(irony of quoting a character in a Christian allegory for the title of a post about science fully intentional - points for naming him?) So half of people in the UK don't believe in Evolution. I wonder how many of those are the sort of people who think Winston Churchill was fictional, or that Robin Hood was a real person (when in fact he is a fictionalised amalgam of three). I wonder how many of them have pedigree dogs. I wonder how many of them are annoyed, like I am, that most of the Graun's articles about evolution seem to ...
82,740 pensioners and families in the South East had their application for a crisis loan turned down by the Government last year, figures highlighted by the Liberal Democrats have revealed. Applications for the loans, aimed at low-income families and pensioners unable to get credit elsewhere, rose by more than 63% last year to 289,330. The figures [...]
The National Black Police Association feels so strongly that Sir Paul Stephenson should not be the new Metropolitan Police Commissioner that they are threatening to step up their campaign to actively dissuade people from ethnic minorities from joining the police. That's according to the Observer. The NBPA's own website hasn't been updated since last October so I assume the Observer story is accurate. Paul Stephenson's crime, as far as I can tell, isn't to encourage racism in the force, or to be a soft touch on tackling racist crime, but to have disagreed with the race discrimination claim launched by ...
This week's video, chosen with the credit crunch in mind, was recorded on 18 June 2008. It is an appeal for English jobs for English workers. We last saw Dave Swarbrick on this blog as the fiddler and singer with Fairport Convention on Sir Patrick Spens. I also saw him play live with Band of Hope in Leicester some time in the 1990s.In this video he is playing and singing with the legendary 1980s folk group Whippersnapper, which has recently reformed. As Swarbrick's obituary, published in the Daily Telegraph on 20 April 1999 said: Dave Swarbrick, the violinist and singer ...
I'm really sorry, in advance, for talking about religion two blog posts in a row. I'll try and space them out in future, honestly! But have a look at this. I accept that there are non-Christians. I accept that there are people of other faiths and no faiths. I accept that all these people should feel completely comfortable in a hospital situation, without any potential conflict given on grounds of religion. All that, is not in question. I do however, question the fact that a trained nurse is prevented from working, for simply offering to pray for a patient. It ...
A fairly early start, especially for a Sunday, saw us on the 08:40 train from Bristol Parkway to Bath Spa, with an onward connection to Bradford-on-Avon, in the new constituency of Chippenham. Along with our very capable PPC, Duncan Hames, we spent some time out leafletting in what felt like sub-zero temperature. This creates the 'glove dilemma' - keeping the gloves on makes it really hard to separate out the leaflets and the target letters, but when you take them off, your hands start to freeze. In the end, in a classic Lib Dem compromise, I settled for one glove ...
Over at Philobiblon.
I've spent the afternoon tucked up inside, in the warmth, typing up articles for a FOCUS due out this week. I seem to be becoming a "Southern Softie" as my Scottish other half puts it. My days of living in Holland and "enjoying" temperatures of -11 seem to be long gone - but not the memory of living in an old, unconverted, farmhouse with no central heating! The other members of the household are just keeping their fingers crossed that there will be enough snow falling to keep the schools closed tomorrow. If only all of life's issues could be ...
I found this advert on Facebook tonight: If you've got poor or no credit history, you can still apply for the Vanquis Visa card and get an instant response. Typical APR 39.9%.
We are about to start some work at the City Council on improving the shared understanding of people's jobs - councillors need to understand better what officers do and vice versa. We are hoping to set up some shadowing opportunities, but I also thought I would start keeping a diary as if several of us do "week in the life" type stuff it might help others understand what we do. Of course for most councillors this will also include their job - but we need to leave this in as understanding that many of us have other work is key ...
Brian Blanchflower, the Head at Dunfermline High School, is rightly very proud of his Inclusion Unit which halved exclusions from the school. It's a partnership with Apex Scotland and has been part funded by Fife Council. I met four of the pupils who had benefited from Karen's (the unit leader) work which addressed and challenged their behaviour and provided them with the tools, skills and confidence to be able to handle life both at and beyond the school. A visit to Perth prison, a discussion with a prisoner and a talk on drugs were just some of the practical ways ...
So, Cameron's been dallying with the rich and powerful from around the globe, giving them lectures on the new Compassionate Conservative's Critique of Corrupted Capitalism. He's obviously not heard of Briggs Armstrong, whom I highlighted earlier in the week, let alone understood the libertarian criticism of corporate welfare, influence through regulators and legislators. Ironic really, since it seems to me that Davos is itself the supreme example of how when the power of individuals or corporations reaches a critical mass, they can get almost unlimited, and private, access to those who can make even their wildest dreams come true - ...
