Much has been made of the unrest in the Russian Far East. That a relatively minor taxation change could create riots in Vladivostok has come as a surprise to everyone. However, as I have noted in the past, the Putinistas are on increasingly thin ice. The emergence of a new, more coherent opposition grouping interestingly named "Solidarity" is obviously a welcome step, given how the factionalism of Russian democrats has been their principal downfall. That it comes at a time when the global economic crisis is placing increasing pressure on the post-Soviet government of United Russia and may help to ...
Station Road, Yate, should be safer soon because of two recent decisions. South Glos Council has agreed to a weight limit of 7.5 tonnes except for vehicles delivering to businesses. The limit will cover Station Rd, Church Road and Cranleigh Court Road. Yate town councillor Sue Evan-Jones commented "We get really heavy lorries along Station Road and they are not all deliveries, some are using the route as a cut through. "A lot of lorry drivers also come down Longs Drive thinking it is an entrance to the Merloni Elettrodomestici factory. They cause quite a nuisance so we are trying ...
For three years I went to Eurovision (Kiev, Athens and Helsinki). Last year I didn't go as I couldn't stand Serbia as a traveller and two Gay women who went (and wouldn't be seen dead not going) said they wouldn't go again if it were held there. This year it'll be held in Russia. Deep breath. [...]
I was supposed to clean the flat today. I didn't; I went shopping instead. If I had then written a very short song about it, it might go a little like this: The audio synching is slightly out. This is something YouTube's done rather than my ventriloquism skilz.
Tommy Sheridan - oh come on.Why on earth do politicians do it?, I know there were rumours that our very own Lib Dem Lembit Opik was asked - if its true then Lembit I thank you for not going on.Although when you look at this years participants, surely it should have been called "once a minor sort of well known person Big Brother".Well, this will be three weeks of boredom ------------------
Russia has carried through with their threat to halt the gas supplies from the Ukraine, which I first blogged about here. This decision is already impacting upon Europe to the extent that the Czech Republic, now taking on the Presidency of the European Union, has called an emergency meeting of envoys from the EU on January 5th to discuss the crisis. The Russians had earlier insisted that the supplies running through the Ukraine to Western Europe would not be affected, and have been quick to accuse the Ukraine of siphoning off small amounts of the supplies to plug their energy ...
The news today about house prices are damning. I have no objections to affordable house prices - the real political point to be made is `what was the point of the high house prices when most of the gains will be wiped out by 2010?` I've yet to hear from Vince Cable or anyone else in the [...]
Saw this in the YEP today. This is really great news and it's brilliant that the staff who do an excellent job of looking after the Moor are rewarded for their hard work. Well done and best wishes John!
News reaches us today that Russian President Dimitry Medvedev has signed into law a bill that scraps the right to a jury trial for defendants in cases involving terrorism, insurrection, or other public unrest. The Bill had been passed by the Russian Parliament last year. This is the latest in a long line of moves under the Putin and then Medvedev administrations that have curbed democratic freedoms in Russia. Putin, it was argued, was exactly what Russia wanted when he was elected - someone experienced and solid, who would provide Russia with the stability it craved after a tumultuous decade ...
The New Adventures increase in breadth and confidence, with cyberpunk future histories and the series' defining companion, archaeologist Professor Bernice Summerfield. Andrew Cartmel writes urban nightmares of poverty, pollution and profiteering private corporations; Ben Aaronovitch's nuts become infamous; Marc Platt's Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible is one of the stand-out novels, turning the series inside-out with a new, old mythology; and another favourite is... Doctor Who: The New Adventures - Nightshade "In her shock, Betty could have been forgiven for not recognising the creature. But, in point of fact, over twenty years late, her brother Alf had come home to stay..." ...
We tend not to be too poll-obsessed here at LDV - of course we look at them, as do all other politico-geeks, but viewed in isolation no one poll will tell you very much beyond what you want to read into it. Looked at over a reasonable time-span and, if there are enough polls, you can see some trends. Here, in chronological order, are the results of the eight polls published in December: Tories 39%, Labour 35%, Lib Dems 17% - Populus/Times (8 Dec) Tories 37%, Labour 36%, Lib Dems 14% - ComRes/Independent (14 Dec) Tories 41%, Labour 35%, Lib ...
ooh, beter start to the New Year...Andy Murray V. Rafael Nadal play in final of Capitala World Tennis tomorrow. See all about tournament here. It will be broadcast on Sky Sports but I'm just checking to see if it's free to view anywhere... This is a nice website for Andy Murray info... No luck on the free front. Hope I can track down on radio somewhere...
