Boris Johnson has unveiled the second design of the new Routemaster that will replace the bendy bus. This one has been designed by a German and it is absolutely massive. It has 119 seats. It has more seats upstairs (68) than the original Routemaster had on both levels (64). Yet, I'm unconvinced. How long have you waited at a bus stop as people traipse off the top floor of the bus and then wait for those that are getting on? You don't get that with the bendy bus which has three well proportioned doors. Nor with the ninky nonk which ...
I've just watched the second episode of Simon Schama's history of the USA, The American Future. This is probably a must-watch series for anyone interested in America and its history. It helps set in context some of the contemporary debates about America's future as it gears up for another election. Schama has been taking a thematic approach to the subject. Following on from last week's look at 'American Plenty', which looked at the economy and resource use, this week he was focusing on America's war record. By taking a thematic approach, of necessity some things are going to feature more ...
Fri 17th
22:42
If lending at last year's level was the problem, why is it now a condition of government support?
The announcement that government support to the banks is to be dependent on their lending to other banks, and to business and retail and mortgage customers at the level it was in 2007 struck me as an odd requirement when it was first announced. Whilst lending to businesses needs to be maintained (much lending is simply short term to allow for cash flow) the need to lend at last year's level on
Arriving at the railway station this morning, and the newsagent didn't have The Times, The Telegraph or Financial Times. What is a right winger like me supposed to read? I picked up The Guardian. It is the first time I've bought The Guardian in fourteen years. I stopped buying the paper when a friend pointed out that there were 100 specific mentions of Tony Blair in one edition and that they'd even managed to weave in his name to the football report on Airdrie verses Hamilton Academicals. Since then, The Guardian has fallen out of love with Tony Blair (although ...
Thursday saw the annual Voice of Young People conference, once again held at the meeting centre in Hinckley. I've probably eulogised enough about this event to most people, but for a group of 11-18 year old people to organize and run a conference of that complexity and scale is truly to be admired - and, I would submit, do a far better job than many professional conference providers. It is also the only event in the Council calendar that both fellow Members (from all sides) and council officers give their time to entirely of, their own volition, and come along ...
Here's one of my favourite sporting memories - the 1991 World Athletics championships. Black, Redmond, Regis and Akabusi take on the USA....
Heres Peter Black A.M. . The Swansea A.M. is wearing Pink for a special day! Its 31 October and its Breast Cancers Pink day. Peter is urging all residents, young or old to wear Pink and donate £2 to this worthy campaign. Peter says "Every year over 2,400 women in Wales are diagnosed with breast cancer. Like many others, I know people who have lost friends and family members to breast cancer. I would like to encourage everyone in Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend and throughout the country to support wear it pink on October 31, to raise valuable ...
Sara with the upbeat news from Watford - which came as a relief. I only managed to get to Watford once, and my patch of canvassing was quite mixed. There were some very solid Liberal Democrat supporters, but also quite a few people who were upset with us either a) because they thought the offences of our former councillor were terrible or b) because they thought he had been harshly treated. (Misinformation clearly had a role in this). A great result. Nich Starling reports that "Northern Rock are repossessing houses at twice the rate of other banks and ...
Dear Shriti, Congratulations on your appointment earlier this month as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Competitiveness and Small Business. You take up the post at a crucial time. Small businesses around the country are already being hit hard by the credit crunch and will be hit harder still in the near future as its consequences rip through the economy with dire consequences for employment, future tax revenues etc. The whole country - and not just small business - needs you to be an effective and powerful voice at the heart of government for good sense and good finance. As a ...
