Fairtrade fortnight starts tomorrow so I was hoping to be able to buy quite a bit of Fairtrade stuff I cannot normally get. Did the Sainsbury's in Elm Tree have anything other than a few basics ? nope. I asked an assistant if any of the chocolate cakes were Fairtrade and was told no because that is "from abroad" and all the cakes were made in this Country. To put it nicely a training need for...
Fairtrade coffee and bananas of course! With Fairtrade Fortnight upon us the final preparations are being made for the Coffee Morning next Saturday and the Go Bananas event the following Friday.The coffee morning in Stockton Parish Church Hall is at 10 on Saturday 28th February and the Mayor of Stockton will launch our new Free Directory - come along, enjoy a cup of tea or coffee, browse the
A new government leaflet suggests parents should start talking about the facts of life with their children as young as possible, raising the subject may be whilst performing tasks such as washing the car. This could lead to some interesting conversation on the nation's drives and get neighbours calling social services in their droves. 'Talking to Your [...]
The Sunday Mirror is highlighting Conservative MP Chris Grayling's expense claims for his flat near Parliament: Top Tory Chris Grayling has claimed £104,183 of taxpayers' money over six years for a London flat - even though he has a family home just 17 miles away from Westminster. And neighbours of the Shadow Home Secretary say they "rarely, if ever" see him at the Westminster flat where his postbox is packed with unopened mail. On the eve of becoming an MP in June 2001, Mr Grayling, 46, paid £127,000 for the one-bedroom flat in a six-storey block, which has views of ...
The campaign to save Holywell Mead Open Air Swimming Pool has really taken off in the last week. The news that the 2000 mark has been smashed and that many local community groups like the Ramblers Association and resident groups are also backing the pool has given campaigners a boost. Residents who wish to object to the closure can email their District Councillor via the web site http://www.writetothem.com/ Unexpected was the national launch of the Conservatives new policy of giving residents a greater say in the running of their local communities. It is hoped that this will cause local Conservatives ...
"If we had the powers to make these decisions in Wales, a new Wylfa would not be built" - John Dixon, chair of Plaid Cymru, & Leanne Wood AM in a letter to the Western Mail last week.Yet Plaid Cymru's leader has consistently supported building a new nuclear power station at Wylfa, for example here and here and here.An example of 'Clear Yellow Water'? And we know what biological function produces
Remember that day, in February 2003 when there were supposedly 1 million plus people marching in demonstration against the Iraq war through the centre of London. Well, on a population pro rata equivalence, Dublin has just seen more than that protesting the credit crunch and their government's handling of the economic crisis: Huge protest over Irish economy Protesters said they wanted to make their voices heard but avoid strike action Up to 100,000 people have gathered in Dublin city centre to protest at the Irish government's handling of the country's recession. Many are angry at plans to impose a pension ...
The BBC has confirmed newspaper reports that Lord Ashcroft is being investigated by the Electoral Commission over his donations to the Conservative Party. Isn't it about time that Iain Dale started demanding that the party repay all the money to the donor?
News just breaking on Sky... donations to the Conservative Party made by Bearwood Services are to be investigated by the Electoral Commission. UPDATE: The BBC has more.
Chris Dillow, author of Stumbling and Mumbling, asks: if centrally planned economies are a bad idea, how come centrally planed companies are a good one?It's a good question. Much of my political philosophy comes from Karl Popper - or at least from Bryan Magee's explication of his work. And, in his Fontana Modern Masters monograph, Magee writes of Popper: Because he regards living as first and foremost a process of problem-solving he wants societies that are conducive to problem-solving. And because problem-solving calls for the bold propounding of trial solutions which are then subject to criticism, he wants forms of ...
