Following one poll which puts John McCain only four points ahead in his home state of Arizona comes another showing the gap at just two points. Now, it would be a major surprise if McCain couldn't win his home state, and I fully expect him to do take it. But the fact that it's even competitive tells you a lot about how badly McCain is doing. With today's polls showing decent leads for Obama in Pennsylvania, Iowa, Virginia, and Ohio, I think it's going to be almost impossible for McCain to turn things around at this late stage.
I thought I'd note the death of ultra-Thatcherite former Tory MP David Evans last week. He was the MP for Welwyn Hatfield in the late 80's and early 90's but Luton people will remember him as the controversial chairman of Luton Town Football Club. Do LTFC have anything other than controversial chairmen? One of the more, er, colourful figures of politics during the Thatcher period he was an
For the last few weeks, Gordon Brown has been hailed as the saviour of western capitalism following his injection of billions of pounds into the banking system. With recession biting, he has signalled to do the same with the wider economy - to spend Britain out of recession. The near meltdown of our financial markets has knocked the confidence of free marketeers for six. Brown suggests a return to Keynesian tax, borrow and spend policies, and there is hardly a murmur of protest. The Conservatives seem too frightened of the electoral consequences of untying themselves from Labour's spending plans. The ...
{Lime Grove School site} Development plans for the Lime Grove School site have been put on hold by its potential purchaser, Unite. The student accomodation company had been planning to develop 200 student rooms on the site with a public consultation due this month. However, their discussions with BathNES planning department have caused the company to pause and reconsider. Local reaction on Lime Grove and Sydney Buildings has been at best cautious since the plans were first mentioned.
Sun 26th
22:29
For those of you who think you know all there is to know about libertarianism because neo-liberal Ro...
...that "government is the problem", or because anti-regulator Alan Greenspan named Ayn Rand as his biggest political influence, it's time you did some reading. Each year the Libertarian Alliance awards the Chris R Tame Memorial Prize (named for the late founder of the Libertarian Alliance) for the best essay on a title chosen by its Director, Dr Sean Gabb, and this year's winner was announced this weekend at the Libertarian Alliance annual conference at the National Liberal Club - more on which in upcoming posts. The Libertarian Alliance is the biggest grouping of the broad church known as Libertarianism in ...
There has been a deal of criticism of Mr Opik, over the last few weeks, so what does he have to say about it~ I took the opportunity this weekend to give him an opportunity to answer the questions that seem to be causing unnecessary angst......particularly in certain quarters! There appears to be a bit of a panic amongst the great and the good in the party about you becoming President, why do you think that is? Yes, I agree. There appear to be individuals who have actively been trying to dissuade people from voting for me. I've asked some ...
Do you think that gay people ought to be legally prevented from having sex, like 24% of Britons? Or that monogamy is natural and polyamory is unnatural like 70% of Britons? Do you think that men who sleep around are studs who deserve to be lauded, but women who do so are slags to be condemned? The Graun/Observer's Sex Uncovered survey is by turns fascinating and terrifying. I don't understand why people think that being judgemental about other people's relationships is acceptable. If the person across the street is celibate, or if they are having orgies every night, why does ...
Study the photograph carefully. There is a discussion of it on the Guardian news blog.
I've been anticipating how my first canvassing session as a candidate in the first council election I'm standing in may unfold. Obviously Europe will be high on the agenda as it's thought the council election will run simultaneously with the European election, so I need to firm up my knowledge on European issues. I think the Lib Dem policy on working with Europe will go down well on the doorsteps in the run up to June next year. But number one on people's agenda will be the credit crunch. We'll be well into the recession by next spring/summer and the ...
The latest game in the match has ended in an exciting draw. See Chessdom for the moves. I liked Anand's position early in the middle game, mainly because I used to play the Queen's Gambit like that myself: sacrificing a queen's side pawn for space and the imitative elsewhere, without being quite sure how I was going to win it back. Unfortunately for Anand, Kramnik proved a lot more resourceful than my Leicestershire League opponents used to. In fact he had the better of the game later on, but Anand managed to scramble a draw. The score is now 6-3 ...
