What is one to make of Irfan Ahmed. As a blogger he has risen from obscurity to become one of the top "celebrities" in the Lib Dem blogosphere. As a person, I know very little of him other than the fact that he lives in Preston and doesn't like Saj Karim very much. Reading his blog recently, I was particularly struck by this quote: This is a great point that was made by David as this is definitely what the Electorate is going to look at. They want a Prime Minister and Government that can offer them a good economic ...
When I read old blog posts I am alarmed by the number of mistakes and errors I make. I do have an occasional proof-reader but it's not something I can rely on and I really, really need to learn to fix these things myself. I'm attributing blame to touch typing. Touch typing is marvellous, in that it allows me to transfer ideas onto the page almost as fast as I think them. I am not consciously aware of typing, I simply think a word and this word appears on the screen as if by magic. So when I write a ...
So the government has been taken up on its offer of buying shares in the major banks, to the tune of (at the time of writing) £50bn if you're the Telegraph and £40bn if you're the Guardian (fight, subs, fight!) The takers are HBOS, RBS, Lloyds TSB and Barclays. The government will hold majority stakes in [...]
Seeing the headline'Nick Clegg's Private Passions' on Jonathan Calder's blog is enough to give any sane LibDem the collywobbles. Whatever next? Thankfully this is a reference to the leader's foray into what has been described as 'the upmarket version of Desert Island Discs'. Nick's seven choices were: M Berkeley The Wakeful Poet (Music from Chaucer) Schubert Impromptu E [...]
I'm a big fan of Stephen Fry. I like his books, comedy, films, TV programmes. He was a great Jeeves and Hippopotomus is a good read (even, or perhaps especially, the part where the fourteen-year-old hero shags a horse). Hell, my daring pseudonymous surname is even taken from a character he played (who indulges in entertaining, if not excessively erotic, on-screen sex with a washer woman though not, to be fair, for the entire film and whilst a horse plays a significant role, it maintains its on-screen virginity). So I did want to like his latest outing, Stephen Fry in ...
"What should we do? The economy is going to collapse! Banks are going to fail! People will lose their savings, their investments.. people are going to lose their jobs," said the politician. "Yes," said the economist. "We must stop it! People expect us to be able to stop it! We have to act!" "I've told you what to do. You must let them fail as fast as possible so we can start rebuilding as fast as possible. You can't stop it. Everything you do will make it worse." "That's... that's not good enough! Be practical! This is not time for ...
Some mild hand-wringing is going on over at LDV tonight over our poll ratings. One suggestion is that we're emphasising the wrong policies. The trouble is, it's almost impossible to prove that a particular emphasis on a particular policy constitutes the entire problem - or that a particular emphasis on a particular policy constitutes an entire [...]
NICE use QALYs to calculate the effectiveness of drugs. I heard tonight that someone aged 60 cannot have a QALY of more than 0.6 per year. This sounds very wrong, but is not clear on the NICE site. It may be this is the reason why NICE have been so difficult on revealing their formulae. The challenge now is to get to the Truth.
Sung by Grace Slick, who wrote the song and originally recorded it with her previous band The Great Society, this is a live recording from the 1969 Woodstock Festival. If you can remember it, you weren't there. Me, I was at primary school reading The Map That Came to Life. The lyrics mark a fusion between LSD and Lewis Carroll: When logic and proportion Have fallen sloppy dead And the White Knight is talking backwards And the Red Queen's "off with her head!" Remember what the dormouse said; "Feed your head."But then there was quite a crossover between classic children's ...
Stephen Tall has an interesting piece on Liberal Democrat Voice. Stephen argues that the recent polling trends for the party are 'not good'. He does rightly say that the polls are in a state of flux at the moment but I think we can pick up on a theme. This theme is not good for us; it shows that the Conservative lead is still strong but Labour's support is stabilising. Seemingly this is in the heartland seats and this is bad news; it is in the seats we are targeting at the next election. I think Brown has played the ...
Total Politics is running a survey to discover who are the most influential journalists in the UK. Those who make it into the top 50 will get a mention in the magazine. While I was completing the survey, if you are on Facebook and would like to take part go to the magazine's page and you'll find the link, I began to question what influence means. Are these commentators and reporters influencing each other, the public, politicians or all of he above? And if they are influencing them, how are they doing it and does it vary depending on the ...
Welcome to the 86th of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (5th-11th October), 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... While [...]