Those were the two main features of the third US Presidential debate, which I have now watched on CNN. Not every network showed as much "split screen" as CNN. But McCain's face was really odd. The split screen showed Obama as fairly normal while McCain looked just, well, weird. See below. He seems to think he has to smile all the time. It's perfectly ridiculous. Almost frightening. Dave Gergen
In reference to James Graham's excellent posting: Particularly to the following words: (If I'm brutally honest, I don't think there are any regulatory reforms that will fundamentally change this. I certainly do support land value taxation which would at least make our housing and property market relatively immune to the vagaries of speculation. At least land doesn't [...]
djm4 and I went to see this yesterday. I've always liked Bill Bailey when I've seen him on TV (although I somehow seem to have missed all his musical stuff, unless you count Buzzcocks), and several of my friends have given this show rave reviews. I have to admit, though, that I couldn't quite see what all the fuss was about. People around us clearly could, but to me most of it was just mildly pleasant, and some of it was actively off-putting (Alpine Roadies with lederhosen, cowbells and Alpenhorn? Y HALO THAR Annoying National Stereotypes! And I'm in two ...
Freedom of expression has taken another knocking in Turkey, following yet more court victories by the Islamic Creationist, Adnan Oktar (aka Harun Yahya), who has for several years been taking advantage of his country's restrictive laws in getting internet access curtailed for his fellow citizens. Anything supporting Darwin's theory of evolution is likely to incur his [...]
Conservative PPC's are bottling it and resigning as prospectus parliamentary candidates. Below is a list of all who have resigned so far: John WoodwardKevin HollinrakeDavid PottsJill SkallaAlf DoranSimon RouseWhy so many PPC's resigning Cameron? Is it that you told them it was a decent job to do being a Tory tax payer scamming MP but they soon realised it takes mingling with people, something a lot of Alien Conservatives are bad at!Maybe this list will have an update by Andrew Stephenson in the coming months?
Last night, it was time for another meeting of the Executive Committee of my beloved Local Party, and so I made my way to Wembley, where our Vice Chair lives. On arrival, I was somewhat surprised to be told by one of our councillors that he had been calling members in his ward to encourage them to vote for Ros. Now I freely admit that I had used my Executive e-group to ask all of them to vote
It's not just the US electorate which has closely followed the three Presidential (and one vice-presidential) debates - much of the British political class has also been transfixed by the sheer theatre and high stakes involved in these face-offs. In reality, all four debates have perhaps disappointed those expecting, or hoping for, 'game-changing' fireworks or [...]
I received an internal e-mail last week, stating that not all staff had not provided the diversity data sought on our internal HR on-line system. Apparently, a new section on sexual orientation has been added. Now I fully understand that my employers want to ensure that they don't discriminate, but whilst ethnicity and disability are obvious, and there are good grounds for having disability data
Three ways to worsen a credit crunch: 1. Lower interest rates: this discourages saving because one gets little reward for delaying one's gratification (in economic parlance, time-preferences are undervalued), while at the same time encouraging borrowing, thus further reducing the supply of credit relative to demand; 2. Allow inflation to escalate: this also discourages saving because the nominal reward for saving (the amount one's money goes up) is eroded by the fall in the value of money (what your savings are actually worth), and for the same reason encourages borrowing: at present, the Bank of England base rate is lower ...
I know that Britain's best interests are served by close co-operation with our neighbours in the EU - particularly to deal with global issues like climate change. (I'm just back from leading a fact-finding trip to Brussels for a group of Lib Dems - pictures). But I also know that what happens in the USA election will impact on us this side of the pond. To see how the election is going I
There has been so much 'summitry' in recent days it is hard to keep abreast of it all. The meeting of heads of state and government last weekend in Washington DC and in Paris succeeded in preventing a further crash in stock markets; for a week, at least. They also led to a lot of hubris; Gordon Brown as 'saviour of the free world' (tabloid press), Monday as 'the best day for Europe since the launch of the Euro' (a former merchant banker and MEP). They demonstrated conclusively, however the deep degree of today's inter dependence between hitherto sovereign states ...
Amid the general gloom, here is a good news story from a few days ago about a green revolution in Malawi which, I believe, illustrates some important principles. Malawi, a thin sliver of a country between Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique is the thirteenth poorest country in the world. It has experienced six consecutive years of food shortage from 2000 resulting in widespread hardship and starvation. Traditional farming techniques and seed strains could simply not produce enough food. The answer: give villagers vouchers exchangeable for fertilizers and improved higher-yielding seed varieties and help with crop diversification, irrigation (most of the country ...
