It has to be said, the headline "Delight at 68 new front-line officers" in today's Evening Post was rather misleading, some might call it spin. A cursory look at the Thames Valley Police Authority's press release reveals the actual number of additional Police officers the Berkshire West Basic Command Unit (BCU) is due to receive this year amounts to a slightly more modest, but nevertheless much needed extra 12 police officers for the Reading area. What is clear that this is yet another sticking plaster solution, when what is needed is a substantial increase in Police numbers on the streets in Reading to reduce crime and importantly, ...
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" Voltaire The exclusion from the UK of Geert Wilders, a Dutch MP who has some rather trenchantly hostile views about Islam was simply craven. I don't necessarily believe what he says, and I certainly disagree with the manner in which he expresses himself. However I do believe that free speech should be kept free, no matter what. Perhaps even more offensive do I find these American nutters from the Westboro' Baptist Church, who mostly seem to be related to each other. They ...
Alex Hilton, who runs the Labourhome blog, has received "a threatening phone call from a Labour member upset that I have a relationship with the Tory blogger Guido Fawkes". Hilton and Paul Staines (who writes Guido Fawkes) founded the Messagespace advertising scheme for political blogs. And Staines is also a personal friend of Alex Hilton. Hilton writes: I have been told that if I don't extract myself from Messagespace I will be painted as endorsing every offensive comment or article on the Guido Fawkes site, that of Devil's Kitchen, Iain Dale and every other right winger on the system.I have ...
If the Conservative budget were a lager, it certainly wouldn't be Carlsberg. This is far from the best budget in the world. In fact it's far from the best budget that our residents deserve. While the Conservative budget deals with internal processes, spending £1m of tax payer's money on new offices - before a single brick is laid, and two items which they have stolen from the Labour group as their own. Our Liberal Democrat budget takes the opportunity to benefit from the last two years of knowing what our government settlement is and from the healthiest financial situation the ...
Controversial plans for a scheme to house homeless people in Snow Hill have been scrapped. Community leaders and local Councillors David Dixon and Colin Darracott today welcomed the abandonment of the project in London Road, which they had described as a "Victorian workhouse without work." Housing association Somer had been working with owners Bath and North East Somerset Council for three years on the scheme at 3 and 4 Longacre. But local residents said the location was wrong, and that criminals could prey on the vulnerable families who would be accommodated there. Somer - whose Somer Community Housing Trust and ...
I am watching the Channel 4 programme about the Kray twins and Bob Boothby. It has just mentioned that the Labour MP Tom Driberg was also part of their circle and that he had met the Krays at the East End premiere of the film Sparrow Can't Sing. Time to unwrap a favourite trivial fact... The screenplay for Sparrows Can't Sing was written by Stephen Lewis, better knows as Blakey from On the Buses. There is an interview with Lewis on an On the Buses fansite, but sadly it does not mention this film. T-shirt by Leon Garcia Designs.
We had an enjoyable day today at the Maryfield by-election. Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland was in Dundee today, campaigning for Chris Hall, our Liberal Democrat candidate in Maryfield. Alison and Chris toured local sheltered housing complexes and also spoke with residents in the Baxter Park and Maryfield areas about local issues. I took the photos! Alison commented on the warm reception from residents. She said, "There is keen interest in this by-election from local people and it is clear that people in the area are looking for their new councillor to campaign actively on local issues including ...
The EU social and regional funds are paying into London to help the city's poorest residents. The money, which keeps coming until 2013, includes £300 million for skills training, and £100 million for helping business development and community regeneration. That's good news. Less good is the reason London qualifies for the money. Alongside much poorer [...]
Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland was in Dundee today, campaigning for Chris Hall, Liberal Democrat candidate in the Maryfield Ward City Council by-election, polling on 12th March. Alison and Chris toured local sheltered housing complexes and also spoke with residents in the Baxter Park and Maryfield areas about local issues. Alison commented on the warm reception from residents. She said, "There is keen interest in this by-election from local people and it is clear that people in the area are looking for their new councillor to campaign actively on local issues including road safety, condition of pavements, tackling ...
The recent events in Gaza have receded in our conscience - yesterday's news, today's chip paper. But hiding in the shadows of the drama of Gaza lies an ominous racism towards the indigenous Palestinian citizens of Israel. i have been passed this article from Jewish Voice for Peace. Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League is defending one of Israel's most powerful far-right extremists and his plan to strip "unfaithful" citizens, mostly Arab Israelis, of their citizenship. The Anti-Defamation League is supposed to "secure justice and fair treatment to all." Instead, they are supporting a dangerous ideology that calls for taking ...