This will bring a smile to the faces of opponents! I have just finished delivering my Focus leaflet in Marley Hill village in my ward. Three quarters of the way round I got bitten by a cocker spaniel. The clue as to which part of my anatomy was the recipient of these canine fangs is in the title. Fortunately, my jeans took most of the force. Maybe the owner is not a Lib Dem supporter! Fangs a lot
{Lynne Featherstone putting up a nest box} This week has been National Nest Box Week - so up when a nest box in my garden! Haringey's birdlife has drastically declined in diversity and numbers over the past thirty years, so I was doing my little bit to help - and to encourage others to do so too. Diminishing biodiversity isn't something that is only happening on the banks of the Amazon, but here in Haringey too! It saddens me that we see fewer and fewer birds in our gardens. Sightings of the house sparrow, for example, have fallen in Haringey ...
A couple of scintillae of good news for ex-Woolworths' employees:The last bag of pic 'n' mix (really - it's been certified by Deloitte LLP) has been sold on ebay for £14,500 - which will go to the Retail Trust, which supports shopworkers who have lost their job.And the Dorchester branch of Woolworths is to re-open as Wellworths, thanks to the enterprising spirit of the ex-manager and employees.
Too knackered for a big post. Out today leafletting for Pendlebury byelection- looks like the Tories have started leafletting at last. Labour out canvassing, though I Don't think the reception was as warm as they'd have liked. Mind you, I can't imagine many reacting positively to Hazel appearing on their doorstep. So far the reaction [...]
How does a local by-election with a low turnout get to be the lead story on the PM programme? It needs to be in the South: what those funny people in the Midlands and North get up to doesn't matter too much. Who cares that the BNP have got nine councillors in Stoke on Trent. It needs to be won by the BNP. And Labour need to, depending on your opinion, either panic or cynically exploit it to get votes. Duncan Borrowman is right to point out that this is evidence to support the ALDC mantra that Lib Dems must ...
James Graham and I have both been interviewed recently by Mars Hill. This is me: Among Liberal Democrats I admire James Graham's Quaequam Blog! for his aggression on behalf of what can be a very herbivorous party even when I do not agree with his views.And here is James: Jonathan Calder's blog is both eclectic and idiosyncratic, both of which are good things in my book.
I have undergone a sort of transformation this week. It's almost been a kind of reverse-Damascene conversion. I have discovered Talk Sport. Or, that should be, talkSPORT ("the radio station for men who know how to put a shelf up") (Man-sized tissues provided to wipe off the testosterone spurting out of the speakers at you).I have had to do a lot of driving this week. Something I hate. And, tired
There has been a fair bit of flooding again at the pavement on Perth Road outside Pinegrove, and, following residents' concerns, I contacted the City Engineer about this. I am pleased to say he has now responded advising that the Roads Maintenance section has confirmed that an Order has been raised for the cleaning out of the polychannel on Perth Road at Pinegrove.
The Shropshire Star tells us that David Morton has been refused permission to hold a folk festival at Wentnor. Not much of a story, you will say, even if this is the village where Archbishop Tutu once had lunch. It's just that David Morton was the captain of the Lone Pine Club in the adventure stories that Malcolm Saville set in the Shropshire hills. Between the first Lone Pine book in 1943 and the last in 1980, he aged from 14 to 18. For most of the series he was 16. He is described as follows in the preliminaries to ...
Chris has received many concerns from residents in the Woodside area about changes to the 21 service that Travel Dundee introduced in November. Elderly residents are concerned that the bus is now arriving in the area very full and it is often difficult to get a seat. Chris wrote to the Managing Director of Travel Dundee about the matter and he has replied saying he appreciates the problems that the changes have caused for older residents. Travel Dundee added, "At present we are working on a number of changes to our network and it is planned that we will have ...
Earlier this week I discussed the spat and subsequent making up between Alex Hilton of Labourhome and Derek Draper of Labour List. Recess Monkey tells us that Alex has contracted bacterial meningitis and been admitted to hospital. He is currently in isolation ward but should be moved to a general ward in the next few days. I wish him a swift recovery. Meanwhile Labour List has linked to one of my Calder's Comfort Farm columns for the New Statesman. (You may recall it was recently discontinued as part of the magazine's innovative new media strategy of commissioning no blogs or ...
They don't turn up for the match, you have to field a youth team and you lose 9-nil.