On 28 October last year I posted a performance of Rock El Casbah by Rachid Taha. So we have more or less reached the first anniversary of my Sunday music videos. To mark the occasion, here is a selection of British artists from the 1960s recorded at the 1965 Richmond Jazz Festival for the American television programme Shindig. I present: Eric Burdon, a 17-year-old Steve Winwood, Long John Baldry, Julie Driscoll and Rod Stewart. Enjoy.
Thanks to the suggestions of the lovely Mr Quist, the internet appears to be behaving itself. Unfortunately, my body has taken a nosedive. Lunch in the pub was lovely, but I couldn't even manage a half of beer, and now I am sat in bed, rolled up in the duvet, headachy and shivering and incapable. Thank heavens for radio four, which is reassuring me that I am still alive by being reassuringly radio four. It's like an aural blankie. Some links:It's legally impossible to commit adultery if you're in a gay marriage. lizw is one of those people who remind ...
Have you got a friend who can get you past immigration without the real documents? as I certainly haven't but Lord Mandelson has according to this article! Now that is just a prime example of how corrupt this Lord is. When he was offered dinner in Moscow, didn't he not think to himself that without a visa I am breaking the law. I don't think he did. This Lord is a corrupt and low life sleaze bag and it was the biggest mistake Brown made in the last one month bringing Mandelson back into the Cabinet.
Former Tory party chairman Lord (Norman) Tebbit has urged David Cameron to follow the lead of Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg in demanding the British public be allowed an 'in or out' referendum choice on the UK's membership of the EU. Okay, Tebbo didn't put it quite like that... but, still, the effect's the same: David [...]
Welcome to the all-the-eights 88th of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (19th-25th October), together with a hand-picked quintet, mostly courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. How about starting with the most popular blog-posting, and we work our [...]
The story on the BBC News Channel about councils failing to provide enough public toilets is an interesting one and I wonder how many other councils have the same problem that we have here in Bath. It is a fact that all toilets outside the city centre where you can find one is locked at night. It is also true that many toilet blocks are derelict as Bath & North East Somerset...
A win. A win! Okay, it's taken until nearly November, but... The champagne Mum & Dad gave us for our engagement can finally come off ice (Owen would want me to point out here that he has no interest in football at all - though his attempts to be supportive are appreciated). It helped that Bolton were hapless today - but we did play well too. Pavlyuchenko finally looked like he has the potential to become a class striker for us one day (hopefully soon). But with a number of pretty good perfomances on display I might actually go for ...
{Rubbish dump} Not impressed with Haringey Council's decision to keep secret official papers to do with disposal of our waste. Neighbouring councils involved in the same project have already disclosed information detailing the fixed 30-year term of the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) proposal and the substantial increases in waste volumes and costs to residents and businesses that the NLWA approach assumes. I am very disturbed that Haringey Council officials' instincts seem to be to withhold information from local residents rather than engage them in the debate. The things we throw away in our dustbins are one of the most ...
With the Glenrothes by-election on the 6th of November I think at this moment in time it is safe enough for me to make a prediction on the outcome. I will not be betting on my prediction because as a Muslim that is unlawful! The PM has been sending letters to labour party members asking them to come to Glenrothes on the 6th of November and help out, Brown himself is going to be campaigning coming up to the election! The SNP took the Glasgow East seat and I favour them to take this seat to. So in order from ...
Continuing my series on the Obama campaign's use of volunteers, here is a clip asking for volunteers to work in North Carolina.
Pendle MP Gordon Prentice has updated his other shamble of a website to a new website. www.gordonprenticemp.com is the URL to is website and I think everyone should check it out and give their opinions on here about what they think! Personally I think the blog style website is actually a positive from his other website which was lets say a little to dark red. The new design to the website is good but I think he could have done better maybe looked at getting a template like the one used by www.nickclegg.com as that is a sleek template. Overall ...
So I promised I'd talk more about our 'Special Edition' Liberalism. It combines the altruistic liberalism of the early 1900s with reformed, moderate socialist beliefs to create a 'liberty aware' form of social democracy, where the state is a force for good when used in a measured and sensible way, but with certain civil liberties red-lines that should not be crossed. In practical terms this means is we're very close to the Status Quo. Just as the Conservatives are now rejecting Free Markets (it is not in the heart of authoritarian conservatives to fight for a liberal idea), and as ...
