Another day, another crosspost. I will just add a link to this story about the Government attempting to stop the Welsh Assembly from publishing its own expenses - even if I had time to blog about this I couldn't as words fail me. Much as I support the Convention on Modern Liberty, I am very conscious of the fact that there are two dangers inherent to an initiative such as this. The first is that all it leads to is talk and a thousand people sitting in a hall munching on sandwiches. Linked to that is the danger that all ...
...help me get back to blogging proper! For the past near fortnight I've been working on a new theme for this site and lots of additional tools. But...as ever, I develop using my Mac and Firefox and Opera and Safari and everything looks lovely in all three, but when I switch on my windows machine, even using Internet Explorer 7 it all goes to pot. Boxes are broken corners shifted out of place and so on. So, if any of you out there reading this are wizards with CSS, could you take a look at the development version of this ...
An interesting afternoon and evening. I went over the Council's offices at River Park House in Wood Green to do a bit of work before tonight's full Council. Sitting on the photocopier, in the time honoured fashion, was an interesting analysis of the implications of the Seven Sisters election result. It confidently predicts a Liberal Democrat majority after the next council elections. The report gives a "predicted majority" for every ward on the Council. In the narrative at the end, it mentions Woodside, which it says the "Lib Dems would take" and says "in the split wards of Noel Park, ...
Iain Dale describes his experience of arriving at the studio to appear on Simon Mayo's Radio Five Live programme, only to find himself confronted with Barry Legg: I generally have a policy of not appearing on programmes with other Tories who I know are purely there to disagree with me, as it does not generally lead to a very edifying discussion. For those who have never heard of him, he was a Tory MP in the 1990s and before that was on Westminster City Council. He currently chairs the Bruges Group.He was naturally against Ken Clarke having any role in ...
This story in the Independent on Saturday contains an example of the sort of thing that makes my blood boil. Apparently there was a "consultation" about the third runway at Heathrow and 70,000 responses were sent back to the DfT. There was no question on it about whether the respondents actually wanted the runway, however of the almost 70,000 responses, 25,337 (36.1%) voluntarily noted that they opposed expansion. 8,128 (11.6%) volunteered that they supported it. The DfT issued the following statement regarding this: "The Heathrow consultation did not ask people whether they were in favour of a third runway or ...
A road near me has been closed for some weeks whilst Norfolk County Highways made road improvements in order to improve safety and the road conditions. So imagine my delight when driving over the new speed bump this evening that they have put in to find that the puddle on the other side was not a puddle but was, instead, a deep hole which immediately punctured my tyre ! It seems astonishing that they could do such a poor job of a road improvement. I shall be out photographing the road and the hole and will be sending my bill ...
A number of people have been posting tributes to Patrick McGoohan - all talking, of course, about The Prisoner. Here's a selection ofthem... (Fewer people have been paying tribute to Tony Hart, but Richard Herring sums it up quite well - "Everyone's reaction was the same, a vocalised and instinctive "oh" of disappointment") Via Chris Bird, [...]
Thanks to Well-Behaved Orphan* (in a comment elsewhere on this blog) for alerting us to the new that Bert Hazell has died. Hazell was Labour MP for North Norfolk between 1964 and 1970 and, as he was 101 when he died, is believed to be the longest lived former MP in history. His death was reported in the Yorkshire Evening Post, and there is more information about him via the links in a posting I wrote last year. * Lord Bonkers writes: You can't beat a good education.
We look forward to Planet Obama tomorrow, but tonight's news is depressing. RBS, who have a big office at the Angel, have the dubious honour of a record share price collapse. There's another bank bailout from Labour, evidence that the previous one failed; the only certainty is that we're now underwriting the banks, not the [...]
Roderick Long finds the James Bond saw the harm caused by drug prohibition and didn't much like it. Tim Worstall alerts us to another government proposal to deny people work. At the FEE blog they point out that the Democrats are following their Republican predecessors with big spending on pork. Vintage Computer and Gaming has tracked down the [...]
Okay, so the title has absolutely nothing to do with the content, but in these Final Crisis/Batman RIP posts I've been using consecutive lines from Batman by Jan & Dean as titles, and I refuse to let Grant Morrison not putting in a scene of Batvillains running away stop me. Anyway, Final Crisis #6, publisher DC [...]
