An interesting article appeared on Nick Harvey's blog, Forces Focus, today highlighting thats its not just the economy where the Liberal Democrats are leading the way in terms of ideas and forethought. In terms of defence, it is the Liberal Democrats who probably have "The Best Defence Policy" according to the Defence Management Journal. Nick's blog article went on to say: Going Down - The Labour Party We uncovered a simple economic formula sent from Treasury ministers to the MoD. Apparently it never arrived. If inflation is greater than proposed spending increases, your budget will eventually have a deficit. Not ...
http://www.comparethemeerkat.com
Dear reader if you are also a Facebook user may I direct you to two groups. The first is that like Zimbabwe foreign journalists are being banned from the Gaza strip. A very dear friend of mine has a friend who is currently on a year out teaching in Palestine. With the media blackout and all that is going on even the Westerners, and yes there are some, who are in Palestine are being cut off. Unlike Zimbabwe from what we can gather the Palestinians want to allow foreign press in to see the other side of the story. One ...
Wed 7th
22:56
Alas poor Iain, I knew him well...is Mr Dale intent on becoming a rather mangy attack dog?
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Iain Dale has accused our Party of being anti-Israel. What is a nice boy from North West London who started his political life in one of the country's most Jewish constituencies with a Local Party who used to spend much of their meetings talking about Prague before the war - because many of them appeared to have lived there - to do? I've generally taken a pro-Israeli
I posted the other day on International Fetish Day and the goings-on within the BDSM community. I drew some parallels with gays and mentioned some of the differences of opinion. The comments to the post certainly underlined the point. It got me thinking about the general problem where a bunch of people have a common interest, whether it's gay sex, bondage or train spotting, and one or more take it upon themselves to represent the interests of the community. Two things seem certain. First, without representation, your interest is going to get stomped on. When it comes to a conflict ...
I don't get to gloat with this blog very often, so I'm not going to pass up the opportunity when it's handed to me on a plate. Regular readers (by which I mean Sid and Doris) may remember this piece from September, highlighting a study that assessed the performance of a future large-scale wind farm programme using Met Office wind speed data. The primary finding of said study was that the peak
BBC1's On the fiddle tonight featured ex-Liberal Democrat council candidate Clive Parsons (here on the Wyre Forest LibDems website). The BBC reported on 23rd December: A former council candidate who falsely claimed almost £50,000 in benefits has been jailed for one year. Clive Parsons, 64, of Cotswold Close, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate for Wyre Forest
I was most pleased to recently find out that Monster Munch still exists. I bought a bag of twelve packs in my most recent order from Ocado.Unfortunately I am somewhat disappointed. The "Flamin' Hot" and "Roast Beef" flavours are pretty good. But my old favourite, the Pickled Onion flavour, is but a pale imitation of what it used to be. It used to have real bite to it back when I were a lad. But now it has a hint of sourness and sweetness, and that's it.
The Simply Food store in Market Harborough is one of the 27 Marks & Spencer shops that is to be closed, reports the Leicester Mercury. It opened less than three years ago and when it did I was an enthusiastic shopper there. But, to be honest, if I have been much less often recently. Perhaps I am not alone in this and that is why it is closing. The embourgeoisification of Market Harborough - a project I thoroughly support - has taken a blow.
Today being thirteenth night (what? We run on Goth Time!) we took the tree down tonight. This was facilitated somewhat by the arrival of the Christmas present from Claire in York (well done Royal Mail, did you bring it by Oxcart?), which was a copy of We Wish You a Metal Christmas. Obviously this was the perfect soundtrack for taking down the tree, and Small Person approved particularly of Alice Cooper's version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town and the very noisy Deck the Halls. Mat and I were more amused by - You may say there's no such ...
Last night, reports Antony Hook, the Federal Policy Committee of the Liberal Democrats voted to retain our existing policy of scrapping university tuition fees. It was right to do so. As Steve Webb says: It is not uncommon for graduates today to leave college with debts (un)comfortably in five figures. They are expected to pay off this debt, save for a deposit for a house and start putting money into a pension - something somewhere has to give.The idea that such a position is sustainable belongs to the neverland we all lived in before the credit crunch. It makes far ...
And she plays it very well! See blogger Charlotte's thoughtful rendition of 2009's hottest meme here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xEAXd-reqsM Another version appeared today too (by Sourdust): And the less said about Pink Dog's, the better...
Iain Dale has asked if the Lib Dems are the "Anti-Israel party" and I have to say I agree with him that the Lib Dems are becoming the anti Israel party and they is nothing wrong with that. The Lib Dems are a party that have called for Israel on many occasions in the last week to stop the slaughtering in Palestine, but is anyone listening? The Conservatives are too busy supporting Israel with Iain Dale blogging till his soul leaves his body to support Israel. At least the Lib Dems are speaking out about the issue and are calling ...
