The biggest question in British politics is whether the banks should be nationalized. John Gapper and Paul Myners clearly don't think so. One of my favourite writers on financial measures in the US is Krishna Guha in the FT. He puts it well: "Investors saw the UK plan - which involved the government increasing its shareholding and offering insurance against losses on large pools of toxic assets - as merely a step on the road to full nationalisation". He summarizes the complex issues with designing these bailouts nicely: "It is unsustainable to have banks with equity market capitalisation in the ...
From the Harborough Mail: Is this amazing picture of an Unidentified Flying Object over Great Bowden proof that we are not alone in the universe?The photo, taken from the footbridge over the railway line at Great Bowden, appears to show a saucer-shaped object flying above the trees.I don't know if the photograph constitutes proof that we are not alone in the universe. But I do know that the photographer was obviously standing with his back to the village of Great Bowden and facing towards Market Harborough. So whatever the object was, it was over the town. Now read about our ...
I spent part of this afternoon telling in Welling, in a primary school that was serving as a polling station in the East Wickham by-election. Two things struck me as unusual. First, people were coming out to vote briskly at a time when normally turnout is sluggish, especially in mid January. But second, and much [...]
Whilst watching tonight's Question Time, I was disconcerted to learn of the fact that staff at the nationalised bank Northern Rock were to receive bonuses totaling some £9m pounds. This flies in the face of the Government's so called crack down on the "bonus culture" that was partially to blame for the bank's collapse in the first place! I mean, why should staff of a failed institution be rewarded for having their bank taken into State control? Supposedly these bonuses are to reward staff for the amount of monies they've already paid back of the loan the Government paid them ...
So I'm watching Question time and the first 20 mins have been about the economy started around the bonus to be paid to northern rock staff. (for doing their job apparently - so I'm in the wrong job then!) So a part from Dimbleby usual interrupting before the panellist gets a chance to draw breath, yet alone answer the question. What is depressing is the opposition (us included) saying how awful the government is (which of course they are) without being constructive in their criticism. Why can't they say "this is bad, this is what we would do ...let's work ...
A comment on my recent posting on Croydon Airport rightly says that the first civil airport in Britain was Hounslow Heath. I had heard of it but had assumed that it was another name for Heathrow. Not so, as Hidden London explains: In 1919 Hounslow Heath became the site of the first civil airport in the country. The earliest commercial flight was from Bristol to Hounslow and the inaugural scheduled air service was from Hounslow to Paris. On 12 November the first flight to Australia left Hounslow, arriving 28 days later. Commercial aviation moved to Croydon in 1920 and the ...
... one giant leap for the government to do anything it likes. The Coroners and Justice Bill is not just about coroners. Or about justice. It's also about the government creating a loophole in the Data Protection Act of 1998 which will enable them to tell anybody to share your information with just about anybody they please - not just in government but also outside. If you don't believe me, check out the Bill, Part 8, section 152. It's there in black and white. They want ministers to be able to make "Information Sharing Orders", which will neutralise the Data ...
Betsan Powys - on her blog - is suggesting that the Jan 26th date for publication of the Welsh Language Legislative Competence Order (Welco?!) is looking more like Feb than Jan. Betsan (on telly) says Feb 2 is now more likely. Alun Fred was evasive on the exact date on Dragon's Eye tonight. Masters: Will it be [published] next week?AF: It will be soon. So that's the third delay - that I'm aware
One of the tweets (as the young people call them) on Iain Dale's Diary at the moment reads: Forgot to mention: I'm hosting A Night With Ann Widdecombe at the BIC Pavilion in Bournemouth tomorrow night. Tickets available I think!I can't help feeling that the promise of an evening without Ann Widdecombe would be a better selling point.
David Laws, Lib Dem shadow secretary of state for children, schools and families - and the brains behind the Orange Book - is the party's representative on tonight's Question Time (BBC1 and online, 10.35 pm GMT). David will be appearing alongside Labour's Minister for Europe Caroline Flint (and let's see if we can avoid mentioning Caroline's phwoar-factor in this thread, eh?), shadow defence secretary Liam Fox (whose sexist, racist jokes keep 'em rolling about on the Tory benches), former British ambassador to Washington Sir Christopher Meyer (whose diaries revealed the extent of Blair's Iraq hypocrisy), and Daily Telegraph columnist Janet ...