I have noticed that there are people from around the world who look at this blog. I don't know how many of you read it or what you think of it, but simply having a global audience is very rewarding. So thank you and I hope you find it interesting or entertaining. I have some questions about the global crisis and instead trying to answer them, I would be fascinated to know what people think, especially as your perspectives will, I imagine, be different depending on where you live. Here they are: Is the global crisis in the money markets ...
Next Saturday, I shall be making my way to the United States. I am visiting a friend who has been campaigning for Obama, so will get to watch up close how the Americans campaign. I am hoping to post when I am there but if not, I certainly will when I return. I am also hoping to Twitter - you can find me at Simon_Goldie. In the meantime, here are a couple of campaign ads that caught my eye. Both are from the Obama camp, apologies for the political bias but I haven't seen anything from McCain's team that caught ...
In the last month, a Republican administration in the United States has intervened in the financial markets, Colin Powell has endorsed Barack Obama, the Economist has reported that there now exists 'Obamacons' and those on the centre-left in the UK have called for tax cuts. As the TV announcer for the 1970s sitcom Soap used to say: "Confused, you will be..." It is said that this political cross-dressing began after the fall of the Berlin Wall. But politics has never been straightforward. When I was at a university, there were two visiting MPs. One was a Conservative who was undoubtedly ...
Via kotaku.com: On this site you can read a lot of lecturing about how others should do their jobs. Well, when an elected official shows that he can take [computer] games seriously, instead of personally, he should get credit for that. Unfortunately for Americans, this guy is a member of the UK Parliament. But here's what [...]
With apologies for running two Lib Dem presidential election stories in one day - I am trying to cut down - promise! Remember Lembit claiming he was set to win because he had more members on his Facebook group than the other candidates? Of course, since anyone can join a Facebook group, it turned out that Mark Littlewood for one was only registered so he could get more information, and a large number of other people appeared to simply be members because they were nutty-bonkers students, it didn't mean very much. But it is pretty significant when even Lembit's attempts ...
{Lembit Opik} Well, Lembit won't answer my questions, but he is keen to talk to politics.co.uk, where he criticises the party for "fear of standing out" and portraying its policies in "pastel shades" (I know there are people out there who criticise Lembit's talk about "pastel shades" as being misogynist but I have a more fundamental objection: what the hell does it mean?). He also claims that: "a good president turns up the volume of messages decided by the leadership." Leaving aside the unfortunate Iain Duncan Smithism, is that actually true? Is it really the role of the leader to ...
{The Rendezvous} After the Tory controlled council's vote to let out the lower Guildhall to a pizza restaurant it was agreed that the council would supply suitable alternative premises for the local groups who used the lower Guildhall. This alternative is the Rendezvous in Union Street. Up till now the Rendezvous has been plagued with problems. Considerably more money was spent on converting the premises for use than had been planned. Usage is poor with only two of the organisations previously using the Guiildhall now using the Rendezvous. Attendance at events held there is much less than in the Guildhall ...
The Anchorage Daily News has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for the US presidency and not the ticket included the states own Governor Sarah Palin. While they point out the significance of the first ever Alaskan seeking high national office, they realise: "The election, after all is said and done, is not about Sarah Palin, and our sober view is that her running mate, Sen. John McCain, is the wrong choice for president at this critical time for our nation. " They see the Democratic nominee as the 'steady hand' that the country needs, displaying 'thoughtful analysis' and enlisting 'wise counsel'. ...
Well at least that's what 24% of them think according to the latest opinion poll in today's Observer. Although 23% of the 16-24 year old group admitted to having had some same gender sexual experience. Also 40% want to reverse the equalisation of the age of consent legislation brought in for same sex relationships. With over 56% thinking that same sex couples should not be able to adopt. At the end of the article is one key statement that men are more likely than women to hold a negative view towards homosexuality. The more liberal men also tend to be ...
