Having just listened to `The Westminster Hour` and having to listen to that automaton with an emotional voice `Emily Thornberry` it's clear that the BBC are simply not asking Labour the right questions. For instance how about `Do you think that if there wasn't a global recession the British bubble would have created a UK [...]
I've been reading a lot about safeguarding children lately as a result of my new governor role and also about the effects of violence on them through volunteering for the Wave Trust. Today I did some research on the smacking ban and how it's progressed since 2004. Despite being childless (as is the headteacher) I know where I stand on this issue. No child deserves to be hit. Children do not recognise the difference between right and wrong and that is reflected in the law. They make mistakes innocently regardless of whether the parent thinks otherwise. The evidence I've been ...
All political parties tend to have trouble with the issue of party funding and it is fair to say that we have had our own fair share. I think, in terms of rebuilding faith in politics this is a key issue and one we should be taking a lead on. Today's Sunday Times however puts the spotlight firmly on the Conservatives when it comes to this issue. It reports that they maybe in breach of rules around accepting donations from a proxy donor; "THE Conservatives face questions over the use of "proxies" to make donations after the teenage daughter of ...
According to a report on the BBC's website the Labour party's election co-ordinator has called the rumour of an early general election just a "Chatter". Well all chatters lead to something or another and I think this one in looking towards an early general election, don't you? If Gordon Brown was to call an early general election he would probably win it, or it would lead to a hung government hence the Labour party chattering about the possibility of one. If I was campaigners and PPC's I would set the campaign ball rolling!
This article is entirely uninteresting. I only stumbled across it by chance. But one thing about it did excite me: at the bottom there is the following statement: An earlier version of this story mistakenly suggested that British programmes were responsible for 53% of global television output. The figure actually relates to the increase in sales of British format ideas. So what you might say. The BBC made a mistake, happens every day. So what? The BBC made a mistake and acknowledged it, instead of simply changing it and airbrushing the mistake out of history. Is this a one-off or ...
Does that make any sense? Well according to the Croatition Government it does. Well they haven't banned Christmas, but they have banned public sector firms from holding any new year or Christmas parties. This could surely damage the economy as demands may fall as a result around the Christmas period. Also if you stop these kind of parties, surely that could damage consumer spending. People won't spend money to prepare to party, and their confidence may be damaged by the grim news. As well as that it does sound a bit miserable and Cromwell like. However it does show the ...
In view of this blog's recent preoccupation with Otis Ferry (and the plot still thickens) and Bryan Ferry, there is only one band to choose this week. As I wrote the other day: I would not like to see Bryan Ferry locked up. He and Roxy Music were two the very few good things about chart music after the demise of glam rock (which was not much good itself) and before the rise of punk and new wave.If you remember the TV series The Rock 'n' Roll Years, which showed news footage to the accompaniment of contemporary pop songs, they ...
We've had Brand and Ross and we've had Clarkson, but this latest BBC scandal is the worst yet and it's left me feeling dirty and used. When the BBC put it about that Antiques Roadshow had made its first ever million pound valuation, certain associations were pushed into my mind. Doubtless as the swines at Broadcasting House intended, I envisioned some innocent member of the public turning up with a painting discovered in the attic or a family heirloom, only to have their life transformed on screen as they realised they were the proud owner of something worth over a ...
Well done to the Antiques Roadshow for discovering its first £1 million item. And how very fitting that, as the show came from Gateshead, the item was the model of Anthony Gormley's "Angel of the North", one of the most breathtaking features of the British built landscape.
Another brilliant show from Bremner, Bird and Fortune tonight. In Silly Money, Rory Bremner and team destroy Labour's claims to prudence, while making us laugh out loud. I particularly liked Alastair Darling in Dragon's Den, negotiating ever worse deals for the taxpyer... If you've missed Silly Money, you can catch up with it online for the [...]
