Today's House Points column from Liberal Democrat News. Like Nick Clegg, I would support a minimum price for alcohol. It's your round Did you see the match last night? No, but I did hear Greg Mulholland the other day. He said: The government needs to wake up to the importance of the pub ... Whenever a pub is proposed to go to a different use, be closed or demolished, the local community needs to be consulted.At the end of the day, who owns the pub? Legally it's the pub operating company or the landlord. But morally, surely, a community, a ...
Okay no names but a pile of us plus a sprinkling of MP's popped out for a Christmas drink this week Hear are just a few highlights for you to enjoy as you sip on your snowball drink and eat out of date, savoury snacks ......or is that just me! "It's good to see you again, thanks for coming" - A labour MP said to me the first time I have ever met him as I gate crashed his party " I was going to save you but then I spotted the scotch eggs" - a member of staff explain ...
Today, I received a flyer through my door from the Mayor of London and the London Development Agency (LDA) on 'Keeping London Working'. I assume it has been circulated to all households in London. The leaflet is about what the LDA is doing to support business and jobs. It tells me that there is: • a National Apprenticeship Service linking people wanting to learn with employers • a Business Link in London that I can talk to about running a business • a Careers Advice Service if I need advice about learning new skills • a Jobcentre Plus to give ...
Islington Council has won its appeal over its dismissal of Lillian Ladele, a registrar who refused to carry out same-sex marriages. I welcome the result as it would be just as unacceptable for a registrar to refuse to marry a couple who had had premarital sex because of their religious belief. This case is no different. There is no hierarchy between strands of equality, just the principle of mutual respect and tolerance - particularly for those in public administration.
My Grandad would have been 98 today. He died a little over two years ago, but thinking of him today I can't help also thinking of a man who died a little under two weeks ago - a man I never met, and who had very different views to my Grandad's, but who feels rather like another grandparent to a generation. In his work with Peter Firmin on Smallfilms (a name with multiple meanings), Oliver Postgate captured the hearts, heads and imaginations of kids. Though "captured" seems almost as wrong as BBC newsreaders' "The man who dominated British children's television..." ...
I got to Kings Cross tonight in time to pick up my ticket from the machine and catch the 9pm train (made easier by its late departure). It was only when I found my seat reservation did not tally with what was on my ticket that I realised I have caught completely the wrong train. My ticket was for the 7.30pm, not the 9pm. The latter was what was in my diary. Somehow I had managed to book the
So having turned out the lights and forced the elderly off our streets (good crime reduction idea.. I think not) Powys are turning their attention to the entire community especially those who wish to keep in shape or learn to swim. It would appear that leisure facilities are under "review" It seems that 16 leisure centres for 125k people is too many. Of course looked at another way since 16
Work was interesting today. For those of you not in the hospitality trade, the last Friday before Christmas is generally known as Mad Friday. This is because it is the day when all the officey people "break up" for Christmas, and they all want to come and get pissed. So it was with a sense of trepidation I set off for work this morning... And then it was quiet. REALLY quiet. Even by normal Friday standards. it was just... odd. Then at roughly 3.30, someone opened a can of people and all hell broke loose. I didn't stop at all ...
A late but perhaps decisive entry for most astonishing favourable media coverage of the week comes courtesy of - make sure you're sitting down - Quentin Letts of the Daily Mail, commenting on yesterday's fiery Iraq debate in which both opposition leaders renewed the call for a public enquiry: But the Opposition leader who seized the attention yesterday was Nick Clegg of the LibDems. It was a good way for him to mark his first anniversary in charge of his party. The year has not always been easy but yesterday he soared. Mr Clegg came in for a lot of ...
As Ros Scott says on her blog, she came to Bexley for the second time yesterday (she was here in September). But I have to say I was disappointed, how were the residents of East Wickham to know they had a real baroness on their doorsteps? I was hoping for faux ermine trimmed robes, a coronet, and pages to carry the clipboard as Ros canvassed for Grace in the by-election.