Welcome to the 102nd of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (25th-31st January 2009), together with a hand-picked quintet, mostly courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. This week's crop have something of a by-election flavour - something to do, I suspect, with this week's stunning crop of Lib Dem victories. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down. 1. Liberal Democrat candidate silenced in Redbridge on Helen Duffett's Paint the Town Orange blog. Labour/Tory councillors override legal advice to ...
Two reviews out today. One from Christine Bennett in The Observer: Although a commitment to democratic engagement with the online public is now compulsory for any party official, LabourList's fondness for joyless affirmations of party solidarity, along with official reports on the modern equivalent of tractor production and Draper's corrections of perceived thought crimes, can easily make it appear, to visitors from the free world, to have less in common with Obama's style of civic engagement than with Vladimir Putin's... On each new, Obama-inspired Labour website, there is a patch of nothing where a picture of the party leader should ...
The family of a British journalist shot dead by the Israeli Army in Gaza five years ago have received a £1.5 million payout from the Israeli government. The Israeli government, however, despite a full enquiry and even film of the event claim the Israeli soldier was NOT breaking the law. Now remember, this is the same Israeli government who also claim their forces are acting within the law and within strict limits when the bomb and shot their way in to Gaza. According to film footage shot at the time, Mr Miller, is seen waving a white flag as he ...
Today's Scotland on Sunday highlights the declining state of Scotland's school estate and the failure of the SNP government to provide its promised alternative to PPP funding to allow the schools rebuilding programme to be kick-started across Scotland. See The editorial states that the SNP Government stands culpable of a breach of promise over schools capital funding, stating: At the May 2007 election, the SNP manifesto pledged to match existing school building programmes "brick by brick". Just two months ago, Finance Secretary John Swinney reiterated: "Spending on our youngsters is key to our collective future, and of course the ...
According to John Hemming's site (adding up the figures): LD 9,806 Con 8,425 Lab 8,000 Oth 2,913
An hour's drive up the M5, and we arrived in Filton & Bradley Stoke, a newly created constituency for which we have high hopes. The Trust Hall, in Stoke Gifford, was the venue for a supper event with the Local Party and attended by the PPC, John Kiely. After a fifteen minute speech, we went into a question time in two parts, such was the demand. Topics ranged from the Liberal Democrat 'green road out of recession', the implications of Barack Obama's victory and the Party's relationship with the media. A tip for Local Parties - jacket potatoes with a ...
Liberal Burblings had 7,024 "absolute unique visitors" in January - 28% up on the same period last year. Thank you very much indeed for continuing to read this blog, for commenting and for voting in the various polls. 69 comments were left on Matt Smith is the new Doctor Who, which is a record for this blog.
View Poll: Spelling
The UK is officially in recession, and Islington's not immune. The latest unemployment figures show that the number of people claiming Jobseekers' Allowance in Islington rose from 5,239 in November 2008 to 5,585 in December - that's a 6.6% increase. That compares with a national increase in the unemployment rate for the 3 months previously of [...]
And so, an early start for Bradford-on-Avon, where we were met by Duncan Hames, the livewire PPC for Chippenham, and Rosemary Brown, our candidate for the new unitary Wiltshire authority. We were conveyed directly to Winsley, where a chill wind was blowing. Fortunately, there was plenty of leaflet delivery to keep me warm, and to burn off the excellent cooked breakfast that Liz and Hilary had
At its public meeting on Saturday held at Rye Community Centre, the Rye Local Action Team fed back the results of their recent crime survey. Sergeant John Berry of Sussex Police said that the results of the survey were mostly pleasing, but there were issues to follow up, and residents' concerns about burglary, for example, will [...]
The local branch of the Federation of Small Businesses held an emergency debate on the economy at the Jali Restaurant, Hastings, on Friday night. Hastings & Rye's three parliamentary candidates were on the panel, along with Honorary Freeman of Hastings Pam Brown, and local trader John Di Paolo. Each panellist was asked to give their views on [...]
Their are odds and a market open to bet on how many seats you think the Liberal Democrats will be left with after the next general election and its worth a look by following the link. The bet for 60-69 seats is 7/1 making it an interesting bet because the current number is 62. If the Lib Dems were to get up to 69 MP's after the next general election the person betting with them odds could make themselves a lot of money! Personally I am not a gambler but if I was a 7/1 odd would be something I ...