Figures uncovered by the Welsh Liberal Democrats have revealed that the cost of maintenance and repairs to get NHS hospitals to operationally safe levels are close to ½ billion pounds. Targets were set by the Assembly government in 2002 to get 75% of all NHS estates across Wales up to operationally safe level by 2005 and 90% by 2008. Out of the 14 Health Trusts in Wales, only 3 met the 90% target, 5 met the 75% and 6 failed to meet the 2005 and 2008 targets. A catalogue of other failures from Trusts not meeting statutory and safety compliances ...
Although in Stirling for most of today with the 'day job', I was in contact with the Housing Department regarding my concern about the continual breakdown of Mr John Melville's heating system. Mr Melville, who lives in Ancrum Place in the West End Ward, has suffered continual heating breakdowns since December 2007 and both today's Courier and Evening Telegraph covered the issue. You can read the Tele article by clicking on the headline above. As I said to the Tele : "I was most concerned to hear of Mr Melville's situation. "I will be making enquiries to the housing department ...
I don't know what it is with January, but it seems as though for the second year in a row my blogging has gone very quiet in the first month of the year. At least by this time last year I had done my two 'reviews' of the previous year. So despite being very late, [...]
Hat tip to my good friend Kelvin for his posting of Bishop Gene Robinson's prayer at the kick off of the inaugural events in Washington on Sunday. I would have preferred to see Bishop Gene than Rick Warren at the main event not just for obvious reasons but also because the prayer he delivered was so beautiful. I'm no fan of organised religion as you know, but if you take the God bit out, these are things we can all hope for. Opening Inaugural Event Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC January 18, 2009 Delivered by the Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson: ...
Welcome to the 100th of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere - yes, the Golden Dozen has reached its ton! Which means it's almost two years since I suggested the feature to LDV founder Rob Fenwick at Westminster Liberal Drinks in February 2007. The concept hasn't strayed much from the original brief outlined in the very first Golden Dozen: The idea is simple enough. Each week, we'll list the top postings which have appeared on the Lib Dem Blogs Aggregator during the previous seven days. And then I'll hand-pick another five you might have otherwise missed to showcase ...
I am all for publishing MPs expenses. After all, MPs are there to represent the people and so the people should have the right to see how they spend the allowances they get for doing that job. But one thing I guarantee now is that when they are published the inefficiency of the administration of [...]
Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader Tavish Scott has been leading a campaign to save Scotland's forests from the SNP's plans to sell a quarter of our forests to private concerns. I have to say that I was absolutely horrified at this idea. Why turn over your precious natural heritage to people motivated entirely by profit? Have the Nationalists learned nothing about the need for conservation and sustainability? Are foreign investors going to care about the rural economy and will they preserve our tourist attractions? I think not. Tavish has launched a petition against these proposals. Please sign it here preferably before ...
I was sent this in an e-mail by my friend Louise. I don't often pass on these viral things but occasionally there's one that totally hits the spot and this is it. I have no idea where it originally came from, but if the writer wants to be credited, just get in touch:-). I will happily buy you a very large drink of your choice. Anyone who has ever had any long term interaction with young children will recognise how spookily accurate this is. I particularly liked the sections on dressing and supermarket shopping. I was lucky enough to have ...
I am sick to death of media trained PR spokesmen for trade bodies giving pre-prepared evasive answers to questions in defence of the indefensible. A classic example was today on BBC breakfast news when a spokesman for the trade body representing supermarkets ignored every question he was asked in relation to the Dispatches Channel 4 documentary about "value" own brand products. The constant repetition of the line "Our customers like out products" and "sales of our value range products is rising", ignored questions asking why own brand products contained so little nutritional value. Media training by companies has proved to ...
