It's well known that if you put two Lib Dems in a room and ask them to define the party's policies in one sentence they'll argue forever and you'll end up with a minimum of three paragraphs. There's something about the party that's just not easy to put into words, although I think the preamble to the constitution comes close. Of course, the main reason for this is that if there's one thing ALL Lib Dems have in common is that we really like a good argument, and can often be found vehemently and stridently agreeing with each other... One ...
It seems the level of service provided by National Express on the East Coast Line has caught the attention of a number of Parliamentarians. Lib Dem peers Bill Bradshaw and Angie Harris were reported recently in The Journal as being decidedly unhappy with the quality of rail services provide by my not-favourite company. And then last week, Blaydon MP Dave Anderson expressed his unhappiness with
Piss Moron is being a complete and utter arse and I want to slap him. Sarah Teather is doing OK, though... But GOD THE MAN IS SO SLAPPABLE. Anyway, in order to distract me from the annoyance that is Moron, I watched this video that ms_ntropy posted... "Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo. And damn, but it made me cry. Once you've let someone get married, especially if they have been waiting decades to do so, it is SO cruel and heartless to declare that invalid. I can't understand why anyone would do it.
And lo, in the time of February, Dave did break his bootlaces, and did look on the interwebnets for a shop that would sell them unto him without having to speak to nasty flesh creatures in an shop. And after searching high and low in the land of Shub-Internet, Dave did find some bootlaces, and did pay for them, and cause for them to be delivered unto him. And the LORD did speak unto surplusandadventure.com and spake with a mighty voice "use thou bubble wrap, for when Dave tangles his bootlaces then may he pop the bubbles and not go ...
The UK Press Gazette reports: Journalists at the Shropshire Star and its associated weeklies have voted in favour of industrial action over proposed compulsory job cuts, the union said today.In a ballot of National Union of Journalists members at the titles, 58 per cent said they were in favour of strike action and 85 per cent in favour of some form of industrial action short of a strike.I am with you, brothers. I don't want my favourite newspaper to decline in quality. More at Hold the Front Page.
The Daily Telegraph reports that the tourist information centre in Croydon is to close: Steve Hollands, council cabinet member for culture and sport, said: "It's always been considered a little odd that Croydon's tourist information centre should have so much emphasis on places that you can visit by getting away from Croydon rather than focusing on what's actually available locally.It doesn't seem odd if you've been to Croydon.
Corrections and Clarifications, Wednesday 18 February 2009: The headline on a letter from the minister for Europe, Caroline Flint, yesterday (page 33) should have read: EU plans do not put Nato in jeopardy. The "not" was missing. Woof woof!
Sarah Teather, the Lib Dems' shadow housing minister and MP for Brent East, is the party's representative on tonight's Question Time (BBC1 and online, 10.35 pm GMT). Sarah will be joined on the panel by Labour's employment minister, the uber-loyal Tony McNulty, former Tory deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine, television personality, the slimily shallow Piers Morgan, and 'entrepreneur' (aka the inexplicable winner of The Apprentice 2007) Tim Campbell. And for those who are staying up extra late for BBC1's This Week, don't bother - they're taking a half-term break, and will be back next week. If you're tuning in to ...
Well, I know it's been a little more than a week... in fact some pedants might say it's been closer to a month... since I did one of these (just as some might say that I still owe a proper Final Crisis summing up) but to make up for that I am going to review [...]
You may have noticed the lights going out on my various profile pics across the Internet. This is because in New Zealand no longer will you be innocent until proven guilty in the case of copyright infringement. Upon accusation from 28 February you will have you Internet connection terminated and websites removed. I should have taken this action at the start of the week but work was too hectic and I forgot. However, I will stay blacked out until the 28 February unless the National Party in New Zealand stop this unfair punishment without trial. You can find you more ...
Whilst Haringey Council was undoubtedly the first in line for responsibility for failure to protect Baby P - their woeful performance deflected some of the heat from the health services. But news today that on the health side further steps in accountability are being taken as reported on Sky News: Dr Jerome Ikwueke twice referred the little boy to hospital specialists after becoming concerned about suspicious marks on his face and body. The General Medical Council's interim orders panel suspended his registration as a doctor on Tuesday. This follows the suspension in November of paediatrician Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat, who failed ...
