The arrest of a shadow cabinet minister under anti-terrorism powers can only have taken place with sanction from the highest level. And, if the Daily Telegraph is correct, then it is clear that Green's offence is embarrassing the government: It is understood that the inquiry is focusing on four Home Office documents allegedly obtained by the Conservatives. Last November, documents from the private office of Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, were leaked to the opposition. They showed that ministers had known for four months that thousands of illegal immigrants had been cleared to work as security guards but had not ...
I don't think I've ever seen Julia Neuberger speak before. But after seeing her on Question Time tonight I wish we did. She was punchy, she was outspoken, she was intelligent and she was articulate. She also came across fairly statesmanlike, completely unlike either Douglas Alexander (who seemed out of his depth) or George Osborne. [...]
I was a bit traumatised just now by George Osbourne making a good point on Question Time, but then the Lib Dem Lady made an even better point, and got such a huge round of applause that Dimbledore struggled to make himself heard. So that's all right then. ETA: oh, and she just did it again. Hurrah! If you needed a reason to choose AQA over 118118, aside from the many many tests showing that AQA is far more accurate and useful, how about this? FWIW, Metro printed a picture of the phone on which you could just make out ...
Last night's 15 Minute Musical on BBC Radio 4 dealt with the travails of the Liberal Democrat leader: I would kill myself, but I can see the headlines now: "Boss of Cheeky Girl's ex-fiancé dies alone and friendless."But it has a happy ending of sorts.
Tonight surfing the web I came across the fact that Neil has died in a car crash this week. I didn't know him well but we did meet a few time at conference and around in Cornwall when he worked here. People who knew him better will be able to say more eloquent words about him. So all I will say is how very sorry I am that he has gone. Death is never pleasant but somehow more cruel when it takes a life of such a nice man starting to make his mark in life. How very sad
I am clearly fated never to win Lib Dem Blog of the Year, but I did win the Non-Fiction Award at the Annual Dinner of the Leicester Writers Club this evening. It's the first time I have had custody of a silver cup since I gave up chess.
Damien Green, the Conservative immigration spokesman, has been arrested and questioned over a series of leaks from the Home Office. Green, who denies any wrongdoing, was questioned on suspicion of "conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office," the Metropolitan Police said. The BBC reports that the leaks included; The November 2007 revelation that the home secretary knew the Security Industry Authority had granted licences to 5,000 illegal workers, but decided not to publicise it. The February 2008 news that an illegal immigrant had been employed as a cleaner in the House of Commons. A whips' list of potential Labour ...
Sir Ian Blair steps down today as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police after effectively being sacked by Boris Johnson earlier this year. So is there any coincidence then with the news that Conservative MP Damian Green has been arrested for leaking confidential information from the Home Office? According to Sky News, Green has been taken to a central London police station so it is presumably the Met police that have arrested him. Blair was sacked because of his perceived political bias and his association with Labour. Arresting an opposition MP on his last day is not the best way to ...
Tory Shadow Immigration Minister Damian Green has been arrested:Conservative immigration spokesman Damian Green, was arrested earlier in connection with an investigation into a series of leaks from the Home Office. He was held on suspicion of "conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office," the Metropolitan Police said. Anyone care to take a guess at what the Daily Fail's leader will be? GORDON'S STAZI STIFLE FREE SPEECH perhaps? TORY ARRESTED FOR TELLING TRUTH IN PUBLIC... ?
Question Time is live from Basildon tonight with a panel comprising Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander, Conservative shadow chancellor George Osborne, Liberal Democrat peer Rabbi Julia Neuberger, Plaid Cymru MP Adam Price and chief executive of Sainsbury's Justin King. Feel free to let us know your thoughts on how the evening pans out in the comments below. Don't get angry, get commenting!
