If you click on the headline above, you can download the latest copy of "Maryfield FOCUS" from Chris Hall and the Maryfield Liberal Democrats, covering a variety of local issues. There's already been a huge response to FOCUS - you can send your feedback to focus@maryfield.net - many thanks. Chris Hall and Maryfield Ward Liberal Democrats - working for our area, all year round!
And the candidates are: A: Actress and regular flyer, Emma Thompson, who has headed the campaign against Heathrow expansion. B: The Leader of Unite Union, Derek Simpson, who has negotiated a very generous pay increase including the right to use his £800,000 grace and favour home in Hertfordshire until he dies. C: Guardian Editor, Alan Rusbridger, who has launched the Tax Gap campaign against UK based corporations that run dodgy corporate tax avoidance scams, despite the fact that the Guardian is one of the culprits.
When some of us heard David Friedman at the Libertarian Alliance Conference a few months ago talking about his new book "Future Imperfect: Technology and Freedom in an Uncertain World" he wowed us with the possibility that nano-machines capable of fixing significant internal illnesses would be available within a few years. I wonder if this is quicker than even he expected: Tiny submarines which can be injected into the blood to deliver cancer drugs straight to tumours have been developed by scientists. [From Tiny submarines 'can deliver cancer drugs straight to tumours' - Telegraph] Apparently they use all natural materials ...
I've succombed to what my mum always warned me against: peer pressure. I've resisted the 25 random things meme-craze sweeping across Facebook as long as possible. I attempted to deflect it by blogging 25 random things about the Lib Dems over at Liberal Democrat Voice, but tonight I finally put egotistical finger to self-obsessed keyboard and wrote up my own, personal 25 random things... 1. I
We often forget, or sometimes do not realise, the impact that other people can have on our lives. The way the actions of someone you dimly remember or barely notice at the time can profoundly shape the story of your life. I was reminded of this today by reading in my local paper, The Luton News, of the death of my former junior school headteacher. Trevor Herbert, who died aged 85, taught at
'nuff said.
I hope that I am wrong, but I may have stumbled upon a worrying trend in Rye. I have attended a couple of public meetings over the last two weeks - first the annual meeting of the Rye Partnership, and then on Saturday the Local Action Team meeting at the Community Centre. At both meetings, in which [...]
I went to a meeting in the ward tonight with my papers in my bag (Fairtrade cotton of course !), but how difficult it is to sort. In the "olden days" we had papers sent to us and they were stapled together and different one's actually looked different, even if only different shades of white and scruffiness depenidng on how long they had been around. Tonight I get out a large pile of white paper...
I was surprised when I went with John to a 105th birthday party at Wellburn House that the lady not only recognised me (and I shamefully had not remembered her) but reminded me that she had come along to the Town Hall when she was younger - 102 ! Her friends from Lauder House where she used to live were all promting me too, and i did eventually click and recall. When home I found it on the...
There's no Lib Dem representative on tonight's Question Time (BBC1 and online, 10.35 pm GMT) - but liberalism will be represented, at least to some degree, by Shami Chakrabati, director of Liberty (and, more importantly, the original LDV Liberal Voice of the Year 2007). Shami will appear alongside Labour's Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon (the man who somehow, miraculously, escaped being sacked as defence secretary following the David Kelly affair), Conservative shadow work and pensions secretary Theresa May (who somehow, miraculously, escaped being sacked from the shadow cabinet for general inspidness), the leader of the UK Independence Party Nigel Farage (watch ...
Personally, I think there are other things people should be worrying about when it comes to advertising on buses:
Follow this link...
Finally we got the admission that the £6million overspend on Newmarket Leisure Centre has left a hole in budgets and other much needed projects in Forest Heath. It seems however that Local facilities are now taking a backseat to the Council's own battle for survival. Newmarket Town Council's application for help in turning this facility into something that would be an asset for Newmarket fell foul of the financial mess the Tory council finds itself in. Rathedr than looking to see how it could assist it chucked the whole project out. Rather blandly saying it may look at it sometime ...
A former chairperson of Hinckley & Bosworth Youth Council has set up a charity in Kenya. The charity is called 'Milele' which apparently means 'Forever' in Swahili. The aims of the Charity are thus: It is an educational sponsorship programme that will provide school fees, books, uniforms and other assorted kit, plus one meal a day at school. They also have a healthcare element, providing routine things like vaccinations and mozzie nets. Some emergency care is also available. A Charity Launch Ball has been arranged for 20th March 2009 at the Sketchley Grange Hotel, Burbage. It's £30 per person, £20 ...
Hampstead's MP Glenda Jackson recently wrote in the Ham&High that "the economic future of the UK does require an international hub airport and without an additional runway, Heathrow could not maintain its present position and would inevitably lose its status and market share, bringing with it not only unemployment for the airport and its environs, but the country as a whole." If that was a line in one of her films, the film would be called "Glenda in Wonderland." There is no reputable independent study that shows that Britain's economy needs Heathrow expansion - only propaganda by the British Airports ...
