The occupation is ongoing, I hear. It's getting more and more ridiculous, or it would be if they didn't hold such horrifyingly evil opinions. First, the funny - the facebook group opposing the protestors (now, for some reason, called "Let's Rebuild The Icelandic Economy") is more than twice as large as the one supporting them. It's [...]
I wouldn't go as far as to call our Labour MP a one-eyed Scottish idiot... Obviously, he has still has both peepers, and will tell you for as long as you have the endurance to listen that he has an unparalleled Hastings pedigree. But his recent spouting of the party line on the Government's plan to remove [...]
Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Hastings & Rye, Nick Perry, visited local charity Stumped on Monday to speak with volunteers who are themselves ex-users. Nick made the visit as part of his research on the current combination of services available to people with drug and alcohol addictions in Hastings and Rother. Speaking after the visit Nick said, "I [...]
Many years ago I reviewed the first edition of Nils Christie's book Crime Control as Industry for Liberator. As a review of the third edition by Peter Wagner says: Crime Control as Industry ... tracks how an industry has arisen to manage crime. And like any industry, the crime control industry is not about to say on its own: "Stop, we have enough of the market. We don't need to grow."Wagner goes on to summarise two more of Christie's important arguments: First Christie argues that the applicable political economy to describe prisons is not slavery, but of the old work-houses, ...
Tavish Scott in Dundee yesterday campaigning with Chris Hall in the Maryfield Ward.
For crying out loud, how many of their 2007 promises do they need to ditch before the Scottish media start having a pop? Every time the Lib Dems do anything we get attacked, this is the SNP, the minority governing party in Holyrood and yet they do whatever they want and the political journalists don't blink an eyelash - why? So now it is only the Liberal Democrats who are campaigning genuinely to scrap the unfair council tax.
Tavish Scott MSP campaigning with Chris.
As Dr Pack has blogged, the Tories do seem to be utterly pathetic in the behaviour in what I shall christen 'Wiki-gate'. So Gordon Brown may or may not have got it wrong when he said that Titian was 90 when he died. In the great scheme of things, it doesn't matter. Nobody really knows when he was born and so no one can declare with total accuracy how old he was when he died. So what possessed Cameron to make an issue of it at PMQs? Having done so, Central Office suddenly discovered that Cameron's statement didn't stand up ...
Very little, you might think. After all, one's a pioneering creative working in the pay of some of the most powerful, feared and megalomaniacal individuals of his day, and the other is a Venetian Renaissance painter. One answer could be the one suggested by Ryan on the Lib Dem Voice internal mailing list*, that no-one knows [...]
Liberal Democrat Voice points us to an article in The Times which begins: Taxpayers face a multimillion-pound maintenance bill at the Olympic Park after organisers admitted that they had failed to find a commercial operator to take over the main venue after 2012.Amid growing concerns of a repeat of the £1billion Millennium Dome fiasco, The Times has learnt that the Olympic stadium will cost at least £800,000 a year to keep open.Projected revenues from athletics events and a proposed sports academy will leave a big funding shortfall at the venue, where building costs have already spiralled from £282 million to ...
I heart Ben Goldacre. Platonically. Fraser Nelson from off of The Spectator questions Brown's 500,000 vacancies figure. It always sounded suspect to me.John Prescott has now got over 25,000 people to sign up to his "Give up the bonus" campaign. He really seems to be embracing the campaigning possibilities of the new medium in a way that most of his colleagues just don't get. Fair play to him.TDPF have a run down of the coverage in a big week for drugs stories.Dale-o (as he doesn't like to be called) has allowed Peter Hitchens a guest post on his blog to ...
Of all the things that make me seethe about the SNP Government, their abandonment of their pledge to introduce a Local Income Tax, betraying Scotland's poorest, has me spitting feathers. This deeply unfair tax is here to stay, with the SNP freezes saving the rich much more than they benefit the poor. Seems that after the budget showdown, this vanilla lite government is not even going to try to do anything that might upset anyone for the next 2 years. What a bunch of defeatists! Here is Jeremy Purvis' reaction to the news on Tavish TV: LibDig This!
