Simon Hughes, MP, presented a framed photograph of the late Lord Russell-Johnston to Rev Paul Hunt, Chairman of the National Liberal Club, this evening, on behalf of Liberal International British Group (LIBG). The portrait will hang near the offices of Liberal International, which are on the ground floor of the NLC building. The original wake [...]
Residents here have asked Chris if an additional grit bin could be provided for part of the street and he has taken up this request with the City Council.
This weekend, like many other parents, we heard which primary school our child will be attending this September. The admissions process was a complete shambles in this part of north Surrey last year as it was in neighbouring Kingston. There were stories that some children had been offered places ten miles away from home, which would have resulted in a round trip commute of two hours. In Kingston, they ran out of places completely. The Council seemed to only recognise this lack of provision towards the end of the admissions process, forcing them to put on extra temporary classrooms at ...
"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist; And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist; And then they came for the Jews, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew; And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up." I shall speak up for you and others shall too.
I'm off to Perth in two weeks time for the Spring Conference of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, and was intending to go by train. However, when I discovered that the East Coast Main Line was closed between Hatfield and Peterborough, and the West Coast Main Line north of Lancaster, I wasn't impressed. Time for a question... thanks to Hansard for their report... Railways: Network Rail Asked By Baroness Scott of Needham Market To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they advise Network Rail on the strategic impact of its engineering works programme. The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Lord Adonis): ...
A cancelled meeting meant that I could go to Durham Cathedral for a preview exhibition I was sorry to be missing. The exhibition is open to the public from 3rd to 22nd March. The work is by Prof. Jane Alexander, a South African artist. On a floor strewn with workmen's red gloves and rusty sickles are a number of sculptures, most with human bodies and animal heads. The central tableau is the...
Earlier today the Government finally fell in to line with public opinion, the Electoral Commission and both the Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties by backing the introduction of individual registration. As the Electoral Commission's press release says: Electoral Commission Chair Jenny Watson said "We very much welcome this decision to introduce individual registration. The right to register to vote is of fundamental importance in our democracy - so important that it's something for which individuals should take personal responsibility. "A move to individual registration will also lead to a more accurate and secure electoral register, giving us a firm platform ...
Readers of this blog and the Evening Post will know that I have been leading the campaign locally for more effective policing. One of the issues I have been highlighting consistently is the difficulty faced by many Neighbour Action Groups (NAGs) which are struggling to engage with the local community owing to the fact that they currently have no budget for communication The urgent need for support for NAGs was brought home to me at the weekend when I bumped into one of our local PCSOs who was having to spend her own time hand-delivering hastily photocopied leaflets ahead of a NAG meeting later in ...
Chanticleer has an interesting post here about Plaid Cymru's latest internal split. His claim is that "Adam Price has joined the rebellion" on tuition fees. (nuclear power is so last week's split)Yet if you look at the words used by Cymru X, as quoted in the Western Mail this morningthey bear a striking resemblance to an earlier blog piece by Mr Adam Price."great achievements of devolution""Turn
{The great british pound} About 2 years ago I sued my bank, Barclays Bank plc, in the Salford County Court for thousands of pounds worth of ridiculous bank charges (and accrued interest over time) that they had debited from my account over a 6 year period. They callously removed funds from my account on a regular basis for going over my overdraft limit, something they allowed to happen, which questions what purpose my "agreed overdraft limit" served at the time, if they were happy to let me go over it, then charge ridiculous sums for it. In some cases, Barclays ...
{David Sutton Loses seat} So tonight RBC finally has a budget. Labour left in disgust, clearly angered that they had to agree to our terms in order for them to get the bulk of their budget through. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, guys {:P} The Tories are already trying to spin this into a Lib/Lab pact - saying we are propping up the dying administration. I expect to be bored to death by these false claims over the next year! We are FAR from 'matey' with Labour after this whole exercises. They have burnt their ...
If you do nothing else this week, do listen to Start the Week with the ubiquitous Andrew Marr. Richard Wilkinson makes a strong argument for addressing inequality. He believes that more equal societies produce better health and happiness for all of us, not just the poor. He describes how improving the distribution of wealth contributes to lower crime rates, lower disease rates and less anxiety about status. When ever will we get it?
15) Robert A. O'Donnell, Hooked on Philosophy: Thomas Aquinas Made Easy (New York: St.Paul's Press, 1995, ISBN 9780818907401). Yup, I'm still looking for a book on Aquinas for djm4, and this still isn't it. The first chapter was good enough that I started to get excited, but the project of explaining Aquinas in 110 pages is just too ambitious. A lot of difficulties are just skated over; even the analogy of being only gets the briefest of mentions. I think O'Donnell also draws too sharp a distinction between Aquinas and Kant. 14) Bulbul Sharma, The Anger of Aubergines (Melbourne: Spinifex, ...
Oh dear......what a disaster............Bedford Tories worried due to inquiry into Ashcroft funding. Beds on Sunday report that a Tory insider said: "We are very concerned about this development, as we could be forced to give back some of the money we have received in donations. "Without these funds our whole borough unitary election campaign could be placed in jeopardy and we may even have to leave our brand new campaign offices in Hassett Street. "This news could not have come at a worse time, after all the divisions and infighting we have had to endure locally over the past few ...