I do get some pleasure from the inventiveness of those Nigerian scam emails, but this one, with its ironic self-referencing, beats the lot. Enjoy! Anti-Terrorist and Monetary Crimes Division FBI Headquarters In Washington, D.C. Federal Bureau Of Investigation J. Edgar Hoover Building 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20535-0001...
Those of you who don't live in the Hyde Park area or use Woodhouse Moor may not appreciate the strength of feeling that many local residents, including myself, have against this hair brained scheme. Basically Highways officers at Leeds City Council, against the wishes of local Lib Dem Councillors, decided that putting a new bus lane on the A660 between the university and Hyde Park corner would solve some of the problems on the road. There are three problems with this idea: a) It won't solve the problems that it should be solving. b) Part of the Moor wood be ...
The name of the actor who will replace David Tennant in Doctor Who will be announced on Saturday. There now follows a poll. View Poll: The Next Doctor As always, you need to be logged in to vote, Non-LJers almost certainly have some sort of OpenID they can use, LMK if you want me to find the link to the how to I wrote.
2008 was the year in which the gaff was well and truly blown on the government's relentless drive to have every one of us "pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed and numbered." Starting with the data leaks scandals at the end of 2007, we had a steady trickle of revelations about how the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act is being casually abused by local authorities. The year ended with the revelation (courtesy of David Howarth) that the injuries which the police used as a pretext for raiding the eco-protest camp outside Kingsnorth power station included insect bites and toothache. We ...
Many thanks to the 200+ LDV readers who took part in our end-of-year awards, which ran between 24th and 28th December. Voting was conducted via Liberty Research using the alternative vote method of ranking the nominees for each of the eight categories. In the first two days, we revealed the winners of
Start the new year with a bang, well sort of. I have just checked YouTube and found that I have blasted my way past another YouTube milestone. The video I shot in a former Soviet secret nuclear submarine base in the Crimea in the Ukraine two years ago has now had 100,000 viewings. If you really want to, you can see the video on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylag1L_p48I
Bet you they have a mere two. Pah. Four is better! Four! Four! Four! You've seen the size of the Tardis. What better than a low-centre of gravity, four-legged Doctor to get around its insides? Four! Four! Four!
Inspired by the efforts of Exeter Racecourse (see below) I spent this afternoon with a group of others trying to make sure that tomorrow's rugby match between the Cornish All Blacks and Waterloo goes ahead. As you can see from the pictures, we've had a bit of frost in the last few days and if it reoccurs tonight then the match will be called off. As the club makes most of its income from match days - the tickets, the bars and so on - we need the match to go ahead. This is particularly the case as we haven't ...
I had an interesting day at Exeter races again yesterday working for the Racing Post. For those who do not know, Haldon Racecourse is sited on top of a hill and so the temperature never made it above freezing. Quite how they managed to keep racing on (albeit just hurdles), I don't know. Today's paper brought a couple of my images to the general public, a shot of conditional jockey Harry Skelton (son of famous showjumper Nick) and one of horses racing past a frozen bit of birch. The photos here are some of the other shots from the day. ...
I'll admit that I'm still hooked on the romance of trains. I'm not a train spotter, one class 47 locomotive looks very much like any other, but I enjoy train travel. The news over the past few days has rather depressed me though. First, the fare increases. Now I'd be the first to accept that there is a case for investment in Britain's railways. However, given that I, along with my fellow
I've now started thinking properly about the year ahead and my most immediate thoughts are 4 blogging related resolutions: To post more regularly and decisively. (We'll see how this one goes - although I seem to be doing all right today!)To keep a prominent fellow Lib Dem blogger out of trouble.To get another prominent fellow Lib Dem blogger in to more trouble.To get a fellow Lib Dem who doesn't,
The photograph on the left was donated by Gary Lewis and illustrates the weakness of the pound. Currently the exchange rate for tourists is £1 for one Euro. This morning's Western Mail leads with the extraordinary proposition that joining the Euro at this stage will somehow rescue the Welsh economy. The paper cites as its authority a number of politicians and experts nearly all of whom would no doubt agree that we should have joined the Euro some time ago and that if we had done so then we would not be in such a mess. I am not so ...
The BBC has just revealed that the identity of the actor who will succeed David Tennant will be announced tomorrow evening. They will appear in tomorrow's episode of Doctor Who Confidential - on BBC One at 5.35pm - giving their reaction to being cast. The full story is on the BBC News website. Tomorrow evening also sees the latest Lloyd Webber reality TV contest start on BBC One. Eurovision: Your Country Needs You is the X-Factorisation of A Song for Europe.