I cannot believe that any action has been taken against a member of parliament about leaked government documents. This goes straight against Article XI of the 1688 Bill of Rights. I accept that various local authorities have threatened me with imprisonment, but to have a go at an opposition member of parliament is totally and absolutely wrong. OK so Parliament is in suspension now. However,
Why was it that up to nine police from the anti-terrorism unit were used to arrest Damian Green? Is he really thought to have been committing terrorist acts or was it Brownian Labour edging ever closer to the tactics of a certain Soviet leader of the middle of the last century? First Iceland, now a Tory MP. Next thing you know they'll be carting off Felicity Kendall.
That is, public sector workers who will greet with alarm his announcement that "We have got to end the apartheid" in pensions, by ending their final salary scheme: We are getting into a situation now where pretty much everyone in the private sector has gone to defined contributions and the final salary schemes are closed. In the public sector you have still got a lot of people on final salary
This breaking story has been getting Westminster excited this evening. It started as a rumour that SOMETHING had happened and then resolved itself to the story that has appeared best in the Telegraph. It appears that Mr Green has been arrested on suspicion of being involved with the leaking of sensitive documents from the Home Office - he is Shadow Immigration Minister and has embarrassed the Government recently with revelations. It is suspected that he is somehow linked to the civil servant arrested about 10 days ago - the assumption being leaker and leakee. The Conservatives will claim that if ...
Hammersmith and Fulham Council has announced a three per cent cut in Council Tax for the third year in a row. And what's more, front line services won't be cut. It goes to prove that local authorities have a huge amount of flab that can be trimmed back if only they spent time putting in place good financial management rather than whinging on about the level of Government grant. You have to say that if you lived in Hammersmith & Fulham, you'd have to vote Tory.
On Tuesday night on the BBC Six O'Clock news I was expecting the usual manic Robert Peston reactive commentary about Woolworths and MFI going into administration. Albeit that I was in the bath and could only hear him, he seemed remarkably calm and reserved, choosing his words very carefully. Although I couldn't see to check, it sounded as though the rolling eyes and usual OTT behaviour were
I can't quite believe I've left it a week before writing about this, but I'm delighted to say there was an a massive yes vote for a change of landlord by residents on the Leybridge and Newstead estates. Residents on the Leybridge Court and Newstead Road estates in Lee Green have been working with Broomleigh Housing Association on plans to improve their homes and regenerate their estates. The plans to transfer the homes to the not-for-profit landlord have been put to the vote and the result was an 86% vote in favour by tenants on the estates. This is an ...
I started today at All Saints school, Ingleby Barwick which was launching its campaign to become a Fairtrade school. What a launch! The whole school had been taken off timetable for a day - Year 10 to do a careers day and the others to do a Fairtrade "Dragons Den meets The Apprentice". They started by meeting a real live millionaire who talked about the things they need to consider when
Another change of use application that's been made lately is for 31 Staplehurst Road - the former Happy Shopper. Here, the proposal is to change the use of the ground floor to provide a two-bedroomed self contained flat, together with alterations to the front, side and rear elevations and the construction of an infill extension, the installation of a shopfront and a new paved courtyard at the rear. You can see the application on the Council website here. If you've got views, do let the Council have them by 4th December. Either write to Planning Service, Laurence House, Catford, SE6 ...
Damian Green, the Conservative MP for Ashford and Shadow Immigration Minister, has been arrested by the police, apparently over leaks from the Home Office about immigration matters, according to Sky and other news sources. Damian Green's London and constituency homes, along with his Westminster and constituency offices have been searched, although he has not been charged. The investigation is into an allegation of "conspiring to cause misconduct in public office". UPDATE: Here's the Sky report on Damian Green: The Conservative Party's statement is: We can confirm that Damian Green was arrested earlier today in connection with his work as Opposition ...
The Council have advised us that an independent company, Survey Solutions Ltd, will be carrying out a door-to-door survey in the CPZ consultation areas (both the Hither Green East extension area and the Old Road/Bankwell Road extension area) from this Monday 1st December until 14th December. The idea is to get some feedback on residents' views of CPZs and the consultation process itself. If residents opt for the CPZ to be extended to their street, the survey will be repeated once the CPZ has been implemented to see if views have changed. I think there are two important points to ...