The Conservatives have launched a campaign called "honest food" which is a campaign that shows a lot of meat in the UK is stamped home grown and actually its from abroad and you can see their campaign video below. But the Conservatives have not told us anything abut the funding they get from the food industry. Recess Monkey has written a blog post which brings into light issues like the fact that the front bench of the Tories even their shadow Chancellor George Osborne are funded from the food industry. George the North West based MP for the constituency of ...
WAFE (Women Against Fundamentalism and for Equality) is hosting a meeting at the House of Lords with Lord Lester of Herne Hill, QC speaking on 'the limits of tolerance'. It's on 11 March in Room G, from 6-8pm. Chair of WAFE Elizabeth Sidney writes, "Please note: Admission is free but we need the [...]
Dame Vera Lynn may sue over the BNP selling The White Cliffs of Dover on a promotional CD, according to Yahoo news.This is good news, Dame Vera was an inspiration in a time when Britain fought against the very intolerance and oppression the BNP promote.But let me unpick the Yahoo story a bit more.Yahoo says:The British National Party, which wants to stop immigration but denies it is racistThe BNP
When the Labour Government first banned protesters in Parliament some people didn't think it would infringe too much on this countries freedom of speech. Under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights all people have "the right to hold opinions without interference. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression". No while I don't agree with the views of Geert Wilders nor the views of Fred Phelps of Westboro Church and his daughter Shirley Phelps-Roper the fact is that both Wilders and now the Phelpses have been denied entry to the UK. They have been denied the ...
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 replacement works. The Order is expected to be in force for twelve weeks from 9 March 2009. Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months. The effect of the Order to prohibit temporarily all all vehicular traffic in Guthrie Street from Daniel Street to West Marketgait. Pedestrian thoroughfare and vehicular access to premises will be maintained. An alternative route will be available via Hawkhill, West Marketgait and Lochee Road. Please forward any ...
Lib Dem Voice alerts us to an item in the Independent's Pandora column: While government ministers and banking executives feature at the top of most people's current hit-lists, the Liberal Democrats' very rational Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, can seemingly do no wrong.Cable's measured approach to the economic meltdown has made him a popular choice to be Chancellor in a potential coalition government. So immune has he become from the public's bile that the theatre impresario Clive Conway has booked him to appear in a series of one-man shows.Cable will make his debut appearance at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford ...
David Cameron plans to decentralise the UK's political system by introducing elected mayors and allowing for a widespread use of Citizen's Initiatives. Were to introduce both or either of these policies they would amount to a radical restructuring of the relationship between citizen and political authority in the UK. But are his plans acceptable? {BIRMINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM - SEPTEMBER 28: Le...} Image by Getty Images via DaylifeMost people have probable heard about Kenneth Arrow's Impossibility Theorem for Social Choice Methods. Consider a relatively small population of Rod, Jane and Freddy with a finite range of options A, B and C. ...
There is a need to keep the retained Fire Fighters in our communities. 321 of Scotland's 391 fire stations were staffed by part-time retained fire fighters. Below Tavish Scott with Mike Rumbles and Rosemary Bruce discuss the issue. You can join the campaign at www.keeptheoptout.com
In November of last year, discussing Lembit Opik's prospects after losing the Lib Dem Presidential election, I wrote: He now needs to take himself more seriously in order to persuade others to take him more seriously. He has a Westminster seat to retain and will no doubt return to the Lib Dem front bench soon. Otherwise... As I write this, Neil and Christine Hamilton, as if in dreadful warning to him, are appearing on Hole in the Wall.Today The Daily Dust reports: Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway returned to our screen last weekend to shine a little light on ...
There's seemingly no end to the Lib Dem deputy leader's talents - the party's guest star at Prime Minister's Questions, appearances on Strictly Come Dancing, and now, to top it all, Our Vince will make his debut appearance at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford next month with a 45-minute talk about the state of the economy, as well as more general musings about his "life and times". Afterwards, I'm told, the audience will be given the chance to pose direct questions. "It is rather like a reinvention of the public meeting," explains [theatre impresario Clive] Conway. "I had thought ...