An Independent Councillor Harry Purcell from Pendle who sits on Barnoldswick Town Council has resigned his seat over budget row in protest over the council's spending, to read more about the resignation follow the link. Many Council's seat holder David Whipp aka the greedy councillor said the following: "But West Craven councillor David Whipp has responded, saying Mr Purcell is a "grumpy old man" who has made "no positive contribution" to the town council." Why did the Councillor resign, was it related to their false accusations for the Town Council Clerk against Councillor Whipp? Can anyone clear this issue up, ...
It surprised me when my post a few weeks ago about the plight of the honeybee generated the second largest number of visits to my blog (beaten only when the supporters of Darlington Football Club descended on the blog after I criticised the club for their happy hour beer policy). And now there is good news: research into the decline in the British bee population has been boosted this week as
I can't even pretend that I can follow just how the Labour Cabinet managed to cock up the decision on MPs expenses. First they were saying that there would be a whipped vote (but that it was all about opening up, not secrecy - oh no). Then it was to be a free vote. And then no vote at all (unless you were Hazel Blears who appeared not to have got the second memo and so was still claiming it would be a free vote. I don't blame her for being confused...) And don't even get me started on the ...
We're going out tonight, so I don't have time to do a review of Superman Beyond 3D until tomorrow (suffice to say I now know what I want on my gravestone, should I die). In the meantime, some quick links: Pillock and the Mindless ones talk about how great I am. There's some other stuff in [...]
Peter Hain has been found guilty of "serious and substantial" failures for failing to register donations to his Labour Deputy Leadership campaign. More here. Jack Straw has been found guilty of a "clear, albeit inadvertent, breach" of the rules for failing to register a donation. More here. And the Electoral Commission has won the right to appeal over a decision that UKIP only had to forfeit a small portion of the illegal donations it had received. More here.
So Peter Hain has been found guilty of "Serious and substantial failures" by the parliamentary watchdog. I really felt that when the police decided not to prosecute him last month due to insufficient evidence over this and he and his Labour colleagues then went around the studios claiming that he had been cleared that it left a bad taste in my mouth. He had not been cleared at all but there was simply not enough evidence to prosecute. Of course in true New Labour style, the claim was repeated so much that in the end it became the story. Indeed ...
More over at Recess Monkey about Cameron and cronies and their money making ways that even Cameron disliked but promoted Hague for!
Punishment is relative. In the flurry of political quiz related blogging activity today (here, here and here), the very first question struck me as troubling. See, I am a Lib Dem after all. Are prisons too soft on Criminals? Well, probably, but for entirely the wrong reason. We live in a country where people do not believe that losing one's liberty is actually a punishment in and of itself. Now that's scary, isn't it? It's not that prisons are becoming more like the outside world - it's that the outside world is becoming more like prison, turning the place of ...
I've been in Bath for a couple of days, and took this picture - the stark sight of the Officers Club menswear chain closing down. It was the same at the Bristol branch today, and there is of course a branch in Wood Green Shopping City. It reminded me that on Monday's Full Council meeting, the Labour member responsible for business said she'd never heard of the Officers Club. She said this was obviously an issue for the west side of the borough (as if a shop closure in Hornsey or Wood Green was somehow not her concern) as it ...
Conservatives in Bury St Edmunds are being asked to fork out £2000 each to take the local party out of debt, this comes from a blog post written by Mark Pack over at LDV. After reading the blog post the only thing that I can say is, its typical of the Tories. The Conservatives when they get into money blow it on campaigns and win peoples votes over but when they is no money coming through via donations they land flat on their faces, I predict that the Bury St Edmunds local party will become un-existing because members wont give ...
So there I am, sitting on a southbound Northern line train, dressed in black and white, my one rebellion against monochrome a pair of cufflinks in a variety of pinks and purples, on my way to a dinner party. At least I am coloured co-ordinated with the line I'm travelling on... I admit that it isn't a particularly intimate dinner party, although I have no idea who the hosts are, and the list of
Just been looking at the French Connection sale online, courtesy of Brandalley. Culottes? Puff-ball skirts? Memories of 25 years ago! I had a pair of dark green wool culottes, bought in France, which I took to uni with me. They lasted for ages, despite being more Prisunic than Printemps, and I loved them (brilliant [...]