The booze columnist for the New York Times recently made a frightful error. But to give credit where credit is due, he then Did The Right Thing and got his editors to correct their style guide. However, while the new style guide is better than the previous one, it's still wrong. The rules for when to spell it whisky or whiskey are as follows: Malt never has an 'e', unless made in Ireland or the US, in which case it always does; Everything else always has an 'e', unless it's Canadian or a Scottish blend, in which case it never ...
Welcome to the 103rd of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (1st-7th February 2009), together with a hand-picked quintet, mostly courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down. 1. A tribute to Colin Rosenstiel on Jonathan Calder's Liberal England blog. Highlighting Disgruntled Radical's Wilt-esque homage. 2. Liberals should be supporting Carol Thatcher on 'Costigan Quist's' Himmelgarten Cafe blog. Believing in free speech means believing in the right to cause offence, argues Costigan. ...
Here is Jeremy Purvis's opinion on the SNP's decision to not follow though on their pledge to axe the council tax and replace it with local income tax. You can read my views here.
The Times reports: Taxpayers face a multimillion-pound maintenance bill at the Olympic Park after organisers admitted that they had failed to find a commercial operator to take over the main venue after 2012. ... The Times has learnt that the Olympic stadium will cost at least £800,000 a year to keep open. Projected revenues from athletics events and a proposed sports academy will leave a big funding shortfall at the venue, where building costs have already spiralled from £282 million to £547 million. There are fears that the final bill could be much higher. As Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrats' ...
Following this week's strikingly similar announcements by both Nick Clegg and David Cameron on their respective party's education policy, debate seems to have taken off amongst LibDem activists. The main point of argument seems to be around the provision of 'free' schools on the successful Swedish model. Nick Clegg has long been a fan of these, discussing [...]
Chris Hall has received feedback from many residents in the area about road safety concerns. The photo (right) is at the Mains Loan/Clepington Road junction, where the white lines at the junction are very worn. Chris has received similar concerns at the junction of Ferguson Street and Princes Street - again badly worn white lines at a busy junction. Chris says, "White lining at busy junctions should be clearly marked, in the interests of road safety. I have therefore contacted the City Council asking for urgent action to improve matters." Chris has also received concerns from Rennell Road residents about ...
He may one have been technically inept but you've got to hand it to him John Prescott truly is harnessing the internet. He has even established an e-Petition demanding that the Royal Bank of Scotland do not pay out the £1bn in bonuses that are heading the way of many of their staff. Some apparently are even 6 figure sums. There's also a Facebook Group (which John failed to link to) No Ifs, No Buts - Pass on the Cut demanding the same things. When there are people out that who have recently lost their jobs, are scared they may ...
Have you got any computers, monitors or other working IT equipment that you no longer have a use for? .. would you like them to go to schoolchildren in the World's poorest areas?That was the beginning of a letter I received today from Computers 4 Africa, which is a registered charity - you can read all about it on the website. They wrote to me and other local councillors because they...
Regular readers of my blog will know I had a wee bit of a break at the end of last year when a mean virus knocked me for six. I haven't felt right since then and have felt particularly rubbish for the last 2.5 weeks or so. Last Friday, my GP decided to take all my blood and send it for analysis. If I ever forget in the future, please remind me that my blood is in my left arm, not my right. I remembered from when I was pregnant that one arm gave up blood easily and one stubbornly ...
Dundee City Council proposes to make an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of facilitating gas main reinforcement works. The Order is expected to be in force for four weeks from 16 February 2009. Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months. The effect of the Order to prohibit temporarily all vehicular traffic in Annfield Road from Hawkhill to Blackness Road. Parking in Annfield Road will be suspended for the duration of the works. Access to businesses will be maintained for the duration of the works. An alternative route ...
One of the things I agreed about in principle if not the means of execution of the SNP Government was their pledge to scrap the council tax and replace it with a local income tax based on the ability to pay. Just this morning some of the press were praising Salmond for bringing in some heavy hitters today he is reeling against the ropes. One of his key pledges to get elected lying in tatters. John Swinney, the Finance Minister claimed it would be politically very difficult to introduce the tax in the current political and financial climate at a ...