Residents of St Newlyn East and Fiddler's Green are annoyed that no public meeting was held by Carrick District Council to outline the ScottishPower application for super turbines at Carland. ScottishPower want to take down the 15 49 metres windmills and replace it with 10 100 metre super wind turbines. The site size would also be dramatically increased. The biggest issue for me on this is that the local authority do not seem to have been prepared to allow local residents to air their views. Surely they have a right to ask councillors to listen to their objections at a ...
3. David Steel With his grey hair, glasses and catchphrase "Don't panic, Mr Greig," Steel raised our nation's morale during its darkest hour - I refer, of course, to our humiliation at the hands of the Australian fast bowlers Lillee and Thomson. Steel's obdurate forward defensive prod became a symbol of national resistance: we had lost our steam trains, seen our currency defiled, but we were not going to let them get another wicket before lunch. I shall pass over Steel's subsequent leadership of the Liberal Party. Though I was one of the first to spot his potential as a ...
A packed public meeting at Gloweth outlined the major problems local residents are having in their street. Students at Truro College and staff and visitors at Treliske Hospital are using the roads in residential estates to park their cars all day. This is causing havoc in these roads making it difficult for residents and also causing real hazards in the event of emergency vehicles being called out. I used to live in College Way so really understand exactly how annoying this nuisance is. Cars are parked on pavements, front gardens being driven over and little thought given to local householders ...
From Matthew Norman's Saturday restaurant review in the Guardian: In an age when imperial warriors were better educated, if not better intentioned, than they are today, a Victorian warrior made a pun at which all future generations of Latin pupils were obliged to affect mild amusement. On capturing the Indian (now Pakistani) province of Sindh in 1843, Sir Charles Napier reported his triumph back to London with the single word "Peccavi", meaning "I have sinned". OK, so no one will be rushing off to Boots for a ribcage repair kit, but that's a shade cuter than "mission accomplished". (By the ...
There's a bug on LJ which means that once you watch an embedded YouTube on your f-list, every other embedded YouTube has the preview still from the one you watched until you watch another one. There are a bunch of embedded YouTubes on my f-list at the moment, and every last ManJack of 'em is showing "Keith Vaz is a disgrace (Newsnight)" for the preview still. That's never going to get old...
There will be no more Calder's Comfort Farm columns from me for the New Statesman. Apparently its cancellation is part of an innovative new media strategy that involves commissioning no more separate columns or blogs for the magazine's website. Still, as one door closes another shuts and all that. For the time being you can still read the columns on the Statesman website.
There's another Full Council meeting next week, and I've had my oral question disallowed by the authorities. I also asked a number of questions to Cllr Adje at the Council's Overview & Scrutiny Committee, which were disqualified. The latter was partly my fault - there are Overview & Scrutiny meetings on consecutive days this week, and I read the wrong date as the deadline for questions. He would have refused to answer anyway. At Full Council, I was going to quiz the new leader of the Council, to see if she thinks Labour's resources lead member is really fit to ...
Art goes large as the winner of the Ebbsfleet Landmark is revealed to be Mark Wallinger's big white horse. Not my favourite to win but it will be interesting to follow the project.
Linda Jack says, "Two or three days before it sunk the Titanic was warned it was approaching an ice field, ignorance, arrogance or indifference meant it ignored the warnings. Vince Cable has been a clear and lone voice about the banks and personal debt for many years. No one listened." Here he is whispering words of doom in Kate Winslet's ear as they begin the Tango.
Mon 16th
18:50
Opinion: The only way to solve the credit crisis is to fully nationalise Lloyds, HBOS and RBS
Everyone is blaming greedy bankers for the credit crunch - unless they're Tories, in which case they're pinning all the blame on the Government. But who is really to blame? And more important, what can be done about it? I decided to do some research on this and I have come to the conclusion that investment bankers, although greedy and irresponsible, are not at the root of the crisis. That particular honour in fact goes to one man who has barely got a mention in the debate so far: Bill Clinton. Allow me to explain. In 1933, the US Government, ...
Hello, my friends from Federal Liberal Youth. Particularly to Elaine and Sara - I think they need this as much as anyone. I have a short announcement to make. You are not politicians. Now, I am not pronouncing on the possibility or likelihood of your becoming politicians in the future, nor on your relative merits if you [...]