Last month we - that's Harborough Liberal Democrats - chose Zuffar Haq as our prospective parliamentary candidate. Zuffar is a businessman who has lived in Leicestershire for many years and has campaigned successfully on health issues in the area. He has worked tirelessly for charity and has founded his own International Medical Aid Appeal. Zuffar has been a vice-chair of Crimestoppers in the local area and is particularly concerned about the causes of crime and the impact on victims. He fought Leicester West for the Lib Dems at the 2001 general election. At the same election the Lib Dems finished ...
Chris Applegate's life work is without purpose. Why? Because the Daily Mail is unspoofable. What satirical mind could have come up with this pile of nonsense for instance? Revolt! Robbed of their right to buy traditional light bulbs, millions are clearing shelves of last supplies Millions of Britons are finally waking up to the fact that their beloved light bulb will disappear for good after 120 years. Traditional 100-watt bulbs are vanishing from the High Street because of a controversial European Union decision. Yesterday panic buyers were snapping up the remaining bulbs in a last-ditch attempt to stockpile the final ...
Antony Hook has broken the newsthat last night's meeting of the LibDem's Federal Policy Committee voted 14-5 to keep the party's policy to scrap tuition fees. Antony takes up the story: The people (Centreforum) who wanted us to drop this pledge and back Blair's fees could still try to bring their policy to a vote on conference [...]
Congratulations to Nick Clegg for his article in the Guardian this morning. His analysis of the Israeli assault on the Gaze Strip is surely correct: Israel's approach is self-defeating: the overwhelming use of force, the unacceptable loss of civilian lives, is radicalising moderate opinion among Palestinians and throughout the Arab world. Anger in the West Bank will make it virtually impossible for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, to continue to talk to Israeli ministers.His call for a halt to British and EU arms exports to Israel is right too. It is morally right, clear and distinctive. We need more ...
"It's a pity dogs can't count," said Mrs Dearly. But Pongo could count, perfectly. He went downstairs with his head high and a new light in his fine, dark eyes. For he knew himself to be the proud father of fifteen.The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie SmithButton from Somerby in Leicestershire has gone three better than Pongo's Missis with a litter of 18 puppies. There is a video of them on the BBC website.The Leicester Mercury tells us that Button is the daughter of one of the dogs who appeared in Disney's 101 and 102 Dalmatians films. And that ...
With a hat-tip to Wit and Wisdom, I most highly recommend this article by Robert Fisk. It is a most passionate and knowledgeable explosion of the myth which is the justification given to the extreme violence of Israel: Yes, Israelis deserve security. Twenty Israelis dead in 10 years around Gaza is a grim figure indeed. But 600 Palestinians dead in just over a week, thousands over the years since
Maybe its not hard-hitting. Maybe its not a seminal piece of TV drama. Maybe its not an accurate portrayal of our schools. But I can't help being incredibly, amazingly, unbelievably excited about the return of Waterloo Road to our screens. What new schemes will be levelled against this brilliant (but somehow struggling) school this time? Who will die after the tragic fire last series? Will the surprisingly skilled headmistress Rachel survive either the fire, or the disgrace as her former profession as a prostitute reaches the governors? If all our schools were like Waterloo Road, with such glamorous, amazing staff ...
Despite Obama's victory feeling like old news, November's US elections are still not quite finished. The recount in Minnesota has now been certified unanimously by the state canvassing board and this puts Democrat Al Franken ahead by a handful of votes. But he is not home and dry. Republican Norm Coleman has issued a legal challnge (having previously opposed such tactics when he was ahead!) which means that Franken cannot be officially declared the winner just yet. hat tip: MyDD
Welcome to the fifth edition of Lib Dig Pig, being a roundup of non-Lib Dem oriented gems on the internet, as voted by Lib Dem members using Lib Dig (if you aren't one, and are a Lib Dem member, sign up here: http://libdig.co.uk). I didn't write this column for the Christmas period, so have three weeks to catch up on. This week's Lib Dig Pig is brought to you by the theme of identity. Governments, banks and companies are rather careless when it comes to protecting your identity, politicians seem to be rather confused about their own and Mac users ...
I was delighted to be amongst those supporting the retention of our position on tuition fees at last night's FPC meeting. For me this issue is not about the detail, but about sending a clear message that the Liberal Democrats believe that it is the role of the state to help each individual fulfil their own potential. Large levels of student debt, attached to the individual, make it hard for people to make a free choice about their own development. Rather than saying that education is about personal fulfilment, individual debt makes it about repayment. By taking a clear position ...