Liberal Democrats MP Lembit Opik has been criticised in the past for being someone who has not become a "new media" geek but now the Lib Dem has taken up micro blogging. Months ago when he was running for president I asked him a question about whether or not he would take up blogging if he became the party president, at the time he said he would but he did not get elected so I didn't expect like many that he would take up blogging. It is great to see Lembit micro blogging and I hope he continues to micro ...
On Sunday I shall be hosting this week's Britblog Roundup. If this week you see any British blog posts you think particularly fine - and that can include ones on your own blog - just send the links to britblog [at] gmail [dot] com by Sunday lunchtime and I will do the rest. Don't forget that I shall also be hosting the Carnival of Modern Liberty on Friday. So if you see any posts that would fit there, please nominate them via the carnival's home page. It's going to be a linktastic weekend here at Liberal England.
I like a challenge..........I also like a conference where we debate the really meaty issues, that we are not "dumbed down" to save anyone getting their noses pushed out of joint. Now, as those of you who know me know, I am not one to shirk difficult issues. So, I am hoping to submit an emergency motion on Royal Mail tomorrow. But I need your support. If you agree with the text below, want to give Brown a bloody nose and also happen to be a voting rep for conference - please email me (linda_a_jack@yahoo.co.uk) with your membership number and ...
The Welsh Assembly tomorrow is debating a motion tabled by the One Wales Government entitled 'Leading Wales out of the recession'. For some reason I cannot get the image out of mind of Rhodri Morgan standing on the shore of the Bristol Channel, staff raised aloft, as the waters part in front of him. I doubt if the debate will be that eventful however.
Sunday's News of the World suggested that the chef Gordon Ramsay has grossly exaggerated his achievements as a footballer to "fuel his ruthless bid for stardom: For Ramsay NEVER "signed" for the Glasgow giants and NEVER played first team games for them—despite saying so on radio, in his autobiography and in a series of interviews.I am not surprised. Today I was reading Nick Cohen's new collection Waiting for the Etonians. In one article he writes: People in the business told me that in his kitchens Gordon Ramsay is not the foul-mouthed thug of his TV appearances. He just plays the ...
Which ever side of the argument you sit on over the thorny issue of raising alcohol prices with the aim of reducing excess alcohol use, you have to be impressed with the SNP's willingness to take the issue on, make unpopular decisions and not shirk the responsibilities that come with the trappings of office. I heard a member of the alcoholics excuse group (also known as The Portman Group), an organisation funded by alcohol producers to ... erm ... well let's be clear, their job is simply to promote alcohol whilst pretending to want people to drink less or, as ...
Mon 2nd
18:07
Pollwatch: Lib Dems behind Labour as best party on the environment and third on economy and educatio...
Full details of the ICM's Guardian poll for February are now up on the company's website. This was the survey, you may recall, that led UK Polling Report to come to the entirely plausible conclusion that the Lib Dems' 22 per cent rating in January was a blip. I quickly turned to the results for the question, "Irrespective of how you yourself will vote at the next election, which political party do you think is putting forward the best policies on . . . " As usual, the Liberal Democrats' best rating - 19 per cent - was on the ...
The debate has raged all over the weekend about what exactly the Government should do (if anything) about the £650,000 per year pension to which Sir Fred Goodwin, former chief executive of RBS, is entitled thanks to a deal struck with the bank's board and later sanctioned by the government when it became a majority owner. Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman provoked a media storm when she suggested that the government might introduce legislation specifically to claw back a large part of Sir Fred's pension. Meanwhile, Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable has put forward his own proposal: that Sir ...
Harriet Harman wants to create a legislation so Sir Fred Goodwin can be stopped from having the massive pension that he has put aside for himself and personally I think that is ridiculous. Legislation for one person would just make politics in the UK look corrupt and the Westminster model would become a thing of the past, personally I think Labour have made this mistake a long time ago and now they will have to live with it. When Blair was Prime Minister and Gordon Brown was his right arm why didn't Labour pass legislation through Parliament which meant that ...
I have brazenly stolen an exciting new feature for the blog from my fellow Bury Council Lib Dem blogger Cllr Tim Pickstone. Now, thanks to his mastery of website coding, and my mastery of bare-faced thieving, you can catch up on all the latest Prestwich news right here on this website! Just click on the "Prestwich News" page via the link on the left hand side, and you will see all the latest headlines from the local press, with links to their articles. And, if the mood teks you, you can play a fun game. See how many of the ...
Liberal Democrats on Redcar & Cleveland Council today opposed the Labour Council's plans to increase Council Tax by more than inflation. The Council today voted to raise Council Tax by 3.75%, taking Band A bills above £1000 a year for the first time ever. Local Liberal Democrats voted against the rise, calling it "excessive" during a recession. Councillor Chris Abbott, Leader of the Liberal Democrats at the Council, commented: "When people are losing jobs, struggling to make ends meet and the country is in the deepest recession for 60 years, a Council Tax rise above inflation is insulting and will ...