Guido has a blog post over at his blog that brings to our attention what Blue State Digital think of Gordon Brown and Labour, and their ways of trying to win the next general election using the Internet. An employee of Blue State Digital (the company behind Obama's online campaign) has said that winning a general election for Brown is something they can not do, and they made it possible for the world to see a black president in America! If you look at Labour's online representation its nothing compared to the work just done by Guido the Tory blogger, ...
LDV's Mark Pack will be speaking alongside ConservativeHome's Jonathan Isaby and LabourList's Derek Draper on 24th March at an event organised by the Hansard Society entitled, The Online Campaign - solution or smokescreen? Details below and at the Society's website. Tuesday 24 March, 10am, House of Commons, Westminster. The use of online strategies is becoming increasingly important, encouraging grass-roots activism and enabling mass mobilisation. But there is no guarantee that the cooption of online strategies will guarantee electoral success or promote healthy dialogue between politicians and citizens.This eDemocracy event will gather the leading thinkers on this subject to discuss the ...
Last night a group of us were out petitioning in Barnsbury and St Mary's on the council tax issue. Next week Islington Council has to decide on its budget: the Lib Dem group is proposing a council tax freeze, the Labour group a 2.5% rise to pay for universal free school meals. We had people [...]
You don't often hear horses' hooves in N1, but this afternoon the sound of horses drew me to the window - and there was a pair of police horses going down the street. Years ago there were police mews in Barnsbury, and we sometimes had horses clopping down Hemingford Road when I lived there. But [...]
GOVERNMENT LYING ABOUT DRUGS SCANDAL. Except that it's not a scandal, is it, because bleating tabloid journos would rather a) be able to write ARMY BUSTS HUGE DRUG RING rather than ARMY ACTION COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME or b) report on the agonizingly slow death of Jade Goody. Girls Aloud are playing her wedding, don't you know?
Conservative Home has this discursive piece asking how productive Twittering is for councillors. I have to say that Twittering is something that has never really caught with me; thus far on here the only real time I used it was the Barack Obama election night. Perhaps the most persuasive response for Twitter was from Paul Scully, a Conservative councillor with a majority of 85; "I know that Council officers and other politicians read it. I also know that journalists from the local papers, the BBC and the Evening Standard read it, so several stories have been picked up with minimal ...
Earlier this week the Evening Post reported the welcome news that children with mental illnesses will shortly no longer be admitted into adult mental health wards in Prospect Park Hospital. Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust had been widely criticised for the practice in the local media and by local campaigner Paul Farmer. Cllr Pete Ruhemann ex-Lead Member for Childrens Service also echoed concerns raised. Last December, the Housing, Health and Community Care Scrutiny Panel which I Chair debated mental health care services in Reading. The fact this discussion took place we owe in large part to the sterling efforts of Mr Farmer (who if you don't know ...
I'm not going to be able to make it to the Convention on Modern Liberty, which is taking place on February 28 in London and at locations around the country. But I would urge anyone who is able to take part in whatever way they can. Liberty has been under attack for some time in this country, with Tim Garton Ash noting in today's Guardian the extent of the freedoms we have lost, with no compensating gain in security or efficiency. If you want an indication of just why the Convention is so necessary and so timely, just look at ...
More hypocrisy from Cameron. What a surprise.
Wandle Valley Gateway Briefing Cllr. Richard Bailey & I met with Jeff Wilson, Head of Strategic Planning and representatives of the Friends of Beddington & Grange Park to find out more about the Wandle Valley scheme. As a result of funding from Viridor Waste Management Ltd environmental improvements would be possible to gateways to the Wandle Valley [...]
I read Roseanna by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö after discovering that Sjöwall and Wahlöö were part of the inspiration for Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander stories. Sjowall and Wahloo, and their detective character Martin Beck are well known in Sweden, but have had more of a low-key cult following in Britain until the recent surge in [...]
Wallington Station Access Scheme Stakeholder Consultation Meeting This was a special consultation event to provide a more detailed briefing to representatives of local community associations about the proposed plans for changes to the Wallington Station forecourt area; the Lidl access into the station and nearby bus stops and transport routes. It was generally welcomed that the [...]