There have been a few thrashings around in cyberspace about the EU and blogging and potential changes to the law to make "suing bloggers easier". Obligatory Disclaimer: My formal qualifications are in Nuclear Physics not law. If you follow my advice on law as opposed to how to blow the world up, don't sue me if I am wrong. However, I have been on both ends of libel actions as well as assisted
On his first anniversary as leader, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg, yesterday, set out plans to put Britain on a Green Road out of the Recession, creating jobs and leaving a legacy that will save energy, put money back into people's pockets and fight climate change. The plans will cost £12.5bn, which would be paid for by scrapping the proposed VAT cut. The vast majority of that money will be spent immediately, making a real impact on the economy and people's lives right away.Green Road out of the Recession proposals include: A five-year programme to insulate every school and hospital, ...
I'd like to take-up a theme that Vince Cable spoke on earlier, UK Polling Report has an article which tackles the question head-on. It reports that the Tories are still odds-on favourites to win the next election despite the fact that recent polls have shown a narrowing gap. Anthony Well's says that this will be due to worsening conditions and the fact that those polled are 'very pessimistic': "Asked if the economy is getting better or worse people are overwhelmingly negative - in MORI's latest poll 66% expected the economy to get worse next year." However, he points to contrasts ...
If you want to play the shoe throwing game click HERE. I am trying to beat the high score, please leave your high scores in the comment section!
Nick Clegg writes : Dear Fraser A year ago, I was elected as leader of our great party. It has been a challenging and exciting year. I am very proud that in that time we have made all the running on so many of the important issues facing us. I am announcing our "Green Road out of the Recession", which outlines how a Liberal Democrat government would inject a green stimulus into the economy, both to provide jobs and investment now and to ensure our economy is sustainable in the future. Our proposals include: A five-year programme to insulate every ...
Back in May 2007 I highlighted the problems with the N21 night bus service. Earlier this year I raised the issue of local night buses with Caroline Pidgeon, Lib Dem London Assembly member are Deputy Chair of the Assembly Transport Committee. I am pleased to hear from Caroline that there are what look like some very welcome improvements coming to local night bus services in the Autumn.
It's New Avengers night again on BBC4, and if ever there was an episode of The New Avengers to watch, try this one. I don't mean it's the best - it certainly isn't - but if you tune in at 11pm, you'll find arguably the most memorable of them. There's a great central conceit of an ordinary street that's really a target range that shoots back and kills you... Just not in the way you think. On the down side, that visually striking concept's about all there is to it, but there's a lot of fun in looking at it. ...
Much is being said about plans to make it easier to sue people for libel, to deal with libel on the internet. I think, in practice, this could add a regulatory burden to Blogs (all comments would have to be moderated being one obvious consequence) and change the medium as we know it. Good or bad? Well considering the opposition (or what was the opposition in the states) benefits the most from blogging it's clear it's not a Government Friendly medium. I think we had to expect a reaction eventually. But, as with most of these ideas, there's always unintended ...
Colin Stagg is finally vindicated. Robert Napper killed Rachel Nickell and the British Criminal Justice system has now confirmed it. It only took sixteen years. The story I think is possibly being missed here is the miscarriage of justice suffered by Napper's next victims, Samantha Bissett and her daughter Jazmine. When the criminal justice system gets it wrong, not only do the falsely accused suffer, but we all suffer. The real perpetrators are allowed to roam free and destroy more lives. There is, quite rightly, a process for getting miscarriages of justice corrected. It takes time, too much time, but ...
(Hat Tipping the Blogging Megavillain this probably won't make sense if you haven't seen that story!) "This blogging business. We don't like Bloggers, Comrade Draper. We're trying to make it easier to sue the little bastards." "Well, yes, Comrade, obviously their blogs need stopping. But look at how blogging helped Obama in the states. What we need is a blog of our own that's as big as Iain Dale's or Guido's blogs. It might really help us." "I see. And these blog things, is it easy to get as many readers as Guido?" "Very easy." "Is it?" "Yes Comrade. Very ...