Alex Salmond has been continually giving us the benefit of his dubious advice on the world economic crisis, so let's look back at what he had to say in August 2006. To quote the SNP website: "SNP Leader Alex Salmond has today called for Scotland to join northern Europe's arc of prosperity, with Ireland to the west, Iceland to the north and Norway to the east all small independent countries in the top six richest nations in the world." Salmond went on to say: "Scotland can change to a better future and be part of northern Europe's arc of prosperity. ...
http://www.flocktogether.org.uk/event/4194 http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=34341031882
Tomorrow is Haringey's first Full Council for a while. A lot has happened since the last one. High on people's minds will be two financial headaches of major proportions. First is £37 million of Haringey taxpayers' money currently missing in Iceland. Second, the Council is having to stomach multi-million pound losses for the granting of a licence to Firoka at Alexandra Palace on outrageously favourable terms. Labour's current finance boss, Charles Adje, has managed to preside over the Ally Pally disaster while moving seamlessly between two different jobs. Firstly, he cooked up the licence concept while Ally Pally Board Chair. ...
http://www.newsweek.com/id/163449 Interestingly the gurus that are coming up with the answers like Rubin, Volcker etc are voting with their feet to the person they think can bring about the change that's needed!
Is it that he persuaded them with the blueprint because it was them that had to agree it. Did he have to be there at all? The next question is: what's the quid pro quo?
This Fact Check from AP helps us cut our way through the thicket of "dodgy dealers" which have emerged in allegations and counter-allegations in the US Presidential election.
Oh dear, a bit of a puck-up. When Sarah Palin dropped the ceremonial first puck at the Flyers' opener on Saturday night at the Wachovia Center, she was greeted by resounding (almost deafening) boos. Ed Snider, owner of the Flyers, had her introduced to the crowd more as a hockey mom than as the Republican candidate for vice president. She was flanked by Scott Gomez, the Rangers center, and Mike
Temperatures in Clydach reached levels not experienced since spring. Inside the Forge Fach centre, business was dominated by constitutional amendments which only occasionally caused the pulse to race. However, we passed a motion today which might draw some comment in the prints as we get closer to an election: Conference notes: 1. The unfair settlement caused by the decades-old Barnett formula. 2. That the National Assembly for Wales is unable to borrow money or levy taxes. 3. That Labour and Plaid have ruled out using the Private Finance Initiative in the health sector, meaning available money is not being used. ...
Makes you think!
They can be ugly! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU2sQ5ukOko or belong to Alf Garnett! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXOLCR9FHvs It's what's called the base!
I am an unabashed Firefoxer. Straight out of the box (or rather, from the download) there is little to choose between Firefox and IE other than personal preference. The beauty of Firefox is in it's customisability. In this post, I'm going to link to the various customisations I have made to Firefox for blogging and general use# Add-ons1, Ad Block Plus Does exactly what it says on the tin. Stops you seeing annoying ads all over the web. You can customise this enormously; this is useful because there are some ads you WANT to see. This means that (for example) ...
Robert F. Kennedy Jnr has written an excellent article comparing the McCain camapaign's negative attacks with Sarah and Todd Palin's long association with the Alaskan Independence Party, which appears to be getting "lost in the mix": ..if McCarthy-era guilt-by-association is once again a valid political consideration, Palin, it would seem, has more to lose than Obama. Palin, it could be argued,
I have posted before about the 42 days and how it is more or less a dead bill. But today whilst I was watching the Andrew Marr show in the morning, Anti-42 Days MP David Davis made a comment that he believed that the Lords would kill the bill and put a end to it. He also said that he had no regrets about holding that By-Election in which you should note that he didn't have any serious opposition. I'm sorry Miss GB but you aren't a serious candidate! The Lords are most likely going to kill this wacky idea ...
I know it sounds like an old man (I am 104 i mean 41) yet I'm astonished at how standards in politics have slipped in regard to what the public will put up with. Has the bar been set so low that a Prime Minister who has presided over an economic tsunami can get away with [...]
It is great to see, that over the last two weeks the number of comments being left has risen but they is one problem, a lot of comments are using foul language, which is a little inappropriate. I would like to ask readers to continue leaving comments and to please try and not use foul language! Thank you
When I saw this biting video by American Comedian Sarah Silverman telling people to go to Florida and get their Jewish grandparents to vote Democrat.... ..... I knew I had seen her somewhere before:
The link is to a daily mail story which demonstrates the self-serving nature of some of the practitioners who behave in an unaccountable manner. This is a specific criticms of a number of practitioners, not all practitioners.
Obsessing about any individual poll is a mug's game, as we at Lib Dem Voice have long argued. However, we have also always said that polls - taken together and observed over a reasonable time period - are useful evidence of trends. And the trend for the party at the moment is, let's be honest, [...]
Sarah McSame: `And you know, we've gotta create those job umbrellas, goddoneit (wink wink) and the better weather for us hockey moms joe six packs also.` Joe Biden: `Create better weather?`. Let me repeat that, `create better weather!`. Ladies and Gentlemen, I mean that literally, Sarah Palin wants to create better weather! [...]