A busy day, on which I'll report over the weekend, but, having earlier today received the outcome of the Planning Appeal in relation to the land west of Richmond Terrace, this is yet another example of the Scottish Government Directorate of Planning and Environmental Appeals ("the Reporter") flying in the face of concerns about residential amenity and, indeed, showing a marked degree of inconsistency in decision-making. This is the second application I have moved refusal on here and both bore great similarities in terms of the planning proposal. Both were opposed by a number of local residents and, whilst the ...
Its a little late for a post on a excellent Question Time (Lib Dem on Panel did the party proud), but I couldn't let this ride. A lot of people in the Panel and the audience said they wouldn't trust the government as they probably end up loosing the data. This is something I totally agree with this government cant be trusted with a pound coin never mind your personal details. As a experiment I would like some suggestions on who the government can sell this data to, I mean who's hands it can fall into. 1. Criminals 2. you ...
The latest in pointless central government rulings handed down from on high is highlighted in this article... where now local schools have to hand back cash that has been carefully saved for several years and earmarked for specific projects that need large budgets and careful planning, such as special needs support suites ... once again, it will be the most vulnerable in the education system that lose out.
As politicians pour their efforts into the good of the country and everyone backs the Government's bail-out package, we all know perfectly well that behind the doors of the Lib Dem, Tory and Labour HQs there's as much partisan scheming as ever going on. We know that arguments are raging in both the opposition parties as to how far the truce should hold, which tactics are going to win the most support and how to knife Labour without appearing to betray the national interest. So I've some sympathy for David Cameron. Gordon Brown, to give him credit, has played the ...
In an interlude that feels like an off-beat West Wing episode, the two US Presidential candidates have both spoken at the Alfred E Smith memorial dinner, where they were required to do a stand-up comedy routine. Both, I thought, were pretty good, although McCain's clip shows more gags than Obama's. (I'm not sure how [...]
Labour have hung on to their South Bank stronghold in the By Election held on 16th October but 18 years old Toni Meir (pictured) moved the Liberal Democrats into second place, up from fifth place at the last Council Elections in May 2007. Liberal Democrats followed their spectacular victory in Kirkleatham Ward two weeks ago by securing 22.1% of the vote, which is up by 12.3% since May 2007, a swing of 6.45% from Labour to the Lib Dems. The By Election was caused by the resignation of Labour Councillor Pearl Hall. The Tories came last with only 59 votes. ...
Sutton has found itself amongst the number of local authorities and regional bodies affected by the collapse of the Icelandic bank Landsbanki. We find that we had £5.5m invested in the UK subsidiary of the bank - funds that are currently frozen. We are fortunate in Sutton that our prudent policy of spreading our investment portfolio [...]
Robert Peston reports on the BBC news website that the new target for government concern is the 'derivables' market, which has been under attack from 'sovereign funds' all day. Derivables have receded this year by more than 103% on their previous level and this has caused jitters in the Asian markets in particular, where derivables first emerged in the 1990s as a means of short-stopping long term collateral investments. It is hoped the recovery will emerge from the resilient Brazilian market, where derivables have increasingly been traded since early 2000 as a direct result of the 'el nino' effect in ...
Figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats show that 80% of single pensioners are likely to be living in fuel poverty this winter. The statistics, available from the House of Commons library, were prepared by the Office of National Statistics following a request by Liberal Democrat Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Steve Webb. Commenting, Steve Webb said: "The soaring cost of keeping warm this winter is going to cause misery for millions of pensioners. "These figures show that the vast majority of pensioners living on their own are going to be living in fuel poverty this winter. This is nothing ...
`The Precious, must have the Precious`:
It seems a junior lawyer has made an Excel conversion error that caused Barclays to buy up more of Lehman Brothers than it meant (ie. it got some extra rubbish bits). Well, we've all made such mistakes, but usually not as costly.