Lillian Ladele, homophobe, claims that the employment tribunal case she's just lost wasn't "an attempt to undermine the rights of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender communities" - apart from, of course, their right to get married. Strange how that wasn't mentioned. Her lawyer also claims that "the evidence showed that Lillian performed all of her duties to the same high standard for the lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender communities, as she did for everyone" - apart from the small matter of refusing to carry out her work for EVIL DIRTY homosexuals.So not only is she a homophobe, ...
Ambulance and health services will be under stress over Xmas and the New Year, but local St John Ambulance volunteers are helping out. They will be providing ambulance crews throughout the winter, and offering support to the over-stretched ambulance service at one of the busiest times of the year. The ambulance service is under more pressure than ever as more people are calling 999. Crews will be provided across the country as part of the organisation's role as the ambulance reserve, including London, Bristol, the North West and West Midlands. Harry Dymond, Chief Commissioner Operations at St John Ambulance, the ...
Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the widow of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry and an actress whose longtime association with the "Star Trek" franchise included playing Nurse Christine Chapel in the original series and Betazoid Ambassador Lwaxana Troi in the later series, has died at the age of 76: In the first TV pilot, she played a leading role as Number One, the first officer who was second in command. But at the request of various executives, changes were made, and she did not reprise her role in the second TV pilot. Instead, she played the minor role of Nurse Chapel when ...
With a Parliamentary recess three weeks long, there has been a lot to get through this week before people head off home. There have been loads of meetings, and more preparation for the handover from Simon to me on January 1st. Business in the Lords has centred around three pieces of legislation, two new bills on Local Government, and Marine & Coastal Access, and the Banking Bill which is a re-tread from the last session. Yesterday I ventured south of the river to the studio of Talksport Radio where we were pre-recording a review of the year, along with Tory ...
Just noticed that on Yahoo! who simply just dole out news headlines like confetti have changed their headline for my posting below from: `Britain must be a beacon of hope` to: `Britain's economy can bounce back` Have they had a call from Mandelson's office??
Iain Dale has blogged about the issue of Labour trying to censor blogs, and guess who is behind the whole idea? Yes Ms Prentice the former wife of Gordon Prentice the MP for Pendle.
Several people are linking to an ill-informed post by Mike Smithson at Political Betting entitled Is Labour about to clamp-down on the blogsphere? about possible reforms to the UK defamation and libel laws. I have no idea what Mike's source is, but mine is open and to the point. Padraig from Index on Censorship attended a Westminster Hall debate this week and wrote it up for Liberal Conspiracy. He, and I, are very hopeful about the results of the debate, and the Govt has agreed a consultation that will pay specific attention to libel and the internet. As this is ...
Iain Dale has a story about possible Government proposals to change the law with regard to bloggers and libel. Bridget Prentice apparently wants to make it easier to sue bloggers for what they say and, crucially, what commenters to their site say. To my mind, libel law should be the same whatever the medium. If something defamatory is published online, it should be as actionable as if it is written in, say, Private Eye. The difference comes in assessing damages and small scale bloggers should not be punished too heavily - especially if the defamation came in the form of ...
I've just heard the brilliant news that Kingston's services for Children and Young People have once again been judged to be outstanding. This is the judgment of Ofsted's Annual Performance Assessment, and it covers all public services that work with children such as health, as well as the Council. Kingston is one of only six local authorities in the country who gained the...
Essex County Council has been shown to be good at publicity and bad at looking after vulnerable children. In the space of a week, it stood out in two league tables. The first rated Tory-run Essex and seven other authorities as the worst councils in the country for child protection. See The Guardian. The second was for spending on council publicity - where it came ninth highest. See the BBC
According to Auntie, teachers are set to be drummed out of the profession if they get into arguments whilst drunk outside school. The General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) wants teachers to be role models for children both in and out of the classroom.GTCE head of professional regulation David James said: "You might have an incident in a pub, someone has had too much to drink and there's been some pushing and shoving. "It hasn't resulted in a criminal offence, but we would look at it in great detail. It is not something we would want teachers to do, but ...
