Free? Whoever told you that is your enemy... Via sylo_tode, a slightly cruel cartoon for Monopoly players: I see the level of debate about Palin isn't going to rise any time soon, then? It is something I still cannot understand: why do scientists conduct research into heterosexual relationships and only study the men in those relationships? Does it not take two to make ...
Local Liberal Democrats have been delighted by the news that the Department of Health has overturned the decision of local PCTs, and is requiring the retention of both maternity units at Hastings and Eastbourne. Nick Perry, 32, Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye and first time dad said, "I am thrilled that the Independent Panel [...]
I find all the politicking over Gordon Brown's future mildly diverting but I always come to the same conclusion eventually, which is that most people couldn't care one way or the other about petty Westminster squabbling. On this point, leaving London some years ago was a revelation as I emerged blinking into 'the real world'. Still, news of Charles Clarke having another go at the Labour leader is interesting but perhaps not for the same reason it is for the febrile commentators in the meejah. It seems to me that if serial whinger Charles Clarke is attacking Gordon Brown, his ...
Baroness Scott was sharing pizza with members of Haringey Liberal Democrats near Alexandra Palace last night, on the latest stop of her whirlwind tour of local parties. Although nominations for the party presidency don't close until after the Bournemouth Conference, Ros has already notched up over 100 visits, from the north of Scotland down to [...]
Sarah Palin in her speech to the RNC made much of her use of her executive veto as demonstration of how she claims to be up to the job of being Vice President. So what did she do with it earlier this year? She used her line-item veto to slash funding for a state program benefiting teen mothers in need of a place to live. How deeply ironic, given that her 17-year old daughter is pregnant. I am
The Christianists are to be feared more than the Islamists because they have more power and have greater legitimacy conferred upon them. Sarah "hahahahaha - what a joke" Palin's preacher comes out with some deaply troubling statements. Take this for example: What you see in a terrorist — that's called the invisible enemy. There has always been an invisible enemy. What you see in Iraq, basically, is a manifestation of what's going on in this unseen world called the spirit world. ... We need to think like Jesus thinks. We are in a time and a season of war, and ...
is begiining to become quite attractive. Don't get me wrong, I'm eating well enough (too well, some might say), but the idea of having something that Ros and I buy and prepare ourselves begins to take on the concept of a mirage. So, day 4 of the campaign proper, and three events already under the belt. The launch day was fun, and although my back was creaking pretty badly - war wound from
The Washington Post reports that emails from Sarah Palin have emerged regarding the dismissal of her Public Safety commissioner, relative to a trooper under his control, revealing her intense interest in the trooper's employment: "This trooper is still out on the street, in fact he's been promoted," said a Feb. 7, 2007, e-mail sent from Palin's personal Yahoo account and written to give Monegan
Last night was the regular meeting of Bury Council's Executive Committee. This is the Committee that brings together all the portfolio holders from the ruling (Conservative) group on the Council. Myself, and the Leader of the Labour Group attend as observers. Equal Pay The main issue of debate was the current pay regrading that is being undertaken by the Council. A comprehensive pay review has been undertaken for the vast majority of council employees (some staff, such as teachers are excluded from the review). The draft proposals would mean that a large number of staff would see their pay changed ...
More than 200 people have been to see the Camden Eco House at 17 St Augustine's Rd since it was finished in July. That shows how much interest there is in low carbon exemplars and how right we were to create this one. It's a real shame therefore that Mike Wells, writing in last week's Camden new Journal, was so determined to be negative about it. What's more many of his claims are simply plain wrong. For example, no Camden money was spent on the eco measures. Our extremely imaginative Housing Officers brought in outside funds to pay for the ...
The Local Area Partnerships across Bury, including Prestwich Local Area Partnership, are asking local community groups and voluntary organisations across Bury to submit bids for grants from the LAP fund. There are a number of grants available and the maximum any one group or organisation can bid for is £3000. The group will be required to complete an application form and provide evidence that the money has been used within six months of the date the grant was awarded. The funds is split into several programs including: Kickstart grants for new, local groups or activities; Community Development Fund providing one-off ...
More police attacks on protestors. Tear gas this time. (H/T Rad Geek) And Rage Against The Machine perform a capella after the police shut their power off (something a bit more heart warming):
Two GOP icons - former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan and former McCain strategist Mike Murphy - were caught trashing vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin yesterday when they kept talking after they thought the audio was off during an interview on NBC, and a YouTube version of their off-off-message exchange rocketed around the Internet at light speed. Noonan, who had praised Palin in a Wall
Fascinating news from northern Germany where they are piloting Carbon Storage and Capture at a coal-fired power station. Trouble is it's only a tiny pilot and of little relevance in terms of understanding whether the technology would work on an industrial scale . A much bette experiment would have been to take a power station like Kingsnorth in Kent, to fit it with CCS from the start of its operations, and to close it, and all other coal-fired power stations, if the technology hasn't been made to work by 2020. But sadly this government doesn't have the balls to take ...
I heard on the radio this morning a sad tale of a young soldier who'd been refused a room at a hotel because the management said that soldiers weren't welcome. I don't know any more about the circumstances of that individual case. What struck me was that sometimes the people who are risking their lives to carry out the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan are being treated as though they made the
CNN summarises the speech here.Live blog - updates at the bottom I am expecting an excellent speech - why wouldn't it be? There'll be acres of stuff about family (we're already getting quite a bit of gynaecological stuff from the Hawaii governor as warm-up woman). There'll be hours of applause. Foreign affairs will get a look in. Her son will be in Iraq soon after all. I expect a searing analysis
"If a woman goes back to a man's room she has responsibility for her actions. What is she asking for? A cup of tea?" Tory MP Ann Widdicombe on date rape quoted in today's Western Mail. Discuss!