Over at the Daily Mail, Lib Dem deputy leader and shadow chancellor Vince Cable writes about the 'financial aristocracy' of Sir James Crosby ('affable, very bright and self-confident') and Glen Moreno ('a Gold Card member of Tax Dodgers Anonymous'). Here's an excerpt: Surely, now that the Government has taken over and rescued several big banks using taxpayers' money, they must be run in the public interest, not as bolt holes for the financial aristocracy. By contrast, I see more and more ordinary people being ground down by the recession and by the banks. I was visited this week by a ...
Ever read the book 'The Hunt for Red October' by Tom Clancy? Remember all the details about how submarine sonar operators can track their enemies over hundreds of miles and pick up enough clues to tell precisely which boat they are listening to? (the film is slightly less tortuous on this point but comes to the same conclusion). Well, those submarines from the UK and France seem to have proved that this is a complete myth. The couldn't even hear another sub well enough to avoid smacking into each other. No caterpillar drives were in operation (we assume), just standard ...
Something that makes me despair nowadays is the sight of early morning TV on a weekend. Rarely am I at home on a Saturday morning, such is the pull of work, but on the rare occasions that I am, I'm probably one of the minority that berates the sight of yet another cookery programme! My childhood weekends usually revolved around getting up early to watch my favourite Children's TV programmes before going off out on some farmyard adventure with my neighbours. Looking back now, it's incredible what the pull of good quality children's TV could do to a kid. I ...
Yesterday brought us a story about green campaigners who have not necessarily put their own homes in order. The slebs who have been charged with hypocrisy include Simon Hughes, whose walls leak heat, BOJO the clown mayor, who lives in a conservation area, and Gwynneth Paltrow who was unavailable for comment. Hughes lives in a flat, and so may not have control over the fabric of his building. Personally, I have argued in planning committees that apartment buildings need to be built as energy efficient as possible since it is much harder for leaseholders and tenants to retrofit green technologies ...
Because I commented on their entries, they rememed me! Luckily some of the things were things they both mentioned, so here are eight more things for that five things meme: Dr Who Doctor Who is a big part of my life, and always has been. My first memory of anything is of Tom Baker turning into Peter Davison at the end of Logopolis. I have fond memories of trooping into the dining room to watch it on the ancient black and white telly with my dad while my mum watched Corrers on the decent telly in the living room. I ...
I genuinely can't decide if this is a feelgood story where the station makes a point in a light-hearted way or more intrusion into our lives. Warrington Bank Quay Station has erected "no kissing" signs and has designated kissing zones. The idea is to avoid smooching couples getting in the way of commuters. How long before this sign starts appearing in our stations, just to be on the safe side. Now that really would hold up commuters...
This news surprised me. Talk about beauty and the beast or more accurately beauty and the arrogant ...CENSORED... Ahem.
Commenting on today's report from the International Commission of Jurists, which says that the UK and USA have actively undermined international law in the way they fight terrorism, and calls for proper disclosure on human rights violations, Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary, Edward Davey said: "This is damning testament to just how much liberty has been ineffectually sacrificed in the 'war on terror'. (more...)
Along with a small group of other councillors I am meeting the Chief Constable later this week. I'm then, with a separate group of residents, meeting the neighbourhood inspector for Garston, Speke and Cressington next week. If you've got any issues you think I should raise, please let me know. You can post here or use my council e mail which is paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk
I see the Nats didn't take long to put their spin on the Paddy Ashdown comments I posted about earlier. Jamie Hepburn MSP may be factually correct in quoting one of the latest polls on the referendum question (the one more favourable to his argument). However, I have every confidence that when Independence is the only subject on the table that all the myriad holes in the argument for Scottish Independence will come out and sway the majority of the 42% undecided (by that polls measure) against the economically unsound arguments being put by the SNP for it. One thing ...
On the whole, I think journalists have as much right to go about there trade as, well, say lawyers, bankers and estate agents. And, yes, I do know some responsible and intelligent journalists. Worryingly, though, the ones I know are all close to retirement. The BBC? Well take a look at today's business news on their website. Like the lunchtime news, they headline on 850 job losses at BMW. Why not? It's an important story, especially for the poor sods about to lose their jobs. But what's that further down the page and unmentioned on the lunchtime news? Another company ...
A few years ago i had my interview for my current post at the FSA. One of the questions I was asked was "How do you think you will get on with a bunch of bankers?" Well, as I often say - it was a bit of a culture shock for me, but I like to think it was more of a culture shock for them! So I have been following the debate of the last few weeks and the comments from my bosses with interest. As a trade union negotiator when "Single Status" was being agreed, one big issue ...