My internet keeps going screwy. Whenever it does this the laptop says my IPv6 connectivity is "limited" in my Wireless properties (it's going screwy for Mat on the desktop too, though, and that runs XP). I have done a bit of googling around, and found that most people think that it's not a Windows problem, but a problem with the wireless router. If that's the case, why does it work SOME OF THE TIME? Is it just fucking with my head? Any suggestions on what to try for this gratefully received - although please note that I might grumpily tell ...
When I was growing up, my mum displayed her Judas Priest and Black Sabbath LPs with pride and had fabulous liquid eyeliner and a love for the Rocky Horror Show that knew no bounds. That sort of thing is cool, but it has its downside - what was I meant to rebel against?! Now the same feeling must be sweeping the nation with the revelation that the inhabitants of Number Ten are metal fans. Imagine if you will, after a hard day in Prime Minister's Questions, Gordo posing with a hairbrush and screeching along to Iron Maiden in the cabinet ...
I like half term. It gives me an opportunity to catch up on the jobs that I have put to one side during term time. Once such job is voting in the Lib Dem Presidential election. So far as Chair of the local party I thought it was my duty to stay neutral, although in private I have told a few Lib Dems who I was backing. I have invited all three candidates to join us in Epping Forest for
So Gordon Brown finally arrives in Glenrothes yesterday and brings doom and gloom with him, that is just the weather*. Apparently he was also spotted with that must have accessory this season his armed secret service detail. Sadly my informant couldn't get close enough to see if they were double-0s and therefore licenced to use deadly force. So what does the Prime Minster, defending a majority of 13,507 in the constituency do. Only two thirds of the work of his wife earlier in the week, that's what. Yes Gordon met a whole 6 voters, all Labour supporters. Seeing as he ...
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The first meeting of the Bath City Forum took place this week and the Conservative leader on Bath & North East Somerset must have wished it had not taken place for it highlighted what we in Westmoreland have been saying for some time now that our streets are dirty and getting worse. Figures produced at a meeting of a new city forum suggest Bath and North East Somerset...
One of the more startling results in an ICM poll published in today's Observer is that 24% of those questioned answered yes to the question Do you believe that gay sex should be made illegal? 45% of people thought that same sex marriage shouldn't be allowed, 40% thought that the age of consent for homosexual sex should be higher than for heterosexual sex and 56% thought same-sex couples shouldn't be allowed to adopt. It doesn't give a full breakdown of the figures in the piece, but does say that men are a lot more likely than women to oppose same-sex ...
The winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, has slammed the United States and Europe for failing to make any headway on peace in the Middle East and has called for an end to the boycott of talking to Hamas. In an interview with Sveriges (Swedish) Radio, he said it was [...]
Some time ago the City Council published very useful local community maps, including one for the West End, including useful contact details. The paper copies are now a little out of date in that they list the pre-2007 ward councillors but if you click on the headline above, you can access and print off the online edition, with the councillors updated to include those of us re-elected and new councillors first elected in May of last year. I do have a few of the paper copies left - if you'd like a copy, please e-mail me at communitymap@frasermacpherson.org.uk. I understand ...
PoliticalBetting has a round-up of the Sunday newspapers and their coverage of Peter Mandelson's relations with Oleg Deripaska.
............well, you may have known some of them.............but not all! 1 Lembit is a keen astronomer, and his Grandfather was a world renowned professional in the field, and is mentioned in Bill Bryson's book "A Brief History of just about everything." 2 In 2004, Lembit was awarded "Hardest Working MP in Wales" by the Western Mail 3 Lembit has the highest recognition levels of any Liberal Democrat amongst under 30 year olds. 4 The largest assembled audience Lembit has addressed is 120,000. 5 Lembit's first word was "vaata!" which is Estonian for "look!" 6 Lembit has not had a cup ...
You might have noticed the poor state of the Parkland Walk bridge that sits on our Highgate patch. It's the one that runs over Northwood Road. Over the spring and summer, it developed some alarming - and growing - cracks in the structure. It was then shored up to make it safe, as you can see in the pic I took of my fellow Highgate councillor Bob Hare there a few weeks ago. We've been pushing to make sure that safety and repair works are done. The Council is going out to tender on repairs, partially rebuilding one of the ...