Back in September (see I lamented the impending demise of Border TV, with Ofcom appearing to accept that the ITV proposed merger between Border and Tyne Tees news should go ahead. As I said at the time, "For ITV, of course, read ITV England and Wales, and the suggestion of the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway getting its 'local' news from a studio in Gateshead is unacceptable. No wonder people in the Borders are up in arms about the proposal. Borders LibDem MP Michael Moore said the recommendations were 'made by people stuck in London offices who fail ...
I've been hearing rumours for 10 days or so that Mullah Omar, leader of the Taleban, was going to be taken off the wanted terrorist list, and have his safety secured in exchange for a lessening in the fighting and negotiations with Karzai about a possible future government, in which the Taleban would play a legal role. The effective civil war would be ended via negotiations and the Taleban would be legitimized to some extent. Well the news hot off the wires that Karzai has offered Omar safety in exchange for peace talks goes someway to confirm these rumours. One ...
Today I attended my first ever tree planting ceremony to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the Eleanor Palmer Trust. The trust provides residential accommodation for elderly people in Barnet. It all started with a bequest made by Eleanor Palmer in 1558 just months before Queen Elizabeth the first was crowned. The charity does a fantastic job but is hampered by Barnet Council's decision to use Freemantle as the provider of their elderly care in preference to Eleanor Palmer due to the contract they have with them. Given all the problems with Freemantle this does not look to have been a ...
Well - so much going on in the aftermath of the verdict on Baby P's death, and so tragic the case, that it's dominated my blog in the last few days. However, I don't want to leave out completely the local events and groups that I have been visiting in middle of all this - for the bread and butter day-to-day work continues - so here's a sample of the rest of the week. At the start of the week I took part in the Liberal Democrat Opposition Day debate on the economy - see my intervention to make banks ...
Tory cabinet member for housing, Sandra Hawke sees no need to consult local councillors or residents about the new housing developments in Andover. At Thursday's council meeting Lib Dem leader Len Gates asked whether local councillors would have an input into implementing the new developments. "This been discussed on a number of occasions with particular reference to integrating the new communities with existing communities and also ensuring the impact of the MDAs on existing communities is minimised" he said. "To this end it was agreed that local members would be consulted and involved in this management of the implementation of ...
"The most immediate concerns of the British public are not for international aid, fair-trade or cancellation of developing world debt" This quotation is from a blog post by Stephen Crabb, a 2005 intake Conservative MP. He is referring, quite accurately, to the immediate situation. Bills, recession, collapsing financial markets, and so on hardly make the public likely to support sending much (more) money overseas. Yet this quotation holds in a more general sense. This was part of the central message that Kamalesh Sharma, Secretary General of the Commonwealth, expounded upon in a lecture of his I attended last week*. His ...
Match of the Day this week had an ineffably rivetting 20 minute passage. West Bromich 0 Chelsea 3 followed by Stoke 0 Man U 5. Real edge of the seat stuff. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Mind you, Alan Hansen is always good value. Here's what he said in connection with dear old West Brom: "Philosophy and principles are fine, but try another one: SURVIVAL" Speaking
As a candidate for the European Parliament my electoral area is south east England, which covers over 80 parliamentary constituencies and 6 million people. I try to cover as much of the area as I can. This week I visited four constituencies and I have another four in the coming week. Last Monday, I spoke at Canterbury [...]
"Let the Nanny State tell us that such things are hateful and nasty, and let us, like good children, believe her."So speaks Baroness Mary Warnock (about drugs and prostitution on this occasion). This is the same Baroness Warnock who has recently been vocal in opposing the state's considered view of what's hateful and nasty when she advocated legalising assisted suicide and suggested that some Dementia sufferers had a duty to die. Both interesting arguments but I wonder why we get to be the gullible children at nanny's knee and she doesn't. Perhaps her moral superiority excuses her. One rule for ...
If anything, it's a bit of an anti-climax.