I just got sent a copy of this moving open letter from Israeli social psychologist, Daniel Bar-Tal on the Gaza war : This is probably one of the most difficult periods in my political life as a Jew living in the State of Israel. The events of the war in Gaza hit hard my foundations of hope that a peaceful conflict resolution between Israelis and Palestinians can be achieved in the near future. Moreover, my trust in humanity has been weakened seeing the ease with which human beings rally for a war, exercise blind patriotism, express desire for vengeance, delegitimize ...
The Islington Tribune has printed my letter on the need for fairer fuel bills: "THE snow may have melted but Islington residents are still facing freezing weather and high fuel bills. Everyone needs to heat their homes, but the way we have to pay for it is unfair. "It's unfair that customers on pre-pay meters [...]
{A folder labelled "No"} The British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA) has rejected Government plans to use pilots as guinea pigs for its ID cards scheme, saying, "Promises that ID cards would be voluntary have been broken." In a submission to the Government's consultation on ID cards, BALPA said, "ID cards have absolutely no value as far as security is concerned... this is nothing but coercion... "It is clear that the government's staged introduction of biometric identity cards first to overseas students, then to migrant workers and then for aviation workers represents a way of picking off what is seen as ...
Yes: according to Islington Council leader James Kempton in a new pamphlet, "Governing a world city". The booklet looks at the big issues for London government - crime, the Olympics, housing, child poverty - and James' piece is on the latest changes proposed to the education and training of 16-19 year olds. Unusually for a Government [...]
Noticed this article on BBC News this morning: Lloyds bank shares slide further Lloyds Banking Group shares have fallen 7% in morning trading as the bank continues to reel from Friday's announcement of massive losses at HBOS. On checking the current share price of Lloyds Banking Group shares at noon I discovered it was UP 2.77% Within an hour [...]
Following reports of a collision between British and French nuclear submarines armed with warheads, Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey said: "While the British nuclear fleet has a good safety record, if there were ever to be a bang it would be a mighty big one. "The public entrust this equipment to the Government confident that all possible precautions are being taken. (more...)
I've not blogged about some of the latest to-ings and fro-ings over Derek Draper and LabourList as plenty of other people have covered the topic, but this post in particular from a former Labour insider is worth highlighting. I think he underestimates a bit the scope for the internet to make an impact on British politics, but his analysis is thoughtful and measured: It's taken thirty-six years but last week it finally happened. I found myself - however I might wish for it to be otherwise - agreeing with an article in the Daily Mail. It was a stingingly accurate ...
The latest Government ploy to persuade the kids that pot is much more dangerous than nice drugs like alcohol is underway and, not for the first time, the chosen battleground is mental health. Haven't you heard? This new skunk is twenty times stronger than the stuff today's Labour politicians were smoking back in the '60s and '70s. It was OK for them to have the occasional toke back in the day but, if you do it, you'll end up in the funny farm. The only slight flaw with this propoganda is it isn't actually true, as such. Traditional weed is ...
Brown and Cameron are not the best of friends if you read Iain Dale's blog, he writes about how recently Brown tried to ban Cameron from a dinner with Thatcher at Number 10, and how in a conversation between Cameron and Iain as part of an interview Cameron summed Brown up with the word "Wrong". David Cameron complained to Iain Dale about how whenever they get to have a chat Brown just dives into a long conversation, but actually from the footage of the Queen's Speech both were actually quiet enjoying the conversation from what the pictures told us, so ...
This just needed to be said. Liberal Youth needs to quit with the stupid politicking and start actually doing things. Whoever ends up being the Chair. (Thank you to Liberal Bureaucracy.)
It's been a while since we last caught up with the best of Lib Dem Voice, so here is a whistlestop tour of the last four weeks: Some of the most viewed stories (according to Google Analytics): Charlie Gordon MSP's expenses Is Progressive London a front for Ken? Former members of the SDP - are there more in the Tories than the Lib Dems? Stephen Tall's excellent "25 random things about the Lib Dems" {catchup2} The stories you commented on the most: Was Chris Huhne right to say Geert Wilders should be banned from the UK? Social Liberal Forum launched ...
David Miliband, House of Commons, debate on PFI in the education sector, 2004: The public-private partnerships enable the public sector to use private sector resources to deliver elements of services that the latter, through its skills and expertise, is best placed to provide through a structure in which the private sector puts its capital at risk so that it is paid only when it delivers. That's of course how PFI was always sold to us by Labour (and in its previous forms by the Conservatives before that*). And now that the private sector is struggling to deliver PFI schemes for ...