With all the focus at present on the problems of massive personal debt, it is time that one part of the system that creates huge debts had some attention from Government - the system of student finance. It is not uncommon for graduates today to leave college with debts (un)comfortably in five figures. They are expected to pay off this debt, save for a deposit for a house and start putting money into a pension - something somewhere has to give. What is worse is that the Government is reportedly considering scrapping the current cap on tuition fees, which would ...
Until last week I hated institutions. I've hated institutions all my life. I'm a fervent republican who's never attended a graduation ceremony because I see no point in silly gowns and readings in Latin. I didn't even want to get hitched because I agree with Groucho Marx that "marriage is a wonderful institution... but who wants to live in an institution?" I certainly didn't see the point in
If I could look this good at age 43, five days after giving birth, I could die a happy woman.
A government review into the cases of Ghurkas who wish to settle in the UK has been delayed by three months the BBC reports. It says that despite the High Court's ruling that the governments immigration rules excluding UK Ghurkas who retired before 1997 was unlawful the government has yet to produce a new policy. David Enright, a solicitor for the Ghurkas, says that the governments, which was expected to reach a decision before the end of 2008 now 'did not know' when one would be forthcoming. He threatened to return to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and ask it ...
A recent campaign has seen hundreds of people pledge to email the Today Programme about the Thought for the Day slot. The suggestion is that it should either be scrapped or be expanded to include humanist and atheist thinkers. The iPM blog now contains a statement from Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer who calls it a genuinely difficult question. but his answer is to stick with the status quo. Mr Damazer's argument is that the rest of the Today Programme is secular so Thought for the Day should be religious and allowing a secular viewpoint would make it just like ...
Lord Greaves has wrote an excellent article for his column for the Lancashire Telegraph and I think all readers should head over to it and read it. Please follow the link to read the Noble Lord's article for his weekly column! On another note, I have exclusive information to share with you which is that Lord Greaves is thinking of starting a blog after much hassle and ranting from me based on the Lords. Tony has said "watch this space" about the blog so watch out!
I received a promotional email from National Express today, offering me 20% off some types of advance purchase tickets. All I had to do was put in a special code when I booked on line. Given the large amount of my income I hand over to this company each year, I decided that I should take advantage of the offer. Pity therefore when I went onto the site, all I got was the following message: "Sorry
How bizarre! I've just checked my webstats and find that in the last couple of days this entry has been visited 934 times. I wrote it back in August 2007, and it caused some discussion at the time, but I can't think why it has suddenly attracted attention again. Can anyone explain why?
It is a rare event but it has just happened. I left Cowley St in the early evening. The reason - to get my trousers back! I got a new suit a few days ago but the trousers were too long. So they went to a tailors yesterday and were ready at 5pm today. The problem was that at first they couldn't find them and kept offering me the wrong trousers. Eventually they turned up. Problem solved. I am now
This all sounds very familiar! In the words of Ludwig von Mises, "a government can spend or invest only what it takes away from its citizens... Its additional spending and investment curtails the citizens' spending and investment to the full extent of its quantity."
On the one hand, this story is yet another example of the paranoia that is dominating the police at the moment. It is telling that the only MP who seems to be happy about the situation is a man who had the whip withdrawn for assault allegations (now dropped). On the other hand, it does remind me of that old joke about tarmac.
I was woken this morning by texts asking if I'd heard that Chamali Fernando - putative candidate for London mayor and sister of party president candidate Chandila Fernando - has resigned the party. It transpires that his is apparently true. No word as to why, but I understand it happened before the vote on tuition fees last night (where she presumably would have supported abandoning the party's policy to scrap fees). It's all go today, innit?
I have switched the template back to the classic Blogger template as I think it really makes the blog stand out! I hope you enjoy the template and if I don't mess around with the template again then it will hopefully stay like this!
And, fashionably, it involves a bus. Although it's not so much campaigning for the Liberal Democrats as for sanity in general and the right of the taxpayer to not have their money used as kindling. Here's what gives: Every Tuesday, at 9.45am precisely, a 50-seat executive coach draws up at a bus stop outside Ealing Broadway station in West London. No one ever gets on and, a moment later, it departs - empty - on a 70-minute trip to Wandsworth Road in South London. Once there, it waits for two hours and 15 minutes before returning, again carrying no passengers. ...
If there is a consistent theme throughout my life, it is following 'high risk strategies'. Joining an overtly homophobic police service knowing I was gay, suggesting the police took a more liberal stance on illegal drugs, challenging Sir Ian Blair over the Stockwell shooting, and giving evidence for the family in the De Menezes inquest, were not the easiest or safest routes to take. Having been approached by both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats to be their candidate for the 2008 Mayor of London election, following my conscience, my passion and my deeply held beliefs, was also not the ...