Tonight, at the City Council's Development Quality Committee, I moved refusal of the revised planning application at Wimberley Houses. Back in October of last year, I successfully moved refusal of the previous application. You can read the background by clicking on the headline above. The revised application had some improvements in relation to rendering, car parking and the car access for those living in the Hillside Terrace area, but, in my view, did not fully address the issues, particularly the traffic impact on Glamis Drive/Invergowrie Drive. The obvious solution was to make access via Ninewells Avenue, but the developer did ...
The Lead Councillor for Children's Services resigned this evening, after the Joint Area Review showed Child Safeguarding services in Reading were "Inadequate". One has to hope that this enables the service to move forward and start to reach the highest standards. It's been a major piece of work for me over the last 6 months or so, from the first inklings that things were going wrong, to taking confidential briefings on the situation, including talking to the Council's chief executive, then bringing it to Education and Children's Services Scrutiny, before finally working with colleagues to put forward six questions to ...
Via Chicken Yoghurt, The LabourLost "viral" video Challenge! Press play and see how long you last before you turn it off, sweating in horror at the awfulness of it. For transparency, I got to 12 seconds. Mitch Benn has nothing to fear as the country's foremost musical satirist WHATSOEVER. View Poll: How far did you get? Secondly, people often ask me why I read and like The Metro. Politically, after all, it's almost as objectionable as The Fail. The crucial difference between the Metro and the Fail? No, not the cover price. The Metro has a sense of humour. It's ...
Bus routes through the Angel ground to a near halt today. It's the first day of four weeks' worth of gas pipe works at the junction of Pentonville Road and Islington High Street/Upper Street. There are temporary traffic lights on Upper Street both ways between the Angel Islington junction and the White Lion Street junction. On [...]
Vince Cable was bang on with his phrase "giving the kiss of life to a corpse". The real problem is not that the banks refuse to lend, it is that they have lost the ability to do so. They have been consolidated to the point of uselessness to the local economy. They also have no local infrastructure, and what structure they do have points towards the discredited speculative economy, not the real one. It is time to break them up, de-merge them and rebuild a local and regional lending infrastructure like they have in Europe and North America. But just ...
It is the last day of George W. Bush's Presidency. This video is a remarkable record of the office.
The Stockholm Network manage to call for a bailout of the pharmaceutical industry whilst claiming to be a network for free market think tanks. No wonder people think the free market is the current corporatist status quo when such idiocy is put forward in its name. The pharmaceutical industry is not only the recipient of massive amounts [...]
I've spent a fair bit of time trying to work out what I'll miss about George W Bush when he leaves the White House tomorrow. And, do you know what? I can't think of one single thing. I'm just grateful that we've survived the eight years without him going nuclear. I remember watching the awfulness of the 9/11 attacks with shock and horror mixed with fear at what Bush might do in return. This is a man who allowed torture, rendition flights, waterboarding, detention without trial at Guantanamo Bay, who fiddled while New Orleans was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, who ...
tonight i went to a workshop on the medium term of gainsborough square. a draft masterplan has been developed by lockleaze voice. today was a series of consultations on hat people would like to see. there were a few sketches of possible options. nothing concrete. the challenge is a variety of uses: housing, retail and utility. improving a green space that's underused. where to go from here.... I'd like to see mixed use of the space in the middle: cafe, shrubs and trees, play area and perhaps a multi-use covered area to gather under. then onto the square. it could ...
To celebrate the end of eight years of George W. Bush I've decided to look at the things he has been substantitive and brought joy and pleasure to the world. Here is the A-Z of Bushisms. Having already covered the first term it is time to look at the last 4 years. A- Amnesty?: "Amnesty means that you've got to pay a price for having been here illegally, and this bill does that." on the immigration reform bill, Washington, D.C., June 26, 2007 B -Brazil: Wow! Brazil is big." after being shown a map of Brazil by Brazilian president Luiz ...
With thanks to the BBC for the link to one... Dooby dooby doooo, dooby do, dooby do do do and to YouTube for this one... Go on, you know you want to
Unsurprisingly in the week of the lamentable Heathrow decision - and following on years of everything from post office closures to data disasters - another poll shows Labour is facing a meltdown in London when the General election comes. The Evening Standard's coverage points out that Islington South & Finsbury MP Emily Thornberry is vulnerable. But [...]