Sat 21st
18:20
Air quality response from Highways Agency shows lack of joined up thinking from government
A while ago I wrote to the Highways Agency regarding the air quality in Prestwich. The convergence of three motorways, and awful traffic on several main roads in the area, mean that at times the quality of the air round here is pretty ropey. One of the targets in the Prestwich Plan is to try to improve it, so I wrote off to the Highways Agency asking about what's being done by them. And now they've written back. It's a fairly detailed reply, the highlights of which are as follows: The entire M60 is an "Air Quality Management Area." This ...
The Shropshire Star says: An ostrich was killed today after being struck by a car as it ran loose on a busy Shropshire road.The large flightless bird was spotted on the A49 at Ludlow, at about 1.30pm.And that's all it says. My agents are investigating this story for you.
12) Arthur Avalon, The Serpent Power (New York: Dover, 1974, ISBN 0486230589). This sounds like it ought to be one of Llewellyn's dodgier offerings, but is actually a serious translation by an Edwardian gentleman scholar (legal name Sir John Woodroffe) of two Sanskrit yoga texts and associated commentary, both describing chakras and associated concepts. Avalon's introductory chapters are longer than the works themselves, and I would advise readers to skip them or read the texts first and then return to them, as I found them considerably harder to follow than the texts themselves. These chapters contain some mild Orientalism, but ...
Sat 21st
17:49
Labour urged to take action to stop the BNP winning Euro seats... hello, is there anybody out there?
According to today's Independent, 'senior Labour figures' are said to have told Gordon Brown that the BNP are likely to win two seats in June's European elections. Oh dear, are we to see another attempt by Labour to hype the threat from the BNP so as to drive voters back to the shelter of the Labour Party? It is true that the BNP have has a series of good by-election results, and this week's
Here is something to do next Saturday 28th February (now corrected - I originally wrote Sunday in error). New leaflets have been produced by the Council that you can use for self-guided walks around some of the prettier parts of the Chessington area. The first one is being launched on 28th with a guided walk along one of the routes. It will take about an hour and will be...
The reports of new parents 13 year old Alfie Patten and 15 year old Chantelle Steadman has raised the predictable outrage from Red Top Britain, with tabloid journalists competing to get the most sensationalist headlines. I don't pretend to have all the answers, and I'm not going to make any judgements about the individuals concerned, but a few things came to mind. My first thought was that these were both relatively young teenagers who should have some privacy and not be plastered all over the tabloid press. The reports only seemed to want to create outrage rather than have their ...
Recess Monkey has been updated with a post from a Chunky bringing bad news to readers of the blog, Chunky (whoever he is) writes about how our good friend Alex Hilton is ill and in hospital and you can read what Chunky has written below: Just in case you hadn't heard, our good friend Alex has contracted bacterial meningitis and been admitted to hospital. He's currently in an isolation ward but should be moved to a general ward in the next few days. He's obviously going to take some time off to recover so please feel free to leave any ...
A tweet arrives: @NickAnstead Just found an excellent way to break British constitution: http://is.gd/kdq5. Enter: LD - 33, Cons - 31, Lab - 29 = MELTDOWN The link takes you the UK Polling Report swingometer, and if you put in those polling figures it makes an estimate of how many seats in Parliament that would net you at a General Election, assuming that there was uniform national swing - a highly dodgy statistical notion that means there is no individual campaigning in individual constituencies, and that every voter in the country behaves exactly like the 1,000 or so people who ...
I would really appreciate feedback, especially from my politically-aware female readers, for this and the next few Cerebus posts, even if you don't know anything about Cerebus. I am very aware of my white male privilege, and I am talking about works that are incredibly problematic in every conceivable way, but for which I have [...]
I have had two presents from the council today:An invitation to join the Calderdale Talkback PanelAn exciting new brown binI've been on the Calderdale Talkback Panel before, but at some unspecified moment in the past, they stopped emailing me for no apparent reason. It appears they have realised... The brown bin is slightly more exciting. It's for food waste. This means we now have a green bag, for paper, newspapers and magazines; a black box for tins and glass; a brown bin for food waste; and a normal dustbin for everything else. Apparently at some point soon we will be ...
