There has been a lot of (welcome) talk recently about the Liberal Democrats' pledge to cut taxes for low- and middle-income earners. This has been broadly welcomed in the party, though many have only accepted it as long as it is accompanied by a promise that the overall tax-take will remain the same, and that richer people should shoulder more of the tax burden. This kind of "redistributionist" approach is always very popular, as most people are in the poorer rather than the richer category. It is easy to take from the minority to give to the majority, and there ...
David Miliband was oveheard talking to some of his aides at Labour's Manchester conference this evening admitting that he had toned down some parts of his speech this afternoon in order not to be seen to be having a Heseltine moment — i.e. planning regicide (against Margaret Thatcher, in Heseltine's case). Miliband's brother Ed (also [...]
Today's Guardian saw a stunningly perspicacious piece of journalism from Mark Lawson in which he castigated renowned atheist Richard Dawkins for lacking an "an element of wonder at the beauties and cruelties of existence". I'll save my wise words on the whole science/religion debate for another day (though I'm sure you're desperate to know what the answer is - you'll just have to wait). My point here is that Mark Lawson has received good money from the Guardian to write an article and clearly hasn't been arsed to do even a small amount of research. That's fine for the Daily ...
Recently Jonathan Calder joked about expecting dismissal as New Statesman online columnist for being spotted by the editor carrying a copy of the Daily Mail at conference. At least I assumed it was a joke. But now I wonder. For I read in this week's magazine that Julian Clary has been relieved of his column (that sounds uncomfortably close to a double entendre) by the Staggers' powers that be. Of course since his piece is humourous, it could be a joke and Clary has just decided he's had enough. But my antennae are always twitching as to whether the NS ...
Mucking around with the classic lib dem slogan, with so many layers of irony it's like a sort of.. er... Onion of Irony. It's Ironiony: And here's another button I had made especially for the Comrades over at the highly inappropriately named Liberal Conspiracy:
The Scotsman was today reporting that there has been a welcome blow struck against the SNP's illiberal plans to increase the drinking age from 18 to 21 in Scotland, from inside its own student wing: THE SNP's plan to ban under-21s from buying alcohol in off-licences has been dealt a blow after it emerged the party's student wing is opposed to the move. During a debate at Edinburgh University, student Nationalist Caroline Henderson said: "I'm the rep on the SNP NEC for the Federation of Student Nationalists, which is against the proposals". Ignoring the fact that the SNP NEC is ...
A great many Greens died to bring us this first hand account of conditions inside the Labour Conference today. Let's hope their sacrifice wasn't in vain. Those eyes! By God, the eyes! He's there, all the time. First in, last out. Every day. He sits, surveying all the faces in the hall, through every speech, through every clap.. he's there. There must be no sign of dissent. No sign of rebellion. Our faces ache from the smiling. My hands have blisters from the clapping. I am tired. It's the damn standing ovations. Oh, on television, they look fantastic. But every ...
Does it matter that Nick Clegg did not know how much the state pension is? I am afraid it does. At Bournemouth the Liberal Democrats insisted - to an almost comic extent - that they stood for the interests of "ordinary, hard-working families". Nick's own speech was studded with cameos detailing the struggles of people he has met. If you make this the focus of your campaign, and imply that other parties and your critics within your own party are out of touch with the average voter, then you look pretty silly when you make a mistake like this. What ...
For most of my adult life, we have wrestled with a narrow interpretation of the free market which has come to dominate the globe. That interpretation seems suddenly to have reached the logical limits. There are no investment banks left on Wall Street, many of the great American financial institutions - and some of the British ones - are on the equivalent of welfare hand-outs from the taxpayer (though their chiefs still seem to be drawing their vast salaries). It is time we wrested the idea of open markets and free trade from their clutches so that we don't lose ...
The BBC reports: A top school has radically cut the amount of homework it sets, saying too much will put pupils off learning.Tiffin boys' school, in Kingston, south west London, has limited homework to 40 minutes per night, saying pupils should have more time for their own interests.In the days when I was at school it was generally accepted that comprehensive state education was child-centred while grammars and the private sector were obsessed with results. While there are still private schools that are exam factories, this report confirms my impression that this situation has largely been turned on its head. ...