Liverpool's Labour Councillors seem to have taken offense that I dare to be critical of their glorious leader (aka G Brown) and his cabinet's visit (or should I say publicity stunt) to Liverpool the other week. Lets be clear. Where he or other ministers go is their own business. What is my business is when residents in Liverpool are expected to foot the bill for all the extra policing for a visit they did not request. I have a question tabled for Full Council next Wednesday. I want to know how much was spent and where the money is coming ...
I am half way through sorting out three separate site visits in my ward to look at three separate issues. The God of diaries is clearly against me this week as good sense would have these all on the same day when in fact I am having to spread them out over a fortnight. So tomorrow a group of us are looking at an asb issue which we feel is affected by the conditions at the location, the following week a group of us are looking at a traffic issue where a bus lane is confusing people who want to ...
Well I have to say that I'm quite impressed that following being tagged by Tom Griffin to take part in the carnival on Modern LIberty that two of my taggees have already posted their contibutions. War Dog has posted a piece of Liberal Civic Nationalism and McChatterer who dispite protestations that "If [he] knew anything about the subject, or had thought about it at all, this might be a good idea. But [he] do[es]n't." has come up with the goods here. James Graham in his launch post suggested we don't tag the usual suspects, so I deliberately went outside my ...
A mass campaign organised by the Liberal Democrats and Islington-based pressure group Unlock Democracy has forced Gordon Brown to back down on controversial plans to exempt MPs expenses from the Freedom of Information Act. But not before local Labour MP Emily Thornberry has been exposed as being on the side of secrecy. MPs from all [...]
Conservative members in Bury St Edmunds are being asked to pay £2,000 each to bailout the local Conservative association, which has plunged £130,000 in to debt. The local paper reports: Tory insiders claim the debts - which they describe as "a mess" - arose because of the Conservative's resource centre in Woolpit, which has not been used as much as originally planned, leaving the association out of pocket as a result. It has now emerged the association will try and get past executive council members to stump up £2,000 each to bail it out, a move one Tory warned could ...
Bath MP Don Foster said he will vote against controversial plans to exclude MPs from having to disclose exactly how they have spent their second home allowance. The move has been proposed as an amendment to the Freedom of Information Act. Don commented, "When families are having to count every penny to make sure that ends meet, it is outrageous that MPs are seeking to hide how...
Two observations from a session on new media, politics and lessons from the US at the Oxford Media Convention today. Firstly, the existence of a transition period creates huge differences from Parliamentary systems like the UK. The Obama team have been able to spend several weeks thinking about how to adapt their vibrant online communities from election mode to government mode. Much of this has been made public through the now-closed portal change.gov. In the UK the campaign team has to move straight into government after the election so that they may feel they have no option but to put ...
Yes, yes, if you didn't know already you do now Kawczynski is a wally. I break from pressing work quickly just to recount when Kawczynski a while back went on Today and said that the BBC should focus more on non-white immigrants and that the corporation racist against the Polish. I also remember him once making another over the top address to Parliament, asking"Won't somebody think of the people of Shrewsbury?!" Sorry for the brevity, but don't have time for a full on character assasination today.
B&NES Council should work with Somer to bring empty homes back into use according to Lib Dem Councillors who are continuing to raise the issue of housing shortages in the District. Councillors sitting on the Healthier Communities and Older People panel yesterday considered the social housing situation after 10 years of Somer management: what has been achieved over the last decade...
The first half of the week has been very Westminster focused, what with Federal Executive on Monday, Federal Finance Committee on Tuesday and my Select Committee on Wednesday morning, along with a host of meetings. So it was with some relief that I left London yesterday afternoon to travel to Kent for a series of events, starting at Canterbury West station where I was met by a contingent from the local Party including the legendary Michael Steed. The station itself was part of the visit as I was briefed on its various inadequacies given that the high speed line will ...