Not being able to attend this week's meeting of Parliament's environment committee got me out of a dilemma. Europe's prime ministers agreed last year to ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs from 2011. Their replacement by low energy, long life bulbs is a quick and easy way to reduce total energy consumption by a per cent or two. While these are not perfect in every situation I suspect that the manufacturers will quickly address many of the deficiencies as their market expands hugely. On the environment committee agenda was a German-inspired motion to halt the ban. I don't know ...
Health & Well Being Scrutiny Committee The main items discussed at this meeting were Management of Long Term Conditions; Sutton Hospital Site and the Performance Rating for Adult Social Care Services and Annual Review of Performance Report. The Management of long-term conditions item was to agree the scope of the scrutiny of this item. Wolfie Smith from [...]
The imprisoned Egyptian Liberal politician Ayman Nour was unexpectedly released yesterday, in a move that has been welcomed in Brussels and Washington. The 44-year-old Mr Nour is the leader of the Ghad Party (with which I have had contact in Cairo, through my work with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and Liberal International). A lawyer [...]
Well that is what the South Wales Echo thinks anyway. They say that a furious row is brewing between the two parties over the proposed defence traning Academy at St. Athan. Then tensions that have existed between the Labour and Plaid Cymru ever since this project was announced have started to bubble to the surface with the news that the planning application will be lodged in the spring: Labour councillors have taken exception to a series of statement made by Plaid politicians, including councillor Nic Hodges, a Vale councillor and leader of the Plaid group on Barry Town Council. Labour ...
Transforming Social Care Programme Stakeholder Reference Group Representatives on the board were from voluntary sector organisations, local health trusts, council officers from social services departments, councillors on relevant boards and Partnership boards. I was invited to be part of this group as I chair the Carers Partnership Board. The purpose of this group was to provide input [...]
Thu 19th
15:49
No one likes to pay more council tax. Liberal Democrat policy is for a local income tax.
What would be the best way to deal with council tax? I hold my hand up. This year I voted for an increase. In fact although Keighley Town Council's increase was a higher percntage than Bradford's it was actually a much lower amount. (Theirs was a lower percentage of a much higher amount, and in fact their council tax increase was nearly 9 times higher than ours.) Given that local councils try (with varying degrees of success) to provide services for their local communities and that these services have to be paid for then it is necessary to raise money ...
At the weekend David Cameron said, "we could see bonuses being paid out for a second year to executives in taxpayer owned banks which is unacceptable" (Source: Conservative Party website). But the thing is, he thinks that this sort of stance is cheap: "What you won't hear from me is easy cheap lines bashing financiers" (Evening Standard, 28 September 2008). He also thinks it is a "lurch to the left" (PMQs, House of Commons, 21 February 2007, on calls for curbs to city bonuses). And he thinks criticising bonuses is "Not sensible, not sensible at all" (Sky News, 26th September ...
Setting aside Chris Huhnes gaff over defending the Governments daft decision to exclude Wilders from Britain, thereby giving the visiting nonentity publicity to die for, I am struck by the difference in treatment of Carol vis a vis Jonathan. In my book the latters offence was much worse. When I was small boy in WWII I had a rag doll whose name I must not say and a childrens book about a child I may not name & his little umbrella. Both were much loved & treasured & if they did anything for my views on racism, which is pretty ...
The Register is reporting that researchers have found a way to bypass facial recognition systems on several laptops. This should come as a surprise to no-one: IT security is an ongoing battle between the defenders and the attackers. Sometimes one side or the other briefly gains the upper hand, but it never lasts long. Contrast that to Gordon Brown and his pals, who consistently see biometrics like fingerprints, and facial recognition as one hundred percent failsafe, making it impossible for a criminal or terrorist to pretend to be someone they're not - the whole justification behind spending billions on ID ...
Two recent controversies in the news. Firstly should alcohol abusers be denied liver transplants & a Law Lords opinion which doesn't really move us any further forward in protecting those who respect the wishes of those who have had enough of life. If we could only convert hypocrisy into GDP we wouldn't have a financial crisis. Taking the Euthanasia ( or as we now call it Assisted Suicide) issue first,we should remember that actual suicide is desperately sad but it is not nowadays illegal. It therefore simply should be the right of anyone to decide for themselves the circumstances under ...