This afternoon we've had a new arrival in the Webb household - a one year-old black labrador called Sally. As someone who has never had a pet before (beyond a hamster) it's going to be quite a change in our domestic routine - needless to say, the family are all very excited. We found Sally through the local group DogsFriends who take in dogs that would otherwise have no home, find people to foster them in the short-term and then try to re-house them. If you could help foster a dog or would be able to re-house one, do visit ...
Lib Dem Quiz night last night (which was nearly attended by the party President and the First Lady) went pretty well. Finally met the elusive Diane, got (jokingly) threatened by Charlotte Gore, had a good giggle, and was unsurprised when Hilary and Jim won the quiz. Food was excellent, and Liz's home-made salsa went in about ten seconds. Most importantly, we made a little bit of money, and might now be able to afford to pay Brendan to print us leaflets for about a third of the area our local party covers... So only two more events and we might ...
Yesterday, I decided it'd be an interesting idea if every week I created a playlist of 45 songs I've been listening to that week. Unfortunately, after I created the first one, I discovered last.fm no longer allows embedding, so if you want to hear it you'll have to visit http://www.last.fm/listen/playlist/4404981/shuffle. Let me know if you [...]
Sat 21st
13:54
Liberal Democrats launch new plans to rebuild social housing and rescue the construction industry
The Liberal Democrats today launched new plans to greatly increase the supply of social housing, stem the tide of repossessions and rescue the beleaguered construction industry. The new plans include: · Introducing a Repair and Renewal loan scheme for owners of empty properties if they agree to lease them for at least five years to housing associations · ...
Sutton, Merton & Surrey Joint Health Scrutiny Committee The main item of interest for this meeting was an update on the review of Women's and Children's Services provided at Epsom & St Helier hospitals. Following on from consultation events and working groups which took place in the previous year it had been decided to pursue the [...]
The Government cannot interfere with properly drawn legal contracts however disreputable these might be. We are not going to get rid of the bonus culture, and the damage done by greed and rampant self interest by pleading to peoples better nature.Those that caused the financial system to collapse do not have a better nature. Nor are we going to repair the Governments collapsing tax revenue by conventional means What the Government CAN do is tax. For this Tax Year, & the next two, ALL income, however derived ( home or overseas) & however disguised, ( including pension contributions), in excess ...
I have been enjoying all the attention in the media and other places that Charles Darwin has been getting because of his 200th birthday this year. Darwin has always been one of those figures from history that I have looked back at and admired. Yet, I didn't expect to suddenly feel a direct personal connection with the man in the way that I did the other week.Several weeks ago, being in London for
In the depths of last night I happened to stumble upon the BBC reshowing its "HardTalk" interview from last week with David Milliband. Right at the end, Stephen Sackur's last question to Millipede was about whether the Home Department was correct in preventing Geert Wilders from coming to the UK. Millbland's answer was to repeat, time after time the phrase "hate filled film" and that it was "incitement" to show it. Suddenly Sackur asked whether the Milliner had actually watched the film. Of course he hadn't, and after running that off his tongue easily he went back to his assertion ...
The Conservatives aren't a very multi cultural party to be honest and definitely weren't multi cultural in the past so I was surprised to see a video over at Iain Dale's blog from a Tory conference in 1990 where a Sikh man can be seen in the audience. Thatcher is making the speech and is poking fun of the new at the time Lib Dem logo. I think I shall follow Thatcher and poke fun at her weird hair, did you know it looks like a Whippy ice cream!
Not had your fill of Vince Cable stories this week? In which case, you can read more about the Lib Dem deputy leader in today's Financial Times, where he answers questions such as: What is the secret of your success? ("I suppose I was in the right place at the right time.") Do you want to carry on till you drop? ("I will stand at the next election but beyond that there are other things I want to do.") If you had £1m in cash, where would you invest it? ("I would want to put aside some, say half, for ...