Not new - but still worthwhile - the campaign idea to show our Home Secretary how bonkers her plan to keep all our emails, phone calls, texts etc is. It's a 'cc all your emails to Jacqui Smith day', to raise awareness of the pointless offensiveness of the Government's database state. It's a Facebook group campaign - and given that civil liberties is the Lib Dem middle name - want to keep plugging it: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=43256614646 As a lot of my emails are to constituents about personal issues, I won't be joining in I admit - but hope others will make ...
Well, I thought I'd take the political survey 2005 that all the cool cats seems to be doing. My results are here assuming they are persistent. Apparently, on crime and punishment, Europe, and other transnational issues including immigration and international law, 90% of the population are to the right of me, worryingly (or maybe not depending on your viewpoint) 76% of LibDems are also to the right of me (compared with 99% of Tories and 83% of Labour). On public and private involvement in the economy, international trade, redistributive taxation and Iraq, a reassuring 52% of LibDems agree with me ...
Is they such a thing? I would have expected their to be some but their is a list of unacceptable language in Parliament that has been used in the past and you can view the list by following the link! Even calling another member, "dishonourable member " is not allowed!
I have received the following from Kay Barnard who is one of our prospective E U candidates in June this year and I thought that it made interesting reading I hope that you do as well. There's an old farming saying in Somerset, "As the days lengthen, the cold strengthens". That certainly seems to have been the case in the first weeks of 2009, as we have faced a fierce chill in the...
If I was asked this question before today I would have said, I didn't know they were? But the Labour party are spamming bloggers and this news comes thanks to Tim Ireland. Tim has reported that Labour are using the email address "info [at] email-new.labour.org.uk" to email bloggers and ask them to link to Labour party press releases by posting about them. The message that Labour use is: "... if you could blog about the discussion forum - even a short post with a link - we can make sure as many people know about it as possible..." Now that's ...
I promised that I would print the replies to my questions to the Conservative Cabinet meeting on January 14th I am sorry that they are a bit long but most of the answers clearly point out that they have not really got a clue what is going on. Question one a) With travellers constantly on the former Herman Miller site on the Lower Bristol Road can the Cabinet member say...
Thu 22nd
14:08
Against Apathy, Ignorance and Complacency and why (in its own small way) voting matters
This is a lengthened response piece I wrote for Concrete the student newspaper. I think it sums up my position on voting anyway. Last issue Laurence Steele gave voice to the many when in a damning piece on politicians (dirty, lying, scheming, rotten, self serving bastards - right!) he summed up his position in the short but sweet statement: "I'm politically apathetic and proud" Now Laurence represents a heck of a lot of students, last year in the local elections less than 20% of UEA's student population voted. I had tried running a small 'get out the vote' campaign for ...
I did the www.madeitallup.politics.com test and found that I was to the left of 47% of fishermen but my views on vegetables ranked me as 53% to the right of the Dutch. On satellite proliferation I found I was 38% above people called Susan but 43% below 'Colins'. Perhaps the most interesting result was that my underwear is 9% to the right of me, which means that I am technically a naturist, although in fact I have always favoured large boxer shorts which would encompass this percentage shift. Thank heaven I don't wear thongs! The overall result was that I ...
Because their President felt the need to take the oath of office a second time just to make sure. I mean, just how anal is this? We're talking 'colon' here, aren't we? Or maybe 'epiglottis'.
My Political Views I am a left social libertarian Left: 6.35, Libertarian: 3.96 Political Spectrum Quiz More left-wing and less libertarian than most other people I've seen posting this on my friends list. The "less libertarian" bit is probably because some of the questions about morality and abortion seemed to me to be worded as questions about one's personal ethics rather than about what public policy should be, and I distinguish quite sharply between the two, especially on abortion. "More left-wing" is probably what comes of having SNP supporters on one side of my ancestry and Red Clydesiders on the ...
Hearty apologies to James Graham who faithfully submitted his copy for Lib Dig Pig well in advance of his deadline despite his hellish week. Unfortunately an editor who shall remain nameless didn't press the right button and it languished in LDV's "Unpublished drafts" folder until much of the content had been superseded by current affairs. Welcome to the seventh 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). This is ...