British Blood - Europe says No! The local blood transfusion service are holding one of their regular blood donor sessions in the Parliament in Brussels. Anyone who lived in Britain between 1980 and 1996 need not apply. The possibility exists, it is said, that mad cow disease (BSE) can be transmitted even years after contamination. So British blood isn't good enough for Europe. A new solution to Global Warming Meanwhile, in an aside from a discussion about CCS, an Australian trade unionist tells me that kangaroos emit very little methane; something to do with microbes in the gut. Could be ...
Wed 7th
16:03
Key Lib Dem policy committee votes to keep party's pledge to scrap student tuition fees
Antony Hook has the story over at his blog: Last night the Federal Policy Committee voted 14 to 5 to keep our policy to scrap university tuition fees.
I am very heartened to see Nick Clegg being very firm in today's Guardian, saying unequivocally that we must stop arming Israel. In this European election year, it was also good to see him show the important role the EU could have in helping to resolve the crisis, and in fact stating that the removal of the EU presence in Egypt in response to Hamas' election was counter productive in that it has made it easier for those who are firing rockets at Israel to obtain them. Oh, and Happy Birthday to both Nick and my cousin David, who is ...
Graham Watson MEP has launched his campaign to be the first Lib Dem president of the European Parliament. Personally I have never met Graham and probably will never go onto meeting him but the work he gets up to in the European Parliament is excellent. If you just check his website out you are dazzled by the amount of work he does, unlike many Tory MEP's in the North West of England. Sajjad Karim will know a lot about Graham as they both were from the same party in Europe the Lib Dems before he defected that is why I ...
A colleague today: I can't work out the Liberals. Sometimes they're liberal, sometimes they're the least liberal party. They need to work out where they stand. I think there's a bit of a branding problem here... LibDems are often for socially authoritarian measures, but against civil authoritarian measures. For trying to force people (particularly the poor) to eat [...]
When Lembit Opik said that the Lib Dems were out to get him I could not make my mind up if it is true or not but now I think it might just be. An article that I have just read suggests that even Nick Clegg is against Lembit and he thinks that he is walking a "tightrope". When Lembit started writing for the Porn paper I disagreed but wished him the best of luck, I did think that a blog would have been better at the time! Anyway now this article is slightly worrying for me as I think ...
Going past a newstand just now I glimpsed the Daily Mail and was reminded once again - with shattering clarity - that I inhabit a completely different universe from Daily Mail readers - or at least a completely different universe from the one which Daily Mail journalists think their readers inhabit. 40 kids dead in a UN school in Gaza and what does the bloody Daily Mail lead on? THE GREAT
Last month I urged you all to vote for King Edward's in the 'Help a London Park' scheme, which will give grants of £400,000 each to ten parks in Greater London. For some reason they have renamed King Edward's Recreation Ground as King Edward's Park, but it's the same place, on Hook Road just south of the A3. This is the only park shortlisted in the borough, so please vote...
I was very pleased to read this article in the Guardian today, and accompanying comment piece from Nick Clegg, where the Lib Dem leader calls for the EU to institute an immediate arms embargo on Israel, and also calls on Gordon Brown to act unilaterally if the EU will not back the proposal. This particular chapter of the Israel-Palestine Conflict has gone far enough. yes, Israel does have both a right to exist and a right to defend itself. It does not however have a right to commit murder, which is in effect what it is doing now. Israel's response ...
There's an in-depth interview with Nick Clegg in today's Telegraph - here's a few highlights: On his imminent fatherhood and paternity leave Evangelical about the importance of parental leave, Mr Clegg and his party recently adopted a radical child care policy which would allow new fathers as much as nine months or more off work. He himself plans to spend every minute of the current official entitlement away from the political vortex when the time comes ... Wouldn't an election spell the end of his plans to take proper paternity leave: the full two weeks off "wiping and cooing" as ...
A month ago it was announced that the Daily Sport had hired Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik to be the newspaper's political columnist; today The Guardian notes under the headline, Daily Sport publisher in financial difficulties: Daily Sport publisher Sport Media Group's share price plummeted 40% in early trading today after the company revealed it had broken one of its banking covenants. SMG's share price had fallen by 3.75p, almost 42%, to 5.25p at 11.30am today, a 52-week low. The company, which is releasing both a trading update and preliminary results for the year to the end of July tomorrow, ...
The Conservatives held a Get Britain Working" day yesterday in which their Shadow Cabinet toured Britain meeting businesses and workers. According to the Conservative Party, the away-day is to allow "David Cameron and the Shadow Cabinet" to hold forums which "will be attended by local business owners, business organisation representatives, relevant voluntary organisations, local people, Conservative councillors and Conservative Parliamentary candidates." However, the Daily Telegraph reports that one Shadow Minister was missing, drawing attention once more to the alleged lack of commitment by senior Tories, who prefer to keep lucrative part time jobs rather than spend all their time holding ...