Yesterday's Full Council meeting raised an important question of journalistic ethics; namely, should a journalist publish words that were spoken in a meeting but then struck from the record? Unfortunately for David James of the South Wales Echo, the answer is not if the reason they were struck from the record is as watertight as a mermaid's brassiere. Perhaps inevitably there was something of
Last week, we announed the categories for this year's Lib Dem Voice 2008 Awards - both the party ones, and the non-party ones. The short-list will be drawn up over this weekend, so if you have any further nominations to submit, leave them in the comments box asap (please make clear in which category your nominations belong). A reminder of the eight awards up fro grabs follows: The LDV 2008 Awards Liberal Democrat Politician of the Year Please nominate the elected representative you believe has had the best year: nominees may be members of any elected body within the UK. ...
Yesterday I was at Exeter races to take photos for the Racing Post. I managed to get through the day without having a bet (good decision - the two horses I thought about backng both lost). Not the most prestigious day's racing in the calendar, but good to blow the cobwebs away (trans. it was a bit chilly)
Shhh. Come in and somebody watch the door. So you got my title that "This is Not What Blogging is About" then and came in to find out more. Well according to Mike Smithson at Political Betting Labour are seeking to tighten up the control over bloggers and their comments. This is a worrying state of affairs. We all saw what happened to Damian Green. He had information that was embarrassing to the Government and they sent in the anti-terror squad to search his offices, computer etc. So is it now not going to enough to allow debate to flow ...
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The Mayor of London has managed to waste a ton of taxpayers' money on a competition to design a new version of the Routemaster bus. We all love the Routemaster. It is the iconic image of London. But it was gloriously unsafe and impractical. I don't know how many people were killed or injured getting off the back, but it must have been a load. The seats were too narrow for today's well-bodied types and the ceilings upstairs were so low as to cause serious damage to anyone over oompa loompa height. But, having decided to get rid of the ...
To while away those last precious hours before you head off for after-work drinks (the week of Christmas itself doesn't really count as "work", does it) some links from yesterday and today's coverage of Nick Clegg's first anniversary. I've chopped out a few excerpts for each which I find particularly telling in one way or another. Allegra Stratton for the Guardian The Good: [Clegg] hasn't done badly, pulling off some fundamental repositioning of his party this year. At this year's Lib Dem conference the party membership voted through a programme of tax cuts, beginning with cuts for low earners, and ...
The Labour party in the new year are going to propose a green paper that will make it easier to sue bloggers according to Mike Smithson over at Political Betting. To read the post click HERE. As I understand this is just a violation of the freedom of speech and I will definitely lobby MP's and Lord's to vote against this proposal. David Davis should fight this through like he did with the 42 days, because this would be a breach of civil liberties if it is passed through the two houses. Seriously if this bill was to be passed ...
Gordon Brown gave a speech this morning where he said that oil price volatility would continue to be a problem for the coming year. Rapicly changing oil prices hit motorists in the summer and continues to affect people in the form of their utility bills. Electricity and gas companies seem to have a bewildering way of pricing their products and failing to pass on oil price cuts claiming that they have had to pre-buy at earlier prices (which didn't seem to stop them hoiking the price up as soon as it started rising). Now the Secretary General of OPEC - ...
I finish work today for a fortnight, which is hugely exciting as it represents not only the longest break of my year, but also the opportunity to look forward to a seemingly infinite period of stress-free existence stretching ahead of me like a glorious golden road. Unfortunately I am acutely aware that the next 16 days will disappear in quadruple-quick time, and I'll be sat here mournfully staring at my computer screen within what seems like seconds, pondering the next few months before Easter comes to save me. Council business has also more or less shuddered to a halt the ...
The linked article thinks so. I have not as yet done my own analysis. What I have found previously is that we use gas in the wrong sequence and use stored gas in preference to importing more. What happens when the stored gas runs out is then unclear. It depends upon whether gas is available either as LNG to be regasified or at the ends of the pipelines.