There's a good, in-depth and upbeat interview with Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg in today's Newcastle Journal: A chipper Mr Clegg declared the North East would be his key hunting ground at the next general election and predicted that regional minister Nick Brown could even succumb to a Lib Dem sweep. ... he stressed the North East was "one of the most important areas" for the Lib Dems after "astonishing" local council gains in Northumberland and ongoing success in Newcastle. However, with tomorrow's inaugration of Barack Obama dominating the media, Nick was very careful to avoid coming over all 'me ...
All in all, David Cameron's reshuffle seems quite astute. (Did I write that? I must wash my keyboard out with soap and water). He's rectified, to a good extent, his previous weaknesses: 1. Not enough experience. Bring in Mr Experience, Ken Clarke. 2. Too much "Bully" - Bullingdon club types. Bring in the very antithesis of the Bullingdon club type, Eric Pie & Pickles and replace the awfully
The Ipsos Mori poll has shown a massive lead for the Tories of 14 percent and it is another confirmation to people that the Brown Bounce is dead and this poll result is just a kick to the coffin. The poll results are below: CONSERVATIVES 44% (+5) LABOUR 30% (-5) LIB DEMS 17% (+2) The Conservatives have increased hugely despite Brown trying everything with his recession saving ways, Labour are most likely not going to recover from this poll rating and the next general election will most likely be won by the Tories and then Cameron Thatcher will screw it ...
On Saturday I joined around 300 fellow Liberal Democrats at the LSE for what has now become the annual one day policy conference. This year the day was titled "Creating a Progressive Society" and focused on economic issues, social mobility, and poverty. I was impressed by the venue. The LSE's New Academic Building is a stylish and well thought out piece of architecture. I imagine it works really
The SirsiDynix calendar 2009 is now out, featuring library buildings from around the world. Everyone has their own image of what libraries look like, but there's an astonishing range out there; neo-classical, modernist, stream-lined, cosy, or opulent; something for everyone. A bit like the books they stock....
The second of the two main sessions, chaired by Lynne Featherstone MP, looked at the issue of social mobility. This was picking up on the report from the Liberal Democrat inspired Independent Social Mobility Commission that was published this month. It was also a chance to respond to the Government's New Opportunities White Paper. Martin Narey The first speaker was Martin Narey, the Chief
As highlighted on LDV last week, Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable was Kirsty Young's guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, broadcast on Sunday, repeated Friday (9.00 am), and available online during transmission (but not, I'm afraid, via 'Listen Again'). His musical choices are on the Beeb's website here. His top book and luxury item? Book: A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking Luxury: An Aston Martin car His appearance generated a fair few headlines: 'Two rings' Cable is Mr Romantic (The Times); Cable reveals his speedy ambition (BBC Online); Cable tells of being disowned by father ...
To celebrate the end of eight years of George W. Bush I've decided to look at the things he has been substantitive and brought joy and pleasure to the world. Here is the A-Z of Bushisms. But only for his first term and first election campaign. I had too much material to just keep it down to one set. Just what are we going to do for desk calanders from now? A - Africa: "We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease." at a news conference in ...
Commenting on the latest bank bailout announced today, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: "This is potentially another blank cheque for Britain's banks." "The Government is now proposing to underwrite billions of pounds worth of debt which could leave taxpayers open to vast losses. "Ministers are offering hardly any details about the terms of this...
Commenting on the re-appointment of Ken Clarke to the Conservative Shadow Cabinet, former Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson, Malcolm Bruce said: "It is extraordinary that Ken Clarke is being hailed as an asset to the Conservative party considering his record as Chancellor. "His tenure at the Treasury included the abolition of student grants, the introduction of VAT on fuel, the...
I just heard Ken Clarke being interviewed on 5 Live on my way home. He came across pretty well as always and was able to bat away the questions about the Euro as I would have expected. He was challenged about his apparent support for the 2.5% VAT cut which he had advocated prior to Brown/Darling announcing the policy themselves and his defence was that he said he had been in favour of it if we could afford it which he then went on to say we could not. He then pointed out that he did not vote for the ...