An excellent article from Nick Clegg in this morning's Guardian on the Israeli invasion of Gaza: Brown must stop sitting on his hands. He must condemn unambiguously Israel's tactics, just as he has rightly condemned Hamas's rocket attacks. Then he must lead the EU into using its economic and diplomatic leverage in the region to broker peace. The EU is by far Israel's biggest export market, and by far the biggest donor to the Palestinians. It must immediately suspend the proposed new cooperation agreement with Israel until things change in Gaza, and apply tough conditions on any long-term assistance to ...
Over at The Guardian's Comment Is Free blog, Brian Paddick, former Lib Dem candidate for London mayor and former deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, explains how far the police force has come in its attitude to gay people. You can read it in full here, but here's an excerpt: When I joined the Metropolitan Police in 1976, homophobia was rife and overt. "Only girls and poofs wear gloves!" bawled the drill sergeant on the parade square at Hendon. Ten years later, a close colleague was beaten up by his police officer flatmate, simply for bringing his boyfriend home. ...
Brown has to stop sitting on his hands, halt British weapons exports and insist the EU do the same The world watched in horror yesterday as the conflict in Gaza claimed its latest innocent victims in the rubble of a UN school. Any hopes of reconciliation are being snuffed out as anger spills into protests around the world. The past two weeks have been a telling indictment of the international community. We have an outgoing US president sanctioning Israel's military response and an aching silence from the president-elect. We have a European Union encumbered by clumsy decision-making and confused messages. ...
I fully support Cllr Nigel Gooding's efforts to get the C99, the main route through the village and to Smannell School to be included in the priority one salting routes. It is my understanding that in the previous contract with Balfour Beatty, the C99 through Smannell was salted as part of an extra route spread throughout the Test Valley that included a number of rural school sites. With the commencement of the new contract with Amey, this route was not included in the review of the salting routes. However I am told that with the recent cold spell, certain elements ...
As regular readers will know I am a frequent critic of the policies of the state of Israel (and a few other states as it happens). However, when I saw Irfan Ahmed's highlighting of a comment by 'Pendle Truth' on Iain Dales Diary I felt the need to take exception. Pendle says; "Firstly this is the first time I am commenting on this blog as I feel I can no longer breathe the dirty Zionist air that bloggers such as Dale have created or supported. It is a well known fact that Hamas has launched rockets into Israel, killing innocent ...
Over a million people were summoned to court last year because they failed to pay their Council Tax in full, research by the Liberals Democrats has found. A survey of more than 170 councils found that in the last year: More than 1m people have been summoned to court for falling behind with their Council Tax paymentBailiffs were called to collect Council...
In thinking about why I am so passionately pro-European and so keen to see the Lib-Dems play an increasingly important role I first reflected on how hard it is in the UK, even in 2008, to 'come out' as pro-European. The cloying effect of the anti-EU media, combined with still lukewarm (at best) UK government attitudes - "We are supportive of the EU so long as it does what we want" - makes it difficult to overcome the braying, usually inaccurate, stance of UKIP and other 'Eurosceptics'. So why be positive about the EU? Well, in my case, it may ...
Kate Little, a course representative in the School of Law (with a new blog), is running a campaign called "I'm Hungry for Exam Feedback", to get the University of Manchester to give personalised feedback on exam scripts - support her and the campaign by joining the Facebook group or emailing her. Here's my thoughts on the issue of exam feedback. With the January 2009 exams just around the corner and thousands of University of Manchester students revising for important exams, it is worth reflecting on how exams do and can help students develop. With all the hours spent on revising ...
The double standards are nauseating. The EU makes demands of Palestinians and backs them up by refusing to recognise their elected representatives and by cutting off financial support. We make requests to the Israelis (lift the economic blockade, stop the expansion of settlements, etc) and when they are ignored we reward them by strengthening our partnership. Tzipi Livni says that Israel can not accept terrorism. Well just exactly who is doing the terrorising now? Nick Clegg is the first of the main political leaders to demand that we back our words with some deeds. His call today for suspension of ...
I bumped into ex Pendle blogger, Pendle Truth yesterday and he told me to check his comment out at Iain Dale's blog. After searching for it I have found it, you can read the comment below and I have to say he has awfully summed up the Gaza troubles quiet well! Firstly this is the first time I am commenting on this blog as I feel I can no longer breathe the dirty Zionist air that bloggers such as Dale have created or supported. It is a well known fact that Hamas has launched rockets into Israel, killing innocent people, ...