{east-anton-development.jpg} Tory cabinet member for housing, Sandra Hawke sees no need to consult local councillors or residents about the new housing developments in Andover. At Thursday's council meeting I asked whether local councillors would have an input into implementing the new developments. "This been discussed on a number of occasions with particular reference to integrating the new communities with existing communities and also ensuring the impact of the MDAs on existing communities is minimised" I said. To this end it was agreed that local members would be consulted and involved in this management of the implementation of the MDAs. Work ...
Barack Obama has pledged American support for the European Union and EU enlargement. The Obama campaign published a policy paper that put US partnership with the EU at the heart of future American foreign policy. You can read the policy in full here. This is very welcome indeed and a great change from the policy of [...]
How would you fancy living next to a noisy party all over Xmas? Well that is what could face residents in part of Fishponds Road. The White Lion pub has applied for extensions to 04:00 am on the four Saturday/Sundays before Xmas, and every night from Xmas Day to Sunday December 28th. I have asked the Police to object to the application, and the licensing panel will make a decision at a hearing on Thursday.
Two press stories this week tell us much about Labour in government. Firstly, Cabinet Office minister Liam Byrne, who issued a dossier to staff on how and when he likes his coffee, and other key matters of state. According to the Mail, he warns civil servants: 'If I see things that are not of [...]
As noted yesterday, Barack Obama will be the first US President to have his weekly address shoved on You Tube. Indeed, he'll be the first President to have his regular broadcast available in pictures rather than just in audio via network radio, as it has been before. Votemaster notes that Obama will also be the first President to have a computer on his desk. He has asked for a notebook computer
There was an enormous brouhaha in the Liberal Democrat blogosphere during the party's Conference when just woman was called to speak during the key 'Make it Happen' debate. My own blog at the time Good debate - but where were the women? and the resultant lively and informed comments, took the party to task especially as [...]
A few photos from our trip to Amsterdam earlier this month. Me trying out my new shoes. Bridge over the River Amstel The canal lock right outside our hotel David Another canal lock Me caught blogging on the blackberry. More photos from the trip are on my Flickr
Well done again to Vince Cable. The government just don't get it, do they? They've given billions to the banks and aren't even going to have directors on the boards of the banks they part-own. As Cable says, it is "outrageous".
Whenever a particularly horrific criminal case is in the media spotlight there are inevitably calls for the reintroduction of capital punishment. Either for the 'specific case in question' or, more generally, for the specific type of crime committed. It's to be expected from 'foaming at the mouth' right-wingers, but such views are also shared by [...]
Consultation on the University Draft Masterplan closed earlier this month, following an exhibition in the Library foyer and Bath Guildhall. The masterplan seeks to densify the university campus to accommodate new teaching facilities and double the number of student beds on campus. Full plans are available at www.bath.ac.uk/masterplan. Bathwick councillors have been involved in the masterplan consultation process and are broadly supportive of the proposals. However, Cllrs Coombes and Edwards do have some serious concerns about the proposed parking provision. The plan seeks to expand the East car park along the Eastern boundary, tarmacing over the sports fields on the ...
It's amazing what you can stumble across purely by accident or through google alerts to be honest. The end result is that I'm considering coming out of retirement to take part in the inaugural West Lothian half marathon next May. As the initial even it to be held in Bathgate, I shouldn't have far to go to the start line. So I'll be buying new running shoes. It will be the first time in ages I'll have run for charity (other than the entry fee) and the charities that I would run for would be Marie Curie and Cancer Research ...
Last Sunday local residents were horrified to hear workmen removing trees behind the old swimming pool in Eastville Park. The land is privately owned but has been home to badger setts for many years. The trees appear to have been hacked down rather than felled, and are still lying on the ground. Council officers have now slapped an emergency Tree Preservation Order on the remaining trees, this is too late to save the wood as it was, but that should offer some protection against further destruction. Some lessons appear to have been learnt from the Grove Wood case. Local residents ...