Some more gloomy crime figures today, but also reasons to be cheerful. Last month I was really pleased that crime had dropped very substantially in Chessington North and Hook. And it seems this is matched across the Borough. Kingston is, according to the Metropolitan Police, the safest borough in London. And it's not just a matter of the crime figures rising here more...
Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader, Kirsty Williams will be addressing the Oxford Union tomorrow as part of a forum hosted by the Oxford Union to explore the reasons behind the under-representation of women in politics. Joining her on the platform will be Laura Schwartz, former Special Assistant to President Clinton and Shehrbano Rehman, Pakistan Minister of Information and Broadcasting. In her
Earlier on this week I wrote to Linlithgow and Falkirk MP Michael Connarty asking him to back the move not to exempt MPs expenses from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Bill. With the speed of all the action the usual prompt response I get from my opponent from 2005 was not forthcoming before the dramatic U-Turn of Gordon Brown on Wednesday. I thought nothing more of it until I read in the Press and Journal that Michael despite claiming to supply receipts to back all his expense claims deems the process to meet it for FOI "ridiculous and tiresome". ...
Bury St Edmunds Conservative Association isn't having a good day today. Apparently, according to the local newspaper the East Anglian Daily Times "During a recent meeting with lawyers, Bury St Edmunds Conservative Association was told its debts currently amounted to £130,000." £130,000 - ouch, that is a lot of money, especially given it is an election year! The East Anglian Daily Times goes on to say "Mr Flack, who was chairman of the association when the debts were incurred, said: "If I face legal claims which cannot be fully covered from the fund I have been advised that I need ...
The decision letter signed by Boris yesterday has just winged its way into by inbox. Despite massive local objections, he has failed to use his powers to direct refusal of the Arcadia development. I can't say I'm surprised. As I said at the Save Ealing Centre meeting on Tuesday,"The efforts to lobby the Mayor to say 'no' are worthwhile, but I am afraid that my faith in the likelihood of him interceding is limited. We can't just leave it to Boris!" But I am disappointed. Earlier this week the Mayor flexed his planning muscles by refusing a central London scheme ...
This morning the School Council from Harrowgate Hill Primary, in North Road ward, visited the Town Hall to take part in various activities. They were welcomed in the Council Chamber by the mayor who answered the many questions thrown at him by what was a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable bunch of kids. Then David Allaway, the Mayoral Support Officer, who turns out to be a fount of
Alix and Jennie have resurrected the peculiar fascinating 2005 political compass, the one that suggets some odd-looking criteria for defining left and right. I come out pretty close to Alix: left on the main axis of internationalism/rehabilitation, and right on the minor axis of free trade and war. I was against the war, so I must be really keen on free trade. OK the fascinating thing about this
It is a well-known fact that the production of high volume, professional websites can cost a bit of money to design, set up and run, however the Welsh Assembly Government are surely taking the biscuit if this news is correct. This morning's Western Mail reports that they are spending £3.5m to set up two new websites. The paper tells us that details of the £3.5m contract can be seen on the Assembly Government's existing business website, http://www.sell2wales.co.uk/: A notice on the website says: "The Welsh Assembly Government is rationalising its business websites. There will be two primary websites: a single ...
B&NES Council should work with Somer to bring empty homes back into use according to Lib Dem Councillors who are continuing to raise the issue of housing shortages in the District. Councillors sitting on the Healthier Communities and Older People panel yesterday considered the social housing situation after 10 years of Somer management: what has been achieved over the last decade...
Our campaign to get the Council to take action against a landlord to stop known fly-tipping in Eldon Terrace hit the headlines today. Dumping of waste is a major problem in the ward and something Glenn Goodall and I have been leading on at a Council level, resulting in the recent Lib Dem motion to Council last year and proposals for more effective environmental enforcement endorsed by the cross-party Environment Scrutiny Panel in December. Let's hope this latest piece of negative press coverage spurs all concerned into action. We will continue drawing this issue to the media's attention until the Council starts to take the issue of fly-tipping seriously and uses its ...