To be honest on Sunday when I Tweeted that I had Blogging Fatique Malc suggested that I write up my Top Five Sporting Occasions. I'm going to give you two. One my all time top five and one reflecting my Irishness my Top Five Irish sporting occasions. 1. It has to be the Champions League Final of 2005. As a Liverpool I was glad to be back in the same stadium as Old Big Ears. Thinking we could be 90 minutes away from winning it to keep. Of course 45 minutes in and 3 nil down it was hard to ...
My fellow Highgate councillor Rachel Allison has written to local residents to day, as once again, we are battling to safeguard the future of Jacksons Lane - a wonderful community and arts centre that serves not just Highgate, but is a popular and bustling venue across a wide area of Haringey. Arts council funding is threatened, and we have stalemate, as the they are clearly determined to force Haringey to show a bit more committment to the future of Jacksons than it has done in recent years. Rachel's email says it all: I am writing to enlist your urgent help ...
We have commented before on the loss of this facility to Blaengwrach ward. The condition report, about which there has been much dispute, has still not been put in the public domain. However, one immediate threat has been removed. Neath Port Talbot planning and development department has rejected the application by the former Neighbourhood Watch group to develop the site for housing. The fact that this has been done under delegated powers, without any councillor asking for the determination to be made by committee, shows that the applicants have no supporters on the county borough council, even among the Nationalists. ...
Some may feel I'm asking for trouble by highlighting for a second day running the case of Colin Rosentiel, the Lib Dem Cambridge city councillor who allegedly blocked an ambulance on an emergency call to protect some common land. But, having reported the story here yesterday, it prompts a wider question than the rights and wrongs of an individual councillor. A couple of folk linked in the comments thread to the report of Cambridge city council's monitoring officer to its standards committee - you can read it in full here. And I mean in full - it's 137 pages long. ...
The Tories are running an online campaign which says "Under Labour we've fallen to 24th in the world at Maths, behind countries including Canada and Korea." I can understand why they would run the first part of that statement - that Britain has slipped to 24th in the league table of mathematicians - but why single out Canada and Korea? Are there racial stereotypes that suggest that Canadians and Koreans are thick? Why not pick on any of the other 21 countries that are ahead of us, like presumably the Belgians or the Portuguese? It got me thinking, who do ...
Wendy, a friend of mine, has just returned from India, taking photos of tigers. Looks as though she had a great time. And here are some of her tiger photos.
Do a search in Google for "25 random things about me" go on, you will, you will, you will. This meme is a worldwide phenonum there are over 14.9 million page returns. That is actually 10 times more than yesterday evening when I started to contemplate writing this thing up. And what is that sat at the top of the heap. Only little old me, no wonder my stat porn is through the roof and staying there. So as some of the other MSM are looking, and even doing their own lists of 25 here are 11, for the moment ...
I consider myself incredibly fortunate, in that I have a dread aversion to debt, mostly thanks to my parents, whose eminently sensible approach to money has rubbed off on their eldest child. Accordingly, I treat credit cards as a convenience rather than a loan and pay off my bill in full every month. If ever I needed a reminder that this is an excellent strategy, it came recently when my credit
Bath & North East Somerset Council could be forced to stop its current gull control measures if Herring Gulls are added to the RSPB "red list". The "red list" includes species which are considered to be endangered or vulnerable and the inclusion of a species on this list by the RSPB could lead to a change in the law by DEFRA. My Colleague on Bath & North East Somerset Council...
I have been thinking about political blogs in Burnley and Pendle and have only found two which I think lack the readers that I have making my blog the most read blog in Burnley and Pendle. You might ask why and here is my reply. Councillor Paul McKenna has been blogging before me but doesn't have the readers because otherwise he would have released statporns but I have never seen one, have you? He doesn't get a lot of comments and I think the last comment that was left on his blog was by me, so he isn't well known ...
Opposition Councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council took their alternative budget proposals to the Council's Cabinet meeting last night, to urge the ruling Conservative administration to take them on board. Councillor David Dixon (Walcot), Shadow Lib Dem member for Resources, said: "We have already presented our proposals to...
The following bad weather report has just been issued by Bath & North East Somerset Council this affects council services so I have produced it in full below.The latest weather forecasts for this evening, tomorrow, through until Monday indicates that the bad weather will continue throughout the weekend. This is a change from the previous forecast that indicated there would be improvements from...
The Daily (Maybe) offers a selection of literary classics condensed into limericks. But he does not include my favourite: Robert Conquest's reworking of Shakespeare's seven ages of man from As You Like It: First you get puking and mewling, Then very pissed off with your schooling, Then fucks and then fights, Then judging chaps' rights, Then sitting in slippers, then drooling.Thanks to Christopher Hitchens.
As mentioned the other day, Prestwich has the worst air quality in the Borough, and I have written to the Highways Agency to try and find out why. In the meantime, I submitted a question to the Leader of the Council last night about it.. In particular, I pointed out that one of the two air quality measuring devices in Prestwich (the one on the corner of Bury New Road and Butterstile Lane) has been broken almost continually since its installation eight years ago and has only been able to provide one full year's data in all that time. I ...