Commenting on the Local Government Association's prediction that council tax will rise by an average 3.5% this year, Liberal Democrat Shadow Local Government Secretary, Julia Goldsworthy said: "With the recession beginning to bite, any attempt to keep Council Tax rises to a minimum will be extremely welcome." "More than a million people are already facing serious difficulties in paying...
On Saturday I took photos of members with Nick Clegg (if you have your photo taken it will be on the Lib Dem Flickr site soon). But at the end I ended up being on the other side of the camera for a change. This is the picture.
This weekend's Indy carried a fascinating profile of Brian Paddick, the Lib Dems' 2008 London mayoral candidate You can read it in full online here. And, indeed, it's worth reading in full - but this extract in particular caught my eye for providing real insight into the development of Brian's liberal spirit: ... Paddick's explanation of how his liberal views were formed is fascinating. He says that until he went for a year to the police staff college at Bramshill, Hampshire, as part of an accelerated promotion procedure, he accepted the police culture. "It was Scarman [the investigator of the ...
Do you, like me, admire the Twinkle-toed Lib Dem Shadow Chancellor? Would you like to have access to his wisdom at all times? Would you like a Vincent Cable of your very own? How about several? Click here. Buy as many Vince Cables as you like. (and then use them to listen to radio four. He turns up on there most days)
This is my fourth post about the Liberal Democrats one day policy conference Creating a Progressive Society held at the LSE on Saturday. The second of the break out sessions I attended was the one organised by the Liberal Democrat European Parliamentary Party on "The European dimension". Jonathan Fryer has already blogged about this and gives a good flavour of the session. I came away with two
the UK government are backing down onpublication of expenses, we can at least read about Obama's.-- Cllr Ian Eiloarthttp://ianeiloart.blogspot.com/07876 123 969
Ken Clarke, a man that is politically unknown to the people of my age group is the big talk of today like Mandelson was when he was brought back into the cabinet. Ken who I know nothing of except for the fact that he is an MP will be Cameron's saviour like Mandelson is Brown's! Ken Clarke according to speculation has been brought in because Cameron thinks Osborne is not cracked up to be Chancellor, hence the cartoon courtesy of Political Betting and drawn by Marf. That picture will paint the picture of the Cameron camp in a couple of ...
I am jealous! Martin Bright of New Statesman has come up with a brilliant idea that I wish I or my party had thought of first. You have to read the piece. Read it! It is called 'A New Deal of the Mind': The government's job creation plans are inspired by FDR's New Deal. But ministers have ignored its most lasting legacy: the boost it gave to writers, artists and intellectuals. Just before the Second World War, the Works Progress Administration, one of Franklin D Roosevelt's New Deal programmes, published a series of statistics about what it had done to ...
Check out this remixed and reworked version of Estelle's American Boy, specially altered to be about East Anglian Boy. Yes, it is self parody and no we are not all like that.
Lynne Featherstone has been interviewed by the Wardman Wire blog on the party's plans for a new Technology Board, answering the questions: 1) What is the Technology Board for the Party for, and what is your remit as its Chair? 2) The Liberal Democratic Party is a federation of organisations. How does the Technology Board fit in locally and regionally? 3) How does your role compare to that played by Mark Pack? 4) What do you think needs to be done differently in the UK to Obama's online campaign, and (briefly) why? 5) Would you list 3 specific things you ...
Bath MP Don Foster is calling on local families to claim over £500 in tax breaks under a little publicised government scheme before a 31st January deadline. Before the current system of 'child tax credits' was introduced in 2003, the Government made payments in 2001/02 and 2002/03 under a totally separate scheme known as the 'children's tax credit'. ...
The Lib Dems have called for land at the two schools to be safeguarded if the Academy proposals go ahead. Cllr Ian Blair said: "Should the schools decide to go ahead with the merger, then it is important that none of the land value is lost to the rest of the community." "If the Council itself had closed one of the schools then it would keep the land and keep the money received from any sale of that land. But if the land is transferred to the Academy then they could choose to sell off the land to the highest ...