Why is this sold out? WHY?Last year, Robin Ince made the mistake of appearing on ITV's London Talking to debate "Is Britain becoming more secular?" By the time he got to the studio, the subject had changed to "Who is taking the Christ out of Christmas?" Suffice to say, he got quite cross during the barrage of lies from radio shock jocks and misinformed fundamentalists. Robin tried to make it clear that, as an atheist, he wasn't against Christmas as a time for gluttony and reflection; he was just against the journalists and manipulated fundamentalists shouting about winterval and other ...
Dear David Clark, No. Now stop being silly and hand in your real article.
The job evaluation issue cntinues, with no resolution yet for the many hard working Council employees threatened with losing big chunks of their salaries in the name of "equal pay." Of the many things not helping this situation, rumours, lack of opportunity to question the Leadership, and the Leadership's avoidance of tackling the issues with straight answers are just a few. Thankfully, the Resource and Performance Scrutiny Commission this Thirsday can put pay to all of these unhelpful things. Much of the meeting is being given over to this issue, and the Leader of the Council and the Executive Member ...
As a Lib Dem I know that I shouldn't get too excited about a big bounce in the opinion polls. After all we spend the rest of the year arguing with Labour and Tory bloggers that polls are meaningless and that the Lib Dems will do much better when the election comes and so we [...]
Britain only invaded Iraq because MPs voted for it. Liberal Democrat MPs were unanimous in their opposition to this intervention. Five years on, over 170 British servicemen and women have been killed in Iraq, along with hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians. British taxpayers have poured £6.5 billion into the conflict, and the Conservatives are trying to rewrite...
Pensioners will miss out on hundreds of millions of pounds in benefits after ministers decided to reduce the time they are given to claim tax credits, the Liberal Democrats have revealed. A Parliamentary Answer shows that pensioners will lose out on £240m in the first three years of the scheme, with the oldest and most vulnerable pensioners to be the worst...
That's right. According to Meg Hillier, the Under-Secretarty of State for Identity, compulsory ID cards could be issued to children as young as 14 in order to assist in the sale (or rather no sale) of age restricted products. So what we're now seeing is that a scheme aimed at combating terrorism is to be used to [...]
Welcome to the 83rd of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (14th-20th September), together with a hand-picked quintet you might otherwise have missed. How about starting with the most popular blog-posting, and we work our way down? Here goes: 1. [...]
Apart from two surgeries at teatime and City Council meetings tonight, I met with residents in Tait's Lane about road issues this afternoon. Also, pleased to see the road resurfacing in Benvie Road and Fyffe Street commences tomorrow (see right & click on headline above for the background).
I'm pretty much a hardliner on the action we need to take to improve representation and engagement of ethnic minorities at senior levels within our party. Quite simply, if we want to aim to be a party of government then we have solve this problem, in our own narrow self-interest as a party - let alone because it is fair and will lead to better governance of Britain. The various 'soft' strategies we have followed for achieving this - for example to encourage more BME candidates, and support them better, simply haven't worked. Just take a look at our benches ...
The Names Miliband 007... David Miliband
Highgate hosted a Lib Dem barbecue yesterday - it was a huge success, as we were mobbed. Three times as many turned up than we expected. My colleague Rachel, who was in control, had to dash to the shops to guarantee sausage-based humanitarian relief. Meanwhile, the Lib Dem contest for party president, in particular the campaign of Ros Scott, was the subject of some effortlessly discreet and tasteful campaigning - see pic.
There's a lot more to Highgate than spacious houses overlooking Hampstead Heath. Around the Archway Road. with its mix of apartment blocks and multi-occupancy terraces, I think I'm right in saying we have the most densely populated part of Haringey. Which brings me to the wonderful building that is Furnival House, on Cholmeley Park, just behind Highgate High Street and overlooking the Highgate bowl. This amazing, hilltop building, with views right across London, used to be nurses accommodation for the Whittington hospital down the road. It now has 113 rooms for students from the University of Westminster. However, Haringey council ...