With the founding of the Social Liberal Forum the debate between Social Liberalism and Classical Liberalism has started up again and prompted me to repost yet another article. You don't have to read it, but if you do I'd be glad of any comments.Thoughts on going to marketI love maps. Particularly, I like maps of mountains like the Coolins of Skye. They are so much easier to climb than the real
In November 2007 our great leader, Gordon Brown proclaimed:"The climate change crisis is the product of many generations, but overcoming it must be the great project of this generation. And this project will have to involve not just America and Europe, as in 1945, but the entire community of nations. So once again leaders will have to show vision and determination"As we know, Gordon's latest
Sophie Talbot on the Kings Cross Access campaign website has the latest news. The signs are now up warning people that Network Rail will be closing the York Way entrance opposite Wharfdale Road. Although this has been part of their plans for many months, it's only now that some people will realise it's actually happening. [...]
Heaven Of Angels" alt="angels" /> Wallington Library Christmas Concert I attended this special musical event held in the Mallinson Room at Wallington Library and hosted by the Friends of Wallington Library and Gardens. Guests were treated to an interesting and broad selection of recorded Christmas music and sustained with mulled wine and mince pies. I was introduced to [...]
I've got a guest post over on Daily Blog Tips this week: You have lovingly crafted a blog post, containing pearls of wisdom which you are sure will enthral, entertain and enlighten the world. You have taken on board advice from experts on how to craft a good headline, you've found a great graphic to illustrate it, you've remembered to polish the text with search-engine optimised language, and so you hit publish, right? Wrong. You can read the full post here. Previous posts on LDV with blogging tips and advice Why giving our your web address may not be such ...
Thursday: Excellent news! The European Space Agency is to invest in this THRILLING new British Rocket Ship project! Dare... to be different {Posted by Picasa} That's eight shillings well spent, I'm sure you'll agree! .
The Executive of Bury Council met last night to agree a framework for the Council's budget for the next twelve months. The Lib Dems were represented by the Group Leader, Cllr Tim Pickstone, who can observe but can't vote. The headline item was the proposed review and likely "externalisation" of the Youth Service, which the Tories have decided will save £300,000 in the future. It seems very odd indeed that a savings figure has been identified before the review has taken place! It hardly sets the stall out for a fair and unbiased review, does it? And, unsurprisingly given this ...
There's an astonishing article in this month's Liberator magazine (available here - "Blues Under the Bed" - till the next edition comes out) decrying what it calls "intense efforts in recent years to convert the Liberal Democrats from a social liberal party into a classical liberal or even libertarian party". It blames, largely, Tory convert entryists, wherever and whoever they are, and reasserts some of the historically dubious "right on" narrative of British Liberalism over the past century that is being promulgated also through groups like the new Social Liberal Forum. Specifically that there is no place for what they ...
Recently Tory Bear has been targeting the Liberal Youth on his blog with stuff from inside conference that has been leaked by someone who is a Lib Dem and a lot of people are feeling threatened by Tory Bear. Yesterday I received a message via Facebook from someone who is running for a position in Liberal Youth asking everyone to ignore the bear, I am not going to mention who sent the message because I don't want to leak information to the bear himself. Personally I think Liberal Youth need to forget the bear and his attacks on candidates over ...
Over at Conservative Home you can read a blog post about Councillor's and if they should or shouldn't tweet. The blog post also links to a website called Cllr tweeps which is a directory of all Councillors from across the UK who use the tool twitter. Whilst checking out the Council's list I checked Knowsley the Council on which my ex employer's office manager Dave Smithson serves. And guess what, Dave is the only Councillor from Knowsley to be tweeting and this is great as he is a Lib Dem. Personally I think twitter is a powerful tool, I used ...
Firstly, I just thought I would direct people to my piece defending the Convention on Modern Liberty and its "outrageous" decision to be cross-party. It has had an interestingly muted response. The most fascinating one was from Sadie Smith whose paraphrase of my article was that I defined anyone who is boycotting the Convention "because of the miner's strike" is a "ZANULIARBORE HATER OF THE LIBERTIES WE'VE ENOJYED SINCE THE MAGNERCARTER WHO IS MORE AUTHORITARIAN THAN HITLER AND STALIN ROLLED INTO ONE!!!!1!!!! LOLZ!" If self-obsessed lefties want to turn themselves into a parody of themselves, that suits me. Secondly, and ...