When the assembled bands play 'Hail To The Chief' for President Obama on Tuesday, there will be a small cultural irony linking this to the Ku Klux Klan. The music was originally a setting for part of Sir Walter Scott's romantic poem 'The Lady Of The Lakes'. Scott's "Highland Revival" romanticism is responsible for inspiring a number of parallel nationalist inventions. * The 'Boat Song' from Cantata Two was set to music by nationalist plagiarists in the USA in 1812. It was first used as a Presidential salute in 1828. When the Ku Klux Klan fabricated its Scottish White Purist ...
Sometimes I can't decide whether journalists are really thick, or whether they just think we all are. The latest exhibit is "Blue Monday", apparently the most depressing day of the year (and today). I'm having quite a decent day so far. How about you? As with so much junk science, Blue Monday has an equation. Where the letters translate as follows: weather (W), debt (d), time since Christmas (T), time since failing our new year's resolutions (Q), low motivational levels (M) and the feeling of a need to take action (Na). Spotted why it's complete bollocks yet? Where to start? ...
Mayor of London Boris Johnson has announced today that City Hall's offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Shanghai, Beijing and Brussels are to be retained. (The office in Venezuela is due to close.) The running costs for the offices last year totalled £1.4 million. After a review to investigate whether the GLA outposts offer value for money, Deputy Mayor Ian Clement has admitted, "There are significant savings we can make." Today's London Evening Standard has the story.
I have just been invited to join a Facebook Group called "cc all your emails to Jacqui Smith" Day. The blurb starts with a quote, "No government of any colour is to be trusted with such a roadmap to our souls" but does not attribute it. It continues: The government has unveiled plans for a private company to run a "superdatabase" that will track all our emails, calls, texts, internet use and so on. This is an immense infringement of civil liberties, not to mention a major risk to our private data - but it won't make us any safer. ...
The place for all London Liberal Democrats to be on the evening of March 18th is at the Polish Centre in King Street, Hammersmith! All party members are welcome to be a part of determining - and helping us take forward - what the Liberal Democrats will be doing throughout London over the coming months. With a General Election, Local Elections and European Elections all within the next year and a half there is a lot at stake for us - and for all Londoners too! Our keynote conference speakers will include leading Liberal Democrats in London: Vince Cable MP, ...
It's the last day in office for George Bush. There's been a lot of talk in the media lately about Bush's legacy. What do you think he will be most remembered for? View other answers Guantanemo Bay Concentration Camp. Authorising the use of an off-US-soil place for the torture and imprisonment without trial of many many people on the slenderest of pretexts for many years, including citizens of the country which is supposedly the US's closest ally. I don't think history will forget that. Obviously we'll also remember the Bushisms; and the brainless clinging to Dogma; and the helping of ...
This BBC report made me smile. And you can even turn the volume up to 11 ;-)
The Assembly will hold a debate on the appalling situation in Gaza on Wednesday. The motion rather blandly reads: "This Assembly notes the concern raised in Wales by individuals, organisations and public protests relating to the military action taken in the Gaza strip." 'Notes the concern' - which to be fair is I suspect all most of us can manage - to be vaguely concerned. We see the t.v.
What follows is very much not dissent in the ranks or any kind of support for a third runway at Heathrow - if for no other reason than I don't want to give John McDonnell any excuse to start wielding the Mace again. I fully support and agree with the Lib Dem campaign being ably led by Susan Kramer and Norman Baker against blighting south-west London and surrounding areas with yet more noise, pollution and congestion. But the Government has now announced its decision on a new runway and Terminal 6 and, while I hope we will be able to ...
With the ceasefire in place the full extent of the 3 week bombardment on Gaza has now emerged. Half a millon people have been without water for 3 weeks.Huge numbers also without power4,000 homes in ruins.Tens of thousands homeless.16 health facilities and 16 ambulances damaged.60 Schools damaged (including 4 used by the UN as shelters for the homeless)More than 1,300 Palestinains dead (that's a 100:1 ratio with the Israelis)Over 20,000 injuredThe Palestinians are now pulling dead from the rubble of buildings. Something they couldn't start to do under the constant bombardment. But something that even after the ceasefire was subject ...
The grand coalition in Berlin was an expedient response to the electoral maths which the German voters delivered to their politicians. It allowed orderly administration but did not allow either party to change the political weather, given the closeness of the election result, one might well say fair enough to that. However the grand coalition has also limited much of the freedom of action of the administration. The controversial Nordstream gas pipeline project continues, despite serious concerns about security, largely because the former SPD Chancellor, Gerhard Schroder, has carved himself a role as the Kremlin's international emissary- which the current ...