Cumbria CC, Kells and Sandwith Lab 434 (41.7; -24.1) BNP 418 (40.1; +40.1) Con 190 (18.2; +1.2) [Ind (0.0; -17.2)] Majority 16 Turnout 26.6% Lab hold Percentage change is since May 2005. Isle of Wight UA, Newchurch LD Colin Richards 389 (39.7; +39.7) Con 377 (38.5; -8.0) Ind 213 (21.8; -19.3) [Ind (0.0; -12.4)] Majority 12 Turnout 44.7% LD gain from Con Percentage change is since May 2005.
Couple of news items from Politics Home here. First-up we have Vince Cable on the state of political play come the New Year... Mr Cable said that he thought rising unemployment levels in the new year would make the government "deeply, deeply, unpopular" "The problem at the moment is that there is a major crisis people are baffled, confused and frightened and they turn to the people they know," he said. He added: "When the pain is felt in the new year I think the government will be deeply, deeply unpopular. Mr Cable also said that despite some international criticism ...
See, there was I, happily preparing to start writing this fortnightly missive on all matters arising west of the Wye in the new year when, in a dramatic departure from normal practice, Wales's politicians decided to spend the last week before their Christmas break doing things. Damned liberty, if you ask me... The W Factor Then again, I can't exactly blame Kirsty for the leadership election finishing this week; that would be the fault of our conference reps. Still, the hustings are over, the bunting is down, the mad hysteria is at an end and the member for Brecon and ...
Over at The Guardian's Comment Is Free blog yesterday, James Graham gave one cheer to Nick Clegg's recent Why I am a Liberal speech, but urged the party to develop a much stronger response to the new recession politics. Read it in full here, but here's the conclusion: At a time when the Department for Work and Pensions is to be put under renewed pressure, limiting talk of social justice to tax cuts is unconvincing. What's worse, it is clearly failing to win people over. Today's ICM poll may show us slightly up, but over the past year the trend ...
One of the current political issues I've been thinking a bit about lately is the political accountability of the police. So I was interested in this article by Martin Kettle and I agree with his conclusions. This may be because the author seems to be partially inspired by "a Liberal Democrat from Haringey" whom he quotes but doesn't name. Who is this Haringey Lib Dem? No idea. But well done for
Don't tell me - regurgitated stuff from the PBR with a journey back into hubristic arrogance. Never!
Friday: Look, perhaps I'm not understanding this: "The Metropolitan Police force has rejected calls for an inquiry into errors made by, er, The Metropolitan Police" Since when was it up to the police to decide whether or not anyone should oversee their actions? Meanwhile, "Mr Frown has rejected calls for an early* inquiry into the Iraq war started by Lord Blairimort and paid for by, er, Mr Frown" Is it me, or is there a PATTERN developing? It is an ABUSE of POWER, if you are able to cover your own fluffy bottom by preventing inquiries into your own FAILINGS. ...
Peter Carl, the former head of the European Commission's environment department, has spent most of the year as an advisor on climate change issues to the French Government during its EU Presidency. Yesterday he spoke at a debate in Brussels at which, I am told, he described the outcome on financing carbon capture and storage projects as one of the most significant of all, potentially equal in importance to the rest of the measures combined. But if it was so important, why has it attracted so very little media attention? I suppose it just wasn't on the radar of most ...
London Lib Dem MEP Sarah Ludford has won a 'Big Brother' award from Privacy International for her work as Vice-Chair of the EU Human Rights Committee.
68) Orson Scott Card, Children of the Mind (London: Orbit 1996, ISBN 1857239547). The next in the Ender saga, shorter than most because it was originally intended as part of Xenocide. Like that book, it is a quicker read than I would normally expect for a book of its length and raises some interesting moral issues, but suffers a little from gender stereotyping. I was interested to notice that one of the Roman Catholic characters at one point quotes the LDS Doctrine & Covenants as if it were an RC scripture; the characters are otherwise pretty accurate in their statements ...
While I am delighted that personal fave Ivor the Engine is doing so well, I have to admit to being surprised. When you hear obituaries about Oliver Postgate, they typically focus on Bagpuss and The Clangers. I love all three enormously, but Ivor has a sublime, nostalgic and - dare I say it? - adult quality that the others lack. Thanks to Jonathan Calder for the recommendation.