Welsh Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson, Mick Bates has warned that the Welsh Assembly Government has "little hope" of hitting its 2010 renewable energy target. He said there was a "stifling lack of progress" in wind farm development: The assembly government has pledged that it will increase green energy by 10% by 2010. It said £6.5bn worth of renewable energy projects were either
So, the morning starts with catching the number 10 bus from Western Harbour to Waverley.Then the train from waverley to Glasgow, then a short walk to the Buchanan Bus Station.So, onto the 901 to Dunoon including the Western Ferries service from gourock to Dunoon.The return journey is slightly different, the CalMac ferry from Dunoon to Gourock.A quick catch up with George Lyon, top euro candidate, then a quick car ride into Greenock.SPT train into Glasgow Central, followed by a brisk walk to Queen St and currently on the train to Edinburgh!If that's not supporting public transport, I don't know what ...
I watched the first of the new series of Minder on Channel Five last night with some nervousness. I expected, perhaps, a cheap tacky copycat version of the good old Minder. It turned out to be excellent. In a way it was a bit weird. Everything was sort of the same as the old series. Arfur is Archie (Arfur's nephew). There's Winchester Club Dave's daughter. Archie's in a Roller instead of a Jag.
Hywel Morgan has posted an excellent deconstruction of David Miliband's statement on the Binyam Mohamed case on Liberal Democrat Voice. I thoroughly recommend reading it. For me, I always smell something rotten in the state of Denmark when any debate starts to centre round the word "redacted" (see Lord Hutton enquiry).
I spent part of this afternoon wandering up and down a road looking at trees. We have some really impressive trees in Cressington ward. But along with those trees comes some problems. All three of the councillors have been contacted over time about trees needing cutting back, or those that look dangerous. So today we went, with three officers who really know their stuff, to have a look at some of them. It makes a lot more sense to deal with tree issues as part of a planned programme (apart from in the case of potential danger and statutory problems) ...
A very interesting seminar this evening about the subject of Safeguarding and Children. All elected members, whether they like it or not, are Corporate Parents and so its important that as many as possible are aware of all the issues this involves. I suspect in some people's minds its a bit of a hidden subject - much easier to talk about roads, or litter or leisure centres. But I'm really glad the staff and key elected members are making sure this information is pushed out as widely as possible.
I've been trying to get people to hear this for years now: that the huge advances already made in information and communication technology and in the speed and availability of travel are epoch changing. And there have been a few stories over the past weeks and even just in recent days that have confirmed for me that we are finally in the "last days" of the twentieth century in terms of the way we do so many things we have come to rely on. Some may call what we are witnessing a Kondratiev Wave of immense proportions, asset bubbles, a ...
First we had Prezza, then the return of Kezia and now in tribute to the latest heavyweight Labour blogger I give you this musical interlude.* I'm sorry Alastair but every time I've hit the dance floor to this song I have some bizarre image of you and the Lord Voldemort of Hartlepool and Foy as Kylie's backing dancers. One thing I thing we may find is that Mister Campbell will be a better, more well rounded and more humorous read than Mister Draper, even if he does hit out at other political persuasions. *As promised on Iain Dale's comments on ...
On the 16th February the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 becomes law. This amends the Terrorism Act 2000 regarding offences relating to information about members of armed forces, a member of the intelligence services, or a police officer. Laws are being introduced that allow for the arrest - and fining, and imprisonment for up to ten years - of anyone who takes pictures of officers 'likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism'. The law is expected to increase the anti-terrorism powers used today by police officers to stop photographers, including press photographers, from taking pictures ...
{Some red dice} A private sector group of technology experts has warned of the security risks of the Government's ID card scheme. The report, published today by the Information Assurance Advisory Council, says that people's private data will inevitably be lost and that measures to deal with these losses are inadequate: "Whilst the creation of a national identity infrastructure will undoubtedly help to address some existing risks with the way people gain access to personal electronic services today, it will also undoubtedly create other, new ways in which people can be harmed. "It is incontestable that identity subjects could be ...
So, David Miliband's statement about the Binyam Mohamed case today wasn't as exciting as I thought. But he has still left too much detail still to be clarified. Listening to his statement you'd think the information he was so keen to keep secret was a bulging file, stamped "Top Secret, for your eyes only" and containing lots of reports from undercover 007 types operating deep undercover. At least I can't put any other interpretation on his frequent use of "intelligence documents" in his statement, which included phrases such as: Yesterday's judgment [was about] whether an English court should, in the ...
As far as I am concerned, Carol Thatcher can use whatever racist epithets she likes, whether ironically or not. But that DOES NOT MEAN that her employer is not free to terminate her employment for doing so, especially if lots of her fellow employees were upset by it. Easy, eh? Next on "SB Solves it", the middle east... ;)
Thank you to Jennie for inviting me to the Facebook event National Take a Photograph of a Police Officer Day Now why would you want to do this? Well, I hadn't realised, but one of the provisions of the Government's counter terrorism bill could mean that if you are caught taking a photo of a police officer come 16 February, you could find yourself in big trouble. In fact you could end up being sent to prison for up to 10 years for taking photographs of people "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of ...