16 and 17 year olds are have been able to vote in the elections for Senator and Connétables in the States of Jersey. An estimated 2000 more people will be enfranchised.
First a confession: I understand what is going on with the global wunch crunch far less than I'm comfortable with. The world's leaders seem to be making up as they go along, adopting a throw everything at the market until something sticks approach. Gordon Brown's plan looked like it was going to pay off at [...]
Following today's meeting of the Severn Power Inquiry co-chairs Steve Webb MP and Mike German AM issued the following statement: "We have had a very successful first meeting, bringing together elected Liberal Democrats from both sides of the Severn Estuary. "We've already received a body of written evidence, with more to come. Over the next few meetings we will hear from experts across four distinct areas: 1. the environmental impact; 2. the economic impact; 3. the effect on flooding and flood prevention; 4. and the rival technologies and schemes. "We are looking forward to hearing evidence from all sides of ...
Hat-tip to Luke Akehurst for this one because the councils site still doesn't have the result up!!! Dewsbury E Ward, Kirklees MBC. Lab gain from BNP. Lab 1513 (37.4%, -2), LD 1405 (34.8%, +14.3), BNP 690 (17.1%, -10.6), Con 345 (8.5%, -3.9), Green 58 (1.4%, +1.4), Ind 17 (0.0%), Ind 15 (0.0%). All in all a good result I feel and it is good to be pushing Labour hard and of course to see the BNP lose a seat. The by-election was caused caused by the resignation of the BNP's C0lin Auty after failing to oust Nick Griffin as leader. ...
Kirklees MBC, Dewsbury East Still counting (12:09pm Friday 17-10-2008) Kirklees MBC, Dewsbury East Lab 1513 (37.4; -2.0) LD Dennis Hullock 1405 (34.8; +14.3) BNP 690 (17.1; -10.6) Con 345 (8.5; -3.9) Green 58 (1.4; +1.4) Ind 17 (0.4; +0.4) Ind 15 (0.4; +0.4) Majority 108 Turnout 31% Lab gain from BNP Percentage change is since May 2008 Redcar and Cleveland BC, South Bank Lab 652 (49.9; -0.6) LD
Fri 17th
12:02
Avoiding a mid life crisis, avoiding a new life starting, and something about the Prestwich Plan
Somewhere along the line it all went wrong, and so now I find myself looking forward to spending Friday night in the textiles section of IKEA. For the few uninitiated people left in the world, IKEA is the place where youth and freedom come to die atop a mountain of flat-packed furniture. Where once I lolled about innocently, surrounded by cuddly things and spending time lying on grass on summer evenings, now I stand confused with a screwdriver in one hand and a cartoon instruction manual in the other, trying to assemble furniture the various ill-fitting parts of which leave ...
In his speech this morning, David Cameron said: ...what we need is responsible free enterprise, regulated and supported by responsible government....(Brown) stood aside as our households racked up over a trillion pounds of personal debt. So when the boom did turn to bust and the value of assets fell our financial system was hit harder than most. The Government couldn't complain about financial
Liberal Democrat Voice carries what it rightly calls an extraordinary press release. Apparently, according to Lembit Opik he is the victim of a campaign to stop him becoming Party President. Now, I have seen no evidence of a 'Stop Opik' campaign being organised on this blogsphere. What I have seen is plenty of legitimate questions being asked about his fitness to be President which is surely legitimate in the context of party members deciding who is best for the job. No doubt his remarks refer to reports both in the Shropshire Star and The Times. The piece in The Times ...
56) Jeff Lindsay, Darkly Dreaming Dexter (New York: Vintage 2004, ISBN 0307277887). Borrowed from dr_d, with whom I have also been watching the series inspired by the novels. I found the plot of this book as gripping as the first season of the show, which is based on it, but gripping in a rather different way. It gathers pace more slowly, I think. Dexter also seems differently alien in the book than in the show, which I think is because the book must inevitably rely more on telling and less on showing than the show does. We're party to Dexter's ...