This puts me in a tricky situation. It is, of course, outrageous to use anti-immigration laws to seize the assets of Icelandic banks in the UK. It turns out that the assets are worth £4billion, and they will therefore come in handy in helping to persuade the relevant Icelandic authorities to return the £3billion owed to individuals, councils and charities in the UK. In an off-guarded and
I'd already planned to attend the East of England Regional Conference yesterday, what I hadn't expected was to have so many people squint at my name badge and declare "Ah, you're Fiona!". My decision not to wear the usual weekend attire of Jeans was probably a wise one as I had my photograph taken with our MPs, MEP and others. The wonderful Simon Hughes was particularly gallant when one of my heels sunk into the grass whilst we were having our photo taken and I was stuck fast! Watch this space and future episodes of our Focus to see who ...
Banks to get bailed out tomorrow according to the BBC. This is very interesting as it shows all these talks that Brown is having across Europe and Bush is having across the Atlantic are just a waste of time. Banks are in ruins, the economy is in ruins and my guess on the stock market is that it is going to fall dramatically tomorrow like it did on Friday. Talks will not assure the investors Mr Brown and Bush, you will need to start providing evidence to the people that your economic packages are in place before you can see ...
Notwithstanding that Brown is making himself look like an Economic statesman - and to be fair he's trying to do the right things - one cannot help but imagine a different scenario. Brown totally bought in to the neo-con economic philosophy though he didn't need to. For instance, what if he had done what Vince Cable had [...]
You have seven days to listen to the Lib Dem leader's favourite pieces of classical music, as chosen for Private Passions on BBC Radio 3. rhythmaning descibes it as "the upmarket version of Desert Island Discs". Nick chooses rather too much Chopin for my tastes.
At Thursday's Northern Area Planning Committee the application to convert Andover's lower Guildhall into a Pizza restaurant was approved. The plans now have to be referred to the Secretary of State before the changeover can go ahead. Speaking after the meeting Lib Dem Leader Len Gates said "I am disappointed with this decision. The objectors from STAG raised real questions about the validity of the application. The council's response was muddled and unconvincing. It failed to prove it had followed its own guidelines by seeking to maintain the Guildhall for community use. It could not explain the so-called financial losses ...
Until I read the Guardian yesterday, I had not realised just how much Iceland was involved with the ownership of our economy. Clearly the country had diversified from fish and thermal energy into the UK's high street. I was rather surprised to see House of Fraser in Iceland's portfolio along with other significant high street brands. Now we learn that Philip Green has arrived in Iceland, looking
Photo by Sabine J Hutchinson http://www.virtual-shropshire.co.uk/ It seems I am not the only blogger to be obsessed with this Shropshire village. Mountainear writes: What a fantastically strange place this is, especially on a dank autumnal day. Actually to call it dank is a tad untrue - we were blessed with clear blue skies which lit up leaves, hips and haws. Whatever. We're in a post-industrial landscape. The mines here produced, at the height of production, the largest quantity of lead in Europe but since their decline in the dying years of the 19th century the landscape has reclaimed its own.Those ...
After insisting for a couple of years that the Street Scene revolution, based around creating "generalists" in the workforce and downgrading the importance placed on specialist horticultural skills, was working well and that the town was benefitting from the new regime, it appears that the Labour leadership has finally admitted what we've been telling them all this time: Street Scene isn't doing
My council colleague Rachel and I went to Grange Road in Highgate this morning to look at problems with major house renovations, and also what are called 'tear downs', in planning jargon - houses either pulled down, with large basements often installed underneath. I have blogged about the problems here. Haringey doesn't see the problem, as this recent answer to a written council question I tabled shows: "The permissions granted for replacement of existing dwellings in these roads to the north of Hampstead Lane for the most part have a more localised impact on the particular road or avenue, rather ...
At the start of last week, Lib Dem Voice emailed the members of our private forum (open to all Lib Dem members) inviting them to take part in a survey, conducted via Liberty Research, asking a number of questions about the current state of British politics, especially as they affect the Lib Dems. Many thanks [...]
I have held off announcing who I will be supporting for Party President so far mostly because I have been genuinely undecided. However, I have now made up my mind. This has nothing to do with Lembit's attitude and demeanor in Welsh Party Conference yesterday, which in my view was appalling, but everything to do with who will be best for the party. I think that both Ros and Lembit would make outstanding Party Presidents but it seems to me that Ros has better thought through the role and how she will deal with it. Her focus is on the ...
Those that know me in my local party say I'm very taciturn and conservative when it comes to projecting wins at the local level. So I'm going to say it now: There could be a landslide in the US. Signs of it? 1. The difference in demeanour between Dana Bash and Jessica Yelland on CNN last night was [...]
The leaders of the 15 eurozone countries are meeting in Paris today, to discuss emergency measures to deal with the financial crisis. France currently holds the presidency of the European Union, and the French Finance Minister, Christine Lagarde, says the summit will put 'meat' on the 'skeleton' of the agreement reached by the G7 group [...]