Mon 22nd
19:26
Andover Lib Dems announce County Council team to fight for a "fair deal at County Hall"
Andover Lib Dems have today announced an experienced team to fight next years Hampshire County Council elections. Speaking today Andover Lib Dem spokesman N J Gooding said "We are delighted to have such a strong team of candidates and we are confident that we will retain the Andover North Division and optimistic from initial polling returns to make gains elsewhere. We are delighted that Robin Hughes(pictured right above) will be standing here in Smannell. The Lib Dems already hold the Andover North Division and have re-selected sitting County Councillor Robin Hughes. Robin as well as living in the Division has ...
The full details of the Vodafone mast application are now visible on the South Glos planning application website. Normally the page would have a link saying "Comment on the Planning Application" - but it's missing. So just email your comments to planningapplications@southglos.gov.uk, quoting Planning Application number PK08/2533/PN1. Comments need to reach South Glos not later than 2nd November. Councillors Paul Hulbert and Mandy Sainsbury making local people's views clear.
One element of the BBC's conference coverage you might have missed is a feature by the BBC's Daily Politics, following Patrick Murray at conference (and in a profile piece, beforehand). He is PPC for Reading West and a councillor in Oxford (and a friend of Stephen Tall and myself). At the risk of embarrassing him, [...]
"we have now both seen the light" Sajjad Karim made the quote when talking about himself and Lord John Lee. Mr Karim, John Lee is still in the light its you and your companion's who have gone into the dark. The History of Mr Karim: Saj Karim delivered leaflets for John Lee (then Tory MP now Liberal Democrats peer) at the age of seven because his father was a Tory member. He decided he was not a Tory once he started to think about things in his teens. He Became a Liberal Democrats Councillor in his early 20's and that ...
I stumbled on this website when I was on Sheffield Forum and it's an interesting list (albeit slightly out of date) of public art in Sheffield and tells you a bit about them. I walk past some of these on a regular basis but I've never known the background to them, a particular one being [...]
Is it just me or were the Labour delegates and ministers interviewed on the Today programme this morning using the phrase "Making it Happen" and "Make it happen" rather a lot? Sincerest form of flattery I guess...
I've just seen a Facebook status update from a Labour person saying that he was wondering if the rumours were true that Barack Obama was going to address the Labour Conference tomorrow. I remember my mother once, at a time of huge tension in the family, inviting some guests over for Christmas in the hope that that everybody would behave with visitors in the house. In the unlikely event that this rumour is true, then it would be that kind of thing on a bigger scale. However, I am fairly certain that Obama associating himself with a dying Labour Government ...
Nick Perry, Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye, attended the Car Free Day in Hastings today to support the work of the Hastings Urban Bikes network. Nick says, "I have been really impressed by the commitment of HUB members to improve the take-up of cycling and the cycling infrastructure of the local area. "We need to [...]
What the ... ? Courtesy of Anthony Devlin /Press Association. Also featured on Timesonline.
Following the ratification of the policy paper 'Building a transport system for the 21st century' at the recent Liberal Democrat Conference, Lewes MP and Transport spokesman Norman Baker has confirmed that the plans include the electrification of the railtrack between Hastings and Ashford. Mr Baker said, "I want to say loud and clear to the people of [...]
It's not surprising that the photo library of John McCain with George Bush is getting vigorous usage by the Obama campaign (see latest ad below). George Bush now has a favourability rating of just 19%. That's the lowest ever for a US President since George Gallup started doing such polls in the 1930s. Bush was at that level before, but it was when the Iraq situation was far worse than it is now.
51) Norman Kretzmann and Eleonore Stump (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Aquinas (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, ISBN 0521437695). This did exactly what I needed, which was to help me check, consolidate and extend my understanding of Aquinas' metaphysics. It was very rewarding - I kept being struck by how modern and, indeed, at times how postmodern Aquinas seems once you translate him into everyday modern English. That's something you have to keep doing almost constantly in your head as you read the book, though; if you don't keep reminding yourself that words are not being used in their colloquial ...