Do you ever get the feeling you're not wanted? First it was the International Jewish Conspiracy. Despite having several Jewish relatives, was I ever invited to take up my rightful place controlling the world's governments and money markets, getting fabulously wealthy into the bargain? No. I was never even sent the application form. And now I find there's a conspiracy to stop Lembit Öpik becoming Lib Dem president. Again, I wasn't invited. I'm seeing a trend developing and it's not good. If you're setting up a conspiracy, please consider me. I'd be a great conspirator. I've got a pseudonym and ...
One happy side-effect of yer basic glerbleconmicmeldow is the sharp and unflattering relief into which it has thrown some sections of the media - perhaps the whole purpose of media itself. It's not just that some people persist in not getting what the credit crunch was all about (pay close attention: it wasn't ree-al mon-ey [...]
Jonathan Wallace has the all-important pictures of the latest steps in the gurkha tank justice battle.
George Bush explains (with a little help from Adam Buxton): Needless to say, I love the Bjork gag (but then I would).
First there was powdered milk to babes (bad Nestlé). Then homophobes dictating advertising policy (cowardly Heinz). Then bottled milk to babes (bad Oxfam). Now I'm seriously considering muting James Graham and Jennie Rigg in their ever more ludicrous bid to get into the Lib Dem Golden Dozen for week 42. I have nothing personally against either but a dunking in Linlithgow Loch might well be in order. Now I read and enjoy both their blogs but purleease give us a little break in the escalation of headlines. So who ever has added caffeine to Jennie's beverage and whoever has pushed ...
Lembit has sent out a press release asking people to stop a possible conspiracy against him. Lib Dem Voice reports it here. It is a shame he has felt the need to press release this as this is an internal election. Many of us have been torn in who to support. Linda Jack blogged about this, my parents agonised over who to give their first preference to and many others I have spoken to...
For a few days, or maybe it has even been weeks, I've noticed that my side bar has been dropping to the bottom of my blog below all my posts. This is rubbish!! Does anybody know how I could possibly fix this? Update: OK, it's miraculously back! Just a minute after posting! I think it may have something to do with the formatting of my blog posts - particularly when I send them in by email....hmmmmm. Any thoughts would be most welcome!
The first House Points - my weekly column for Liberal Democrat News - of the new Parliamentary season. Conservative economics If you want to know what the Conservatives really think, proceedings at Westminster are no help. At least they weren't on Monday. Alistair Darling made a statement on the world economic situation and George Osborne, their shadow chancellor, was on his best behaviour. "We continue to offer to work constructively with the Government on solving this financial crisis and on the Banking Bill," he said. And: "We will support today's actions because, faced with the collapse of the banking system, ...
I'm not sure, in the context of this, whether this morning's joke entry is extraordinarily badly-timed, or geniusly well-timed. I suspect that time will tell. Lembit's press release does strike me as being a bit of an entitlement tantrum, though. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH IT'S NOT FAIR YOU'RE ALL AGAINST ME AND I DON'T KNOW WHY!!!! Apparently there's this great big conspiracy against Lembit, and everyone who isn't voting for him is mean and nasty and doing it for negative reasons. Well, perhaps, just perhaps, Mr Opik, it's not that everyone is against you, but simply that there is a better candidate? I ...
Steve Webb got to hold the Government to account whilst praising them for adopting Lib Dem policy yesterday in Parliament: Commenting on Ed Miliband's announcement that the Government will support an 80% cut in carbon emissions by 2050, first proposed by the Liberal Democrats, Liberal Democrat Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Steve Webb said: "I [...]
... but I'm still voting for him. I've just spotted the rather biased LDV post which appears to have torn up the agreement to be neutral in the election, that says: Quite why Lembit should feel it's appropriate to rake over the ashes of the Kennedy and Campbell resignations in a way that paints the party in quite such an unattractive (and, in my view, misleading) light is beyond me. To do so in a campaign for a post which is, above all, about uniting the party and moving it forwards smacks of appallingly poor judgement. Seriously, if you disagree ...