The Annual Dinner on Friday was a success. A record attendance, and I haven't gone down with food poisoning despite the fact that the chicken was so pink that I thought at first they had coated a blancmange in mushroom sauce. Although, it's not yet been 48 hours, so the listeria microbes may be starting a disco dance of death in my stomach even as I type... As expertly predicted, I didn't win the raffle, despite buying three entire rows-worth of tickets to a competition with almost as many prizes as competitors. I am just one of those people born ...
Up and coming, and my favorite, artist Annemarie Wright now has a website - www.annemarie-wright.com - have a look.
The news that MEP Robert Kilroy-Silk is to spend several weeks in Australia as part of a 'reality' TV programme I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, has rightly been met with derision from his colleagues in the European Parliament, most of whom are calling for him to forfeit his substantial EP salary whilst [...]
Lib Dem MP Malcolm Bruce on Peter Mandelson:This is clearly the right decision, but one that I suspect Lord Mandelson has cast a long shadow on, assuming that Lord Mandelson casts a shadow...Ahhh, I'm glad it wasn't just me who grew up on dodgy old horror movies...
Tony Benn is often portrayed, and presents himself as, a little extreme. However, from my cursory understanding of the man, his political philosophy stems from a fear and dislike of power (in many ways mine too). This is the route of his "democratic-socialism" - power moving away from the wallet and too the ballot box. I found a report from a few years ago of his traveling road show and thought what he had to say about power interesting. He says that there are five questions that must be asked of any powerful person: "What power have you got? Where ...
Visitors to the Bath & North East Somerset Council-run Roman Baths in Bath on the morning of Thursday 13th November were treated to the rare sight of the Great Bath empty of hot water. Once it had been drained, teams of Bath & North East Somerset Council staff spent six hours scrubbing ochre-coloured mineral-rich sediment from the bottom of the pool. The Great Bath is the largest of the...
Reshaping the global financial markets has now been on the agenda since the banking world almost fell over last month. The media has been speculating that we would see a Bretton Woods mark 2, while at the same time pointing out that it took two years of discussion to get there. The obvious conclusion from this is that the G20 summit is the beginning of the process and not the end. For the record, Bretton Woods was a re-organising of the global financial system. Its aim was to establish stability after a devastating economic depression and a catastrophic world war. ...
I blogged before about the disappointing news that Boris Johnson has decided to drop plans for the Cross-River tram. I believe it's a short-sighted decision. The tram would provide a new link into London's best-connected station, Kings Cross St Pancras. At a time when London's population is growing, it would ease congestion on existing routes. [...]
The BBC reports on how a Georgian village on the outskirts of South Ossetia was taken over by militia after the Russians left rather than the Georgian army. It's a picture that can probably be seen in many other areas. Much of South Ossetia had Georgian populations, there was no huge majority of Ossetians. So there must be many villages in similar positions. In Abkhazia the militia retook the Kodori Valley, that had previously been under the control of the Georgians. Ethnic tensions have been made far worse by the conflict. Where people previously lived side by side, during a ...
Committed followers of this blog, and others whose ears' I've bent, will know that I boycott pret-a-manger (see here, here, and here). In short, this is because they advertise themselves as only purchasing British products (other than Basil) as if this is an excellent ethical thing. Now, this isn't merely jingoism on their part - they certainly employ foreign labour and no doubt capital. They are trying to appeal to a middle class pseudo-ethicalism which is based on an error. I was reminded of this earlier today when discussing with some friends where to get a sandwhich. Pret was suggested ...
The President of the TFG (Transitional Federal Government) of Somalia, President Yusuf seems to be admitting being defeated by the Islamists. The al-Shabab Islamic extremists now control much of the country. Islamic extremists control all of Central and Southern Somalia, except Baidoa (a small town where the TFG has been based) and Mogadishu, the Capital which is now in ruins from bitter fighting. And Yusuf suggested they couldn't hold onto these much longer. The Ethiopians intervention two years ago to get rid of the United Islamic Courts (extremists) in Central and Southern Somalia, now seems utterly wasteful. This new round ...