David Cameron has appointed Ken Clarke and Mark Francois to his Shadow Cabinet.
I am pleased to be able to say that the proposals to close Hay Mills and Sheldon Fire Stations have been dropped. Local residents, all the local councillors, the Trades Unions any myself all opposed these proposals. It is nice to see the Fire Authority listening to our concerns. In the long term the Audit Commission wish to reduce the fire service nationally. We need to remain vigilant
I heard Barry Legg being dragged out by the BBC to give `balance` to the fact Ken Clarke is now on Tory frontbench (Norman not available?) Let's remind ourselves of this Tory - iconic like an 80s power suit!
Tomorrow `You and yours` will be featuring the issue of the banking crisis. We can strike while the iron's hot and get in our own story in in advance. I have sent a message to www.bbc.co.uk/youandyours - submitted a message and added: I hope that there will be all 3 parties` views aired regarding economic recovery programmes and [...]
This is my third post about the Liberal Democrats one day policy conference Creating a Progressive Society held at the LSE on Saturday. The first of the two break out sessions I attended was "Reinventing the State: Who are the UK's poorest? How do we best help them?". This session, organised by the Reinventing the State group, was chaired by Duncan Brack and looked at the question "Who are the
The only thing worse than Brown's 'Banking Bail-Out 2' announcement today is Vince Cable's reaction. More on that later. But first, what has our genius of a Prime Minister cooked up for us today? Stage 2 of 3 of the plan to nationalise the banks comes into effect. The punishing preference shares that act as a massive cash drain on RBS and Lloyds Banking Group (thus making it even harder for the banks to lend) are to be converted to normal shares, happily giving Brown majority control over them. That is, of course, if Lloyds agree to it. They seem ...
I have just seen the full list for the Shadow Cabinet reshuffle on LibDem Voice. Here they are along with my thoughts: The Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory ReformSee here for my thoughts on this Mark Francois MP Shadow Minister for EuropeWho? Alan Duncan MP Shadow Leader of the House of CommonsI am not convinced he would make a good Leader of the House. He always seems too smug and self-satisfied to me. Chris Grayling MP Shadow Home SecretaryGrayling is a very effective and hard-working parliamentarian. However I think Cameron ...
The weekend has vanished into the distance like an idiot driving a Nova with a body kit down the high street at 55mph. Several hours of it was spent leafleting in Prestwich and Whitefield, interspersed with trips to see Manchester City and to fritter away money on things in IKEA which at the time I falsely believed would cure the vacant emptiness gnawing away at my soul. Apparently today is "Blue Monday." This is a term coined by scientists to describe the most depressing day of the year, when post-Christmas mundanity, pre-pay day skintness, and the howling wetness of the ...
(I hope I didn't steal that title from anyone!) I wonder what Ken Clarke's return means for us as a party. He is a very popular man, and very skilled at what he does. Personally, without knowing all of his views, I'd say he'd make a very good Lib Dem, and not a Tory! But that's just me. I've heard people saying this will be bad for us as a party. The only thing I'd say to that, is this: From the outset, we had a team of experts. Our front bench is formidable, intelligent and would be an asset ...
It's quite odd, looking back, to realise that today is in fact, January 19th 2009. For too long, I've been waiting and waiting for this day - and the next. Long before Obama was even in our headlights, I've been waiting for the day when America's 43rd President would be leaving high office. It's a sobering thought, but pretty much since I left the steady, calm confines ofYsgol Gyfun Dyffryn Taf back in August 2000 to enter the real world, this man they call 'Dubya' has been stalking my every move. I came to University in Aberystwyth that September. I ...
Following the news this morning of Ken Clarke's return to the Tory front-bench, PoliticsHome lists all the changes: The Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP [replaces Alan Duncan] Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Mark Francois MP [current post, now promoted to shadow cabinet] Shadow Minister for Europe Alan Duncan MP [replaces Theresa May] Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Chris Grayling MP [replaces Dominic Grieve] Shadow Home Secretary The Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC MP [replaces Nick Herbert] Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Nick Herbert MP [replaces Peter Ainsworth, who is sacked] Shadow ...