When Paddy and Shirley and other party high-ups started coming out for Ros, Mat was worried that this made her look like the establishment candidate. To an extent, I can see that. Liberals are, by nature, rebellious and anti-establishment, and there is therefore a danger in the entirety of the party glitterati falling behind one candidate... Having said that? Vince Cable's judgement is worshipped by EVERYONE at the moment (even at the Fail, FFS!). Vince coming out for Ros is, from Ros's point of view, a major coup. The one worry the campaign had was that armchair members would say ...
An interesting article in today's Observer asks whether financial journalists should have seen the crunch coming. It's got some good points but fails to ask the key question of whether these things are forseeable at all, to anyone. Here's something you can try at home (it will take about five minutes), after which you'll have all the tools you need to become a successful city trader. The porche, the mansion, the parties, the girls (or boys) hanging off your arm. All this could be yours...read on. First take a piece of paper and write down a random list of four ...
The Video is of the Blog of Matt Wardman and it is a cutout from an interview Tom Harris MP had with the BBC and in the interview, Tom points towards his Blog for what got him sacked from his job as Railway Minister.The Blog hasn't helped him in the Cabinet, but it will help him as an MP in his own Constituency, I can guarantee that! He wont be among the Labour MP's who loose their seats.
Just been watching the Andrew Marr show and David Davis made a great point that I think really needs to be looked at by political Commentators when they are predicting the outcome of the next general election. Commentators need to bare in mind that people are not going to look at whether or not they have right-wing, left-wing or centre political beliefs instead they are going to look at the economic idea's the parties have. This is a great point that was made by David as this is definitely what the Electorate is going to look at. They want a ...
Yesterday I attended the East of England Regional Conference with my youngest daughter Rachel, age 4. I was worried about the reaction she would get and really I need not have. She really enjoyed the day. Many people wanted to talk to her, but of course she was incredibly shy, even with the people she sees on a weekly basis. That was until Steve Webb impressed her, and me, with his...
Sometimes being a liberal can be a lonely place and no more so when pushing one's principles forward in the face of apparently unmoving public opinion. I was heartened therefore to see this small grassroots revolt growing up amongst groups chosen as guinea pigs to trial ID cards. According to the Observer, plans to build support for identity cards by introducing them among 'guinea pig' groups, such as airport staff and students, are in crisis after 10,000 airline pilots vowed to take legal action to block them and opposition swept through Britain's universities and councils. Balpa, which represents more than ...
Or so says the Telegraph this morning.
This video clip , courtesy of Stephen Abrams, made me smile. Watch out for the cat. And keep watching right to the end.
A little ode in honour of 'Lets all post cat photos and dire poetry on our blogs' (LAPCPADPOUB*) day I love my old moggy - I really do But I wish that my flowerbeds Weren't so full of his poo (Just have to add to this - 5- 1! nothing to do with cats - all about football!)
Yesterday a small group of Scottish Lib Dem Bloggers, myself, Bernard Salmon and Lionel de Livi accompanied by his companion Stephen Glenn interviewed Tavish Scott MSP, new Scottish Leader, at the Party's Conference in Edinburgh. I'll write it up properly in the next couple of days - no time now as I'm off to sunny Glenrothes for another day's campaigning - but watch this space to find out: What Tavish thinks we can learn from Obama How we will help struggling students How our tax cuts are possible and Who Tavish wants to win the Presidential election....... LibDig This!
I am sick of seeing gleeful posts about Haider's death. His views have not died with him, and he leaves behind a family who loved him, just like anyone else would. No-one gains, and those posts make us the losers, not people like him.
The village of Enham Alamein will be commemorating Alamein Day on Sunday 19th of October. Full details are given on the attached poster. For further details please contact the Enham Trust or the parish council. alamein-poster-08.pdf
Beckenham Liberal Democrats' annual dinner this evening had a Scandinavian theme, with a Danish menu including a smorrebrod starter of herring, apple and beetroot salad; delicious tiny fried meatballs in a light cream sauce with lingonberries, potatoes, red cabbage and cucumber salad; and a girth-defying drommerkage (dream cake) with vanilla ice-cream and warm cloudberry sauce. The [...]
Scotland on Sunday has an interview with Vince Cable, the Sunday Telegraph has a respectful profile and Suzanne Moore in the Mail on Sunday wants to know why he is not running the country: Everyone likes him. He predicted this crisis but is not crowing about it. He is comprehensible, calm and human. Can't we just get him to sort it all out?Elsewhere, the Sunday Telegraph says that Tony Blair personally intervened to secure Formula One's exemption from the tobacco advertising ban just hours after meeting Bernie Ecclestone. Not a pretty straight kind of guy at all then. And the ...