As an 11 year old, I should never have been allowed to watch the 1981 version of this. Mind you, I suspect that nobody over that age would have found the waddling plants remotely frightening. But I'm looking forward to it being back on.
The Council has received an application for change of use at 117 Burnt Ash Road. This is the former Dodd Lewis & Co Solicitors unit next to the Pizza Hut takeaway. The proposal is to change the use to A3 - this is the use class for restaurants/cafes. You can view the application details here. If you wish to comment on this, you need to contact the Council by 15th December. You can email planning {at} lewisham.gov(.)uk var mailNode = document.getElementById('emob-cynaavat@yrjvfunz.tbi.hx-83'); var linkNode = document.createElement('a'); linkNode.setAttribute('href', tNode = document.createTextNode("planning {at} lewisham.gov(.)uk"); linkNode.appendChild(tNode); linkNode.setAttribute('id', "emob-cynaavat@yrjvfunz.tbi.hx-83"); mailNode.parentNode.replaceChild(linkNode, mailNode); or write to ...
I posed this question to fellow OUTers (LGBT social networking site). Someone has come up with the definitive answer: 1. Always use a credit card Reason: Usually you can claim for fraudulent activity 2. Always use the same card for online transactions Reason: It keeps it all in one place for this defined purpose 3. Sign up for Visa Secure or [...]
Just been watching Sky News.com and I heard from the bloggers in Mumbai who have been reporting about these terrorist attacks on issues that the media haven't covered. A blogger called Mumbai Help was basically unknown until yesterday and in the last post on that blog they have had 125 comments up till now. Now this is a heck of a lot of comments for a unknown blogger turned blogging star! Maybe Skynews.com need to have me on the show so I can raise my blogs status.
I see from this report that research has shown that many schools are extending their schools days, including providing Saturday classes, to help to contribute to school improvement and to supportive pupil achievement. I have always been against extra booster lessons outside of normal school hours. These are lessons that are targeted at pupils who have the ability to reach the 'national average'
Yesterday I questioned Phil Willis's attitude towards those who suggest there may have been some dumbing down of standards in universities. Laurie Taylor's satirical column about the University of Poppleton, written for the Times Higher Education Supplement, is a lot nearer the mark:Dumbing down Janet Fluellen, our Director of Curriculum Development, has enthusiastically welcomed the news that a cross-party panel of MPs has asked academics to submit evidence of dumbing down in universities. "We are so committed to this exercise," she told The Poppletonian, "that we have constituted a high-powered dumbing-down committee (myself and the vice-chancellor). Any Poppleton academic with ...
Following yesterday's posting about the National Cartoon Archive, a correspondent writes to tell me of an interview with Nick Hiley on The Bloghorn - the diary of the Professional Cartoonists' Organisation. Nick is the curator of the exhibition Giles: One of the Family, which is now on at the Cartoon Museum in London.
THE public are being given a big say in deciding this year's Council Tax. For the first time ever, residents are being asked to let the council know what they think council cash should be spent on next year - and to also suggest ways money could be saved. And their views will be presented to councillors when they meet in the new year to set the council tax, and help them decide how much is spent on key services such as schools, roads, looking after the elderly and keeping the city clean. City council leader Warren Bradley said: "Liverpool, ...
George Osborne and David Cameron have called in past Conservative Chancellors to advice them on the economy according to Hopi Sen, the Blogger whilst enjoying a coffee with Iain Dale. The pair of them (Hopi and Iain) spotted Geoffrey Howe, Nigel Lawson and Norman Lamont. These three were seen coming out of Norman Shaw buildings after a meeting and Hopi think they were there to advice Cameron and cronies. Now Cameron hasn't really shown his economic side of things and basically I don't think Cameron has one. But if they were there to advice the shadow chancellor then we might ...