Watching BBC's Children in Need to other day I have to say hats off to the First Minister for his take on Ricky Fulton's creation the Rev I.M. Jolly for this year's cause. Definitely the man has a sence of self deprecation which is good to see. Well worth a look at.
On the process of having sex in Second Life:First you need to buy genitals
Cinnamon Press has issued a video response to the cancellation of Patrick Jones' poetry reading at Cardiff Waterstones. The first part of the video is a bit over the top, including describing Mr. Jones' poems as Swiftian satire about religion. Swift must be spinning in his grave. Personally, I consider the idea of launching a contest calling on people to post satirical poems about religion is missing the point. This should not be an anti-religion crusade it is about reasserting people's freedom to speak out and deliver controversial points of view in public without being censored or shouted down. The ...
Alan Beith's Gladstone Lecture - and specifically his comments that church disestablishment is "not necessary" - attracted much comment earlier this week on LDV. Here Jon Hunt reflects on this and much else... The grand old man of Liberalism was given his due respect last month. The phrase is generally applied to Gladstone but could almost be [...]
Again, as promised Obama's acceptance speech on winning the US Presidency:
Not that much left to do, mainly detail in foreground and light/shade from the clouds.
Yesterday's G20 Summit in Washington may have been short on conclusions, but I think President Luis Inacio 'Lula' da Silva of Brazil was probably right when he said that the balance of power in the world has changed irrevocably. Lula told reporters that the G8 — the world's seven leading industrial economies plus Russia — was [...]
As promised John McCain's concession speech, it is one of the most humble and gracious speeches I have ever seen. You can see it at
Much has been made in the British press of the comments by George Osborne on a future British currency crisis, what he called "having a proper sterling collapse, a run on the pound". Leaving aside- for the moment- the convention which Osborne has broken that opposition politicians do not talk down the British economy, let us examine what George Osborne is saying. On Friday, Sterling hit a a six and a half year low against the US Dollar and a record low against the Euro. The immediate cause was a series of extremely gloomy predictions for the UK economy and ...
Recently, Lib Dem Voice has been snowed under with hits and comments from new readers, all expressing their anger in the face of the Baby P tragedy. (If you're a regular, you won't find anything in this post you don't already know - fear not, normal LDV service will soon be resumed, but this does [...]
There's a picture on my bedroom wall that I love. It's a painting of flowers in shades of pink, but not bland and pretty-pretty, it is quite an intense mass of colours and shapes; the more I look at it, the more I see. I bought the picture back in the summer, at a Barnsbury art-sale [...]
In a piece that undoubtedly counts as testing the mood of the nation today's Sunday Times tells us that members of Prince Charles's inner circle are preparing the ground for him to break the monarch's traditional vow of silence when he is king. The Prince's friend and biographer, Jonathan Dimbleby says that "there are now discreet moves afoot to redefine the future role of the sovereign so that it would allow King Charles III to speak out on matters of national and international importance in ways that at the moment would be unthinkable". "To breach this convention, however cautiously, would ...
It's his job. If David Cameron wasn't playing party politics with the Baby P story, then he was culpably incompetent in choosing to raise the issue. Before PMQ's, he will have sat down with his advisors and asked them "How exactly can I make political capital out of the Baby P case?" and asked the questions that came out of this analysis - namely a question that Gordon Brown quite properly
It can be found, courtesy of Kennth Williams and Kenneth Horne, at Blognor Regis. Now read more about Kenneth Horne.
On Saturday went on Ken Livingstone's LBC show. Most of the time was spent on Baby P, not surprisingly. Just to break for a brief moment from Baby P - Ken said at the end that I could spend the last minute ranting about whatever I wanted. So I did. I made an appeal to Gordon Brown to re-open the sub-post offices in London that he has closed. Having decided to stop any further closures it seems to me that those of us who were unfortunate enough to have had the axe already fall should have the closures reversed. Back ...