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...
Last night was spent at a meeting of the Bury Lib Dem Council group, which was a good way to catch up on the news and developments of the last couple of weeks. It's a busy time coming up in the near future, with Prestwich regeneration, the Council's budget and the forthcoming full Council meeting all on the horizon. Tonight there's another meeting keeping me from rest... This time it's the Developing Communities Working Group, which is one of the two sub-groups of the Local Area Partnership. It's the one primarily concerned with the Community Plan, trying to make sure ...
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...
Bath MP Don Foster has signed an Early Day Motion backing the Retail of Alcohol Standards Group for their 'Challenge 25' policy. Challenge 25 will require all those over 18 but under 25 to carry photo ID if they wish to purchase alcohol. The new threshold is also designed to assist efforts to combat proxy purchase - where young adults purchase alcohol on behalf of underage...
The link is to an irish case where a child was not returned to foster care in Northern Ireland because of the "possibility" of adoption. This is because it challenges Article 41 particularly of the Irish Constitution to have forced adoption in the way things are done in England.
When I was a little school spod we used to, quite solemnly, read horoscopes out to each other at breaktime. To this day I am incapable of being in the presence of magazines and other girls (and when I say "girls" I mean people who are deputy headteachers, finance analysts, doctors, strategy consultants etc) without [...]
The Conservative-run Cabinet of Bath and North East Somerset Council has today adopted a report outlining plans for the Council's future office arrangements - including the redevelopment of Keynsham Town Hall and the removal of most Council offices from Bath. Liberal Democrats have opposed previous Conservative plans to build a brand-new Council office on a single...
One thing I have noticed over the last few months is that Barack Obama seems to have a very good and well developed sense of humour. Some senior politicians can be amusing (although it is usually the ones who will never get near real power who are the funniest, e.g. Dennis Skinner). It is unusual for senior politicians to be genuinely funny. Margaret Thatcher famously did not really understand humour even though her speechwriters would insert topical gags which she would repeat. Tony Blair and William Hague are examples of recent front-line UK politicians who seem to be naturally funny ...
Very sensible move, retaking the oath, I think. After spending $1 billion on the Obama campaign, it would be daft to risk it all on an accidental split infinitive.
I've penned three articles for February's Total Politics, out this week. Here are the links so you can read them if you're into that kind of thing: A review of the Nokia E71 (I like it) Top ten examples of unparliamentary language (Dennis Skinner deserves an award for rudeness) Political couples (pass the sick bag) In [...]
I'm sure lots of students my age have heard aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents, older family friends, all lecturing us about money. "This society has gone to the dogs; people want what they can't have, when they can't have it, with money they can't afford to spend." And so on. Normally as a rule, when people bemoan the passing of halcyon days when things were more beautiful, or simpler, or freer, or more moral, I nod politely and listen. I mean, I don't really agree, but all the same, what people say is worth more than the time I can give ...
5) Ariel Sabar, My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq (Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin 2008, ISBN 9781565124905). A moving memoir of Sabar's father and his efforts to negotiate the complexities of exile identity in Israel and the USA.
You heard it here first. Apparently, Helen Mary Jones thinks the massive backlog in NHS estates is not worth talking about or fixing. The Welsh Lib Dem motion to the Assembly yesterday brought to light the shocking £468 million backlog in repairs to NHS estates in Wales and called on WAG to bring forward plans to bring them up to standard. In her contribution she dubbed this debate as '
This one is via pickwick and nwhyte: What I found interesting about this were the detailed results (of which there are three pages). The graph has two left/right axes, which is slightly confusing, but I think we can cope. They've basically classified issues along traditional old labour/tory lines. What's interesting is that on the "important" axis, people who classify themselves as left wing tend to actually be centrist, while right wingers tend to self-classify correctly. I think this shows how far politics as a whole has shifted right under New Labour. What's more interesting is the comparisons with people who ...