Here's a few photographs from yesterday's unveiling of Catalyst, a new permanent art work at Greenmarket, by Dalziel and Scullion. I had the pleasure of introducing award winning journalist and broadcaster Lesley Riddoch, who officially launched Catalyst, and - as you can see below - assisted with the unveiling. A great turnout to the launch too. You can read the Council's news release on the launch beneath the photos and if you click on the headline above, you can access the article in the Scotsman about it. Above : Lesley addressing the crowd, just before the unveiling Above : Assisting ...
Table from Political betting The average for the Conservatives has come down by two MP's, that's Pendle they can kiss goodbye to. The Labour average has increased from 242 to 247.5 and the Liberal Democrats average hasn't changed! The gamblers are really going of the Conservatives and all these low poll ratings and gambling odds are going to effect the Conservative pride a lot as this could lead to Cameron and cronies losing the next general election!
The Government's narrative is: `We'll leave Iraq a better place than we found it`. The problem is `what is the definition of `success`? How are we to judge the aftermath - what if it all falls to bits? Who's going to be there to report back on what's going on? Does the Government have any ideas as to [...]
I refer to the clear and consice blog of Peter Black. So far so good - yet we are still left with the conundrum: If our over-attachment to things through spending is the drug - how do we administer the methadone to wean people off it? Brown seems to want to give people a `perpetual high` that [...]
I fear I failed to announce in last week's newsletter my visit last Saturday to Tockington in Steve Webb's Westminster constituency for their Christmas social evening, but suffice it to say it was a superb event and I was made to feel very welcome (despite arriving late and with filthy hands, having had to change a punctured tyre on the M5). Tonight I speak at Wells constituency's annual Christmas supper in Highbridge, my last constituency Liberal Democrat event of 2008. If you feel I do not visit your constituency enough, please write and invite me: often I am not aware ...
Happy Posting is suspended for this post. Actress, producer and feminist SF icon Majel Barrett has passed away. She put a hell of a lot of herself into science fiction, and was rewarded by being forever overshadowed by her husband. They'd bloody well better dedicate the new Trek film to her, since it will be her epitaph. I think that after work this evening I shall watch the episode of Animated Trek where Christine Chapel saves the men's arses after they all get sirenned in her honour, and raise a glass to the first, the original, Enterprise crew Number One. ...
Look out for the local NO2ID campaign stall near Angel tube on Sunday afternoon (21st Dec). I'll be dropping by to support the local team. And if you're not out and about, you can still see the campaign video on YouTube.
Charlotte Gore wants us to hold a referendum on the future direction of our party. The first question has to be why so, I will let Charlotte answer that in her own words; "See, the way I see it is that if you can persuade people to vote for which 'version' of the Liberal Democrat party they would like in an open primary then they would almost certainly be more inclined to feel invested in the party should their side 'win' - and might vote for us again in a General Election. Who knows? No-one's ever done anything like this." ...
Image from the BBC From all the Christmas cards above, which one is the card of Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg. If you still haven't figured its the one to the left and it was designed by a constituency competition of young children! At least Nick is getting his constituency involved, unlike Cameron who has just acted a photo shoot to make his family look like an ordinary one, and let me assure you they are far from ordinary! Gordon Brown has gone for a picture of Number 10 somewhere he wont be staying for much longer, he probably wants ...
The Times has branded the 'war of words' between the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Prime Minister as a 'battle for the moral high ground'. In reality though both are right because they are largely talking about separate things. The Archbishop has quite rightly pointed to the drive for never ending and unsustainable credit as one of the sources of the economic troubles we find ourselves in. He describes the credit crunch as 'a welcome "reality check" for a society that had become driven by unsustainable greed.' Dr Williams believes that the country has been "going in the wrong direction" ...