Further to my post earlier on, Gary Gibbon, the political editor of Channel 4 news has sent a group email out to the various people who contacted him about this issue. It is as follows: Dear All , With varying degrees of warmth/hostility, you all make similar points. I am, therefore, unusually, writing a group e-mail to thank you for getting in touch. For as long as first past the post elections exist for Westminster you will be frustrated and we will be forced to analyse the system we have. As we've made clear on the previous occasions we have ...
Last night we never got round to the questions we'd asked of the Council - so here are some of the written answers! Cllr Richard Baum asked about the Air Quality monitoring station on Bury New Road Q Prestwich has the worst air quality in the Borough. One of the two air quality measuring devices in Prestwich (the one on the corner of Bury New Road and Butterstile Lane) has been broken almost continually since its installation eight years ago and has only been able to provide one full year's data in all that time. Why has this been allowed ...
Welcome to the ninth 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). It's a pretty random list this week: 1. Charlie Brooker to focus on news in BBC4 Screenwipe spin-off (Media Guardian), submitted by Stephan Tall: "'Guardian columnist Charlie Brooker is to take a satirical look at the news media in a spin-off from his BBC4 show Screenwipe.' Yay {:)} If you missed the 2007 Screenwipe news episode, you ...
The Echo has a wonderful piece of local history, that reads like a T E B Clarke screenplay. Between the wars two firms are involved in increasingly bitter competition for the Southend market in trips around the bay. One buys the most modern vessel imaginable - only to be trumped a few months later by a still newer boat. Then the newest boat is sabotaged - a bomb is slipped into a ventilator and holes its bows. Years pass, and (in one case, patched up) the boats continue to ply their trade until the war comes. Like many of Southend's ...
Apparently Tony Blair has met President Obama at the "National Prayer Breakfast" and made a very well received speech at the podium prior during the event. Here is the video courtesy of Peter Hoskin of The Spectator. This is before Gordon Brown has even had a look in! I hope his aides have got some spare mobile phones lined up! Aside from the amusing nature of Blair besting Brown yet again (but in such a way as he can hardly be seen to complain - politically very astute) I think it does say something about how the Obama administration views ...
Earlier this week, Jo Swinson, Lib Dem MP for East Dunbartonshire secured a debate in Westminster Hall in which she highlighted how many of her constituents have been failed by the Government's tax credit system. She told how one constituent's income was recorded as £340 rather than £30000 leading to a massive overpayment. They hadn't noticed the error. Believe me, tax credit award notices are not easy documents to understand and an error is easy to miss. Another was being pursued for an overpayment of £10,000 when the Tax Credit Office paid in £6000 to her bank account, again in ...
You run the London website for a political party. You've been told to put a series of photos of people on the front page of your site. Who do you think you'd select? Perhaps some of your London MPs? MEPs? Council group leaders? GLA members? If you're Labour, the answer is ... er, none of them. Instead you feature photos of all your staff. Me? I'm off to put a big photo of myself on all our sites I can find. It's clearly the way to go.
Hopefully in the toilets outside the Parliament but that's what I think of them as party and it isn't going to happened. But Lib Dem blogger Tim Ball has written a blog post over at his own blog in which he writes about how Cameron wants to decide which European group after June's election but the Tory leader in Europe wants to choose now! Now that is some contradiction and it will probably mess things up for the Tory campaign for the June election which always brings a smile to my face. A Tory cock up is something I pray ...
Streets in some areas of Oldfield Park and East Twerton in Bath are currently a forest of TO LET signs. It is well known that Oldfield Park and East Twerton has a high number of properties let to students. One consequence of this is that every January and February there are TO LET signs on most streets; in some cases multiple signs from the same agency. Local...
You may remember that David Cameron pledged in 2005 to withdraw British Conservatives from the EPP-ED political grouping in the European Parliament. The EPP-ED is the largest political group in the EP. Leaving the group would mean a serious loss of influence for British Conservative MEPs who, not surprisingly, are split on the issue. Now Cameron has...
Igloo at Wapley Common
With lots of County Schools closed this morning my children got an unexpected tour of Shire Hall whilst I attended a Scrutiny Committee Meeting - I was determined that no amount of snow would stop me getting there to discuss the proposed closure of Wessex Place. At least it answered the question of "So Mum, what did you do today?" which one of them asks me every day when he gets back from school. My usual 15 minute journey took about 90 minutes, not least of which was due to the lorry stuck on Madingley Hill which brought the area ...
In response to a survey from Reading List I have posted up some information about myself in the comments section here. I have reproduced my answers here too: A1 - Who are you? Mark Thompson A2 - What is the title of your blog? (Please provide a link or URL) http://markreckons.blogspot.com/ A3 - When did you write your first post? 6th October 2007 - although I didn't get properly active until 23rd November 2008 A4 - How many posts have you written in total? 55 B1 - What are your main areas of interest? Electoral reform, Evidence Based Policy for ...
{Ming in the House of Commons} North East Fife MP Sir Menzies Campbell has called on the UK Government to consider implementing a study into the contribution that individual defence installations such as RAF Leuchars make to their local economy. In a question to the Secretary of State for Scotland, Jim Murphy, at Scottish Questions in the House of Commons yesterday (Wednesday) the Liberal Democrat MP said: "The Secretary of State clearly knows the contribution that RAF Leuchars in my constituency has made to British defence for a very long time. "He has told the House of the total contribution ...