As news reaches me of Internet Explorer 8's problems (it doesn't render Microsoft's own site correctly, nor does it work with minor sites like BBC, Amazon, ITV and Tesco), I've been keeping an eye on the browser and OS preferences of visitors to the Cafe. Turns out that, for my little blog, visitors using Internet Explorer are running neck-and-neck with those using Firefox. Overall, Firefox 3 seems to be the most popular browser, then IE7, IE6, FF2,with none of the rest (Safari, Chrome, iPhone...) having more than 2% share. So Firefox is forging ahead, but the story for Linux on ...
The Proposal Dr Tim Leunig: Those in social housing should be allowed to require their landlord to sell their home and buy a place of their choice. {housing} Council and housing association tenants get little choice over where they live and are rarely able to move: many are in properties that do not suit their individual needs and preferences. This can and should change. In a paper published by the Policy Exchange, The Right to Move, I argue that social tenants should have the right to move, the right to require their landlord to sell their current home and use ...
Avid bloggers and observers of London politics might have noticed that James Cleverly, the Conservative Assembly Member for Bexley and Bromley and Boris Johnson's Ambassador for Youth, is intent on defending a muddled decision by Boris Johnson over vehicle emissions and in the process sought to criticise me and the Liberal Democrats. Of course James is entitled to his own views but he's wrong when he says there's no evidence the Low Emission Zone is working. No lesser source than the Mayor has said (press release 2nd February): "...the Low Emission Zone has been successful in tackling the worst polluters, ...
David Cameron's interview in Total Politics, caught my eye. He is apparently a 'liberal Conservative', whatever that is and got very excited by the Liberal Democrats education policies... because 'our polices are very close together' -Really? Here is the section where he is blatantly trying to woo Lib Dem voters, with his cuddly credentials. "Do you think Nick Clegg is in the wrong party?" He answers: "I don't really know him or his views well enough. I think it is very exciting what they are saying about education because our policies are very close together. That's a good thing. I'm ...
Wow. Fans of the West Wing will know that the ficticious website lemonlyman.com was set up to follow the activities of ficticious Deputy Chief of staff Josh Lyman. The political geeks will also know that Josh was based on Rahm Emanuel from his days in the Clinton West Wing. Well Bradley Whitford who played Josh Lyman has this to say about the real thing: "I think that if you played Rahm Emanuel like Rahm Emanuel actually is, I don't think people would believe it. I think people would think, "Wow, I can't believe somebody is actually like that." There is ...
You may have seen the article in yesterday's Evening Post about plans to close the highly-valued School of Health and Social Care, based at Reading University. I have signed the petition against the closure - you can sign it here. Like many students, staff and members of the local community, my Lib Dem colleagues and I feel strongly that to close this department at the current time would be both short-sighted and highly irresponsible. This news is a further blow following recent inspections which highlighted genuine concerns about the quality of services the Labour-run Council provides for vulnerable children and the elderly in Reading. It is no secret that ...
It's coming to something when the police can't even trust themselves.
Yesterday's Times reports on estimates by the Convention on Modern Liberty that spending on computer systems ranging from the NHS Spine to the ID card register will amount to £34 billion over the next ten years. Lord Bingham of Cornhill, the former Lord Chief Justice and a supporter of the Convention on Modern Liberty, believes that citizens should use the Human Rights Act to challenge the spread of the surveillance society: "Perhaps the British are content to be the most spied-upon people in the democratic world," he wrote in The Guardian. "But this would be surprising given their traditional belief ...
{Overflowing bins} Lib Dems on Reading Borough Council have cautiously welcomed the decision by the Labour Cabinet to give further consideration to proposals put forward by the cross-party Environment Scrutiny Review in December for tougher enforcement of environmental crimes in the town. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Labour Executive on 16 February.At a meeting of the Labour administration's ruling Executive Labour politicians agreed to: Review resources available for to the Council to carry out enforcement Establish a cross-service 'Environmental Enforcement Group' to co-ordinate and prioritise environmental enforcement action. Widen the use of Section 215 of the Town and ...