Mike Smithson has a post over at Political Betting about Gordon Brown and if he will be Prime Minister at the end of 2009 or not. The odds for the bet are 5/2 on Gordon Brown not being Prime Minister at the end of 2009, its interesting odds I have to say! Mike asks about the blood pressure of the Prime Minister because I think he like most think the PM is tiring himself out and will be most likely gone by December 2009. With this bet it brings into question the 2009 general election. I am among the people ...
Ok I got tagged in Facebook and this is the sort of level my brain can cope with just now. Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. I have won trophies or medals in five different sports.Coming from Bangor, Northern Ireland I applied to Bangor, University, North Wales (though I didn't take their offer)I hacked away at a wall in Berlin. I wasn't a vandal it was the Summer of 1990.I was the first writer on ...
... We'd say a big thank you to the 23,696 'absolute unique visitors'* who read Liberal Democrat Voice in January, our second highest total ever, and a whopping 53% increase on a year ago. Whether you're a regular here, or an occasional 'popper-by', we're delighted you looked in. And if you enjoy reading LDV, why not try writing for LDV? * Google Analytics' term: it broadly means people using over 23,000 different computers visited LDV at least once. Some people may be counted more than once (e.g. home and work computer),whilst some people may not be counted (e.g. two different ...
A day off - no Lib Demming (yet) :-)I was still up early, 6.45am, so had coffee, fussed Zennor, fell asleep but woke up in time for Match of the Day, then Andrew Marr.So, then it was DIY time, we bought a coat stand from the Futon Shop, Edinburgh when they had their post Christmas 50% off sale.What a f**king pain in the ar*e to put together - never again will I buy something like that again.On the positive side, the Australian Open tennis final was on - what a fantastic match that was, although I would have preferred Roger ...
A short drive from Chard to Taunton, and we arrived at the joint Devon & Cornwall/Western Counties Regional Conference. The organisers had managed to get a glittering array of Lib Dem frontbenchers as speakers on both days. Nick arrived at lunchtime, spending time with the European candidate team and with County Council candidates from across the two regions, as well as meeting Local Party Chairs. His speech, which I introduced, was a real tour de force which combined insightful analysis of the current state of the economy and the political disfunction which has led to it, with a vision for ...
Mike Smithson has an excellent blog post about how LabourList will be giving away a prize of a bottle of Champagne to the commenter of the week. This is no Champagne that you can get for a couple of quid its Commons Champagne. If you want to read Mike's post follow the link about the Champagne prize and what he thinks. Personally I think giving commenter's a prize for writing comments that are interesting, debating and enjoyable something that is a great idea but will it catch on. Like Mike I agree LabourList isn't what I expected it to be. ...
I am not a fan of Statporn's but because they isn't a lot to write about today I thought I would start doing Statporn's every month. January has been a good month the results for January can be seen below: 4,463 page views 2,506 Unique Visitors 822 Returning Visitors
Phew - tax return in by the skin of my teeth - along with a lot of other people! I've promised myself to get it done in April this year but have just been reminded I said that last year as well. Oh well - it's something to work towards. It has been very cold today and I'm not sure whether or not to be thrilled or upset about being called a hoodie in my quest to keep warm with layers. I refuse to accept that I have to give up wearing jeans and a sweatshirt at the weekends just ...
MONDAY Jenny Randerson is visiting the Open University in Cardiff. Mike German in London for CPA conference on International Migration and Human Trafficking. Kirsty Williams' surgery in Ystradgynlais Library Eleanor Burnham on video link Question Time with Yale College. TUESDAY Meeting of Equal Opportunities Committee First Minister's Questions Government statements on Tourism, 21st Century
So what was Gordon Brown thinking when he promised in 2007 that he would ensure "British jobs for British workers"? Surely, he knew that such a notion is illegal under EU law and contrary to British treaty obligations. I have every sympathy with those workers who have been excluded from applying for key jobs in their own community. The Government must ensure that companies cannot discriminate in favour of one nationality over another. However, we cannot slip into the sort of protectionism that some are calling for. Such a move really will play into the hands of the BNP. Peter ...
Net is casted, breakfast is had, doggies are fed and walked, now for leaflet delivery! (don't forget, LJ folks, if you want to follow my netcastings you can do so by adding jennier_lc_feed) ((also, don't forget to watch Uncle David tonight at 9 if you have access to the BBC!))
8) Leslie Kaminoff, Yoga Anatomy: Your illustrated guide to postures, movements, and breathing techniques (Champaign: Human Kinetics, 2007, ISBN 9780736062787). Does pretty much what it says on the tin - a useful reference. 7) Toni Morrison, Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination (New York: Vintage, 1993, ISBN 9780307388636). Morrison examines the construction of blackness in American literature and uses it to dissect the corresponding construction of whiteness. Very interesting, but I found myself wishing the book was a bit longer - it seemed to be over just as it was getting into its stride.