Steve Webb, Liberal Democrat MP for Northavon, held a "drop in surgery" with a difference this morning - on social networking website Facebook. He'd advertised the time in advance, to his 3,867 Facebook friends: "Steve will be online on Facebook Chat tomorrow (Thursday) between 11 and 11.30am. Log on and chat if you want to raise anything with me." This morning around 200 of them - a mixture of constituents, party members and others - were online for the chat session. Steve likened the experience to "one of those plate-spinning acts that you see on variety shows on the TV". ...
It was a wasted opportunity. The Palestinian president addressed the European Parliament, reminded us of the military occupation of his land, of the humiliations of his people at the hands of Israelis, and of the suffering of people in Gaza. All true enough but, so low is the interest threshold of politicians, all too routine and familiar a mantra. He thanked the EU for the payments it makes to the Palestinian authority but urged us to play a more political role - a good point. He called for support to be given to the Arab peace plan that will give ...
The Conservatives had a ball yesterday as reported by Guido but kept security tight so photos could not get leaked and the stuck up Tory party could say they are sympathising with the people in these economic times of hardship. Personally I think people like Cameron are too stuck up to even give a damn about what the general public is going through hence them having balls and enjoying themselves at a time like this. I have one question that I would like to ask and if they is anyone out their who has an answer please give me it. ...
I've avoided for as long as possible the uber-hyped 'nowtrage' over Carol Thatcher's off-air-but-in-the-studio comment that a still-to-be-identified tennis player looks like a 'golliwog'. It does of course pose lots of interesting questions for liberals: the conflict between freedom of speech, and the offence that may cause; to what extent unbroadcast behind-the-scenes remarks should be regarded as private; whether remarks that cause offence are best dealt with by individuals at the time, rather than by being referred to an ombudsperson. The Lib Dem blogosphere has wrestled with many of these issues and more, and given more time to the issue ...
One of my pet irritations is the stupidity of other people. Getting things wrong is one thing, but doing something and then complaining about the inevitable consequences of doing it is quite another. Yesterday evening, I was on my way to collect Ros, and I boarded a Circle Line train at Embankment. So far, so good. The driver pushed whatever button is required to close the doors, causing a
{Ming Campbell} North East Fife's MP and MSP Sir Menzies Campbell and Iain Smith MSP have welcomed the news that the NHS Fife Primary Medical Services Committee are to undertake a site visit before making a decision whether or not to allow the closure of Lundin Links surgery. The two representatives of North East Fife said: "We are pleased to see that the committee are taking this matter seriously, which will have far-reaching consequences for our constituents in this area. We have raised several points with them on behalf of the many constituents, not just in Lundin Links but also ...
This week we have had heavy snowfalls in the UK followed by the usual challenges to politicians about the public sector response to this event. Two things struck me listening the various interviews. London Mayor Boris Johnson sounds like a contestant in Just a Minute when replying to questions. For anyone not familiar with this fine radio show it's worth half an hour of your time to listen to the latest episode. If you imagine an interview with our erstwhile Mayor beginning with 'Boris, the subject is 'Snow', tell us something about that subject for a minute without deviation, repetition ...
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas arrives to address MEPs in the vast debating chamber of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Our own president, Hans Gert Poettering, stands besides him. The European anthem from Beethoven's ninth is played. MEPs stand - well, most of them, some UKIP members and fellow travellers stay seated at the back of the classroom (sorry, chamber), giggling and chatting. The notion of a European anthem was included in the Constitutional Treaty (not adopted), dropped by the Lisbon Treaty (not yet adopted), but adopted by the European Parliament. This is the first time I have heard it used. ...
Today's the day when the education policy paper going to our Harrogate conference is released to the media. The official news release doesn't hold back on the scale of the challenge or the ambitions for the policies: Nick Clegg announced radical new education policies to fix inequalities in Britain's 'class-based education system.' The plans would narrow the gap between the state and private sector, raising funding for the most disadvantaged pupils to private school levels and delivering extra money to cut infant class sizes to 15. The proposals will reverse decades of standardisation and centralisation. In its place, more freedoms ...
Put simply, the US and UK intelligence organisations are so deeply interwined that the US is able to make an 'offer that cannot be refused' any time it likes. UK intelligence operatives are routinely seconded to various entities in Langley to work on joint projects in those agencies. The UK electronic listening networks in effect act as subcontractors to the USA in specific intelligence markets. It is not a matter just of exchanging information between separate sovereign organisations but of intricate joint intra-organisational data flows. The national sovereigncy of the UK is substantially compromised by these arrangements because the US ...
Ceredigion's Welsh Liberal Democrat MP Mark Williams has expressed his continuing concern at the decision to close Aberystwyth's HMRC office, after new information from a Parliamentary Question revealed that the closure of the office will only save HMRC £83,000 a year. The answer, by Financial Secretary Stephen Timms explains that while further savings are expected as a result of general
This blog post by Betsan Powys refers to how boring the Assembly is. I don't need to take too long to make my point, so it will be a very short blog post. How can we expect the Welsh Assembly to be exciting, until it has the powers it needs to run Wales properly? There is only so much excitement anyone can muster about LCO, etc, etc, etc. Believe me, they're all boring, and they mean absolutely nothing to the people of Wales. What matters, is when we have real control. So, the Assembly was exciting when it decided to ...