I've just read a worrying article on BBC News Online about a big increase in the number of tenants being evicted from their homes after landlords defaulted on the mortgages. Shelter revealed the extent of this problem and are campaigning to get the government to act: According to Shelter's survey, 22 per cent of respondents, around 160,000 households - admit to struggling or falling behind with their monthly mortgage payments. Five per cent, around 37,000, expect to be repossessed in the next six months. I'm pleased the government is now looking at what can be done to help people in this terrible situation, but ...
Not a headline you expect every day. Or at all, in fact. Apparently, "officers who came into contact with the substance were taken to hospital as a precautionary measure". I don't like HP Sauce, but I've never felt the need to go to A&E after a whiff of the stuff. It's not the first time [...]
Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg today accused Gordon Brown of wasteful complacency following figures released today showing that the number of homes repossessed last year rose by 54% to 40,000. Nick Clegg said: "Tens of thousands of families are going through the pain and misery of losing their homes while the Government dithers. "Just over a year ago I...
{Screenshot of the Lib Dem extranet} The party's extranet is a resource for party activists, elected representatives (including councillors) and staff and the home for artwork, campaign materials, policy briefings and also resources to accompany the party's major national campaigns, such as the environment campaign and the 1 million doors challenge. Access is open to all party councillors, staff (including, for example, those working for council groups), approved Parliamentary candidates, local party Chairs, EARS officers and Membership Secretaries / Membership Development officers, trainers and up to eight other nominated people per local party. Full access details are on the site ...
There has been a justifiably sceptical response on the web pages of the South Wales Evening Post to the suggestion by Secretary of State for Wales, Paul Murphy that the recession could be over in a matter of months.So far removed from reality does this prediction appear that the good people of Swansea could be forgiven for thinking that the man who visited their fair City this week might have
Depressing news for home-owners today, as repossessions hit a twelve-year high. Twelve years ago, we'd recently moved to Barnsbury from Highbury, bit nervous about the size of the mortgage, but confident that the only way was up. It's very different for new homeowners today. Can't keep up the payments, and 'Homes under the Hammer' [...]
I received a letter and flyer today from Sharon Bowles. My first observation (a la Mandelson) was who the f*** is she? Well it turns out she is my Lib Dem MEP. Now, I'm not the most enthusiastic European. I like the single market and free movement bit but I don't dig all the regulation that goes along with it. Sharon's leaflet was all about how wonderful the EU is and the need for more EU intervention so, as you can imagine, it's wasn't doing much for me. That was until I read "Cheaper flights - flights are now safer, ...
Sat 21st
11:35
Why the government's pledge to fight terrorism does not extend to Norfolk and Bacton Gas Terminal
Bacton Gas terminal in North Norfolk brings in one third of the gas we use in this country. It is guarded very ably by a small team of MOD police who work closely with Norfolk Constabulary. The MOD police themselves say they want the support of the local constabulary and this is vital to the work they do. So what does the government do to help ? They withdraw funding from Norfolk Constabulary meaning that they cannot provide 24 hour support for this prime target for terrorism in the UK. Remember that people now locked up inside top security prisons ...
Is it me or are things getting just a little bit panicky in the Number 10 bunker? We have now had days of speculation as to who will succeed Gordon Brown either when he loses the General Election or even before. Today's Independent does not fill one with confidence that things are under control in the Labour camp. They report that the Party's General Election co-ordinator, Douglas Alexander has warned that Labour is heading for opposition unless cabinet ministers stop manoeuvring for position: Douglas Alexander protested that the infighting had angered and dismayed Labour activists who wanted ministers to concentrate ...
Sat 21st
11:30
CommentIsLinked@LDV: Vince Cable - Why our economy is trapped in a time warp of tribal politics
Over at the Yorkshire Post, Lib Dem deputy leader and shadow chancellor Vince Cable marks the first anniversary of the nationalisation of Northern Rock with his account of 'one of the most tumultuous years in the history of the financial sector and the British economy.' Here's an excerpt: Eighteen months into the credit crunch and six months into a recession, the Conservatives and the Labour Party are still rehearsing the same arguments. The Conservatives have one message: "It's all your fault, Gordon." The Government, on the other hand, endlessly repeats its claim: "It's nothing to do with us; it is ...