From Private Eye's Roger Latham:
So today I'm more conflicted and confused about Europe than I've ever been. On the BBC's Politics show today, Open Europe said that half of the UK's legislation is coming from the EU, and that the cost of that legislation is £150 billion. I'm annoyed because it appears to have been a preview of a report they've not yet published and so I don't know whether that £150 billion is a) even accurately remembered or b) per year or total accumulated so far. So the bad of Europe is clearly the weight of legislation and rules - all of which ...
An intriguing report in today's Sunday Times: PEERS who avoid tax or have criminal convictions - such as Lord Archer and Lord Black - are to be expelled from the House of Lords in the wake of the lords for hire scandal. The reforms are being drawn up by Jack Straw, the justice secretary, in an attempt to restore the Lords' battered reputation after last weekend's revelations in The Sunday Times. He plans to enact the legislation necessary to expel them before the general election... Lord Ashcroft, the billionaire Tory donor, has repeatedly refused to confirm his tax status, while ...
Some of my more vivid memories of the '90s are the occasional trips I made to the delightful village of Killingholme. Having driven along the M180 - surely one of the dullest motorways in the country - and hit the A180, I'd turn off to the left and pass a row of cottages. These cottages would be under a constant pall, as the cooling towers and burn-offs of Killingholme and Immingham poured out their assorted, often noxious, vapours. So I can understand people being aggrieved when work at an American-owned refinery in North Killingholme went to an Italian contractor who ...
I was out leafleting in the snow earlier. It was lovely to see once again that God's continual gentle ribbing of me continued - He held off the snow until I was safely away from the shelter of the car, and then let rip with it. Now that I'm home, it's stopped. But I'll probably be out again before tea time, so expect some more then. Whilst I was out we bumped into some Conservative leafleters in the area. They were obviously new to Prestwich, as they were busy consulting a map to find out which street they were on. ...
There's a great website called "They Work for You" which has lots of details on your local representatives and how to get in touch. Being an avowed egomaniac, I was on there today looking myself up (I'm not on there, it turns out, but it's nothing personal, they just don't include Councillors. For that, try here), when I found the voting records and other information on Bury's two Labour MPs. They make fairly startling reading. For instance, both Ivan Lewis (the MP for Bury South, Prestwich's MP) and David Chaytor (MP for Bury North) have voted against a transparent Parliament. ...
Oh dear. A library in North America is using automatic voicemails to alert borrowers when their loans are overdue. The software (not from my firm!) translates codes and abbreviations to generate the messages. It's like the opposite of voice-recognition software that changes your speech into text. Compared to sending letters, it's a neat way to [...]
We tend not to be too poll-obsessed here at LDV - of course we look at them, as do all other politico-geeks, but viewed in isolation no one poll will tell you very much beyond what you want to read into it. Looked at over a reasonable time-span and, if there are enough polls, you can see some trends. Here, in chronological order, are the results of the eight polls published in January: Tories 41%, Labour 34%, Lib Dems 15% - YouGov/The Sun (9 Jan) Tories 43%, Labour 33%, Lib Dems 15% - Populus/The Times (13 Jan) Tories 41%, Labour ...
Wall Street bankers in New York are getting much smaller bonuses this year than last year. That's a good thing, right? In view of the financial apocalypse, they deserve less. Only thing is, New York City and New York State made a lot of money out of taxing those bonuses, and between them they are looking at over $1bn less money to spend on everything that city and state government needed to pay for. It's a tough time for local government cuts.
Lynne Featherstone is campaigning to protect manned hours at stations in her Hornsey & Wood Green constituency. For details and how to object to planned cutbacks, take a look at Lynne's film. ...
Some months ago I ran a poll, purely advisory in nature, to garner opinion on what Anna should name her new hamster. She completely ignored the result and instead went for a name that wasn't even on the list, but she thought it was helpful. Sadly, our much loved little Powder Puff passed away on the same day as President Obama was inaugurated. She had a tumour in her intestine and had to be put to sleep. I have to say how proud I was of Anna for being so brave. The vet thought she was fantastic. So, we now ...
An armed gang has broken into the oldest synagogue in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, desecreating the building and calling for Jews to be expelled from the country. This follows the expulsion of the Israeli Ambassador and his staff by President Hugo Chavez in protest at the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, but [...]
Please can everyone vote in the poll below, results will be anounced whenever I think I have got enough votes gathered!