Three views: Those of the young waiter (an economics graduate he claimed) serving tables in the Marrakech hotel where I stayed for a few days over New Year. Asked for his views of the situation in Gaza he broke down in tears before me, denouncing the killing of innocent people by Israelis. Asked about the Hamas rocket attacks directed at Israeli civilians he replied: "But what can you expect when you imprison a million people and deny them all opportunity and hope?" Tzipi Livni, Israeli Foreign Minister, speaking yesterday, defending the actions of her government on the basis that the ...
North West MEP Sajjad Karim's office has been emailed today by me asking him to stand up in the European Parliament on behalf of the people who signed THIS petition and ask the EU to sanction Israel by cutting back on business with them. The petition says: To: EU Dear Sir This is a petition which reflects the views of people around the world. We would like to have the EU impose sanctions on Israel, who have continued to terrorise thousands of innocent Palestinians, defied over 68 UN resolutions, and despite International pressure has refused to withdraw from Palestinian territories. ...
Responding to Nick Clegg's admirably unequivocal statement on the Israeli attack on Gaza, Little Billy Hague (remember him?) said that Clegg was wrong and that Hamas 'started it': "It started with the launching of about 300 rockets by Hamas into Israel". Good point - but complete nonsense as the excellent Robert Fisk makes clear in the Independent and - rather refreshingly - as the interviewer of the Israeli Ambassador made clear this morning on the Today programme. (You will no doubt realise that in asking a clear, concise, probing question, the interviewer was not Rambling Jim Naughtie).
At last Barack Obama has broken his silence on Gaza. It is fair enough to be saying that the USA can only have one President at a time. But Obama has spoken on a host of other topics, giving a record number of press conferences, broadcasts etc. So why such reticence on such an important matter? It does not augur well. On the positive side, Obama's national security picks, such as Leon Panetta as
A very interesting op-ed in the Guardian today by Leader Nick Clegg on the current Israel-Gaza conflict. If you haven't seen it already you can access it at the following site: It is good to hear a senior politician standup and make such a statement. As the death toll rises and the violence continues on both sides it is certain that the current situation needs addressing urgently by members of the international community.
A year ago I predicted that "oil prices will not end 2008 materially higher than they are today, and that they will be at least a third lower in 5-10 years." The first prediction was right, in spades - I will write again in 5 and 10 years time about the second. The prediction provoked a short but high quality exchange in the comment column. Not everyone agreed: Nick Rouse wrote of a "primitive economist's models that bear no resemblance to reality" while in May, Mary Matthews wrote that "Boy, did you get it so wrong", before adding "Economists cannot ...
Costigan Quist mentions that his plan for peace in the Middle East will be published as soon as he completes it. Well, let me save you the work, 'Cost', 'cause it already exists. Back in 1947, when much of the world was recovering from the devastation of the Second World War, the newly formed and far more prosaic United Nations devised a plan to deal with the thousands of immigrant Jews arriving in the British 'mandate' of Palestine. The idea was for a series of what could be called 'cantons' for Jews and Palestinians to live side by side - ...
Alone among the main party leaders in Britain, Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats has spoken out forcefully against what is happening in Gaza. In an unambiguous opinion piece in today's 'Guardian', Nick rightly states that the past two weeks have been 'a telling indictment of the international community'. George W Bush has given [...]
"First we have an expensive VAT cut that doesn't help people and now the Prime Minister announces he will create 100,000 jobs without any idea of how. "David Cameron is offering his own fake giveaway. Cutting savings tax will mean someone saving £100 will only get an extra 40p a year. "If David Cameron is going to be taken seriously he has to identify what cuts he will make. How many fewer police officers will there be on the street and who will have a smaller pension? "The Liberal Democrats are the only party with a detailed plan on how ...
I'm pleased to see that Nick Clegg is talking sense about the Gaza situation. For some reason the establishment parties are constrained in some way that I don't quite understand from being rational about this (see Israel's own useful idiot Iain Dale). Again I think this is something where there is a disconnect between the "establishment wisdom" and what your average person sees. There are many examples of this, in my opinion, some of which I have banged on about here where no one seems to be saying what seems obvious. These are precisely the issues we should be getting ...
If you have been wondering how the defence team have been doing, here's the verdict from DefenceManagement.com / Defence Management Journal's end of year email round up where they compared how the three main parties are doing on defence: Going Down - The Labour Party We uncovered a simple economic formula sent from Treasury ministers to the MoD. Apparently it never arrived. If inflation is greater than proposed spending increases, your budget will eventually have a deficit. Not Moving - The Conservatives On the surface they promise to bring about fundamental change to the MoD if they come to power. ...