With the kids at their grandparents, I've had one of those slow Saturday mornings enjoying the weekend papers. It feels like I haven't read a Saturday paper in ages and I'd forgotten how wonderful the Telegraph's letters page is. Here are just a few of today's gems: May we hope that quantitative easing will result in the return to circulation of the elusive five-pound note? Railways are a 19th century solution to an 18th century problem. The impossible has happened. I have found a reason to vote Conservative again - Harriet Harman as Leader of the Labour Party. Lord Mandelson ...
There is increasing speculation, mainly prompted by the odd Tory claim and some City voices, that market confidence in sterling will collapse if Brown continues with his reckless spending policy; provoking an IMF bail-out for Britain. This week, national debt climbed to an incredible £2 trillion. The Bank of England wrote to the Chancellor asking for permission to start printing money it doesn't have - the central plank of Robert Mugabe's disastrous economic policy. And yesterday, there was a small report that the Government was about to raid the pension pots of public sector workers to pay for its school ...
Like most people, I had rather an abstemious January, don't seem to have been out for a meal for ages. So it's been nice to have two meals out in a week, both catching up with other women in politics. Being a candidate is odd enough (not a regular job to start with, plus by [...]
I had an interesting discussion with David Allen on Lib Dem Voice yesterday. David, I think it's safe to say, will not be joining the Nick Clegg Fan Club anytime soon. He accuses Nick of being vague and not stating his position on too many issues. For example "our leader has really not made it clear where he stands on a number of issues. He didn't define his position properly when he got elected. He may or may not have decided to row back on some of his alarmingly right-wing thoughts, but it is difficult to tell." More importantly, David ...
An article today from The Independent sets a worrying tone to politics in the North West and especially for European level politics because of the BNP. The BNP are a party that 5 years ago gave the Lib Dems a run for their money, but the Lib Dems elected their second MEP and didn't let the BNP get in but things this time around are very different. North West MEP's have been in scandal cases for the last couple of years, then we have had defections and an MEP being kicked out of his party by the hierarchy. So everything ...
You would have to be a really cold, unfeeling person to have no sympathy for the awful situation Jade Goody finds herself in. As a mum, I can only too easily understand the fear and pain at being forcibly taken away from your children, especially when they are as young as her 4 and 5 years old. The nature of her illness is not making it easy for her to enjoy the time she has left with them, either as she appears to be very frail and in huge amounts of pain. Her first instinct has been to ensure their ...
My first comment is I really do hope so. Don't get me wrong, I don't want any clubs to close, football is way to important and is a large part of our lives. Ask yourself this; should a person be paid £90,000 per week? You might answer that a company director should (although not from the banking sector), but a footballer? Although you need to be skilled, or talented to play in the top flight of football, I consider a plumber to be very skilled and though they're expensive they aren't as expensive as a football player. Why doesn't the ...
This is a quick update on the situation re plans for the rebuilding/development/demolition of Garston Hospital (Sir Alfred Jones Memorial). The PCT (local health service) has put in two planning applications. One is for the demolition and building work and the other is for use of the site for the demolition (car park for workers etc). There is still time for comments re the second one. However there has since been an application to English Heritage for "spot listing" which is basically a way of getting listed building status quickly and therefore stopping certain types of activity - including major ...
The Royal Bank of Scotland is offering loans, against the deferred bonuses, to hard up lower paid staff who will not be receiving their expected bonus of hundreds or thousands of pounds just now. This is not extended to the investment bankers who were expecting their seven figure bonuses. No doubt these will be at the bankers special repayment rate or even better than normal, that detail is missing. However, will the bank look kindly on customers who have had their salary frozen, not receiving their increase of hundreds or thousands of pounds? Will they go easier on issuing loans ...
Being part of the European Union is partly about forging a new destiny, in partnership with the other 26 member states. But often this involves re-evaluating the past — whether this is a history of conflict, as between Britain, France and Germany, or a period of Communism, or the dark days of dictatorship. Austria is going [...]