Peers who avoid tax will be removed from their seats in the Lords according to a report by the Times Online. The plans to remove tax dodging Lords from their seats is being drawn up by Blackburn MP Jack Straw. To read more from the Times website follow the link! Personally I am in support of the idea that Straw is putting together because for far too long have Peers been people who could get away with anything and no one was questioning them. For example Lord Ashcroft who funds Pendle Matters, the Tory newspaper by Andrew Stephenson and George ...
{Appearing on Radio 4's The Westminster Hour with Carolyn Quinn} I'm on The Westminster Hour tonight (Sunday): Radio 4, 10pm. If you miss the show you'll be able to listen again on their website. If you want to get advanced notice of my media appearances like this one, you can use the media events service at Flock Together. You've got three choices: Using this feed: or By email: register at FlockTogether and pick "Media appearances" as one of the categories of events you want to be emailed about. (If you are an existing Flock Together user you can also ...
The Covenant School of Dallas, Texas operates under the mission statement "The Covenant School exists to glorify God by equipping students with the tools necessary to pursue a lifetime of learning so that they may discern, reason, and defend truth in service to our Lord, Jesus Christ. . ." It's got itself some bad publicity - not for it's science teaching - "Various supplementary articles
Some encouraging news this morning that peers who avoid tax or have criminal convictions - such as Lord Archer and Lord Black - are to be expelled from the House of Lords in the wake of the lords for hire scandal. The Sunday Times tells us that the reforms are being drawn up by Jack Straw, the justice secretary, in an attempt to restore the Lords' battered reputation after last weekend's revelations in The Sunday Times. He plans to enact the legislation necessary to expel them before the general election, which has to be held by May next year. Peers ...
"maître-pêtre" - literally 'master-spider' - is the word for webmaster in Jerriais A complete "vocabulaithe du compiuteu" is here.
This BBC clip of a couple of criminals, handcuffed together, making a run for from a New Zealand courtroom showed just how stupid criminals can be.
A busy weekend means that I'm only just finding time to post about Friday night's event in Chard. This lovely little Somerset market town is in the Yeovil constituency, is represented by the formidable Jill Shortland, who is without doubt one of our best council leaders, and continues a tradition of highly effective leadership on Somerset County Council. The Local Party turned out in force for a dinner at the beautifully restored Guildhall in Chard, also attended by the local MP, David Laws. Once again, the food was fabulous - I'm delighted to report that rubber chicken is non-existent in ...
I watched the final of the Eurovision selection last night. "It's my time", repeated 2,983,274 times, is our song. But have no fear, it was co-written by Andrew Lloyd-Webber. I can feel one of my headaches coming on. The song reminds me of "My Way" which is a very powerful song, but deeply wrong-headed, in my view. It's a song for selfish bar stewards. But I am genuinely proud to be British
The Lib Dems 4 Parliament site brings news that there are seven selections closing during February: DURHAM NORTH - PPC (6th Feb 2009). DURHAM NORTH WEST - PPC (6th Feb 2009). TYNEMOUTH - PPC (14th Feb 2009). NORTH TYNESIDE - PPC (14th Feb 2009). BRENT NORTH - PPC (20th Feb 2009). BLAYDON - PPC (21st Feb 2009). BEACONSFIELD - PPC (27th Feb 2009).
Another serious-sounding email has arrived: "Halifax PLC. has been receiving complaints from our customers for unauthorised use of the Halifax Online accounts. As a result we are making an extra security check on all of our Customers account in order to protect their information from theft and fraud." Which might be fine, except I'm not [...]
The Italians have a novel way of making extra money from motorists. They not only install camera's to photograph drivers jumping traffic lights, but they alter the speed of the intervals between the lights changing to different colours in order to confuse drivers and increase the number of fines. Read about it HERE. I am astonished our government have not copied this idea given their willingness to use cover the country in speed cameras.
We couldn't stay for the conference dinner, so were whisked off to Frenchay, for an evening with members in Filton & Bradley Stoke (Harry Stoke is next to Bradley Stoke, by the way). Our hosts for the night, Hilary and Liz Kitchen, made us very comfortable, before we set off for the Trust Hall in Stoke Gifford for the evening's event. Filton & Bradley Stoke is one of those seats beloved by
Jack Straw is drawing up legislation that would retrospectively eject from the House of Lords peers who have been convicted or are non-doms. We really are staggering into the 20th century inch by painful inch, aren't we?
My colleague and council neighour, Matt Davies (Fortis Green), is running another London marathon this April. This time in aid of Refuge. Matt can be sponsored at www.justgiving.com/matt4refuge. You can also click the widget on the right Here he is last time out, running for Amnesty. I'm not sure, but I think I took this one....