Dear Conservative Central Office person, If your party leader has got his facts wrong, editing Wikipedia to try to hide this isn't likely to work. (Whisper it quietly, but, you know, there are other places people get information from.) Editing from a Conservative Party IP address is also likely to be spotted. Yours, Mark PS Nice to know though that it was someone in Conservative Central Office who made the anonymous comment on LDV last year saying, "I would hate to live in Dr Packs bitter world of bile". I may well quote that as an endorsement in future {:-)} ...
The Telegraph reports: Schools are increasingly focusing on average pupils in an attempt to "flatter" official league tables, according to research by the Liberal Democrats. They are prioritising teenagers on the cusp of getting C grades - officially a good pass - at the expense of the very brightest, it is claimed. Figures show the number of pupils getting these grades in GCSEs has increased quicker over the last decade than in other areas. Focusing on so-called "borderline" candidates can dramatically improve schools' positions in national rankings. David Laws, the Lib Dems shadow secretary of state for schools and children, ...
First up, apologies for PMQs lateness once again. The more Twittery among you will know that this is not (this time) due to my being an indolent wossname, but instead due to my having been listening to and commenting on it on BBC 5Live from the most charmingly antiquated studio room you can imagine in Guildford (or any other prosperous southern town; I prescribe no limits to your imagination in this regard). Here's a thing - so far as I can recall I've never listened to PMQs before, only watched it, and I found the whole business a lot less ...
As the Guardian reports: The government's drugs adviser last night apologised for saying that the risk in taking ecstasy was no worse than in riding a horse. Home secretary Jacqui Smith had yesterday carpeted Dr David Nutt over comments that emerged 48 hours before his committee was expected to recommend downgrading the drug. ... Smith's attack on Nutt, the new chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, comes when this week it will publish a report expected to recommend downgrading ecstasy from class A to class B. Smith has made clear she will veto the council's view ...
Last year I blogged about the end of bus savers. While many people now use Oyster cards, bus savers were useful for everyone from occasional visitors to London and to those taking groups of people on a one-off trip. Also very handy for those days when your Oyster card has run out or you're travelling with [...]
More coverage of our clean air demo in the Islington Gazette. The photo, by veteran Gazette photographer Tony Gay, was nearly a story in itself. He had us lined up and leaning out like a chorus line, with buses and lorries whistling past our ears. Tony could see the traffic coming, but we couldn't, so [...]
I have just been listening to Money Box where the subject of buy back and lease was being discussed. It reminded me of something I have been meaning to post about for a while and never seem to get round to. I now own my own home and have done for a few years but between 1992 and 2004 I lived in lots of different sorts of rented accomodation, both shared and on my own, houses and flats so I have quite a lot of experience of the rental market from a tenants perspective. I experienced a number of negative ...
The link is to today's judgment in the Webster case. It should not require an application to the court of appeal for someone to ask around to find if there is an alternative legal position. This creates a mass of legal costs and a substantial procedural threshold to get what is relatively straightforward. Second opinions should be available as of right.
Both public toilets in Highfield, those at Bellgate and The Height are to be closed following a decision by the Conservative run Borough Council. see gazette article Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry.
A Koala who survived the terrible bushfires in Australia was rescued by a fireman who re-hydrated her by giving her bottled water. His mate caught the whole thing on his mobile phone. She is now being looked after. Her carer said she suffered burns on her paws and was in a lot of pain, but was on the road to recovery.
You'd think that the melted snow has got us all in the mood for the arrival of spring. Why only yesterday Jeff was telling us of his plans to return in time for Spring Conference. Well this afteroon I experienced the novelty of weekday day light and handed in my own registration for the Lib Dem Spring Conference in Perth from the 13-15th of March. I could swear that last time we were there Ireland were also playing Scotland in the Six Nations. However, instead of just dropping off my registration in the post box as normal I decided to ...