Just announced on the I'm 4 Ros website is the news that the immediate past leader of the Lib Dems across the UK and current Scottish leader are backing Baroness Ross Scott for the post of Federal Party President. Ming Campbell MP and Tavish Scott MSP back Ros 17 Oct 09:00 Sir Menzies Campbell MP and the newly elected Lib Dem leader, Tavish Scott MSP have today both announced their support for Ros Scott for Federal Party President. Sir Menzies Campbell MP said: "I urge every party member to look carefully at all the candidates and to ask themselves what ...
Himmelgarten Cafe has picked up on Chris Huhne defending judges ignoring minimum sentences and giving lower sentences and wonders whether we will, over time, avoid being crucified by the right-wing/populist press. Well, I think it's the only strategy we can go with. If we are to have the numerous sensible, well-thought out policies that are also controversial or easily badly spun by our opponents that we undoubtedly and rightly do have, then hiding them away and hoping no-one will notice is not an option. Because they will notice and they will say nothing now, but will bring them up at ...
I am really really lucky. Nasty politicians have been denying me my democratic rights. But now thanks to ITV's Tonight programme I've had my chance to vote on Europe. Hurrah! Trevor McDonald, in his wisdom, has chosen parts of Luton to take part in a 'referendum' on the Lisbon Treaty. I was even sent a "ballot paper", an image of which you can see below. So what was this "referendum campaign"
Lembit Opik this morning, talking to the press about his decision to stand down from the presidential contest in favour of Baroness Ros Scott: Well, I'm not going to back Chandila, am I? Opik opined, before gliding away on his Segway all the girls think he's better-looking than me! (You want war, Mr Graham? You got it. And you're going to LOSE!) (note for the hard of thinking: this image is photoshopped. Lembit has not really conceded defeat or backed Ros. The quote is completely made-up.)
A fairly extraordinary press release has been issued by Lembit Opik - one of the three Lib Dems standing for the post of party presidency which will be decided by an all-member ballot within the next few weeks - demanding an end to an alleged "conspiracy" in the party against his candidacy. I'll reproduce the whole [...]
Those lovely, fluffy people over in the Labour Government have, of late, followed an interesting line with regard to civil liberties - that they care about them deeply and ID cards, big brother databases, airport scanning machines that give customs nude piccies of you and all the rest of it are actually enhancing our civil liberties, particularly our freedom not to be murdered by nasty terrorists. On Question Time last night, Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon rather carelessly let the mask slip. When asked by Lib Dem MP "How far is he prepared to go to undermine civil liberties.", Hoon said ...
I'm on SkyNews.com again tonight! Why, this is almost regular! I will be taking Martin Stanford (and the Sky viewers, not just Martin, obviously) through some of the top stories on the web today. My guess, this early in the morning that Joe the Plumber might make an appearance given there's over 5,000 web references to him already! Although, to be fair, it's not just an online story. Perhaps, RecessMonkey could do me a favour and spark off another tide of labour outrage? No, no Labour conference to raise your profile at? Shame!! See, I don't just do it for ...
Enjoy!
Fri 17th
09:35
EXCLUSIVE: Click here if you object to false headlines designed to secure Golden Dozen nominations!!...
Four can play at that game
Fri 17th
09:13
Jennie Rigg, James Graham, Lembit Opik and Chandila Fernando in kinky sex quadrilateral!*
Yes, you heard it here first. In a desperate search for readership, the use of ever more extreme headlines in a frantic attempt to catch the eye has led to allegations of caffeine-based beverage abuse, the use of segways and talk of rebranding. Liberal Democrat apparatchik, Mark Valladares, aged 134, was quoted as saying, "I don't know what's chuffing going on. When I was a lad, we didn't have
Of course, you know this means war. And just to entice you still further, here are some pictures of cute lolcandidates: {funny pictures} moar funny pictures {funny pictures} moar funny pictures {funny pictures} moar funny pictures Think you can do better?