The lead story on the front page of today's Northern Echo is Lib Dem transport spokesman Norman Baker's revelation that "Thousands of train spotters are being quizzed as potential terrorists at railway stations across the region." The on-line story is here. It seems that over 13,000 train spotters (I didn't know there were so many!) have been questioned in North East railway stations in a recent
Last night the Federal Policy Committee voted 14 to 5 to keep our policy to scrap university tuition fees. The people (Centreforum) who wanted us to drop this pledge and back Blair's fees could still try to bring their policy to a vote on conference floor. The FPC decision is fantastic news. It also indicates [...]
Hurrah! Nick Clegg has called on Brown to "unambiguously condemn" Israel's actions in Gaza, as well as Hamas' attacks, becoming the first senior UK politician to do so: We have a prime minister talking like an accountant about aid earmarked for Gaza without once saying anything meaningful about the conflict's origins
Happy birthday Nick Clegg. Great stuff today - it just felt very celebratory - sometimes on ones birthday you get that `special what's the most I can make of myself feeling` - this statement felt like that today - classy, intelligent and forward-thinking - Nick, make sure it's your birthday every day. [...]
Nick Clegg has a piece in The Guardian today: The world watched in horror yesterday as the conflict in Gaza claimed its latest innocent victims in the rubble of a UN school. Any hopes of reconciliation are being snuffed out as anger spills into protests around the world. The past two weeks have been a telling indictment of the international community. We have an outgoing US president sanctioning Israel's military response and an aching silence from the president-elect. We have a European Union encumbered by clumsy decision-making and confused messages. And at home we have a prime minister talking like ...
The pictures speak for themselves: Infants killed so far in the assault on Gaza: 195 (source: BBC News, quoting Palestinian Health Ministry)
Rumours are spreading on the web that up to 3000 staff at Microsoft UK could face redundancy. Up to 30,000 jobs worldwide could be at risk, as the company battles with the economic crisis, which has led to businesses spending less on software. Henry Blodget, a blogger on Silicon Alley Insider, responded to the rumours saying, "The only way we could see Microsoft laying off this many people is if the company decided to eliminate business units. And if Microsoft did decide to restructure its business, it would likely sell rather than shut down divisions, including MSN." According to analyst ...
News of more job losses on the High Street as Marks and Spencer announces 1200 jobs cuts and axing shops because it had a slow quarter... yes, not that it made a loss but that it's predicted to only make pre-tax profits in 2008-09 of £720 million! Profit before people, not very philanthropic during an economic crisis. Large, safe, high street institutions should be using their profits to shore up the high street, not dismantle it further. Perhaps if they spent a lttle less on advertising this year, they could keep those 1200 people employed, rather than adding them to ...
To Dustin Diamond who played Screech on Saved by the Bell he's 32 today wow. Screech is thirty two!! Wonder if he still talks like that. Morgan Spurlock turns 39 and is probably not be going for a super sized meal at McDonalds to celebrate. Sandra Bernhard the actress is celebrating too. Also to Thom Yorke of Radiohead who is 41, happy salutations for the day. Staying with music Mrs Sting, the model Trudi Styler is 21 again. No doubt there'll be tantric goings on to celebrate the event. And John Mellencamp, aka the artist formerly know and John Cougar ...
First, according to Facebook it is Nick Cleggs birthday so happy birthday and all the best wishes. Writing in the Guardian this morning it was heartening to see Clegg being forthright in his criticism of Israel and to make several important policy points. His indictment of the international community is telling and rings true; although it appears Barack Obama might be edging towards breaking his silence, saying he is "deeply concerned" by civilian casualties on both sides. He is of course right to say that; "Israel's approach is self-defeating: the overwhelming use of force, the unacceptable loss of civilian lives, ...
Three weeks after celebrating his first anniversary as Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg today celebrates his 42nd birthday. The Times notes the occasion thus: Nick Clegg has been the leader of the Liberal Democrats for more than a year. Recent speculation about a possible hung Parliament after the next election has brought him increased attention. Always ready with a soundbite, he described the Conservative tax plans as "fake giveaways" and says in his new year message that he believes a green investment programme will put the economy back on track. He and his wife Miriam are expecting their third child ...
27th April 2006 "Mr. Putin assured Chancellor Merkel that "Russia will always be a reliable energy supplier". Mr. Putin was speaking as he launced a campaign to be allowed to control all the downstream gas networks in Western Europe. 7th January 2009 Slovakia declares a state of emergency as no gas at all has come through the pipe from Russia. All of South East Europe reports complete shut-down- no gas at all being shipped. Poland reports 85% fall in supply, Italy, Austria over 90% and Germany "Significant disruption". Happy Orthodox Christmas.