Not Pamplona but Pembrokeshire. We had a family holiday at Tenby in 1975. I don't remember it being quite as wild as this.
I am torn as to how best to react to Monmouth Tory MP, David Davies' initiative in launching a cross-party campaign 'No!' vote campaign in the promised referendum on full lawmaking powers for the National Assembly. On the one hand I am tempted to point out that this is the real face of the Welsh Conservative Party, out of touch with their electors, hostile to devolution, barely tolerating the antics of the Assembly Tory group in calling for more powers whilst milking their participation in the democratic process for all it is worth. On the other hand I welcome the ...
If you have seen the new Blog Award that i have received on the Sidebar and are wondering what it is. Let me tell its the award from the Total Politics Magazine for being among the Top 50 Liberal Democrats Blogs. Hope you keep reading this blog and in the future get me more awards.
Monday: Senator Oven Chip's big party this week had a near miss with Hurricane Gustave... but now an entirely more TABLOID kind of storm looks like washing out his week. In fact, the Hurricane looked like being - in a sick and twisted sort of way - a WIN-WIN for the Replutocrats. On the one fluffy foot they get to AVOID Senator Oven Chip sharing a stage with the Monkey-in-Chief; on the other fluffy foot, they get their superannuated candidate to look all statesmanlike and non-partisan without him having to deliver a speech that gets compared to Barry O's Big ...
Having spent yesterday evening at a 'Pizza and Politics' evening in Haringey, I missed a programme on Radio 4 that I might otherwise have listened to. The good news is that, thanks to the wonders of technology, we all get a chance to enjoy it. So, for your delectation and delight, here's Adam Long of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, providing a potted history of the Liberal Party...
Completely unrelated to anything Lib Dem, I wish to recommend Google's Chrome Web Browser to anyone that happens to use the Internet. Oh, and runs Windows XP or that filthy Vista thing. Link It is simple, easy to use, incredibly fast, secure, safe and has made my routine trawl of blogs and other websites a pleasant and easy experience. This is what you'll be using to browse the internet in a few years (I predict!). So yes, very much recommended - although with one caveat. It does not automatically make itself your default browser. Nor does it ask if you ...
I have linked to the story about Sam Thomas in the Daily Mail. http://fightingmonsters.wordpress.com/ is a web log written by a Social Worker who comments on this issue. Pregnant Sam Thomas emigrated to Ireland a couple of weeks ago because she and her mother (Carol Hughes) were concerned that the local authority (in this case Somerset) were set on taking the newborn baby into care and that
Charles Clarke said yesterday when launching his monthly attack on Gordon Brown, reminded people that Tony Blair had been an outstanding Prime Minister. Yet just a few months ago Mr Clarke was actually attacking Blair. Confused ? It appears to me that Charles Clarke does not like any prime Minister who won't give him a job or any government he is not part of. Sadly too, Mr Clarke does not appear to have coped well with his fall from grace and cannot stop attacking and being a thorn in the side of Labour. the sad thing for his, as was ...
What is the Estonian for "irrepressible"? From Eco soundings in yesterday's Guardian:What do Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik and Lord Attlee, Conservative shadow Defra spokesman, have in common? Their love of the Segway Personal Transporter, the self-balancing scooter that has yet to take Britain by storm.That failure is less down to the popularity of the bicycle, the company claims, and more because of a ban on the use of Segways on public roads. Opik and his friends will take to their Segways for a protest outside the Commons next week against the ban.
Early this morning one phrase bugged me out of Sarah Palin's speech accepting the GOP nomination for Vice President: "I came to office promising to control spending - by request if possible and by veto if necessary. " Now I admit I'm not an ardent following of the minutiae of Alaska state politics so I decided to google it and find out just what Governor Palin felt her veto was necessary and while I was at it discovered some other scary possibilities this woman might stretch to. Well she used it earlier this year to she sued it to veto ...
There is a lot of noise and fury over the future of the Police Station - often the fight is charicatured as not being necessary. There can often be an atmosphere of "there there, don't you worry - it'll all be alright". But in fact there is form on this topic. The fight to save the police station is not a new thing and those who claim to have suddenly discovered it are bein a little silly and 'over-reaching themselves'. Hampstead Police Station also contained a magistrates court - opened in 1913 with the station it has it's own side ...
You may have noticed that some of these around the borough ... have been replaced by some of these ... The old-style bollards are lit by a bulb, so the Council has to pay for the electricity and lightbulbs, and also for the labour involved in changing the bulbs and electrical testing. Repair of vandalised bollards also cost the Council up to £60,000...
Monday: We spent our Bank Holiday at Station X. I COULD tell you that this was Bletchley Park near Milton Keynes but then I would have to SHOOT you. {Posted by Picasa} Oops. Anyway, we learned some stuff: 001. Mr Ian Fleming writer of JAMES BOND was SECRETLY the navy intelligence liaison officer for Station X; The Truth is in Here {Posted by Picasa} 002. He was totally not allowed to tell anyone what he got up to there during the war, and yet the plot of "From Russia With Love" turns out to be almost entirely TRUE; How Enigmatic... ...