A rather illuminating decision by Rochdale District Labour Party: on their website, they have a sizeable photograph in the middle of their front page. Is it their leading local member? No. Is it the Prime Minister? No. It's David Miliband, MP for nowhere near Rochdale: Is Gordon Brown mentioned anywhere on the site? No. A clue as to who Labour [...]
Thanks to everyone who has so far had a stab at my quick quiz on the right. There are three days left to have a try. The question is: Which of the following has nothing to do with the US Presidential election?: 527 538 270 519 Sorry that it says "Vote" at the bottom of the quiz, but I couldn't find any quiz widgets so used the poll widget instead.
That's the topic of a piece I've got up at Liberal Democrat Voice today - read and enjoy - I hope!
I have finally got round to putting this video (click below) on YouTube. It is a sneeky video I took of a bag pipe competition when the judge goes to sleep. I freely admit that it is only mildly amusing but it is always interesting to see how many people give it a whirl. So far, 34 after a few days. My videos of a basking shark coming up to our boat off the Isle of Mull (example 2nd below) have
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnston, has suggested that a new London airport could be built on an artificial island in the Thames estuary. This sounds like a sensible suggestion - but there is a BUT. On the plus side, it would remove the need for a third runway at Heathrow - a project that just about everyone to the west of London opposes. Also, presumably planes...
The phantom epidemic of child diabetes.
One of the streets in the West End whose pavements are unadopted are those in Seymour Avenue. Following a recent visit to residents about a utility repair, I have now raised with the City Engineer the priority given to Seymour Avenue, in relation to the Unadopted Footways Programme. Given the number of elderly persons in the area, I have asked for this to be reviewed, and the City Engineer has confirmed he will have the 'scoring' of the street reviewed.
Dave Simpson of City of Chester Liberal Democrats asks: "Please sign this petition. "The current situation is a joke - the Gurkhas (who are some of our best, most loyal and bravest soldiers) are being turned away from British Citizenship. "It's a disgrace and I feel quite strongly about it, having worked with some superb Officers whilst with P&O. "If you too feel strongly, please add your signature to this official Number 10 petition."
Although on the surface, British politics appears to have settled down a little in the last few months (Conservatives ahead, Gordon Brown in Michael Foot territory), underneath it all there is still a huge brittleness about it all. You see it many weeks in council by-election results, where the Liberal Democrats often notch up dramatic swings [...]
"Of course, we have a separation of State and Church......But in the people's soul they're together." Vladimir Putin January 2004One of the least well received speeches at the Liberal Democrat conference last week was one in the security debate made by a representative named Adrian Whyatt. Never having met him I hope Adrian won't mind if I say that it was a very bad speech. It didn't seem to have
It has been a great Lib Dem Conference with Nick Clegg launching our new campaign to 'Make it Happen', with tax cuts for those who really need it, and an increase for the wealthiest who are currently paying the least. For us in North Somerset we managed to get our joint motion with North Wilts and Westminster Lib Dems on the extension of the remit of the International Criminal Court (ICC) approved by conference. This means that it is now our party policy. One of the special things about the Liberal Democrats is that we can as members write policy ...
One of the things which is comforting about being a Lib Dem is that one is not just allowed, but positively encouraged to take the piss - out of oneself, the party, and politics in general. Having never been a member of any other political party, I can't say how unusual this is, but it doesn't seem to be quite so prevalent in either of the Big Two. The Liberal Revue is a night of sketches and such run by the guys behind Liberator, the serial filkers behind the Liberator Songbook. It promised to be an irreverent and witty look ...
Mon 22nd
13:40
NEW POLL: who do you think would be the most effective next leader of the Labour party?
It seems inevitable the Labour leadership will continue to dominate the week's headlines, regardless of the show of unity that is mounted for the cameras in Manchester over the next few days. The question of 'Will Gordon survive?' seems increasingly redundant: quite simply, Labour cannot continue like this, and even Mr Brown's biggest fans seem [...]
Just heard Gordon's crocodile tears about bonuses and pay of spivvy fat cats. He's getting a lot of conference applause - but does it add up to more than a row of beans when a Labourite says `it'll be done through the FSA`. Let's just take some of their tax loopholes and give them to those at [...]