...as the new Doctor is announced on a special Doctor Who Confidential.
In the last but one Liberal Democrat News of 2008 Jenny Tonge had written an article detailing the then status of the plight of the Palestinian people in Gaza. This resulted in a, rather predictable, response in the last 19th December issue of the paper. The Chair of the Lib Dem Friends of Israel, Cllr Monroe Palmer, had an "another view" article and a letter writer from Kensington & Chelsea Lib
Cllr Iqbal the leader of the Labour party in Pendle has been standing outside Ghausia Masjid Nelson today handing out a template letter to the people of Pendle asking them to sign it and send it to Pendle's Labour MP Gordon Prentice. You can see the template letter below, please use it and send it to your MP's! I am writing as your seriously concerned constituent with regard to the latest barbaric actions of Israel. On Saturday 27th alone the first day of bombing, over 250 individuals lost their lives, many of them children and women. Although Israel has claimed ...
Yesterday's Indy published an interesting account of the findings of 'private polling for the Liberal Democrats' under the flattering headline, Is the invisible Clegg a secret weapon for the Lib Dems? The research was scarcely earth-shattering, but there were some interesting conclusions: On Nick Clegg: The research concluded that Mr Clegg was the Liberal Democrats' best asset even though he is unknown to many voters. The party's strategy in the new year will be based on giving him as high a profile as possible. Women, who like him more than men do, regard the Liberal Democrat leader as "nice-looking, presentable, ...
Throughout the festive season, LDV is offering our readers another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which appeared on the blog during 2008. The fourth most popular opinion article was by, erm, me, and appeared on LDV on 27th June... What does Henley mean for the Lib Dems? "A bit disappointed" probably sums up the reaction of most Lib Dems on hearing the result from Henley. But it's a response that deserves some cool, detached analysis - because the underlying message from Henley is more complex than either Lib Dems who throw up in their hands in ...
The Guardian published the list of the top 10 most-read UK politics stories which appeared on its website in 2008... Good news: two stories featuring Lib Dems are among their number. What greater tribute could there be to the interest the public has in the party? Bad news: the stories were 1. Lembit and the Cheeky Girl split, and 8. Nick Clegg tells GQ of his sex encounters. Ach well.
The time comes when you have to go shopping; when you've really really had the last of the turkey, eaten Xmas pudding for breakfast and are faced with the prospect of an After Eight sandwich for lunch, then there's nothing for it but to replenish the shelves. I am trying a new approach to shopping when I'm in Suffolk. The trouble is, my nearest and most convenient store is a Tesco, and when you're pushed for time, the temptation is to make one trip, pile up the trolley and escape. I've always used local shops to some extent, but I'm ...
Bit late, but for some reason just noticed it today. Apparently they called the previous Pope, 'the Pope of hope'. That's not an accusation that can be levelled against Mr Ratzinger, of No. 1, Vatican City. No, not with his spectacular Christmas speech. Don't worry about the rainforest, folks. It's the blurring of gender roles that'll destroy the earth. I don't know why the esteemed 'Vicar of Christ' didn't just blame homosexuality (as if homosexuality and gender roles are always and for ever inextricably linked) for every atrocity on earth and initiate a Holy War against anyone who may be ...
I had to leave work early today with an ear infection that's left me (temporarily, I sincerely hope) almost deaf, so whether there's a Big Finish A Week today depends on my hearing.... Tom Spurgeon's been doing a great series of interviews with comics people, whether creators like Eddie Campbell or bloggers like Tucker Stone. All [...]
I'm trying two resolutions this year: Spend at least half an hour a day on reading. Try and write more First one will kick off with reading Kevin Carson's first paper for The Centre for a Stateless Society: Industrial Policy: New Wine in Old Bottles and that will be followed up with finishing Benjamin Tucker's Instead of a [...]
'There is no humanitarian crisis in the [Gaza] Strip,' Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said in Paris yesterday, 'and therefore there is no need for a humanitarian truce.' I imagine the Germans said the same thing about the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Second World War. I wonder how Ms Livni squares her statement with the [...]
Well, I had a mission. The mission was to complete the Solo Drum career in Rock Band on expert difficulty, then do a 'Faking It' style challenge to see if I could look like I actually knew how to play real drums. It's been a month since I last updated on this subject. I never did get past (Don't Fear The) Reaper, although I did get past the bit that I was stuck on one. I can explain. My housemate got Rock Band 2, and since then I've been playing that instead. In fact, I've been playing it so much ...