{Enham} The long awaited Enham Alamein village design statement was approved at yesterday's Test Valley Borough Council cabinet meeting. It doesn't seem like four years since we first asked for approval for residents to carry out work to establish a village design statement. At the time there were no parish council or residents association but local residents spoke to me and my fellow councillor Josie Msonthi saying they were keen to carry out the work and to have the same influence over their environment as residents of other parishes. We got approval to start and organised meetings in the village ...
With MEP's from the United Kingdom either in Australia taking part in TV programmes or they are gallivanting in other countries, I ask the questions are these MEP's actually representative of the people? In this post I am going to focus on Robert Kilroy-Silk MEP who was a star in I'm a Celebrity (until he got evicted). Now he is the MEP for the East Midlands a massive constituency yet the MEP has time to play games on TV. An MEP isn't paid to travel and waste time they are elected to represent the people and their voice and that ...
One of the most important climate change campaigners in the US, Dr James Hansen of NASA, was in London this week for an Environment Agency conference. It was a privilege to hear him speak because he's been the only significant voice in a public position in the US speaking out about climate change over the last eight years. The Bush Administration and NASA both tried to shut him up, but he refused to stay silent. Two years ago Dr Hansen said: "We have at most 10 years - not 10 years to decide upon action, but 10 years to alter ...
From yesterday's Plenary: David Melding: I have said this before, but it it is worth repeating: I think that you are a splendid big cheese; I am a mere cheese aficionado. [Laughter.] Cheese producers are often small enterprises and marketing is difficult when you have many producers at the real quality end. The Welsh Assembly Government was right to attract the British Cheese Awards to Cardiff earlier in the autumn. What further ventures along that line will you propose? I will just remind you of what the judges said about Pont Gar, which was the Welsh cheese of the year: ...
From Politics Home... Mr Cable said he was "amazed" by the lack of urgency displayed by the government in tackling the financial crisis and that government directors in banks would help set to "set the strategy" in the immediate term. "The banks are not lending, despite the undertaking that we entered a few weeks ago that the banks would maintain their lending, it isn't happening."The individual banks are acting in an entirely rational way in their view - but in the process are behaving in a suicidal manner."To ensure this doesn't happen government members should be appointed to the banks ...
Writing in The Independent, Vince Cable said: No one fully understands the scale of the complex but extreme economic crisis we face or has any simple, silver bullet, solution to it. The problems are partly international - the "credit crunch" - and partly national. The latter is a legacy of a long period of economic growth built on debt financed household consumption and a grossly inflated bubble in house prices. Both of the international and home grown problems are difficult; together they are potentially lethal. I believe we face a real emergency. And it will not be over soon. This ...
When he won the Conservative Party leadership David Cameron made the environment a central theme; he even changed the rather menacing blue torch to a nice eco-friendly green tree. Couple of stories show this commitment might be skin-deep and that the issue is a source of some pretty vicious divisions within the party. Liberal Democrat Voice carries news of Conservatives falling out over waste collection. It reports; "From January English councils will be able to bid for pilot schemes to incentivise people for recycling more and deter them from throwing stuff away [by levying charges]... Eric Pickles, Conservative local government ...
Did you know that the consultation has already started as I did not know until very recently. I for one am not happy with any more Nuclear power stations in our area but what I am even more concerned about is that unless you are in the know you would not know about this consultation. Put your views forward at http://www.edfconsultation.info/home
Want to know more about this story then please log on to www.readmyday.co.uk/twerton
Coffee shop chain Starbucks has announced that its 700 UK and Ireland branches are to sell only Fairtrade coffee by the end of next year. The firm hopes the switch will stop a decline in sales caused by the economic downturn, while reassuring customers that growers are receiving a fair price for their coffee crops. From the Telegraph: The Fairtrade Foundation, which gives certification to growers who were given at least 92p for every pound of their coffee beans, estimated that 100,000 farmers in Africa, Asia and South America will benefit from the decision. At present, only six per cent ...