Wed 11th
16:53
Last September 18th, the world came within 24 hours of total economic and political meltdown
Via Political Wire: On C-Span, Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) explained how the Federal Reserve told members of Congress about an electronic run on the banks "to the tune of $550 billion dollars" within "an hour or two" last fall. According to Kanjorski, on September 18, 2008 the Fed tried to "stem the tide" by pumping money into the financial system but it didn't work and decided instead to
Newspapers are up in arms after Barack Obama gave priority to a blogger over the dead tree press according to a blog post from Guido which has got me thinking. Firstly its great to see that the new President is a supporter of the new media, i.e. the bloggers and secondly it shows that Barack values the blogosphere- which is something that made him successful in his campaign. After reading many blog posts from bloggers who went to the Democrats conference before Barack became official candidate they all write about how they enjoyed themselves in the tent and how they ...
Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for the Environment and Sustainability, Mick Bates, has welcomed the announcement by the Minister Jane Davidson that the Assembly Government will launch a consultation on a levy for plastic bags in June. The Climate Change Act 2008 gives the Assembly Minister for Sustainability the power to force supermarkets to charge a levy. This change originated from a
It has been reported that the four peers who were prepared to change the law for cash will not be investigated by the Police. Lords Taylor, Snape, Moonie and Truscott were accused of entering into negotiations with undercover Sunday Times reporters, (posing as lobbyists for a foreign firm) involving fees of up to £120,000. Although efforts were made by Lib Dems, Home Affairs spokesman to investigate whether the Peers had committed an offence, they have gone unnoticed by the Metropolitan Police. Yet a few weeks (maybe over a month) ago during PMQ's, Gordon Brown was quizzed by Leader of the ...
I have been writing blog posts that give people an update to the going's on in Brierfield and Nelson North campaign wise from the two main competitors and the third horse in this race, and in that series here are the results of what the Lib Dems achieved last time back in 2005. The results are very interesting because they point out that the real competitors are the Lib Dems and Labour. The results for 2005 in the seat were: Liberal Democrat - 2,913 votes Conservative Party - 876 votes British National Party - 450 votes Labour - 2,135 votes ...
According to the four bankers grilled before the Treasury Select Committee yesterday, none of them held any formal banking qualifications. Can I therefore put myself forward with my Chartered Institute of Bankers qualification - and a lot more political nous that that lot put together?
Zebtron in the comments to the previous post asked what books on the science I talk about sometimes I would recommend. I thought others might be interested, so rather than a reply, I thought I'd post it here... Here's ten books on 'this sort of thing' that are popular enough to get hold of. Most of [...]
Last week, in the wake of the whipped-up hysteria surrounding Carol Thatcher being banned by the BBC from The One Show for using the term 'golliwog', LDV asked our readers if you thought the corporation was justified in its actions. Here's how you voted: Yes, the BBC was justified - 44% (116 votes) No, the BBC wasn't justified - 52% (139) Don't know - 4% (11) Total Votes: 266. Poll ran: 5th-10th February 2009 So, a bare majority of you think the BBC over-reacted to Carol Thatcher's use of racially-loaded language. The poll was picked-up by the Telegraph's James Kirkup, ...
I was asked by a blind person to raise the issue of pavement advertising boards. So this was discussed by the Watch (old fashioned word for policing) and Transport Committee of Keighley Town Council. It was thought that it would be difficult to deal with the boards as the question had already been looked into; the traders had not changed their practice of putting the boards out on pavements. It was decided to ask the Town Centre Association to discuss it. I have to declare an interest: my husband has a book shop in Keighley. It has always been our ...
The BBC reveal that curry-King and Chair of the All-Wales Convention on further Assembly powers, Sir Emyr Jones Parry has been lined up to up-sticks and head off to Bosnia in the former Paddy Ashdown role of EU Special Representative. He is one of several candidates for the job, with EU foreign ministers hoping to agree on their nomination at a meeting on 23 February. His candidacy brings into doubt the future of the key Convention, that was brokered by Labour and Plaid negotiators so as to avoid making any divisive commitment to anything meaningful on the powers of the ...
George Monbiot takes Hazel Blears to task. Rather puts my own anti-Labour rant in the shade.
There are quite a few sites of local flooding in my ward ~ and probably many more in other wards. Keighley Constituency is built in the foothills of the Pennines, on layers of pervious and impervious rock. There are more springs and water ...