Readers of Lib Dem Party President Ros Scott's Because Baronesses are people too blog will have already had the chance to enjoy her New Year message. Ros has kindly agreed to let LDV share it with our readers, too... Firstly, I would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year, and hope that you enjoyed the Christmas break in the company of family, friends and loved ones. For me, the year starts with a new job, a key one in building a stronger, more vibrant, more successful Party, and I'm really looking forward to the next two years ...
We'd say a big thank you to the 210,706 'absolute unique visitors'* who read Liberal Democrat Voice in 2008, up over 167% up on the comparable figure for 2007 (78,962). For the record, the comparable figure for Iain Dale's Blog was 601,182. In December alone, we welcomed 20,047 absolute unique visitors, up 40% on the comparable figure for 2007 (14,249). Whether you're a regular here, or an occasional 'popper-by', we're delighted you looked in. And if you enjoy reading LDV, why not try writing for LDV? * Google's term: it broadly means people using over 210,000 different computers visited LDV ...
Interesting article in Haaretz by Anshel Pfeffer which seeks to document the attitudes of non-Israeli Jews. One of the most frequent charges laid at the door of critics of Israel, often used to stymie debate, is that it is somehow 'anti-Semitic' to criticise Israel's actions. However, while this is the case in a minority of instances it is far from the majority viewpoint. According to Pfeffer many simply are 'not interested' busy as they are over the holiday season. Amoung the concerned Pfeffer identifies three strands of opinion; those who see only the trauma of innocent Israelis in Sderot, Ashkelon ...
The New Year opens with news that the Israelis have bombed the parliament building and the offices of Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City, both places I have visited myself for discussions with PLC members and with Haniyeh when he was prime minister of the shortlived Palestinian unity government. The current death toll stands at 4 Israelis to 380 Palestinians, a ratio of nearly 1:100. I join in condemnation of the killing of Israeli civilians on both humanitarian and political grounds (what on earth does it accomplish except to provide the Israeli government with an excuse for its actions), but how ...
My laptop expired over the holiday, which means that blogging is likely to be light for a few days. I shall do the Britblog Roundup somehow, but it may not be up until Monday. Happy new year.
Many of my close friends will be surprised that I have given up drinking Alcohol as a new year resolution. No it is not that I do not like a drink but as I have agreed to run the Bath Half Marathon on March 15nth then I afraid that Alcohol will not help my training so it has to go for the Period to March 15nth and not a drop will touch my lips from now until the Half Marathon is over. ...
The BBC website has a profile of Jo Swinson MP today. In it she complains about being pigeon-holed because of her age to a journalist who...er...pigeon-holes her because of her age. I mean how patronising is this; "Surely it must be a little tiresome having so much to do when other people of the same age are out enjoying themselves?"Yes, because of course the only thing any 28 year old is
It is the second day of 2009 and I realising that I haven't yet done any of my usual reflecting on the past year and planning for the new one. So in the meantime here is Nick Clegg: Oh, and happy new year everyone!
The sharp-eyed amongst you will have noticed a subtle shift in the look of the site. Gone is the overwhelming orange, and in its place is the sort of blackness which mirrors my mood so close to the end of a two week holiday. I thought I might refresh the site for the new year, in the almost certainly mistaken belief that it might make more people read what I write. So the blog moves generally leftwards (in relation to the rest of the page, not ncessarily in terms of political comment...), whilst the contents bit moves to the right. ...
On the day that inflation-busting 6% fare rises come in to force for commuters, the Liberal Democrats have condemned the Government for failing to freeze regulated fares this year. The Liberal Democrats have proposed a one-year freeze in the cost of regulated fares (season tickets and saver tickets) to help struggling families during the economic crisis. The cost of...
Commenting the award of the one-year contract to deliver next year's Sats tests to Edexcel, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said: "It is no surprise that Edexcel has won this contract." "What will be interesting to know is whether there were actually any other serious bids to run the key stage tests. "Ed Balls...
So the Vatican is to allow divorce, though not for those in marriage, it is merely going to divorce itself from automatically adopting all Italian law. Vatican legal experts say that too many of the civil and criminal laws of the state that surrounds the Holy See conflict with church principles. Those from New Year's Day the Pope effectively threw out the Lateran treaties 80 years to the day they were entered into by his predecessor Pope Pius XI. The Vatican says that Italian laws are too many, too unstable and too often conflict with the moral teachings of the ...
I guess it's my turn to try the fortune telling lark. It will be interesting to look back on 31st December and see how many of these actually come true. I suspect this will be more Sybil Trelawney than anything else, although she did get it right once.......... Anyway, here goes: 1 Obama will have a brief honeymoon and then his popularity will drop like a stone as the recession bites in the US and he fails to magic it all away when he takes office. He has already tried to manage expectations about this - in his victory speech ...