Good to see Nancy's been liaising with Barack. I can't help thinking that Paulson, a failed civil servant, is helping BushCo cash in before a potential change in Administration. What do you think? btw why don't they call bankers `tax and spend corporatists`?
I haven't written much about Africa recently, yet Robert Mugabe is no longer in charge in Zimbabwe and Thabo Mbeki has resigned as South Africa's President.
To be found on Jenny's Wonderland of Books - a posting of mine is included.
This week at Suz Blog. Please visit and enjoy, as Susanne had to wrestle with technical problems to get it posted.
After Will Young "Coming out for STV" a few weeks ago, we now have this in his G2 interview today: Young is still angry about the mistreatment of depression in this country, though. With a laugh, he adds that he is equally angry about post offices closing down, the nanny state and the lack of mutual responsibility being promoted by the government. "I'm growing older and grumpier. Next tour, I'm
you are going to need all the Luck you can get in the coming months!
Sexist guys earn more. Yup, guys, if you want to be rich, you need to be an arsehole. Little commented on is the snippet that women who held the opposite view did earn slightly more, on average $1,500 (£833) more than women with "traditional" views. So a translation might be that assertive people earn more than people who don't want to rock the boat. But that wouldn't be news, would it?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7628545.stm
Fellow Scottish Lib Dem Andy Myles has strong opinions on many issues and, whether or not you agree with him, is always worth listening to. As it happens Andy's take on Scottish politics, especially Lib Dems, nearly always resonates with me. The Current edition of Liberator (an excellent collectively produced periodical which I thoroughly recommend to all fellow "Social Liberals") has a two page 'open letter', penned by Andy, to newly-elected Scottish Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott. In his piece Andy expresses some concerns regarding Tavish's leadership style - concerns which I share, although he expresses his feelings far more ...
Here we go then. A poll in the Independent this Sunday showed that the Tory lead over Labour slumped from 21 to 12 points, while support for the LDs went up to 21, a rise of points, which is all to the good. What I think this poll shows most starkly is that the Tories are on a bubble which can very easily be burst. Brown didn't do much that was very dramatic last week, when the poll was run (yes, I know this is a matter of opinion - this is my opinion), but his stock has already crept ...
I have just read The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. It was a great read and the writer's imagination can only be marvelled at. It also diverged quite significantly from the two films I have seen based on the book, although the fundamentals of the story are actually quite limited so you can see why Hollywood would need to flesh it out with a heroine, a war and the destruiction of the moon, for example. What struck me most, however, was the inherent violence which often crops up in 19th century books. The hero spends much of his time generally ...
Not that I'm biased or anything, but, as my photo shows, and as any fool can see, the ball was clearly in.Thanks to Lux from Hob Nob Anyone?
The link is to Norman Lamont's article about the Government's Economic Policy. I always wondered why there was such a treasury constraint on the building of housing for rent through Social Landlords. I had this theory that it could be as a consequence of trying to push up house prices through scarcity of resource. In any event having a policy based upon equity withdrawal and ever increasing
Have just looked at Lib Con for the first time in a week. I have a feeling of weary resignation and mild regret. My choice to do my conference blogging on here rather than Lib Con (or indeed, pushing for inclusion on Lib Dem Voice) was a conscious one, and yet now Lib Con is full of reports from the Labour Party conference, when even people like Diane Abbott aren't going... I am puzzled and saddened by people whose opinions I respect enormously (Diane Abbott included, actually) continuing to cling to the twitching corpse of a party that hasn't represented ...
In his speech to conference last week, Nick Clegg set out a very powerful message, and a vision. It was one of a fairer and more redistributive Britain, where if you're born into a poorer family, you shouldn't be condemned for life: that everyone should have an equal opportunity to education, health and well-being. After 11 years of a New Labour government, Britain is now even more divided and unequal than under the Tories before them. John Harris in the Guardian has a video, where he says people at the Labour party conference are openly talking about 'more equality and...redistribution ...
We wrote some 80 posts covering conference last week - if for some reason you missed some of them, here's a handy cut-out-and-keep reference to the best of blogging at LDV. Before conference even began we had a major debate, with hundreds of comments, about Making it Happen Danny Alexander was pro. Paul Holmes was anti Whilst at conference, [...]