Alright, I admit I'm a little biased on this subject. But as a child of the internet age, I've got used to many personal freedoms that are afforded to the users of the internet. One of them is this blog, after all. Of course, as a political student, I also have a big opinion on the politics of the internet. And there is one key political discussion that the internet has been waiting to have an argument about for ten years or so now. That issue is Web Neutrality. Web Neutrality is a policy that many users would like to ...
After the last few days trying to get used to the idea that he is now longer around, I wanted to write another post about Neil Trafford so here it is. Despite a little bit of time passing, you still don't get use to it and it's there at the back of your mind all of [...]
This week's Journal runs the story: Cancer drugs wait: Haringey in UK's bottom four CANCER sufferers in Haringey face one of the longest fights in the country for drugs to treat their illness. Patients have to wait up to three months for a decision on appeals for certain types of medication, putting the Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT) in the bottom four of England's 152 trusts. It relates to waiting times for appeals for drugs that are either judged too expensive or have not been assessed by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence. The survey by charity Macmillan Cancer ...
Today I signed and sent off the Liberal Democrat Code of Conduct for (prospective) MEPs, which has been drafted to ensure that the highest standards of public service are maintained by the LibDem Group (LDEPP) in the European Parliament. Without mentioning any names, there have been spectacular examples of the misuse of Euro-parliamentary allowances by some [...]
As sure as night follows day, just as I warned to prepare for a round of misreporting of party debts, the Press Association's piece gets the party figures for debt wrong and reports them as being higher than they really are (by counting as debt unused credit facilities).
{charge_media-obanner.jpg} Ballot papers will be arriving this week in the Greater Manchester wide referendum on the TIF Bid and Congestion Charging. Liberal Democrats in Prestwich and across Bury have been campaigning for a "no" vote in the referendum. All of us are part of the "Stop the Charge Coalition". Find out more about how the charge will affect you, and download more information, leaflets and resources here.
Watching Gordon Brown on BBC News just now I notice that he has had a trim. Meanwhile, Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg has had a fairly drastic haircut. Gone is the Hugh Grant floppy look and in has come a much shorter style. Dare I say, it makes him look older and more serious? Over to you Dave...
According to the BBC, British MEP Sajj Karim is among the Britons who escaped from the Taj Hotel in Mumbai. British MEP Sajjad Karim, who spent the night barricaded in the basement of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, tells BBC World News TV that guests had fled one gunmen at the hotel's entrance only to be confronted by another at the back. "He had quite a large machine gun in his hand and simply pointed it towards the crowd and started to use it. Pure instinct takes over. As soon as the first shots were fired, I saw a few ...
Over on Lib Dem Voice, I've started a new column called Lib Dig Pig. Why Lib Dig Pig? Well, frankly it came from a old gag about "Lib Dig on a Pig" about having the section on the website dedicated to Sarah Palin and I just like the sound of it. But I do like the visual metaphor of snuffling around hunting for rich, smelly webpages lying there beneath the surface. I think it is a karma thing. This is probably what I did in a past life (not that I believe in such things you understand - before the ...
I'm astonished how much comment the possible demise of MFI and Woolworths has created on Lib Dem Blogs. But here I am, adding to the debate as well. I suppose it's just because they are such well known names and it isn't that common that two well known companies are at risk of disappearing. The demise [...]
Thu 27th
12:05
Vote NO to the c-charge reason 2: Collecting it is intrusive, dangerous and very expensive
Another day, another good reason to vote "No" in the c-charge referendum. And today's choice is... The silly way that they propose to collect it by monitoring our movements in a hugely expensive way that will leave us open to crime. People familiar with the only other large scale congestion charging scheme in the country (London - where they have an extensive Tube, bus, train and boat network to make up for the charge) will know that vehicles are photographed using number-plate recognition cameras. If you drive into the charge zone, your number-plate gets recognised, and you have to pay ...