Yes, it just looks ridiculous doesn't it? Forget Margaret Thatcher and Cecil Parkinson's "Big bang" in City deregulation. Cameron would like us to believe that if the Conservatives had been in charge they would have been tightening up on regulations on debt management. It is just so laughable that we should all now take a break to laugh. Stomach hurts. Cameron says that Brown has been
Bath MP Don Foster has welcome the Government's indication that it will back Liberal Democrat plans to ensure that small 125ml glasses of wine can be sold along side larger glasses in pubs and bars across the country Liberal Democrat MP Greg Mulholland had tabled a Private Members Bill calling for the rule change, but has now decided to withdraw after ministers suggested they will...
If you are phoning a 084 or 0870 number there is a chance that you are paying the person that you are calling for just of speaking to them even if they are a public body that should be there to help you and yes they are making money out of you. The new 0300 numbers have been launched today and some companies have started to use them as they are only charged at a local call rate and...
Chris Huhne can be accused of many things, but playing it safe isn't one of them. This morning he popped up on the Today programme talking about a story that judges were ignoring the Government's mandatory sentencing guidelines and giving sentences below the minimum in many cases of firearms possession. His point was that the judges were often right to give lower sentences. Yes, I'll say that again. Chris Huhne congratulated judges for handing out lower sentences to criminals convicted of possession of a firearm, and explained why. For most politicians, this would be madness. Sure, he's right, but what's ...
Three years ago, when I started 'Liberal Bureaucracy', I thought that it might be a nice opportunity for my family to keep up with my progress. I was in the midst of divorce proceedings, although not much was happening there, and was packing for another epic journey (Argentina, Colombia and Ecuador). Much has changed since then, of course. I am married (to the lovely Ros), I've moved house, I've
Front page lead story, huge "Ludicrous" headline: today's Echo lays into Steve Jones for his decision to stand again in the by-election he caused. "Totally ludicrous" were my words to Paul Cook last night when he phoned me about it, and totally ludicrous it is. Steve must have a hell of a thick skin. He probably doesn't realise what some of the Council's officers and councillors are saying
From the Hornsey & Crouch End Journal website (thanks to eagle-eyed colleague Ed Butcher for spotting it), comes this story about another of my Stroud Green Lib Dem colleagues Cllr Richard Wilson.I took a screen shot to save for posterity, as I'm sure Richard would not have wanted to lose this record of how the Journal think he will look in 50 years time. Yes, the caption for the slightly startled looking gentleman does say "Councillor Richard Wilson outside the electricity sub-station". For those that don't know, he looks rather more like this.
The election has been called for November 27th - and we're off! I'm winding down work commitments now for the next few weeks and spent an enlightening evening at the Law Faculty in town at a Question Time with Nick Clegg. He had some very interesting comments on the economy and plans for the future and the need to not abandon our commitment to the environment. It all starts here today - and whilst I'm in the midst of everything I mustn't forget to cast my own vote in the Lib Dem President election. I'm not sure where to pitch ...
According to the Western Mail there is a power struggle going on in Swansea. They report on proposals by Swansea University Vice Chancellor, Richard Davies to amalgamate his institution with Swansea Metropolitan University and possibility Lampeter and Trinity College as well. The gestation of this idea is interesting. I do not know the precise details but I am aware of when it first saw the light of day and I can guess the rest. The document concerned was e-mailed to College Council members within hours of the ceremony to confer university status on the Metropolitan College. In fact I remember ...
They is one guy in American Politics who is the big talk of the media at this moment of time and he goes by the name of "Joe the Plumber". He is a bold man as shown in the image above and he is lobbying both the candidates. At the last Presidential debate he was mentioned so much that the debate was actually circulated around his name. McCain even at one stage called him "my pal Joe". Joe must be sitting at home last evening and thinking Bloody hell, is all the media circulated around me? Joe, it definitely is ...