My email's been read out on Broadcasting House! I need to lie down.
Pluralistspeaks points to a Times article on the possible disestablishment of the Church of England in the wake of House of lords reform, ending with a list of things "disestablishment would put at risk". It strikes me as an extremely weak list: The presence of a parish priest for every community As pluralistspeaks points out, we already don't have this, and it's not clear to me that this either is the State's problem, or would get worse after disestablishment. The reason for it is largely financial, and the costs of parish priests are paid from the donations of worshippers in ...
When I had a quick look at BBC Sport before going to bed last night, I wondered at first if I'd got my annual events mixed up - that it wasn't the night for the clocks to go back, but perhaps April Fool's Day. Harry Redknapp is set to take over as the new manager of Spurs. I'm not sure if the news that Juande Ramos and the rest of the coaching staff have been sacked, with Harry nicked from Portsmouth, should really have surprised me - the only surprising thing really is that anything still surprises me about this ...
Sun 26th
09:07
Three Electoral Commission investigations that could cause trouble for the Conservatives (UPDATED)
In reverse chronological order we have... One: an investigation over Robin Saunders, who wasn't able to donate to the Conservative Party due to being an American, but shortly after her donation was refused the same sum was donated via her British investment company. (Daily Telegraph) Two: an investigation over Lord Ashcroft and whether overseas funds are being [...]
Is Sarah the `rogue` candidate or the `rouge` candidate - I just can't tell and I think Americans will be so fed up of thinking about it that they will just vote Obama/Biden in bigger numbers. Voters don't like it when they feel they're doing all the thinking for the politicians and not thinking alongside them. [...]
My latest column for the Ham & High is about the US Presidential election: I shall go to the ball! I have been invited (along with hundreds of others) to the American Embassy for Presidential election night. Obama versus McCain - what a roller-coaster ride and political battle of the first order that has been - and maybe still is as McCain marginally closes the gap opened up by Obama in the last couple of weeks. To be frank - I was a Hillary supporter - and I have my doubts about some of the policies Obama has pushed, such ...
I am really getting to love Glasgow. Every time I go there I learn something new. My favourite pub in the whole world, the Station Bar, near GCal and the Concert Hall is there, and last night I went out with my sister, my second cousin, my gorgeous niece Laura and her friend Beth. The girls went to a Mystery Jets gig. I'd never heard of the Mystery Jets, but I guess that's how it is with 16 year olds and 40 something aunts. Honor, David and I hit the West End, starting off in the Ubiquitous Chip where we ...
Is it just me, or is the news over the last month been a bit more depressing than usual? I don't even mean the economic situation, or global warming. I've just seen too many stories about species extinction , religious conflicts, inhumane governments and even steps to giving robots powers to control humans.... Global, Oct 6th: Nearly a quarter of the world's land mammal species are at risk of
If someone had said that to me a couple of minutes ago, I would have thought they had lost the plot as it doesn't make sense but it really does. The Labour Party on their website are asking Cameron some questions which I don't think he has discovered otherwise knowing the kind (know it all) snobby Conservative he is, he would have answered it. The question is at him about putting the taxes on driving up and can be viewed by the link to the Labour Party website. I will give my 10 pence worth in this whole questions on ...
In response to J Arthur MacNumpty's question, I can't speak for all Lib Dems, but I know what I want, not just for the Glenrothes by-election, but for the future: - Harry Wills would be a first class MP, fighting for Fife, standing against the illiberal excesses of both the SNP and Labour. Both have disappointed in recent years. ID cards, the SNP pandering to the Catholic Church over the HPV vaccine, 42 days and banning under 21s from buying booze are equally illiberal. The choice between them is kind of like having to choose between eating a wichety grub ...
A must read this morning.
Whatever thoughts crossed my mind that weren't worth a whole post. 21:53 is attempting to break the block and written for Lib Con. Fox VP says McCain campaign dead: icanhaz.com/McCainOut #Microblogging using LoudTwitter and Twitter. matgb_twitter is there if you're mad enough.