Looks like Chavez's won the referendum allowing him unlimited terms as president. 54.36%, according to El Universal, but what does that mean? Roving gangs of thugs - "Chavistas", as they're known - are all too willing to intimidate and attack those who're too bourgeois to vote the right way. It's worth remembering that Chavez took part [...]
I complete a regular media survey detailing what I watch and listen to. Recently though they have added a new question for each programme: "Was there anything in the programme that you personally found offensive? " I find this to be a worrying development. More evidence of the Daily Mail's chilling effect on our culture?
National Excess appear to pour most of their publicity budget into promoting their ultra cheap fares. Go to London for £14 - that sort of thing (the return fare not included!) "Minature prices" they call them. More like minature victory if you manage to lay your hands on them. When I tried to get cheap, or even modestly prices tickets for last Friday to get out of London and today, to go back
The NY Times reports: U.S. Military Will Offer Path to Citizenship Stretched thin in Afghanistan and Iraq, the American military will begin recruiting skilled immigrants who are living in this country with temporary visas, offering them the chance to become United States citizens in as little as six months. Immigrants who are permanent residents, with documents commonly known as green cards, have long been eligible to enlist. But the new effort, for the first time since the Vietnam War, will open the armed forces to temporary immigrants if they have lived in the United States for a minimum of two ...
Sorry Mark Pack for nicking your idea but all's fair in love and war! If you have read this blog and enjoy a blog post why not Share it with your friends at Facebook. All you have to do is copy and paste the URL of the post and allow them to read it as well. If you are a Digger then why not Dig it, The more you enjoy the more you can help others to enjoy. If you are a LibDigger that's even better then just get Digging everything you see on this blog. How the sharing helps, ...
Yesterday afternoon I was out surveying in Bethnal Green with Tower Hamlets Liberal Democrats, finding out which issues are of major concern to residents. As anyone who takes part in such activities knows, even at a time of economic recesssion, it's often very local matters like rubbish collection or anti-social behaviour that bother people most. As one [...]
As a Valentine's Day treat, Ros arranged for us to take a tour of the St Peter's Brewery in St Peter South Elmham, one of a clutch of hamlets named after their church - there are five South Elmhams in close proximity, south of Bungay, near the Norfolk border.The tour itself is pretty basic, although our guide, John, was excellent value and great entertainment. For those who don't know much about
With a few simple clicks, you can help any story you liked reach a wider audience: Take a look at our Archive page, find the post(s) you liked. Click through to them. Use the "Share this story with your friends" section at the foot of each post to share the story with other people. Even something as simple as saving it to your Facebook profile or Digg helps bring in a bigger audience. A bigger audience means more people get to enjoy the post, more people who may think "Oh, I could write a guest piece too", even more interesting ...
Attended a screening over the weekend at the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley of a film made about Mary Fielding House - a fantastic residential home for older people where the standard of accommodation and gardens and treatment is par excellence. They had a film-maker with them for months. The film was very well shot and showed very sensitively some of the issues that face older people - the agonising slowness to walk down a corridor with a walking frame - made poignant by the stillness of the camera just waiting. But the film really centred on three residents of ...
The Times reports that the Labour Government's ID card scheme has hit another snag with the British Airline Pilots Association saying that its members, who comprise 84 per cent of the commercial pilots in Britain, will not co-operate with Home Office plans to make airside workers "guinea pigs" for the cards: Manchester and London City airports have agreed to take part in an 18-month evaluation of the benefits of identity cards, starting in the autumn. Balpa has told the airports and the Identity and Passport Service that pilots would refuse to take part. This would mean pilots would not be ...
An invitation has arrived to hear Iain King talk about his latest book, which has the arresting title I've nicked to head up this posting. It may sound like an airport bookshop management tome, but it's actually about the much more challenging and interesting subject of ethics. Iain sets out his help principle, that you should [...]
The BBC Breakfast editorial team seem to really have an agenda on cannabis, once agin this morning they wheeled out a reformed cannabis abuser and his mum to say how it's horrible really and you shouldn't touch the stuff. It's infuriating that an... Read and post comments | Send to a friend
The old accusation is that somebody could not organise a booze-up in a brewery, well if this morning's Western Mail is anything to go by it seems that the One Wales coalition is guilty of the governmental equivalent, an inability to organise a summit in a Capital City.The paper tells us that the Government has been left with egg on its face after hiring a company to drive political VIPs to an
Bath & North East Somerset Council have arranged a week-long programme of events and workshops at the Museums and Galleries to entertain the whole family. Teachers may be looking forward to a well-earned break at half term, but there's plenty for everyone else to be getting on with. Between Monday 16 and Friday 20 February, visit the Council-run Roman Baths and find out about its Victorian...