Today's Evening Post includes a piece on the prosecution of three teenagers from Whitley, including one from Cintra Avenue, for criminal damage offences following a spate of graffiti across South and East Reading. While it is good to hear that these offenders have been apprehended the piece makes sad reading - it seems at least one of the youngsters possesses real artistic talent but used it entirely the wrong way. Graffiti has been a major problem in the ward and across Reading in the past couple of years and we have reported hundreds of tags to the Council and Police for removal. While ...
It's well over a year since the Ruach Church bought the Gaumont State Cinema in Kilburn and now in 2009 it looks like plans will be forthcoming for it to be re-opened this autumn. Of course it won't be a cinema, it won't be a bingo hall, it will be primarily a place of worship - but I also sense that it will be something else as well. The Ruach Church is a live, inter-active experience - they place great faith in people, in genuinely recognition of the pressure people face and in supporting families. I have been to the ...
One doesn't normally think of Thailand as a repressive society, especially not in comparison with some of its neighbours, particularly Burma. But there is one striking feature of the Thai legal framework that sticks out like a sore thumb: its laws on lese majesté. Criticism of the monarchy is illegal and can land the [...]
Mon 19th
11:40
Creating a Progressive Society: Political challenges and opportunities for the Liberal Democrats
This is my second post about the Liberal Democrats one day policy conference Creating a Progressive Society held at the LSE on Saturday. The first of the two main sessions, following on nicely from the Leader's speech, looked at where the Liberal Democrats currently stood, both in policy terms and politically, in reference to the main theme of the conference. It was chaired by Sarah Teather MP.
The announcement this morning about the further bail-out of the banks has left me thinking about the political implications of this and that how the ordinary rules of politics seem to have been suspended in this area. Over the last few years, whenever any of the opposition parties came up with any idea that would reduce tax, in any area, the government would instantly go away, run through some figures on the back of a fag-packet that made the worst possible case for where the "public service cuts" they deemed necessary for the tax reduction. Now, this was often in ...
I yield to no one [love that phrase: so daft] in my appreciation of Ken Clarke. The smoking, drinking former Health Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and pretty much everything else except Tory Leader is clearly very able but crucially he is also highly entertaining - and there's a place for that in politics which the lawyers of Labour and the posh PR hacks on the Tory benches woefully lack. It is perhaps a qualification of our own party which we underplay too much that at least we have a few 'characters' on our benches, such as Charles Kennedy, the ...
I'm sure there's been a substantial response elsewhere in the Lib Dem blogoshphere to this article in the Times, of Field Marshal Lord Bramall and Generals Lord Ramsbotham and Sir Hugh Beach, who denounced Trident as "irrelevant", and calling for it to be scrapped. I was at the debate on Trident at the Harrogate Conference back in 2007, it was the first time in fact that I had been able to vote at a federal conference. Despite considerable misgivings, I voted to support the leadership's position and delay making a decision on Trident. At the time, I felt that this ...
Recently I had a meeting with Union representatives from the Land Registry, who have two offices in Swansea employing more than 700 staff. The Land Registry was my employer before I became an Assembly Member so I have more than a passing interest in its future. Being a demand-led service the Land Registry has been particularly badly hit by the collapse in the housing market. They operate as an independent trading fund and look set to make a loss for the first time ever. As a result they are embarking on a period of rationalisation and have earmarked £25 million ...
Faintly depressed by this Guardian video - it's highlights of Steve Bell's cartoons of George Bush over the last 8 years, with a commentary from Steve Bell. (Hat-tip - Beau Bo D'Or)
Highgate residents are the the greenest in London, according to this week's Hornsey Journal. You can read the full piece here, with a comment from my collegue, the extremely environmentally friendly Bob Hare....