On The Wardman Wire.
8. Nancy Seear Every side needs a seamer who is prepared to bowl into the wind or take a spell when the ball is not swinging or the opposition is on top. Nancy was never afraid of hard yakka. Earlier selections: Len HuttonC.B. FryDavid SteelViolent Bonham-CarterMike BrearleyL.T. HobhousePaul Keetch
{Me on a train} The Times reported earlier in the week that UK rail fares are at least twice the price of those available in any other major European countries. I have to say, when I backpacked round Italy last year it was very noticeable that the trains were both cheap and on time. I seem to remember it cost two singles from Padua to Milan (Just a little further that London to Bristol) cost around 11 Euros (London to Bristol = £48. off-peak)! Liberal Democrat MP, Norman Baker has called for and immediate freeze on fare prices which would ...
I almost choked on my Weetabix when I read about Forth Ports' ridiculous idea to name a huge development that is being built in Leith the Edinburgh Harbour Development. This is their craziest idea since ship to ship oil transfer - and with a good public campaign, that one was consigned to the dustbin. A 4000 signature petition has been delivered to the Council and Lib Dem Council leader Jenny Dawe is trying to persuade Forth Ports to change their mind. Forth Ports need to realise that there is no point in upsetting people for no good reason - and ...
Mark and I spent last night in a comfortable hotel room tonight. Not exactly unusual, although less common than it was last year. However, it is that bit more appreciated after our event in Bradford East. A group of Liberal Youth members and other young people have been working to raise funds for Bradford Nightstop and spent the night sleeping in the campaign HQ for David Ward, our PPC there. Bev Johnson, who works for Bradford Nightspot, had come to explain what the organisation does (find places for young homeless to sleep for a night) and explain some of the ...
Well, firstly we have Howard Dean coming to talk to us in Harrogate next month, at 12.15 on the Saturday. We've already covered this here, and Lynne Featherstone got excited too. Expect the hall to be packed - so take your seat early and listen to the adult education policy debate we're having immediately before it. {Queuing for conference} Don't miss Lib Dem Voice's first fringe meeting! Secondly, Lib Dem Voice have organised our own fringe meeting at 8pm on Saturday evening in the main conference centre. We'll take as our theme "Learning the Lessons from the Obama Campaign" and ...
Good news - finally! Guy Njike has been granted indefinite leave to remain here. While his solicitors were still preparing his new fresh claim, the Home Office has granted him indefinite leave to remain under the legacy cases programme. Congratulations to Sara Hall and all those who campaigned so tirelessly for this happy ending.
So, Unites boss Tony Woodley (in a nice comfortable job) thinks it is professional and helpful to warn the public that 6,000 jobs are at immediate risk and a major car manufacturing plant is about to shut down in the next four days? How the hell does he think that is useful? This weekend every single person who currently works in the car industry will now be fretting about whether they will have a job next week. Worrying whether they are going to be unemployed next weekend, thrown out their house etc etc Does Tony Woodley not think life is ...
Is it just me or is everyone finding reasons to complain more often? I'm used to complaining on behalf of others - that's my job - but lately I have had cause to make several complaints on my own beh...
Oh Guardian, you silly old thing. You were once a student paper of some renown - many of the greats got their start in your pages, and you rightly won awards for their exposés. Whatever happened? You can't even publish biweekly any more. Now it's monthly, if we're lucky. You don't seem to have any editing [...]
Stuart White, whom I sort of know not just as a politics academic at Oxford but as a prospective constituent in the ward I fought in last year, has a piece at Next Left about Nick Clegg speaking at an IPPR event last week. Amongst other things he picks up on, about which I might write something later, he reports: Right at the end of the Q&A at the ippr event Clegg was asked what differentiates liberalism from 'libertarianism'. His answer was that liberals think personal freedom is limited by a duty not to harm others, while libertarians do not. ...
The good news is that the new upstairs neighbours are houseproud. The less good news is that they are doing their vaccuuming right now. Still, a chance to catch up on some blogging