And so to our belated PMQs coverage, belated owing to my having decided to have a little snooze instead staff shortages due to the continuing adverse weather conditions. Cameron began by toning his recent braying performances down considerably, and used two fairly calm and measured questions about protectionism to set up a telling point about the "British jobs for British workers" slogan. He correctly pointed out that it "encourages protectionist sentiment" even while Brown lectures the world on the "evils of protectionism" and zeroed in on Brown's inability to apologise for misjudgements, including this one. But he can never resist ...
On 16th February section 76 of the Counter Terrorism Act of 2008 comes into force. From that day on, it will not be legal for anyone to take a photo of a police person without prior permission. The possible sentence is up to 10 years in prison. I propose therefore that we hold a National Photograph A Policeman day on 15th Feb, the last day on which it will be legal to do so. I had the idea while reading the ever noteworthy Yorksher Gob (the middle item of this post). It is clear that other people were having the ...
Following Channel 4's poll of the 60 marginal seats that David Cameron needs to win to form the next government (see here for more details) I have e-mailed Gary Gibbon, Channel 4's political editors to point out how their poll underscores the unfairness of the existing electoral system and have requested they focus more on this in future. Here is what I sent: Dear Gary, I noted with interest your voting intentions poll last night where you explained that you were concentrating the poll where it "really matters" and went on to explain that it is the seats where David ...
Hey everyone, I've started a Facebook campaign group for a proper crossing outside the LIbrary Pub as its really dangerous at the moment. Please join and invite all your friends. Thanks!
It is refreshing to hear President Obama saying "I screwed up", in distinct contrast to the Bush 'caught in headlights' look which famously greeted the question "What has been your biggest mistake?"
In these days of war and death and murder and terrorism and hatred and everything like that? HURRAH for the Afghan National Cricket team, and their triumph against adversity! That is all.
We now learn that poor Carol compared tennis player Jo-Wilfred Tsonga - bottom left, to a 'Golliwog' Personally, I think he bears a striking resemblance to the great icon - Muhammed Ali - top left. I see no resemblance to said cuddly toy, other than their skins having a darker hue. But then in the Sloaney circles she hangs out, its probably okay to make comments that people of colour, all look the same.I think Mathew Norman's article in today's Independent, pretty much sums it all up, though I don't agree that she shouldn't have been dropped as a roving ...
Two forthcoming "Winter Talks" events at the Botanic Garden, hosted by the Friends of the Botanic Garden : Wednesday 18 February : Harry Lawson will give an illustrated talk entitled "Wild Flowers - A Precious Heritage". Harry is a regular Volunteer in the Visitor Centre, usually on a Thursday morning. He enjoys many hobbies, walking, gardening, wild flowers and local history and as well as being a Desk Volunteer he is also a member of the Friends' Committee. Wednesday 18 March : Paul Miller, Curriculum Leader of Golf Studies at Elmwood College will give an illustrated talk entitled "The Geography ...
I thought I would try an experiment this morning by flagging up to be online for 'Facebook' chat for half an hour at a pre-arranged time. I reckoned a Thursday morning ought to be relatively quiet (probably only around five per cent of my 'facebook friends' were online at the time) to see how it went. I was encouraged by the response. At one stage messages were popping up so fast that it felt like one of those plate-spinning acts that you see on variety shows on the TV. What was positive was that people felt able to do everything ...
As ever, our MEP Bill Newton-Dunn is doing a sterling job of trying to keep people up to speed on what is going on in the EU. See below his latest report - note particularly the comments on the current industrial disputes: Sorry - this seems to be a long report. Its contents are : 1. how to watch President Obama "live" in April 2. current controversies - Angling, Lindsey Oil, Incandescent Light-bulbs, copyrights for musicians, online gaming, killing of baby seals in Canada, the UK opt-out from the Working Time directive. 1. Watch the parliament "live" (and free of ...
After the Atheist bus campaign, three Christian groups are to sponsor adverts on buses with mottos such as: There IS a God, BELIEVE. Don't worry and enjoy your life. Dear me. This reminds me of the scene in I'm alright Jack (I think - it was certainly a Boulting brothers or Ealing film with Ian Carmichael in it) when, during an election campaign, one Labour and one Conservative loudspeaker van
The URL www.irfanahmed.org is now the default URL and all readers should bookmark it as soon as possible. Anonymous comments have been turned off to keep a Tory from using the blog as his playground but if he is to apologise or make a pact that he will not leave crap in the comment section I might consider turning anonymous comments back on!
For some time now the Whips office in the Lords has been producing a monthly e newsletter. I've only just thought about posting it on my website, so here it is.... This month from the Liberal Democrats in the Lords - Freedom of Information exemption defeated - Stopping more red tape for councils - Op-Ed: We have dawdled too long on Lords Reform In the House The Government's Freedom of Information Order attempting to exempt MPs and Peers from the provisions of the FoI Act received its death-knell in the Lords when Tom McNally tabled a motion to defeat it. ...