Martin Shipton in this morning's Western Mail reports that the UK Government tried last week to get the National Assembly to clamp down on the release of information about AMs' expenses. He says that the pressure from Westminster was resisted by officials working for Presiding Officer Lord Elis-Thomas, and detailed expenses claims made by AMs will continue to be published: We can reveal that a
Former Plaid Cymru Assembly Member, Cynog Dafis has a letter in this morning's Western Mail in which he expresses his annoyance at the decision to give the Secretary of State for Wales a veto over the Government of Wales' power to suspend the Right to Buy: As a member of Tomorrow's Wales, which campaigns for primary legislative powers for the National Assembly, and a person active in the Housing
One of the downsides of Dave's shadow cabinet dithering is that reshuffle speculation has been going on so long, the story's moved on. A fortnight ago, even a week ago, Ken Clarke's return to the Tory front-bench after 11 years would have been the lead news item. Today it was well down the running order in the bulletins. But leave to one side the process, and let's look at the outcome: Ken is back. And the question is: is this a good thing for the Tories' hopes of forming the next government? There is no doubt that Ken himself is ...
Liberal Democrats in Bath & North East Somerset, led by Bath MP Don Foster, are supporting South West Lib Dem MP David Heath in bringing forward a parliamentary bill aimed at ending fuel poverty. The Fuel Poverty Bill will bring in two measures: A major energy efficiency programme to bring existing homes up to the current energy efficiency levels enjoyed by...
The system for claiming tax credits is causing distress for residents as the number of cases of overpayment continues to rise. Nationally, 1.8 million families have been overpaid more than once over the four years the tax credit scheme has been running. Don said, "I see so many cases where people have contacted the tax credit office in good time, to inform them of changes to their...
Interesting appointment of Ken Clarke. Presumably, if the Tories has any eurosceptics who were credible on the economy, Ken wouldn't have got the job.
These chaps who are trying to advertise two-bedroom flats in Chelsea at £950,000 in a recession. Why optimistic, you say? Even non-Londoners know Chelsea is expensive (no idea why, but still). Well, the flats are located at the council estate end of the famous King's Road 20 minutes bus journey from the nearest underground or rail station. Despite Sloane Square tube (at the other end of the
Last month I blogged about the threat to Harrow School of Ceramics. Now there's a Downing Street petition to sign.
From Comment is Free: Instead of campaigning for the pesticide industry the NFU should set itself a new set of objectives. Why not start campaigning for healthier foods, a healthier countryside and a better future for family farms? That way the union might just about become relevant to the 21st century.
Speaking to Stop The War rallies in Oldham and Manchester over the weekend I raised above my head a white scarf. It was given to me in Gaza on 1 May 2007 by Ismail Haniya, the 'moderate' Hamas representative who was then Prime Minister of the Palestinian Unity Government. Hamas wants to sweep aside the State of Israel, but Haniya, in speaking to members of the European Parliament's Palestine Delegation, distinguished the position of the movement from the position of the government he led. The government, he stated, accepted the 1967 borders of Israel, would respect previous agreements made with ...
Monday: Starring Mr Balloon as "The Penguin" And Mr Lord Mandy Mandelbrot (and his nine lives) as "The Catwoman" Conservatory Central Office, in association with Saatchi and Saatchi present a Grant Schaps Film: Mr Kenny "Fatty" Clarke is FATMAN in... "Fatman Returns" Also starring Master Gideon Oboe as "The Ice Princess" And, in especially large letters at the end, Mr Christopher Walken as "Lady Thatcher" PS: The press release says they've "agreed to disagree" on Europe... so actually everyone is playing TWO-FACE! PPS: Master Oboe has just been on the RADIO to explain that it's all HIS idea! Oboe: Please, ...
Big Finish produces chilling audio dramas like Peter's Spare Parts and Paul's Embrace the Darkness, then an epic season climax in Neverland; Kaldor City's intrigue deepens in Death's Head and Hidden Persuaders; Daleks surprise in the comic strip as Children of the Revolution; and I can barely read Jealous, Possessive (Short Trips: Zodiac) or Beedlemania (A Life of Surprises) for laughing. But the best Doctor Who short story anthology of all technically contains neither Doctor Who nor short stories... Faction Paradox - The Book of the War "The coolest character is the one whose face you never get to see." ...
The credit crunch has seen Noth Somerset unemployment rise by almost half and house repossession by nearly a quarter in just one year. Last year more than 500 people lost their jobs across the district, bringing the number of residents claiming job-seekers allowance to 1,652. This represents a 45% rise compared with October the previous year, according to the Office for National Statistics. The figures mean that the jobless rate is its highest in the district for nearly a decade. Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate Brian Mathew said: "We are extremely worried about the situation in North Somerset especially regarding ...