Britain's community pubs have been closing at an unprecedented rate in recent months. And all too often, in the debate about the small minority of premises that give the trade a bad name, we forget all the good work that pubs do in their local communities. Local pubs do a great job in raising money for charity and good causes, acting as the heart of their community, and drawing tourists to Britain. However, there is genuine concern about excessive alcohol consumption, particularly that caused by people buying large quantities of very cheap alcohol from supermarkets and off-licences, and the impact ...
- Happy Thanksgiving, Americans! - ginasketch: you may be interested in this. - rumours that the next Doctor might be *gasp* black have led lizbee to create a Racism in Who Fandom Bingo Card. - minnesattva talks about "sociosexuality". There's a quiz, which I shall take later. And I'm going to be late for work again...
This week Liberal Democrat Voice is running a series of articles from Tim Leunig about the economy - how we got here and what we should do next. So far the series has covered bank bailouts, bank lending and fiscal policy. Interest rates and the Bank of England The Bank of England's monetary policy committee has done well. They did not rush to cut interest rates when inflation still looked to be a real threat (don't forget that this summer saw the highest level of inflation for a decade). But as soon as there was a serious prospect of deflation ...
Gordon strode in to the Chamber, underpants set to Level 3 - gravitas - to face the current crisis. Doug Elghorn (Perdition New Town) asked the Prime Minister if he believed the current banking crisis had been entirely the fault of other people or if it was only largely the fault of others. Gordon responded that under New Labour the economy had grown by 400% since 1997 so it was inevitable that the current crisis had caused it to fall back slightly due to the global economic crisis. Luckily, as he had messed things up so comprehensively he was clearly ...
I caught up with PMQs late last night and it once again confirmed my view that Dave's the one in trouble, not Brown. Dave made some clever comments and attacked the cowardly Prime Minister over the government's pre-budget report but it all just sounded trite in the face of the huge financial crisis caused by the banks. Together with the 13th Baronet Osborne at the subsequent debate on the PBR, Dave singularly failed to give any hint of a Tory alternative plan. It may be PMQs but surely any sensible opposition would seek to indicate what it would do faced ...
I bought my first ever record in Woolies. It was by the Thomson Twins. MFI fails to rate so high in my childhood recollections
MFI's demise is not a surprise. The market for furniture has diversified into the very cheap flat-pack approach from Ikea, the slightly more 'designer' approach from the likes of Habitat and the terrible Order-Today-Get-In-6-Months-Pay-For-Years Sofa Shifters for people with no money who want sofas - the part of the market MFI was competing in. With that whole sector shrinking due to the contraction in the housing market, and the drying up of cheap, easy credit, MFI's fall was inevitable. What is amazing about MFI is that they survived as long as they did, but that's a sign of just how ...
This is the question that Conservative Home asks this morning. It produces a handy little graphic reproduced above. Now, my feeling is that there is considerable confusion in the Conservative response to the Pre-Budget which has indicated a wider problem of an economic narrative which seems to be able land punches by defining what it is against but not in terms of what it is actually for; and this, to my mind, makes the 'do nothing' line adopted by Brown effective. Of course, it is also effective because Brown is the one doing things and in a position to do ...
The ELDR Party (European Liberal Democrats) have announced that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Serbia and the People's Democratic Union (PDU), Russia, have joined the European liberal democrat family.
With the Labour Plaid Cymru One Wales Government having abandoned their opposition to top up fees, with the argument over the Housing LCO all but conceded and with the Welsh Language LCO still to be published, it is difficult to think how the coalition agreement can come under any more pressure. However, timing of the referendum on more powers for the Assembly may well be the extra heat that will cause the pot to boil over. I do not believe that any of these issues will destroy the partnership government, both sides are too fond of the trappings of office ...