Compare and contrast. Oh, wait - artist with mental vision and no clear idea how to fix the engineering problems given heaps of money. They're both the same. Watch this space for the first person to be killed in the UK by a giant steel horse cock, coming (so to speak) in 2012. At the earliest.
Quite a few spinners and beepers aren't working in Keighley. They help pedestrians with sight problems to cross the road safely. When they are in working order beepers beep, giving an audible signal when the green man crossing light is on; ...
Commenting on today's statement by John Hutton on Defence Planning Assumptions, Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey said: "The MoD's Defence Planning Assumptions have been operating in a parallel universe for many years now. "This latest review is just an attempt to put a veneer of credibility on the appalling overstretch our armed forces are operating under. (more...)
It's not often I agree so strongly with Simon Heffer but his column in the Telegraph today is pretty close to what I think about how some of the political class in this country behaves, with particular reference to Jacqui Smith. Amongst others, he makes the following point: "We know Miss Smith's game. She will struggle to hold her seat at the next election, as Labour will struggle to hold the country. Faced not just with the loss of a ministerial salary but also an MP's one (with all its juicy expenses), and with life in the House of Lords ...
This looks like a really useful conference for activists in the race, gender and sexuality fields. I've been keeping an eye on the blog for a couple of weeks, since skibbley linked to it, hoping that the date would be one I can make. Sadly, it turns out I can't due to professional commitments. Some of the activists on my friends list may be interested, though.
I was phoned this morning by my colleague Cllr Chris Ord who gave me the news that the Mayor of Gateshead, Maureen Chaplin, had passed away. I had a great deal of time for Maureen and I know she will be missed. Our thoughts are with her family.
Paul Rowen's question today about Gaza was a good question of the Prime Minister. The question was whether the UK would ask the Security Council to refer the events in Gaza to the ICC. The Prime Minister basically said no. What was surprising was that he said that the Israeli Government should do the investigation of war crimes by the Israeli Forces. That is not exactly an independent
An American writer, Tom Perrotta, has suggested two new holidays, "Grievance Day" and "Apology Day". On Grievance Day, you could approach someone and complain that you've suffered at their hands. After three months, on Apology Day that person can apologise or respond. What interested me were some of the comments on the idea. "That would be the worst idea ever. Some people don't take
Today, whilst reading my daily round up of the blogs, i was intrigued by the post of Guido Fawkes, and Irfan's attempt to challenge him. The UK foreign office is now buying advertising slots on Pakistani TV channels in a "Don't attack us please" campaign. In the past the foreign policy has been quite abundantly - A country or nation that is or supports terrorism is stormed by the US and its allies including the UK with heavily armed military forces. But now we have a change in foreign policy from the UK. Our glorious country has had in the ...
Last night was another meeting of the Council's Resource and Performance Scrutiny Commission. This is the all-party body of 8 Councillors and one independent member of the Standards Committee who come together to scrutinise the work of the Executive with specific reference to the Council's overall performance and its finances. And no meeting of this splendid body should go past without a bit of post-game analysis. So here that is... There were a number of reports on the agenda, most of which were so laden with financial intricacies that I would gladly have offered a multi-million pound bonus to any ...
No sooner had the Lord Voldermort of Hartlepool and Foy appear on Twitter according to that first Tweet on Monday "Looking forward to listening and providing updates on my department's support for business through tough times." Than he is running away to hide. Surely the Dark Lord of Spin can't be more of a technophobe that John "Prezza" Prescott. Who'd have thunk it?Or is he about to resign yet another cabinet post?
Tuesday: Oh, so the four senior bankers are "sorry" are they? Not sorry for their business practices having got us into this mess, of course. Not sorry for their greed or megalomania. And certainly not sorry for all the innocent people who will lose their homes or their livelihoods because of the financial CHAOS that they have caused. No, they're sorry that the "situation arose". Sorry for their shareholders. Sorry for themselves. Sorry that the value of all those shares that they should never have been given has fallen flat. But not sorry enough to do anything about it, apparently. ...
This morning I receive through the post "The GP Patient Survey", asking for my views on local NHS services. It's an 8-page survey, barcoded for automated reading. Which is fine. Doubtless a good use of a pound or two of taxpayers' money. Except...I received the same survey a few weeks ago, which I promptly filled in and returned. The covering letter refers to the previous survey saying "If you have already sent back your completed questionnaire in the last few weeks, thank you for doing this and please accept my apologies for sending you this reminder - you need do ...