Given the number of real medical facilities that have moved from South Wales to Bristol there is a certain irony in the fact that the BBC intend to relocate the filming of drama series 'Casualty' from that City to Cardiff in 2012. However, their announcement has not gone without comment and today's Western Mail reports on a determined "Keep Casualty in Bristol" campaign which has begun across the Severn Bridge. They say that the issue could even be raised in Parliament. They are perfectly entitled to their view but could we please keep these things in perspective? After all it ...
{Picture by Adrian Dennis/PA taken from The Times} It was just an ordinary Thursday. That is except that the woman's profile that once upon a time graced green bits of paper which appeared in people's wallets, before they were phased out for round gold coloured coinage, also graced the front page of the world's largest Internet search engine. For on this particular Thursday this octogenarian, and her even older husband, were just slipping down the road from their town house to visit the London HQ of the world's guide to well life, the universe and everything really. That was before ...
I think it's partly the colourful nature of the beast, but I find myself having a curious fascination for pub signs. I discover that there are entire websites and campaigns waged over them, but the bottom line is that they are a hang-over (LOL) from when pubs were more key as community venues. http://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/PubSigns.htm Now in a rural setting pubs are absolutely fundamental to a community - now in urban settings they are much more the local - and looking round in NW3 and NW6 I'm struck by the extent to which they reflect back the local communities in which ...
Well, I didn't make it to the final day. Eviction from "I'm a Councillor, get me out of here!" came five minutes early yesterday at 2.55pm. It had been a hectic day in the jungle, with two long chatroom sessions booked by the Education Village and a number of informal sessions where students just logged on themselves to see if anyone was there. At one point there were kids from a number of
After one of the strangest by-election campaigns I have ever experienced, I am delighted to say that the LibDems have held Tudor ward in Watford (Borough and Constituency). The full result was: LibDem 932 Darren Walford (50.0%) Con 486 Richard Southern (26.1%) Lab 273 Mark Xerri (14.6%) Green 91Helen Wynne (4.9%) BNP 83 Guy Dickens (4.4%) Result in May 2008 LibDem 847 [...]
Andrew Neil raised the question yesterday, with the following comments: The bloom is off Vince Cable. Once a beacon of light in grim times, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman may have devalued himself with his call to suspend the independence of the Bank of England (when he boasted to his party conference that he wouldn't, while the stupid Tories might).I'm glad it's not just me that has found some
In honour of Geoff Hoon's extraordinary outburst on Thursday evening, I thought I'd run this little poll by you: Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Now, from what he said on Question Time, I'm pretty sure he, like most of the rest of his party, is a life-then-liberty-then-property kind of guy. But who is to be more greatly admired - someone who sacrifices their life in the name of saving liberty or someone who sacrifices their liberty in the name of saving lifes? And what about property? ...
There will hopefully be a more detailed report of yesterday's council proceedings in the Neath/Port Talbot Guardian next week, but a few outcomes should be stated right away. Firstly, there was no direct answer to the question tabled by Cllr Keith Davies, about the whereabouts of the council investments not placed with Icelandic banks already named. The council has something over £80m on deposit, £20m of which we now know to be frozen in Icelandic bank deposits, either off-shore or in UK subsidiaries. Where is the other £60m+ deposited? There was no direct refusal to answer the question, just an ...
'We have been doing Extremely well in Wales' Proclaimed first Minister Rhodri Morgan..... Its also interesting what Ieaun Wyn jones had to say. Affordable Housing will give the construction sector more jobs. Is the Assembly going to give away land from its 'Land Bank'? Its reactionary stuff from Mr. jones . I suppose how else can a politician address things. Betsan Powys though gets it right over Mr. Jones. But she also says the Labour-plaid coalition are doing alright????? Come on Beeb...Political neutrality Mai Davies on Sharp End is one tough interviewer.Her Steely good looks nearly melted poor old Rhodri ...