If, as so many in politics assert, people cannot be left to make their own choices, be it about their personal finance, what they eat or what drugs they take, then why oh why do we let them vote? Surely, if someone is too stupid to live their life as they see fit then they are [...]
Another Post that is about Mr Karim... with some great
LibertyCat says he would have focused more on why Nudge wouldn't work. Tim Harford, for example, argue that people aren't always that easy to Nudge. Nudging only works if people have to make an important decision once or if the decision has a low cost (financial or otherwise). If someone makes an expensive decision numerous times, they learn from the experience and begin making increasingly
Answer: When it was allowed as a goal! Update: Someone at YouTube has obviously been very busy after a call from the Football League's legal department! You can see the "goal" here as long as you on a UK IP address - right hand box - scroll down to choose "20 Sep 08 Watford 2-2 Reading". The red arrow below points out the video box on the page. The blue arrow points out the scroll down menu to
I've blogged preivously about how one of Labour's rule changes is set to deprive pensioners of millions in benefits. The Daily Telegraph has the story again today:Pensioners are going to miss out on hundreds of millions of pounds of benefits owed to them under a government move to cut the time they get to claim tax credits. In a move that could trigger another backbench revolt against Gordon Brown, ministers have abolished the 12-month period in which the pensioners can claim backdated pension tax credits and imposed a new limit of three months. The rule change, which comes in on ...
In the Past I said that the Conservatives would auction Cameron's underpants they have not auctioned his underpants but his Helmet. The Helmet of the Tory Leader is just among many other pieces of RUBBISH that will be sold at a Car Boot Sale. Just shows how much value the Tories have, well at least it made a Car boot sale I would have thought it would go to a Charity Shop or something. You can read more HERE.
I fully agree with my Liberal Democrat Council colleagues in Bath who gate-crashed a Council photo opportunity on Friday morning saying that the Conservative-run administration of the Council is too focussed on central Bath, to the detriment of the rest of the city. Below is the comments made by my Colleagues who successfully gatecrashed the cynically organised press call by our conservative...
The BNP's on Pendle Council are getting a round of a applause by the Main Party for Voting against an Extension to a Mosque in Pendle. The Mosque that needed the extension was the Mohammadi Mosque and on the BNP website they have used a Picture of Ghausia Mosque Nelson. Just shows how intellectual these twats really are. Then they have this Comment to make that is really Funny: "Wacky Lib-Dem councillor Sonia Robinson, ignoring the fact that she as a woman would not even be allowed into the main mosque, gushed her support for the proposals, saying that they ...
New BNP Advert for the European Elections in 2009 its even better then the Conservatives one below.
That's how much the US government is spending on its latest bailouts. Instead it could have been spent on: 2,000 McDonalds apple pies for every single American, or More than $100 for every person in the world, or Enough Fortnum & Mason bones for me for EVER AND EVER AND EVER HOOOOOORAY (Two-thirds of these statistics are from TechPresident)
No Cllr Iqbal isn't become a County Cricketer but it is rumoured that he is the County Council Candidate for the Labour Party in Brierfield and Nelson North. When Nawaaz and Jamil changed parties they was speculation that one of them would become candidates at the County Council Election but now it is becoming clear that Cllr Iqbal has pissed on both their futures in the County Council and looked after Number 1. We will see what the next couple of months bring Politics in Brierfield and Nelson North, as the Conservatives will be declaring a Candidate soon and so ...
I was sorting through papers late last night to bring down to London when I spotted the Radio Times. On the front cover was a picture of Merlin the Magician, a new tv series. But I was struck by the similarity between the actor playing Merlin, and David Miliband. So could Miliband the Magician do it for Labour were Brown to meet with an unfortunate illness, necessitating his resignation? The
I note from this morning's Guardian that the Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw is to act against the 'No win no fee' industry at long last. However, Mr. Straw has only tackled part of the problem. The Justice Secretary told the Labour Conference that he is considering capping the level of success fees charged by solicitors in such cases. At the same time he has no plans to increase the legal aid budget to help those who are seeking justice but are excluded from using the law because of their financial circumstances. I first became aware of the ...