Charlotte Gore's question prompts me to republish an old Liberator article. Why I am still a Liberal I met a lesbian on a train to Brussels. I met her because she sat right opposite me and started reading Paddy Ashdown's diaries. I took pity and rescued her and we had a conversation. She had, she told me, been a Euro-Communist as a student but having met lots of Liberals, she had now become
Last week, an opinion poll supposedly showing relatively low levels of public belief in Darwin's theory of evolution did the media rounds. Typical was this write-up from the Daily Telegraph: Poll reveals public doubts over Charles Darwin's theory of evolution Belief in creationism is widespread in Britain, according to a new survey. Having heard some more coverage of the poll this morning, I thought I'd take a look at what the poll actually said. It was conducted by ComRes, a reputable polling firm (and, regularly readers of my posts about BPIX will be glad to hear, a member of the ...
{David Sutton Loses seat} Reading today's Reading Evening Post, I nearly spat out my coffee upon reading this. Looks like another plum (remunerated) job, and together with his £6K from his Director of Reading Buses post, he seems to be doing quite well. Especially, after losing his council seat to Warren Swaine in May 2008 - Who David Sutton described as "A man who's only contribution to public life in Reading is to publish a scandal mongering website." Still, I guess it will keep him away from the "moronic voters of Reading" [His words, not mine] Since Martin Salter has ...
The question on everyone's lips - forget the Economy or Bailouts it's whether DELGA (Democrats for Lesbian and Gay action) should be changed to LGBT Lib Dems! I'm completely torn - DELGA is well-known and trips off the tongue and I do have difficulty with one of the reasons for not changing it `LGBT is politically [...]
Islington's vodka drinkers have been at risk of more than a hangover, after counterfeit vodka was found, contaminated with methanol. It turns out that methanol can blind you - not just make you blind drunk. A list of the symptoms of methanol poisoning starts off like a bad night - headache, dizziness, nausea, lack of coordination, [...]
Last night I was unfortunate enough to sit through the most ill-advised public transport presentation I have ever seen. The Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company presented their Draft Integrated Transport Strategy to the residents of Claremont & Weaste. I attended this meeting as I live on the border of the Lanworthy ward and the Claremont & Weaste ward - which means I have a vested interest in both areas. The plan was presented by the URC (Urban Regeneration Company), supported by Urban Vision who would have the unenviable task of putting this plan into practice - not that it is ...
As part of a move towards improving the transparency of elections within Liberal Youth, there follows the full text of my first communication to candidates... Dear All, Firstly, may I welcome you to the process of electing the new Officers and Executive Committee of Liberal Youth. As the Returning Officer, my job is to steer you all from close of nominations to declaration of the results on 31
Today Guido has gone too far and made comments that I think are ridiculous, it comes after Britain are going to start advertising on Pakistani TV asking terrorists not to attack Britain but what Guido has said is unacceptable. You can read the whole post by following the link. Firstly the blog post pokes fun at the teachings of Islam which is something that is allowed under "freedom of speech" but is something that I think steeps a little low. If someone was to say label the Israeli political parties as "warmongers" then people like Iain Dale get their Knickers ...
Families Need Fathers (an organisation which has a number of mothers as members) has been in existance for a number of years. There was a joint meeting between FNF and the Lib Dems yesterday at which they raised a number of questions including that of grandparents where relationships come to an end. I have tended to concentrate on public family law, but the problems there are often similar to
Having just completed a lengthy review of the Liberal Youth constitution and then issued a bunch of election rulings, I am a mite weary this morning, especially as my rulings were issued in the early hours. It is interesting to operate with a set of rules which leave vast areas of doubt and uncertainty. There is no guidance about endorsements, and given the apparently general assumption that
The Communications Allowance is a fund for each MP of £10,000 a year of taxpayers money to spend on communicating with their constituents. That is a pretty massive sum. At current prices as a sitting MP I could have a full colour A3 delivered to every house in a constituency four times a year. By anyone's standards its a massive boost to local campaigning So I'm awaiting details as to how MPs have spent this windfall with interest. And it will be declared by the Parliamentary authorities. Eventually at least. According to www.parliament.uk, "Costs will be reported in the autumn ...