Via the BBC: From January English councils will be able to bid for pilot schemes to incentivise people for recycling more and deter them from throwing stuff away [by levying charges]... Eric Pickles, Conservative local government spokesman, has regularly criticised the [previous pilot charging schemes as] "hated bin taxes"... But Paul Bettison, a Conservative councillor responsible for waste on the Local Government Association said: "I wish Eric Pickles would stop calling them bin taxes. It is very galling. "They are bin charges. They are not taxes at all. You pay for the service you get. The current system of invisible ...
Commenting on reports that Alistair Darling considered raising VAT to 18.5% in 2011, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: "The Government has been at best incompetent and at worst highly duplicitous." Vince Cable went on to say: "At a time of economic emergency we need a clear-headed Government with a sound economic strategy, instead we...
Staff at Scottish Water will be the next public sector workers to strike over pay when they walk out for 24 hours at midday. An agreement equivalent to a 3% rise over 15 months was agreed in September backdated to April. While this is within the public sector guideline it is not keep up with inflation, the consumer price index was 4.5% in October (the EU average was 3.7%) down from 5.2% in September and the Retail Price Index was 4.2% for October down from 5.0%. The RPIX which excludes mortgage payments was at 4.7% for the same period. So ...
Those unfamiliar with virtual worlds might be labouring under a misapprehension. You'll have seen the media reports in the last couple of weeks of a couple getting divorced over a Second Life affair and subsequent acres of newsprint devoted to the details of making the virtual beast with two backs (first buy your penis). All this free advertising may have led you to believe that Second Life was in some way a thriving, bustling world thronging with hip people having a good time and earnest businessmen and women from the global firms holding exciting meetings. If you've a really good ...
rhetorically speaking... has a nice posting on the unique logic used by the Daily Mail columnist: Unlike lesser practitioners of the art, Phillips doesn't ignore contradictory or inconvenient evidence. Rather, she incorporates such material as the central proof of whatever she's arguing.As an example of this the blog quotes yesterday's piece for the Spectator website: For sure, [Obama] has made some solid and reassuring appointments, such as his Treasury team. But did anyone really believe that a radical president would appoint obvious radicals to key roles in his administration? Maybe he really was a centrist all along. But if not, ...
I am advised by the City Council that traffic will be prohibited on Cleghorn Street between Benvie Road and Lochee Road next week due to Scottish Water valve replacement works. The road closure will start on Monday 1st December for a maximum of 5 working days and the alternative route is via Benvie Road, Fyffe Street and Polepark Road. This won't affect pedestrian access and further information can be obtained from the City Council on Dundee 433168.
On this blog I have often sought to demonstrate that the popular conception of Nouri al-Maliki as a weak leader, barely able to hold factions together, being pushed around by the US, Iran, and rival Iraqi groups, is utterly false. I have discussed in some length the intra-Shia civil war and the SOFA. Further evidence has emerged that Maliki is cementing himself as close to as possible as Iraq's strongman, mollifying, coopting, and smashing his rivals. Jalal Talebani, Iraq President, has reprimanded Maliki for building his own militia alongside the Iraqi National Army, which Maliki also controls. Maliki has created ...
{IMG_0545} Last week, my red wheelie bin was not collected by the Council, this was annoying, but thankfully it was collected today. I could cope with this missed collection as it was only one week, but how would I feel if this happened most weeks? This is what residents of Foxhill Road have had to put up with recently - and it is sadly not the first time. One of my constituents wrote to me today to say that her red bin was not collected today (Wednesday) - this was the third time it had not been collected in 6 weeks. Last year ...
A year of huge changes. It begins with Sarah Jane; the last few days of 1974 bring Tom Baker as the Doctor and introduce the series' most spellbinding title sequence. There's a recurring motif that golden ages aren't to be trusted, and an awesome final confrontation for Jon Pertwee in Planet of the Spiders. Off the screen, new Target novelisations of the show include some of the best of the lot: The Doomsday Weapon; The Cave Monsters; and the first... Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion "This body is merely a container, Hibbert. You should know that. You made me." ...