Last night was the regular "Full Council" meeting of Bury Council. This is where all 51 Councillors (and a very small number of members of the public!) come together for a full meeting. Last night was not the best meeting I've experienced as a Councillor. I can only hope that the democratic process in the Council gets better, but I do fear that it is going to get worse first! Questions to the Leader Questions to the Leader of the Council were a bit of a farce. Sixteen Questions had been submitted, but this time all of Labour's questions were ...
I often think of who I would least like to be in a lift with. That list is easy. Edwina Currie. Jeffrey Archer. Melanie Phillips. I don't often think of who I would most like to be stuck in a lift with. But I think Stephen Fry would be high on anyone's list for that. What a jolly laugh it would be. And indeed it happened last night. Fry was stuck in a lift in Centre Point and twittered
So said Mrs Merton or words to that effect. Join the pressure http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4818874817
Yes, I've made lots of jokes and remarks at Jade Goody's expense in the past. Oh how we laughed at Graham Norton taking the mickey out of her! And yes, when she started her cancer treatment I did wonder if her main motive in making it public was to grab a bit of publicity. But now, it seems her cancer has taken a turn for the worse. And, of course, one feels enormous sympathy for her and her
Feature in two stories in the Journal today - long queues at our Post Offices and opposing plans for cuts to our local train stations.
The Controller of BBC1, Jay Hunt appeared on Breakfast this morning to explain the Carol Thatcher episode. (You know when you are getting old when the Controllers of BBC1 look like teenagers). She said she has interviewed all the dozen people who heard Thatcher's remark and they all say it was not said in a jokey way. Those dozen people include Adrian Chiles, Jo Brand and an exceutive from the
Waste and recycling services resumed in Sutton on Wednesday 4 February. Refuse and recycling crews started on roads with Monday collections and are working throughout the week and on Saturday to catch up. It may take some time for collections to return to normal across the borough so please bear with us as we work to clear the backlog. The Reuse and Recycling Centre at Kimpton Park Way is open to members of the public. People can take all household waste and recycling materials to the site. Street cleaners are continuing to clear snow and grit from pavements around schools ...
Everybody must be concerned by accusations that the government is hiding behind claims of a threat to national security to suppress evidence of torture by the CIA on a prisoner still held in Guantánamo Bay that emerged from a high court ruling earlier this week. The ruling blamed the US, with British connivance, for keeping the "powerful evidence" secret, sparking criticism from lawyers, campaigners and MPs, who claimed the government had capitulated to American bullying: Two senior judges said they were powerless to reveal the information about the torture of Binyam Mohamed, an Ethiopian-born British resident, because David Miliband, the ...
Charles Clarkes has said in an interview that Tony Blair had wanted him to become his heir after the resigned the party. If you want to read more about it follow the link! Personally I think that Tony Blair did not promise this to him or David Miliband and they are just making it up in the hope that they will get some media attention and when Brown resigns as Labour leader they will try and take his place. Tony Blair was a rat and one of the worst prime minister the United Kingdom has ever had, from the day ...
A shocking dossier from the Liberal Democrats has revealed just some of the ways our taxes are being wasted on extravagant and incompetent projects. {luxury party} Despite the hardship many local families and residents face, Labour found £130 million to refurbish the Ministry of Justice's office, £29 million to build accommodation for asylum seekers which was never built, £7 million for chauffeur-driven cars for ministers in just one year - and £50,000 for a party to which only 20 guests were invited! A massive £13 billion has also been spent on an NHS records system which doesn't work. How our ...
I was reading about a 17th century Palladian house for sale up in Scotland, that has been restored inside but the garden hasn't and thinking what a great project that would be when I suddenly remembered that the new design for The Hadspen Parabola garden (Hadspen House)was pretty much meant to be finished this year, but can find no indication of it and wondered what had happened to it. It always seems sad when gardens fall out of use or favour. I have been glued to the new series of Grand Designs, last night's epic house build was quite an ...
I was going to express myself on the subject of Carol Thatcher and the BBC but Liberal England has said everything I wanted to say and then some. I did look up "Golliwog" on Wikipedia, which reveals : Creedence Clearwater Revival was originally called "The Golliwogs" Golliwog was World War II British naval slang for a Gauloise cigarette
Nick Clegg has launched a campaign for an elected House of Lords in the United Kingdom and you can see the web page for the campaign by following the link. Now its my time to give my ten pence piece on the whole campaign, personally I am in support of the campaign because like Nick I believe that we need to have two elected houses and not one elected and one full of government cronies. Personally I think Nick has taken the right decision by launching this campaign and Lib Dems across the Country will most likely be supporting the ...
People who live in the Polefield area are to a meeting of the Polefield Community Group Meeting on Tuesday 24th Feb 09 6.30-7.30pm at Heaton Park Primary School. The Agenda Housing related Issues Antisocial Behaviour issues Talk to your local Councillor Have a chat with your local PCSO's / Police officer Vote in the committee so we can continue the good work Give ideas on how we can improve the environment. What funding should we apply for next? Help us to decide. For more information please contact Claire Delaney from 6 Town Housing on 0161 686 8000
Today is the 5th anniversary of the tragedy at Morecambe Bay. Many are surprised to learn that 5 years have passed already. Perhaps it is because shock and sorrow have a way of lingering on after a death... or 23 deaths in this case. You may recall that there were a number of casualties. In addition to the cockle pickers from the Fujian Province of China who drowned in Lancashire, there was the Tory MP, Ann Winterton. The latter was suspended by Michael Howard, then leader of the Tories, for a month for an offensive and insensitive racist joke but ...