Economist-bloggers "The Baseline Scenario" propose an beautiful solution to our gloomy recession: Banks are desperate to offload their toxic assets, and bankers are desperate to get their bonuses:- "Why not say that all bank compensation above a baseline amount - say, $150,000 in annual salary - has to be paid in toxic assets off the bank's balance sheet? Instead of getting a check for $10,000, the employee would get $10,000 in toxic assets, at their current book value." The beauty of this idea is that it aligns the banker's greed motive with the public good. Rather than simply maximize profits ...
Commenting on the Conservatives' eight point plan for Britain's railways, Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker said: "The Tories simply cannot be trusted to deliver the rail network that Britain needs." "They have embraced the concept of high speed rail, but they won't say how they'll pay for it and their plans won't start until the Parliament...
Genuine Question: What's the difference between a 'liberal' (in the commonly accepted Lib Dem version of the word) and a 'democratic socialist' or 'social democrat'? Is there a distinction that makes self-identification as both a paradoxical impossibility? Are they mutually exclusive, or could you be both? What's the difference really?
Back on the theme of plaques locally - here's a nice little one from South End Green, Hampstead. It's on the railway bridge above the start of the Frognal tunnel. "LONDON BOROUGH OF CAMDENSOUTH END ROAD BRIDGE Reconstructed & widened in 1969 replacinga 28ft wide cast iron bridge built in 1864 Borough Engineer & SurveyorK.P Harman BSc (Eng) C. Eng., F.I.C.E., F.I. Mun. E. ContractorsLeonard Fairclough Ltd" I think as local government today is increasingly about the provision of services, it's often easy to forget the scale of change and owenership of a local authority in previous decades - this ...
I've been following the news on these with a personal interest, having family living in Melbourne. I've visited one or two of the affected areas in the past but what can anyone from outside say? Thank God, the family is safe and although some of their friends have lost property or been too close for comfort none of them has lost life or limb. Photographs convey some of the enormity of the
A couple of weeks ago we bought a new house for our oriental fire-bellied toads, Bert and Ernie. There wasn't anything wrong with the one they came in, we just wanted to give them a bit more room to swim around and a nicer looking tank that we can see them better in. We bought a new, taller terrarium from this place just off the M4, along with a few bits and bobs to make their new home look pretty. There's a lot more water around than before - and so much less dry land, the one down side of ...
I must be the last person in Britain not to have seen Slumdog Millionaire, but the more I read about it the more it reminds me of another film. Salaam Bombay!, directed by Mira Nair, was released in 1988. It won the Audience Award at Cannes and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Roger Ebert's review for the Chicago Sun Times describes the genesis of the film: The history of the making of "Salaam Bombay!" is almost as interesting as the film itself. The filmmakers gathered a group of the street children of Bombay and talked ...
Yesterday Israel held Parliamentary elections, the result looks very tight and we can expect weeks of coalition building.
Focus Team member Paul Jobbins at the area that has flooded already at St Johns Way The St Johns Way area of Chipping Sodbury is one that would be particularly vulnerable to flooding if some of the government's proposed thousands of houses are built nearby. As we reported before, hundreds of people responded to our campaign and local campaigns like BS37action. In fact the government received so many objections that they are still going through them all. Their decision was due in January, but it's now been delayed. Maybe they might listen for once? Let's hope so.
Last week I noted that two journalists had cited Captain Mainwaring from Dad's Army as the sort of bank manager we should return to. Now John Thurso has taken up the theme while questioning the four bank executives as part of the Commons public accounts committee. The BBC reports: An MP has called for the return of old-fashioned Capt Mainwaring-style bankers while questioning bank bosses at a Treasury Committee meeting.John Thurso said 99% of his constituents would not care if merchant bankers and arbitrage traders "disappeared down a black hole".The Scottish Liberal Democrat added: "Could we get back to Capt ...