So there we have it on the week after the main Northern Rock shareholders were in court arguing the lie of the governments compensation order that Northern Rock should have been valued as if it were in administration we learn that the repayment targets have been met and workers will get a 10% bonus. Now I am pleased for them they stuck it out when all was bleak and clearly have done a good job
My Political Views I am a left moderate social libertarian Left: 4.51, Libertarian: 2.78 Political Spectrum Quiz So, I remain modestly left-wing and modestly libertarian. In United Kingdom terms, that makes me centrist and socially liberal. My Foreign Policy Views Score: -3.75 Political Spectrum Quiz My Culture War Stance Score: -6.4 Political Spectrum Quiz I'm not really an
Walking home on Sunday evening I came across two foxes fighting outside the Roman Catholic church. I don't know if they had fallen out over some point of doctrine, but I shouted at them to break it up. I wouldn't mind, but this is Market Harborough - the spiritual home of fox hunting since Melton Mowbray became too expensive and too scandalous at the end of the 19th century. Why do we see so many foxes in town these days? Is it that changes in refuse collection mean there are more bins outside houses to be scavenged. Or have changing ...
I am on the way to Iceland to a few nights with my friend Phil.
There are times it's good to be a Liberal Democrat. Take, for example, last December's Private Members' Bills ballot for the 2008-09 Parliamentary session. Four Lib Dem MPs were drawn in the top 20, with David Heath and Evan Harris in the top five. David announced the subject of his bill last week: ending fuel poverty. And yesterday, as widely trailed in the media, Evan announced what he would devote his bill to - reversing centuries of discrimination against Catholics and women under the Act of Settlement and other enactments. Here's an excerpt from Evan's press release: Dr Harris said, ...
Percy and I have just been through what seems to be a new morning routine. His meat bowl is empty, his biscuit bowl is not. He looks at me hungrily. I give him a new helping of meat. He then starts eating the biscuits. My friend Turhan told me the other day that the Turkish equivalent [...]
I have written a post for Liberal Democrat Voice that they have very kindly published here. It is about my thoughts on the One Day Conference at the LSE that I attended on Saturday as a first timer.
After only days of campaigning and pressure from people all over the UK and Liberal Democrat (and Conservative) MPs the Government, who are wildly out of touch with real people, have shelved their plans to exempt MPs expenses from the Freedom of Information Act. Liberal Democrat Federal Leader, Nick Clegg said: "The Liberal Democrats are totally opposed to any Government move to allow MPs to avoid being subject to Freedom of Information requests. "At a time when families are having to count every penny, it is outrageous that MPs are seeking to hide how they spend their money." You can ...
No, not the Chief Justice making the 44th President retake the oath. Although that was one judge who did have to speak to rectify the misspeak he may have inadvertantly caused. However, these judges will please Caron and Will for The Times has asked Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli to comment on the First Couple's efforts on the dancefloor at the Inaugural Balls. Mind you there isn't much surprise from either. Craig condemns them for being over simplistic and marks low 3s and 4 while Bruno is gushing about the story and the romance and gives the President an ...
With thanks to Frank Little for drawing this to my attention, a report in the Daily Telegraph earlier this month reports that the British economy has got so bad we might not be allowed to adopt the Euro as our currency even if we wanted to. Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, the European Central Bank's board member in charge of international affairs told Italy's La Repubblica newspaper that "Great Britain
Following the foul-up at the inauguration, Barack Obama has now taken the oath again. Now there's absolutely no doubt that he is legally the President of the United States of America.
He's back, he's Christopher Eccleston then David Tennant, and he's showered with BAFTAs. There's behind-the-scenes series Doctor Who Confidential, Big Finish on BBC7 and Simon Guerrier's Billy book The Time Travellers... And the trip of a lifetime begins with the world's most fantastic trailer. The Doctor and Rose's story involves The End of the World, The Unquiet Dead, The Empty Child, Dalek fleets and a Christmas Invasion; dining-with-monsters Boom Town and Paul Cornell's heartbreaking Father's Day stand out, though my heart's with the first one we ever saw a tiny part of filmed. On Easter Saturday, Doctor Who... Rose "Run!" ...