The Guardian reports that Andy Coulson, David Cameron's spin doctor and former Editor of the News of the World, has been found by an industrial tribunal to have overseen a culture of bullying in his old job. Not only did he oversee it, but he also led it, according to the paper. So, whilst everyone is entitled to redemption, is Cameron sure that Mr Coulson is quite the person to have at the heart of the cuddly Conservative machine?
On his first anniversary as leader, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg will today set out plans to put Britain on a Green Road out of the Recession, creating jobs and leaving a legacy that will save energy, put money back into people's pockets and fight climate change.
It is currently to be found in the right-hand column of James Graham's Quaequam Blog! Which is your favourite Oliver Postgate series?
The thoughts of the sometimes, er, outspoken Liberal Democrat MEP can be found here. Thanks to Irfan Ahmed.
Fri 19th
07:50
Top Conservative presided over bullying, two Conservatives quit and two admit mistake and make chari...
A trio of stories: Andy Coulson, the Conservative Party communications chief, "presided over a culture of bullying when he was News of the World editor, an employment tribunal has found today in upholding a claim of unfair dismissal against the paper ... Driscoll was sacked in April 2007 while on long-term sick leave for stress-related depression, which the tribunal found had arisen directly as a result of bullying behaviour led by Coulson". (The Guardian) Nick Bourne and Alun Cairns, both Conservative Welsh Assembly members, have made donations to charity after coming under fire for claiming the costs of iPods on ...
The link is to the story about Susan Holdsworth. This was an expert evidence story. The situation in the family courts, however, would not necessarily be the same. Yesterday someone I cannot name (J) had a criminal case against him dismissed because there was no evidence against him. However, his children remain in care for essentially the same allegation. He has been sitting with this
One of the merits of blogs as I understand it is the ability to capture the current thought, the reaction, the precise event almost coterminus. So it seems with this little quirky local community blog... I take pictures all the time as I am out and about on the patch and it is scary just how quickly those pictures become the record. Often I pop back to get a better picture and find that a building has gone, a tree been pruned, the cars almost certainly have changed and so you can't actually recreate the moment... and so now also ...
A lovely little story from one of my favourite sources of firelighting material, The Sun, today. Apparently, Almost a third of teenagers regret the first time they have sex. Or, as the Sun could have said, Over two thirds of teenagers don't regret the first time they have sex, so get to it kids. Had a poll shown two thirds of people wanted to leave the EU, I wonder if the Sun headline would read UK voters 'want to stay in EU'. And yet the Sun's headline here is Teens first time sex 'regrets'. No mention of why the teenagers ...
It's like "The Portland Trip" episode of The West Wing when Labour education spokesman Ken Macintosh challenged education minister Fiona Hyslop earlier this week. He called on her to provide extra funds to help newly-qualified teachers who are struggling to find work. Now I know this particular problem is nothing new. Indeed by younger brother amongst the various letters of professional qualifications after his name has a PGCE from Durham, which along with his MA from St. Andrews failed to secure him more than two years work as a teacher. Even when that probationary period was up he applied for ...
I've decided to each Friday post some of the wierdest ways people surf through to my blog. It started as an idea when someone in Las Vagas came on by using the search word "gambling vanity" so I thought well that location is appropriate. Though heaven knows what they found out about the SNP during Glenrothes. Mind you yahoo do think that I've written "homourous poems about the credit crunch" as my Twelve Days was in their first 10 hits. Next years Fringe here I come. I also always wonder when somebody looks for a variation of my name and ...
Here's a proposition. If there's a number of different directions our party could go in (liberalism can mean so many different things from new age hippies and 'soft' judges to massive public services to free market economics and enlightened individualism... so why don't we put it to an open, public vote? What do you want the Liberal Democrats to be? See, the way I see it is that if you can pursuade people to vote for which 'version' of the Liberal Democrat party they would like in an open primary then they would almost certainly be more inclined to feel ...
Just to let people know that I've just had a text from David Roberts-Jones that the party gained a parish council seat in Penketh East from the Tories. This is a vital ward in our target seat of Warrington South that is being fought by Jo Crotty. Now Neil Trafford can rest in peace - as [...]