Last night, North Road Primary School Board of Governors finally grasped the nettle, after a consultation process involving staff, parents and children, and voted to change the name and uniform of the school when we move to the eco-friendly new buildings across the road next January. The two remaining traditionalists among the governors were finally won over to the change of name after being
Nick Clegg was on the Today programme this morning (the something-past-seven slot when most sensible people are still asleep). He talked about the launch of the Lib Dem policy to reduce class sizes for nursery school children, additional school funding for disadvantaged children and also about the current controversy on torture evidence. He did very well. He sounded assured, with a good grip on the facts. He showed that the proposals were costed and explained where the money was coming from and why it was better to spend it on the Lib Dems than Labour's scheme to give a bit ...
Two stories that have hit the headline in the past couple of days involve an individual suffering sanctions from her employer for something said in a private conversation. First, a Somerset nurse was suspended for offering to pray for a patient's recovery. The patient did not make a complaint: the action was taken only after she mentioned the incident to another nurse, who appears to have informed the authorities. Then Carol Thatcher was dropped from the BBC's One Show because she referred to a tennis player as a "golliwog". This did not take place on air, but in a backstage ...
The Conservatives recently introduced new rules which restrict the ability of Councillors to ask questions of the Leader and Executive at Council meetings. The deadline for receipt of questions for verbal response has now been extended to four clear working days (in effect, a week). The public now have to submit questions even further in advance, and no longer have the right to ask a supplementary. I think this was a bad move, and have campaigned vocally against it since it was introduced. Last night's questions were ridiculous, and showed just how silly the situation now is. We have become ...
Last night's Council meeting was unusual. There was, for the first time in a long while, a motion of no confidence in the Leader. It was proposed by the Labour group, primarily due to the continuing cock-ups related to equal pay which the Tories preside over with an arrogance bordering on the gleeful. But there were plenty of other reasons to doubt the capability of the Tories, like their continuing attacks on the freedom of members and the public to question their actions. The motion was defeated 26 votes to 25, the Tories clinging on by a single vote by ...
Here is the speech I made last night in support of the motion of no confidence in the Leader of the Council. The motion failed (see above for an account), but this was my contribution to it. I don't think it was my best effort at Council, to be fair. One or two slip-ups, particularly towards the end when, as I was saying one particular line it occurred to me that I'd actually said the exact opposite of what I menat. Never mind... I thought in the moment it lacked a bit of sparkle, but it must have had some ...
It's frequently taken for granted that public health campaigns are a good thing. Who could argue with the government educating and encouraging us to drink less alcohol, smoke less, eat more healthily, exercise more, inject less heroin. All noble and worthy ways for the State to spend our money. And all the more reason for me to disagree (I don't write this stuff just to be difficult, honest). Yesterday found me having a good old moan about a call for more nannying from the President of the UK Faculty of Public Health. I wrote the piece in a bit of ...
So, what kept me so busy between November and February that kept me away from blogging for so long? The simple answer to that is "the usual". Aside from a great two weeks off over Christmas and New Year, both work and Council have been busy. Spurs have been keeping me busy too, both with worrying and with going to the games, and there have been gigs and theatre too - so it hasn't been all hard work. Politically, we had the Seven Sisters by-election in January, where Labour just managed to hold on with a tiny majority. The new ...
It's the sort of threat used by paedophilic abusers, "Don't tell or we leave you exposed," threatening worse than is already experienced. But it is just the sort of thing that the USA has apparently be doing to the UK. That would be the country that somehow has stood unwaveringly with the US on its war on terror every step of the way. Yet apparently if the UK reveals the alleged torture that Binyam Mohammed underwent at Guantánamo Bay the US have threatened to take away their intelligence sharing which would leave the UK heavily exposed. So like a victim ...
Just so you know, in case you get these funny Atom feed entries with no text in them entitled something like "Rambling Elswhere for <date>" it's to do with my Drupal Atom module which I cannot seem to get, at the moment to pick up the additional field in the content type I have created to display the last 24 hours' links from my site. I will hopefully find a fix soon; the RSS feed works fine and of course the content is on the site itself if you click on the item in the Atom feed. This has been ...
This evening I was one of two speakers at the European Society at King's College, London, on the theme of lobbying the European Union. My co-panelist, David Coen, of University College London (UCL), presented an excellent academic framework to and analysis of the current state of the lobbying operation in Brussels, notably by the commercial sector, whereas [...]
Iain Dale reports a pensioner having sued his MP, Ann Keen (Labour) and won £15,000 damages at Brentford County Court. I am relying on Iain Dale and the Evening Standard report and opinion article that he links to for the facts but in essence it seems: The claimant, Mr Taylor, was wrongly convicted on theft in the 1960s [...]