Mid Kirk Style and Tally Street disappeared from active use as street names many years ago (although I am sure I can remember a "Mid Kirk Style" sign hanging in the old Overgate Centre back in the 70s and 80s!) - they were in the bit of my former Tay Bridges Ward that did not find its way into the West End Ward at the last boundary review. This photograph above shows the east end of Mid Kirk Style, Dundee, looking into the north end of Tally Street, which ran north to south and left to right from the Overgate ...
Nick Clegg has described Gordon Brown and David Cameron as con-men trying to fool the British public.
... but my car is on Life Support, and it's going to be a good hour getting to work this week - never mind getting home from work when I work till 8 and the buses stop at 6 - instead of the usual five to ten minutes. Thus, blogging may be a little light (although those of you who have access to my friends-locked posts might notice an upswing in whining and wailing). Just so as you all know ;)
Here's the verdict from DefenceManagement.com / Defence Management Journal's end of year email round up: ↓↓↓ The Labour Party We uncovered a simple economic formula sent from Treasury ministers to the MoD. Apparently it never arrived. If inflation is greater than proposed spending increases, your budget will eventually have a deficit. ↔ The Conservatives On the surface they promise to bring about fundamental change to the MoD if they come to power. This might be so and we would welcome a change of leadership. But no one is committing to actually increasing spending so the current problems will persist for ...
Will Young is apparently spending up to £100 a week on newspapers and periodicals in his local newsagent, as he prepares for his Question Time appearance. The Exeter university graduate is determined to sufficiently bone up on current affairs and not to "bomb" on the show like other pop colleagues such as, allegedly, Alex James. If I could find where this story is I would link to it, but I can't
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I've so far avoided blogging about the conflict in the Middle East. Mostly because I have nothing to add to the acres of coverage in the media and blogosphere. Right now I've no special insights, but rest assured that you'll be the first to know when my plan for peace in the region is finalised. In the meantime, I was interested by claims and counter-claims about the population density of the Gaza Strip. The Strip has an area of 360 square kilometers and a population of 1.4 million. People speak about the population being crammed in and George Galloway spoke ...
Last night was the first meeting of the Resource and Performance Scrutiny commission last night. It wasn't a hugely dramatic meeting in comparison to the last one, where we discussed Equal Pay. However, the appearance of the Executive Member for Resources did rile me slightly as he once again refused to acknowledged the hard work of staff in maintaining and improving council performance. The main agenda item was the best value review of homelessness services. The report presented a mixed picture to be honest, but there is some good work being done on prevention of homelessness. The Council is still ...
You have to hand it to the Australians. They call a spade a shovel. A judge has warned 19 year old "baby faced" Cody Heap that, after failing a breath test, if he reoffends he could go to jail and: You will find big, ugly, hairy, strong men who've got faces only a mother could love that will pay a lot of attention to you - and your anatomy. What on earth can he possibly mean?
As we all know Spring Conference is fast coming-up; below is a motion from ALTER which I find very worthy of support as it reaffirms some basic values to my mind; TOWARDS A NEW "PEOPLE'S BUDGET" Conference celebrates 2009 as the centenary of the last great reforming Liberal Government's "People's Budget", Parliamentary rejection of which helped entrench poverty and exacerbate wealth inequality in Britain to the detriment of subsequent generations; maintains that a free, fair and sustainable society can only arise when tax is switched from wealth creation to wealth appropriation and from value added to value removed; notes that ...
The police force, banks and management consultants top the Stonewall equality index ahead of the public sector, the media and education. The index which for the fifth year has ranked employers based on their impact of workplace culture on gay, lesbian and bisexual employees is as a key barometer of diversity practices across the UK. The index looks at how employees diversity policies and how they impact on recruitment applications comparing it with information of experiences gathered from the employees. This year the study has grown to more than twice the size when it started surveying 7,000 lesbian and gay ...
The really really interesting thing about LPUK is that it is the first political party in the UK (that I know about) that seems to have emerged from blogging. It would be very easy to write them off as an offshoot of the Cult of Guido, but then, even if it were true this, in itself, is a very curious and interesting phenomenon, isn't it? Consider the volumes of readers that Guido has, and imagine if every single one of them joined the same political party. Seriously. Stop for a second and imagine what you could do with 80-100 thousand ...
Local Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather has today urged residents to stay safe and warm following the cold snap that has hit London. The Brent East MP is particularly concerned for the safety and wellbeing of elderly residents. The current spell of cold weather has been the longest and deepest for more than ten years, with the coldest December since 1996. The Met Office predicts the cold spell will continue until the weekend and has today issued severe weather warnings for London as temperatures are expected to dip to minus 3C (26.6F) overnight. Local Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East ...
Politico's Publishing, in association with Unlock Democracy have published Unlocking Democracy: 20 Years of Charter 88.