After watching this jaw-dropping video it got me thinking about what's happening today. We may deride George Osborne a bit for being out of time yet that doesn't mean that any opposition political party shouldn't say it as it is. I think it credits George Osborne with too much kudos to suggest that just because [...]
Since I mentioned the legend of Wild Edric in Calder's Comfort Farm a couple of weeks ago, two things have happened. Nigel Sustins has kindly sent me a copy of his Wild Edric: A Narrative Poem, which I shall be reviewing for Liberator. And I have remembered this stirring quotation from John Wood's 1944 book Quietest Under the Sun: Footways on Severnside Hills: Though the Stiperstones stand as long as the world endures the doom of the land we love may be inevitable unless the descendants of the Saxons rise and throw off that remaining relic of the Norman Conquest: ...
This morning, I read this News of the World article that graphically details the horrific abuse inflicted upon Baby P. I challenge you to read it without tears coming to your eyes - it is truly harrowing. Subsequently, I finally found time to watch the PMQ time exchange about it on Iain Dale's blog. It's interesting how differently people view the same footage. Bearing in mind I support neither
As promised here is Obama's speech from Jackonsville.
The link is to a story how a retaliatory allegation was made against the Haringey whistleblower for telling the truth. Sadly this sort of thing is not in any way unique. It doesn't only happen in Haringey.
Someone once complained that they never know which parts of my writing are true and which I have made up. A safe rule is that the more incredible something is, the more likely it is to be true. So when I wrote on Comment is Free last year: Back in the 1980s I spent a summer working for the Liberal party conference office. This being the old Liberal party, it was naturally housed in two semi-converted narrow boats moored deep in the Leicestershire countryside.every word was true. It was the 1985 Liberal Party Assembly, which was held at the Caird ...
With the Prime Minister being at a G20's summit in America in the last couple of days are we going to actually see a change in the economy in the next couple of months? I cant comment but I hope Brown's plans do for the sake of the Country as this would make the Tory lead in the polls get closer, and like I've said in the past a Labour government is better then a Conservative one. On the press preview a couple of days ago on Sky News someone made a comment saying the PM has probably gone to ...
Fred Knight, a Labour councillor for Seven Sisters, sadly passed away last week. Fred was a lovely fellow who gave many decades of service to the Council. My colleague David Schmitz, PPC for Tottenham, captures our experiences of Fred far better than I could: "One needed to have only the slightest acquaintance with Fred in order to see that here was a man of great warmth who had gone into politics for all the best reasons. In his dealings with us, he always treated us not so much as rivals, but as younger recruits to public service who were to ...
I haven't blogged for the past few days, as I couldn't find the words to express how sad everyone is feeling about the appalling tragedy of Baby P and its impact on everyone in Haringey. I got a call on Tuesday that the verdict in the trial was in. I wasn't at work, as I was collecting my mum from Stansted airport, as she'd just arrived for a visit. As I was around that afternoon, I went up to the Council offices in Wood Green. When I walked in and read the council's first statement I couldn't believe it, the ...
After last week's Remembrance service, I met Judith Fox, who gave a Jewish prayer at the multi-faith event. Judith is a distinguished Canonbury resident and high-powered life coach - not the porn star of the same name who, she cheerfully told me, causes confusion when people Google her..... Islington's Jewish community is small, and we [...]
Some months after the lawyer for Nevres Kemal (the whistleblowing social worker) had written to the four ministers David Lammy (minister as well as the tragic Baby P's own MP), Patricia Hewitt, Ivan Lewis and Rosie Winterton and got no satisfactory response - her story finally came to me - can't say how. Concerned by what I heard - anything that links Haringey with serious failures in child protection automatically sets alarm bells ringing - I decided that the best and most direct action I could take would be to bring it to the attention of George Meehan who, as ...
Given one or two recent conversations on my friends list about my experience of spirituality, this cartoon from the Naked Pastor amused me. Hat-tip to Carl McColman.