An honourable mention to The Man in Grey, which is being shown on Channel 4 on Thursday (1.40p.m.). It is one of those wartime films concerned with Anglo-American relations and it stars Margaret Lockwood, Stewart Granger and James Mason. As you would expect there is plenty of bodice ripping and swashbuckling. But Guns at Batasi is more surprising. Made in 1964, it deals with an unfashionable subject for British films - the retreat from Empire - and stars Richard Attenborough as a wholly convincing Regimental Sergeant Major. With his honourable but ultimately outmoded values, he is a Blimp of the ...
When I eat out, I never, ever leave a tip by credit card - that just sounds a bit remote to me and I'm not confident that it will actually reach the people it's supposed to. It seems that greedy and unscrupulous owners have developed an imaginative range of ways to keep some of the cash I leave instead. Thanks to Kezia Dugdale for raising awareness of Unite's Fair Tips campaign which aims to ensure that more of the tip money is actually given to the staff and not pocketed by the owners. This is just part of Kezia's crusade ...
Last week Mr Roy was dropped from the Labour Glenrothes campaign team. No not the candidate Lindsay Roy but Frank Roy who was part of the Glasgow East campaign team, because in the parlance of post-wall Germany the Eastees didn't want a Westee running this campaign, so that Mr Roy is off enjoying a holiday in the USA. Apparently Nigel Griffiths MP, he with the 404 seat majority in Edinburgh South, had stepped in to head up the campaign. Only for the Scotsman today to report that Gordon Banks MO for Ochil and South Perthshire is actually now ruining things ...
Nudge could be one of the most important books of the next ten years, given it has apparently inspired both Obama and Cameron. I haven't read all the book yet, but I've seen enough to realise so-called libertarian paternalism isn't as benign as it initially sounds. People are not rational and sometimes make bad decisions. But, instead of banning the bad choice, authors Thaler and Sunstein
And so for we keen watchers of developing democracies, the moment of destiny draws unexpectedly nearer. It's difficult to judge the truth of the situation in South Africa; did Mbeki try to use the courts to deal with a rival? Is Zuma serially corrupt? Either way, you can but conclude that if this sort of thing was happening to any other party in any other democratic country, they'd have poll
"I am a pretty ordinary guy who managed through an ordinary school to get to university and then I was in a position to do the things I've been able to do," Heart Touching Word's by the Prime Minister, sound just like his Predecessor on the Andrew Marr show. Brown really knows how to touch the hearts of the Country no wonder he is up on an opinion poll. "Lib Dems at 21%. Labour have moved to 27% (a Brown bounce apparently) from 25% and the Tories (bless them) dropped 7% to 39%." The Prime Minister really is trying to ...
The Assembly Commission has just published the results of the most comprehensive survey undertaken in Wales to gauge public understanding of the nation's political landscape. The survey was commissioned by the National Assembly for Wales and carried out by Aberystwyth University's Institute of Welsh Politics in collaboration with GfKNOP. It involved questioning over 2,500 people in June and July 2008. When questioned, the majority of respondents (39%) wanted Wales to remain part of the UK but to have its own elected Parliament with full law-making and taxation powers. 31% of the people questioned wanted the Assembly to retain its current ...
I spent a couple of hours this afternoon at a fascinating training session for emergency services personnel. One of my duties as a councillor is to serve on Notts Fire and Rescue Authority, so this sort of thing crops up every now and again - and always amazes me at just how much we expect firefighters to do. Far more than just putting out fires. The event simulated a major contamination incident. CBRN is Chemical, Biological, Radioactive or Nuclear, and it seems you use pretty much the same sort of kit at all of them. In attendance were personnel from ...
So today in the independent on Sunday the Lib Dem's have jumped 5 points in the latest opinion poll and now are on 21%. Labour have moved to 27% (a Brown bounce apparently) from 25% and the Tories (bless them) dropped 7% to 39%. Of course last week the Tories in a different poll were riding high on 51% with us just on 12%. So my question is our we heading for a Tory victory or in a year or so from now will we be telling telephone canvassers something else? Actually I don't care to much what 1014 people ...