Thanks to John at Liberal Revolution and to The Wilted Rose for spotting some interesting figures in the details of the latest Sunday Telegraph ICM poll, will polling conducted on 4th-5th February 2009. The headline voting intention figures has the Tories on 42%, Labour on 27% and the Lib Dems on 21%. But there seems to be an intriguing regional variation. In the South, the split is 49/28/18. In the Midlands, 45/25/18 (Midlands includes Wales and has Plaid Cymru on 5%). But in the North (including Scotland), the Tories are on 30%, Labour 30% and the Lib Dems on 26% ...
With the recent wintry weather, the stories have come thick and fast again about how you could be sued if you try and clear a pavement outside your property and someone slips. In Oxfordshire we had the bizarre case of a farmer who, needing to clear the snow to let milk tankers in and so on decided to go the "extra half mile" and snow plough the roads in his local village that were completely neglected by the county forced to focus on "big routes" who was then castigated for not being "qualified" to clear snow. And yet, we also ...
Bad news for Governor Sarah Palin this early on in her bid for the Presidency in 2012. Yeah I know it's early to start thinking about the next run at the White House. But the Pope has come out and said that Darwin may have been on the right lines ahead of the 200th anniversary of his birth. Indeed Papal Scholars were falling over themselves yesterday to tell us that creation and evolution were wholly compatible. Even citing St Augustine of Hippo and St Thomas Aquinas as precursors to Darwinian thought. Personally it is an issue I have not had ...
The number of people on Jobseekers Allowance in Wales is four times higher than the number of jobs available, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have revealed. The figures, revealed through Parliamentary Questions, also show that: · There are 6 Welsh constituencies in which Jobseekers outnumber vacancies by more than 10 to 1. · There are 16 Welsh constituencies in which Jobseekers outnumber vacancies
There has been a fair amount of comment on (mostly libertarian) blogs recently about "fake charities" - bodies that we are made to think are reliant on our individual, personal donations but which are in fact heavily subsidized by the state for promoting government objectives and messages. That is all fair - transparency is important, none more so than in the charitable sector which is legally constrained from engaging in political activity and if a "charity" is receiving a lot of its funding from the state (in whatever form including the National Lottery) and appearing to parrot government policy it ...
Labour MP Denis McShane has quite an extraordinary article on Comment is Free today, reflecting on the Guardian's hypocritical "tax gap" campaign. He moans that: We may denounce bank accounts in the Alps or Caribbean but who is willing to reveal the details of their own accounts? Journalists beat up on MPs and their expenses, but the BBC will not even reveal what it pays its top broadcasters from the public purse, and the thought of disclosing payments that newspapers make to sources and in expenses would have every editor reaching to abolish the Freedom of Information Act. No Denis, ...
First Minister's questions yesterday produced a fascinating exercise from the Welsh Conservative Leader in how not to scrutinise the government. Nick Bourne raised process issues about the Fourth Economic Summit and bombed badly. In contrast Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Kirsty Williams was in the zone, asking direct, pertinent questions about the issues that matter to people all over Wales. Betsan Powys takes up the story: Today I bet you would have winced had you watched First Minister's Questions. No near misses here, rather direct hits. Nick Bourne took the full force of asking the wrong question, based on the wrong ...
The Coroners and Justice Bill has come under heavy criticism for its attempt to smuggle through massively increased data sharing powers, giving ministers the right to take information you've given the State for any purpose and hand it over to anyone at all in the public or private sector as long as it furthers a policy objective. Lee Griffin has been keeping an eye on this aspect over at Liberal Conspiracy. Less commented on is Part Two, Chapter Two of the bill which deals with pornographic images of children. Quite rightly, of course, both creating and possessing child porn is ...
Ow dear she hasn't even taken the oath yet but Indygal MSP, Aka Anne McLaughlin, has landed herself in a wee bit of bother. Yeah these pictures which she posted on her blog from Budget fall out day has landed the then Hollyrood researcher for Bob Doris into hot water with one of two of those she will join tomorrow when she takes the seat she inherited after the untimely death of Bashir Ahmad. Margaret Curran the Labour MSP has demanding an apology: "On one level, this behaviour is simply childish. But there is a more serious undercurrent. It is ...