Over on Conservative Home Jonathan Isaby has written a blog post about how he thinks characters from Coronation Street vote, they are some interesting predictions but for some weird reason the Lib Dems seem to be all the weird characters. According to Jonathan: Tories Dev Alahan Steve McDonald Rita and Norris Emily Bishop Audrey Roberts Sally Webster Labour Kevin Webster Jack Duckworth Janice Battersby Eileen Grimshaw Deidre Lib Dems Ken Barlow Roy and Hayley Cropper Personally I can't tell the voting attentions of Coronation Street characters from my own predictions but with Jonathan's predictions as a starting thought I think ...
Meanwhile, my more traditionally beloved football team, Luton Town, have been struggling to overcome a thirty point deduction (thanks a million, Lord Mawhinney...). The Hatters have made it into positive numbers (slightly less points than a triangle, but there you go...) but, despite that, have managed a cup run in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, the hard way.Wins against Brentford (currently top
The link is to a story that suggests that global demand for oil has peaked and that the price/demand linkage will keep demand below 88mbd in the future.The point being that industry won't invest because of price and as a consequence we will get reductions in supply and as a consequence increases in price and reductions in demand.I think this quote is OTTRandy Ollenberger, managing director of oil
Original Here. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said world leaders are working towards a "global deal and grand bargain" to deal with the economic downturn. Translation: International Socialism! Woo! He told his monthly press conference that the whole world had to preserve "an open economy", rather than move towards protectionism. "Preserving an open economy" is not the same as demanding global free trade and an end to protectionism. What's an "open" economy anyway? Meaningless soundbite. Leaders were working together to help "working families", he added. Working families aren't just the only people that matter in the UK. It's the same ...
This morning's Daily Telegraph takes a dim view of the ham-fisted manoeuvring going on in the Harriet Harman camp to succeed Gordon Brown as leader of the Labour Party. Andrew Pierce provides a useful pen-picture of how her efforts are viewed within the Prime Minister's inner circle: One of Gordon Brown's key aides received an intriguing message on his mobile phone yesterday, requesting a call to discuss "that deluded woman". The aide knew exactly to whom the caller was referring. "Harriet's really lost it," was the first thing he said, when they eventually caught up. The exchange was typical of ...
Are Labour really going to fight their European Election campaign on the theme of having their "backs to the wall"? They could not have chosen a better slogan.The party has seen its support in the opinion polls plummet in recent weeks and faces the real prospect of losing one of its two Welsh seats in the European Parliament. A large number of voters blame them for the recession and in
Stuff like this , and elsewhere this makes me feel a bit sick. Allow me a few words to explain. Draper calls Alex Hilton and demands he removes MessageSpace banners from Labourhome or suffer punishment. Alex posts about this on Labourhome. Alex's post then disappears from Labourhome, and this 'joint' message appears on both sites, nauseatingly signed off with, "Yours in Comradeship". Bleugh. Here then is a perfect demonstration of the fundamental character of Labour as a party. Superficially they are 'united' and have resolved their conflict. Agreed to disagree, it says - but look deeper: This 'joint' post has ...
Congratulations to our local group Elbow for picking up an award of the "Brits" music awards last night for "Best British Group". The group, who are all from the Bury/Whitefield/Prestwich areas and met in 1990 at Bury College faced competition from major "names" like Take That, Girls Aloud and Coldplay to win the award this year. Here are Elbow performing earlier this year at the Mercury Music Awards: Embarrasingly, I'm friends with one of their mothers, which makes me feel really old. {:(} Incidently, Scouting for Girls were robbed for best "British Breakthrough Act". in my personal opinion! Tim
On Wednesday 4 February the Assembly Government's Health Minister was questioned on the appalling performance of the Ambulance Trust by Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Minister, Peter Black. He demanded to know why she had been sitting for over a year on two bids for capital investment that could make a huge difference to ambulance response times. Her answer was revealing:Edwina Hart: I do
Last night was the special "Budget" Executive Committee meeting of Bury Council. This is where the Council's Executive Committee agrees a framework for the budget, to propose to the Budget Council meeting next week. As an opposition Group Leader I atttend the Executive Committee as a observer member (with no vote) as an opposition party leader. Normally budget executive is a "non-event", as the real discussion and decisions take place a week later at the Budget Council. However last night's meeting was dominated by the issue of the proposed review and management cuts to the Youth Service in Bury. The ...