So, today's my birthday, but although I'm a shocking 55 years old (I know, I don't look it) I'm still three years below the average age for a councillor in this country. Reaching this age is mere luck and no particular justification for congratulations. However, there is one person in particular this weekend who deserves our congratulations: this year's Darlington Citizen of the Year, Robin
On Thursday night we went to the Rootmaster restaurant - or, rather, the Rootmaster Bustaurant - for an early Valentine's dinner. As you might guess by the punning name, it is a restaurant inside an old Routemaster bus. For overseas readers, they are the classic, original double decker London bus - red, of course. The bus is parked just off Brick Lane, near to the courtyard area where The Big Chill Bar is. The bottom deck of the bus is the kitchen, which you can see into from outside, so it's up the traditional Routemaster steps to the top deck ...
I am indebted to a local resident who has passed me a copy of the latest Alamein conservatives "In Touch". I was amused to see that , as usual, they are claiming credit for everything while showing the usual lack of knowledge of what's really happening in the ward and what has happened in the past Page one has a story about Smannell & Enham School and their "Twenty is Plenty" road signs. This is part of a campaign initiated by Smannell parish council and cost the school over £200. It was not as they would have you believe done ...
The latest edition of Liberator magazine has just landed on subscribers' doormats. Here's a preview of the contents: • 'Commentary' editorial praises Nick Clegg for making some bold statements in recent weeks. It concludes: "His recent statements on Gaza, the euro and the City are morally right, clear and distinctive. The party needs more statements like this and less of the PR twaddle." • The insider gossip column 'Radical Bulletin'. • Our lead article 'Peace from Gaza's wreck?' is written by Jonathan Fryer. He argues that Israel's real friends must admit that the Middle East conflict cannot have a military ...
Over at Amused Cynicism.
I'm not convinced that by 2012 my wallet will have been replaced by my mobile phone. The story that was just running on the BBC News was that you will be able to use your mobile for transactions under £10 (assuming you have the funds) and over £10 you will need a pin number as well. I'm not sure I'd want to and I'm not sure older people will have the mobile phone in which to do this. Also, mobile phones are one of the top things stolen from teenagers so surely there is a major risk here? The chap ...
I was reading the BBC's guide on what to do if you lose your job, today, and a thought occurred to me. I wonder what people in Britain will do, those people who had have a job their whole life, when they see the patronising, condescending and demeaning place that is Jobcentre (Plus, Frilly, Happy, adding a word on the end doesn't make it any better). When those reduced to entering the Jobcentre were those stereotypically uneducated (the dreaded "unskilled"?) or first-time jobseekers, the truth of the JobCentre was somehow hidden from the majority of the British people. There are ...
The former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown has said that the unionist parties in Scotland should back a referendum on Scottish independence. He believes that taking on the nationalists head on on the issue and going with the referendum would easily kill off the nationalist movement. He said: "This is where I do disagree with my colleagues. I don't want to criticise their tactics following the (Holyrood] election (in 2007], but let's put it like this: I would not have ruled out a referendum and I think it would have been a good time to hold it. "The fact is ...
The Labour Government wants to control ever-more of our lives, including what we choose to eat and drink. Their motivation may well be to do what is good for us and attached to a belief that must people are incapable of properly judging their own interests. But this approach is rejected by liberals. We believe that people are happiest when [...]
This is round 2 of the exciting tit-for-tat between the secularists and the god-botherers: {The not-atheist bus} I'm not sure what the strategy behind this advert is. It's obviously a response to the "Atheist Bus" campaign which had an almost negligible visibility and yet nevertheless managed to provoke all kinds of ire from the nutty wing of various Churches. Something I learned working for an advertising agency is that a sales process which begins with insulting the customer (in this case calling him a "fool") is unlikely to be all that effective, even as in this case if the product ...
I may have asked this before, but what is up with this man flu business? It was started by Nuts magazine in 2006 as a bit of a joke, the idea that blokes suffer significantly more than women from common colds. Which is, of course, bollocks, but since then it's become sort of defacto real, accepted even. Women shrug and sigh and say, "he's got man flu!" and they nod and tut between themselves and it's just... well... accepted. As if it's real. As if it's been around forever. Sheesh. I don't know how contagious the common cold is, but ...
25 random facts about me