Spent last night reading reviews of Wii games to find ones that might be suitable for both self and the Small Person - which mainly involved shouting at the screen not every five year old girl is interested in being a Disney fucking princess!!!! - and found a couple, which have been put on the amazon wishlist (For those who are bound to ask, here are my list and Small Person's list). One of the most promising ones appears to be this. Unfortunately, due to reading about that game before going to sleep, when I woke up this morning I ...
Jo Swinson has talked to the BBC about how life is like for the baby of the house. Oops, shouldn't have said that because Jo doesn't like being called the baby. She rather be called the youngest MP. Anyway the report by the BBC is a great read and I have actually found it very interesting. And now to the question of Being the youngest MP? It must be difficult I have got to say, Nick Clegg is always joked about his time in bed with 30 women so imagine what it must be like for the youngest MP in ...
The City Council has delivered Domestic Bin and Recycling Container Collection 2009 Calendars to households across the City. There's a useful online facility on the Council website that allows you to select your street and then print off calendars for any of the following services provided in your area: * Refuse Wheelie Bin (or conventional bin collection for streets that don't have wheelie collections) * Blue Paper Recycling Bin * Brown Garden Waste Bin * Green Household Waste Recycling Box You can access this by clicking on the headline above.
It's pretty common for people to use the "remember my password" option in web browsers such as Firefox. But do you realise just how easy it is for someone else to then see all your passwords? In Firefox go to Tools / Options / Security, then click on Saved Passwords and then on Show Passwords. Bingo - all your passwords are there in plain text. OK if you're the only person who goes near your computer, but not so reassuring in other circumstances. (These are the menu options for Firefox v3. They are slightly different in earlier versions.) There's a ...
I found reading ChannelWeb's selection of the ten coolest Open Source products of 2008 a fairly depressing experience. I'm a fan of Open Source Software and find it meets nearly all my (admittedly simple) computing needs; but just take a look at the list. OpenOffice.org 3.0 and Lotus Symphony are two versions of the same product. I've nothing against either of them, and I've been using OpenOffice quite happily since version 1, but "cool"? The developer Michael Meeks recently called OpenOffice.org a "profoundly sick project" and, whilst version 3 is perfectly serviceable, it's still somewhat bloated, memory hungry, slow, clunky ...
Now who on earth in one of the almost most continuous war zones of the last 60 years would put a "top secret" nuclear plant within missile range of your most volatile neighbours. Israel that's who. The fact that the Times has got hold of the information of this top secret facility is one thing. That Israel has one is another and that it is within range of the rockets, which have shocked Israeli intelligence as to their sophistication and range is another. The problem is that Israel despite ceding land to the Palestinians have tried to maintain a tight ...
No real surprises here, with one story dominating your and my attention - the awful death of Baby P. 10. George Meehan and Liz Santry resign - the two key Labour councillors (council leader and lead member for children's services) finally took responsibility for Haringey Council's failings. 9. Baby P investigation update - thoughts following a meeting with Cabinet minister Ed Balls. 8. Panorama on Baby P - my advance thoughts, particularly on how the pressure to agree may result in people not sticking by their concerns. 7. Baby P at PMQs - a very brief post, but got lots ...
RIP Just saw this story on BBC News. For many years she was the only Liberal MP in the South African Parliament and, although she did not suffer in the same way as many black anti-apartheid activists, her courage should never be underestimated. She was never afraid to stand up for what she thought was right.
Dominic Grieve has called for a return to the sensible premise that adults should be able to confront teenagers who might be damaging their property without fear of the police arresting the adult, as seems to be the police obsession in the current "target" driven police culture. Common sense, I think you will agree.
I would have written about this before Christmas but time caught up with me and I didn't get a chance. I had the pleasure of attending the pupils carol concert at Blenheim Primary School in Hyde Park where I am a governor. It's a really nice school with a great atmosphere and really enthusiastic staff. It's great to be given the oppurtunity to be involved in something really worthwhile in the area I live in. If anyone is interested in helping the school out with anything (like raffle prizes or new equipment) please let me know.
I found this story quite heartening. However I hope that Mr. Algie does not repeat the event now that it has been publicised!
In the run-up to the 2009 Euro-elections, the European Citizens' Consultations 2009 (ECC 2009) will give citizens a voice in the debate over how to respond to the current economic and financial crisis by providing a platform for a pan-European dialogue on the future of Europe.