Last season, I found myself in an unexpected dream of footballing glory as plucky Needham Market FC made their way through the rounds of the FA Vase to the semi-finals, where they were eventually beaten by the eventual winners, Kirkham and Wesham FC, over two legs. It was a great dream whilst it lasted, but a small town with a population of less than 5,000 at Wembley? Unlikely, eh? But the team
Democracy Now! has a video (with transcipt) about the scandal in Pennsylvania: An unprecedented case of judicial corruption is unfolding in Pennsylvania. Several hundred families have filed a class-action lawsuit against two former judges who have pleaded guilty to taking bribes in return for placing youths in privately owned jails.Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan are said to have received $2.6 million for ensuring juvenile suspects were jailed in prisons operated by the companies PA Child Care and a sister company, Western PA Child Care. Some of the youths were jailed over the objections of their probation officers.An estimated 5,000 ...
L.T. Hobhouse I thought of Graeme Pollock, Everton Weekes and John Farquhar Munro, but ultimately there was only one choice to complete my middle order. Earlier selections:Len HuttonC.B. FryDavid SteelViolent Bonham-CarterMike Brearley
I have for some time been concerned at the tendency to suspend first and ask questions later. The contrast between Jacqui Smith and the police makes this quite clear. This case is about a police officer suspended for 3 years over an allegation that he had fiddled his petrol expenses. It found a mistaken over claim of £90. In the mean time he had been suspended for 3 years.I think there needs
I know we now live in a world were every sodding Z-list failed Big Brother contestant is considered superior to scientists, doctors, engineers and (whisper it) even politicians. But surely the Brits goes too far. At yesterday's Brits ceremony, the quite-good-if-you-like-that-sort-of-thing songstress Duffy was named "Best British Female". Not "Best British Female singer" or "Best British Female pop star". Just "Best British Female". Sorry for going into sad pedant without a life mode, but honestly. It's bad enough that we have to put up with these tedious, lifeless, interest-free awards ceremonies without being sold the idea that, from thirty-million odd ...
Whilst the rest of Hampshire has been suffering Andover Lib Dems can today reveal that in the past 4 years of the current Tory led Hampshire County Council administration our Council Tax have risen a whopping 5.6% above the rate of inflation. This in order to keep Council Tax low in election year and maintain a £120 million surplus in the bank whilst services suffer and all of Hampshire struggles with the "credit crunch" The last 4 years of Tory led administration has seen a "real terms" increase above the rate of inflation from statistics provided by Hampshire County Council ...
You would have thought that a party claiming to speak for the nationalist movement of a nation would understand the mindset of that nation. Not so the SNP when it comes to the nations forests. Almost three quarters of the respondents to the Scottish Government consultation on the leasing of a quarter of Scotland's forest were opposed to the proposal. In fact while 71% were against only 12% were in support of the SNPs plan. Is this just the latest sign of how out of touch the SNP are with reality and the concerns of its citizens? Well as Hamish ...
So I'm looking at my twitter feed this morning and someone I know mentions that there are invites going for a private screening of a new indie film this evening if anyone wanted to come along. I grabbed one and travelled into town. I then went off to find the screening room, which turned out to be in a club called The Hospital . Wine beforehand was nice as people arrived - some of whom I knew - and then off to see the film: Wendy and Lucy . Lucy is a dog, by the way - it isn't a ...
Another major change in my time away has been the launch of the Social Liberal Forum. Below, Oranjepan asks me for my thoughts so I thought I had better cobble some together. He mentions in his comments that Charlotte Gore is unimpressed; which it has to be said hardly drops my jaw in shocked amazement. It is reassuring in this topsy-turvy world that some things don't change; 6 ish weeks is a long time in life and politics but not that long. It's also nice to see that she hasn't lost a certain artistic flair and rhetorical flourish; "So the ...
Thu 19th
00:22
Council tax up, millions of pounds wasted on consultants, 380 council jobs cut and essential service...
It was disappointing to see that Salford's council approved their proposed budget today. The upshot for regular council tax payers such as myself is an increase of 3.5% which sees all of the council tax bands in Salford rise to over £1,000 (regardless of house size) for the first time. The Council's own website likes to point out that "the council tax rise is amongst the lowest", but a quick check on The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website proves that in 2008-2009, Salford had one of the highest Council Tax charges in the Greater Manchester Area (only being ...