As we have come to relish and expect, Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable - who is acting party leader during Nick Clegg's fortnight's paternity leave - has been dispensing his wisdom on the current furore surrounding the £650,000 a year pension of RBS's former chief Sir Fred Goodwin sanctioned a few months ago by Labour's business minister Lord Myners. Vince's official statement yesterday made clear his view that Sir Fred should expect to lose £623,000 a year of his pension benefit without any need at all to adopt Harriet Harman's proposed retrospective legislation: Nobody disputes that Sir Fred Goodwin ...
Just getting our Liberal Democrat Members' Newsletter out. Trying to catch the 6 p.m. collection at the post office in the village. Thank goodness we still have a local post office here in Long Lee. We Lib Dems collected signatures against local post offices closures. For the time being our post office is saved. Hope it's for good.
PM Gordon Brown will fly out to meet President Obama, becoming the first European leader, to meet the new President. Brown will tell Obama 'We Need You' thorough the financial crisis. Unlike the States, the United Kingdom is does not have trillions of dollars for the financial stimulus that President Obama, has passed through congress. The United Kingdom, is virtually bankrupt, and may shortly go to the IMF. SO watch this space....... I think the visit is to beg for some spending money from the elder brother.
It's an unquestioned truth that we're in the middle of a terrible childhood obesity epidemic. Children spend all their time sitting in front of the TV or playing on their games consoles and their getting fat. You can read it in every newspaper from the Guardian to the Sun, the Independent to the Daily Mail. Childhood obesity is growing at an exponential rate. Jamie Oliver is trying to save a generation. The Government is investing millions in it's Change4Life programme. The stakes couldn't be higher: if we fail, our children will live short, unhealthy lives. Like all unquestioned truths, a ...
Within minutes of the press statement published below and sent to the local media on Tuesday 24th February the Labour Leader of Redcar and Cleveland Council let it be known that he would not accept a hike in his pay that would almost double his Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA). All well and good you might say, so he should. But what was it all about? In opposition the same Labour Leader spent four years telling anyone who would listen to him that Councillors allowances were too high and he often used words like obscene to illustrate it. He never missed ...
Here's a novel idea. Choose What You Read is a scheme where people are invited to share and return books - a sort of DIY library - as an alternative to the throwaway freesheets that now dominate commuter reading. They will be out this evening from 17.00-19.00 at Liverpool Street, Waterloo, Westminster, Euston and Paddington. [...]
The Advertiser newspaper is reporting that Bury has the worst pavements in Greater Manchester, according to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Phsyiotherapists. The report says that 37% of pavements are in need of repair - the figure puts Bury above the national average of 22 per cent and north west average of 23 percent. It also puts third ninth worst out of 22 local authorities in the north west. This won't come as much of a surprise to many local people who have brought up the state of the roads and pavements as a major cause for concern. ...
{Civic office} At the last two Council budget meetings, Labour refused to accept our amendment and tried to bully us, with the help of officers, to accept their watered down motion. Even in the press Officers have shown a lack of neutrality, stating that our reductions, spending plan and putting money into reserves: was not ideal or good practice Yet they were devised using Officer help! Labour pushed through their 1.9 % rise in council tax last year when they had full control. It should be noted that this was right before an election - well I smell a rat! ...
There was an interesting little example last week of how the Conservatives are trying to use blogs to set the tone of news reporting, courtesy of Boris Johnson and a report into his behaviour. The report, into Boris Johnson's behaviour over the Damian Green affair, makes major criticisms of his behaviour but falls short of saying that he broke any rules. So the battle for good publicity came down to whether the report would be seen as 'Boris cleared because he didn't breach the rules' or 'Boris criticised for bad judgement and poor choices'. The Conservatives tried to make use ...
Good news acording to the eBay news feed: Zero insertion fees on qualifying auction-style listings on eBay.co.uk From 12th March 2009, there's no insertion fee if you're a private seller and you list your item in an eligible category in the auction-style format with a starting price of up to 99p. Don't forget, your first picture is also free. If your item doesn't sell, you don't pay a penny. All you pay for are optional listing features and upgrades Sounds great, but lets take a closer look. * The free listing fee is only for those with a starting price ...
Of course, one of the reasons why bankers are now deeply unpopular is the monopoly money salaries that were being bandied about.But throughout the rise of traders and bankers into the big money league, the United Kingdom has seen Executive salaries massively outpace wage inflation amongst most of the rest of the workforce.Personally, I place much of the blame for this into the hands of the City.
The link is to the published judgment to a second appeal in the string of cases relating to RP v NCC.This judgment was published very recently. I asked a written question last Wednesday as to why it had not been published.
I wish I could work up the level of righteous anger Charlie Brooker has in his column today. I really do. And he's (at least partially) right, when he saysThe politicians have finally shut us out of their game for good and we have nowhere left to turn. We're not part of their world any more. We don't even speak the same language. We're the ants in their garden. The bacteria in their stools. They have nothing but contempt for us. They snivel and lie and duck questions on torture - on torture, for Christ's sake - while demanding we ...
A recent posting of mine on this short-lived 1960s supergroup has been included in the latest Carnival of Rock and Roll. Thanks.
I am off work sick today. It feels as though there's some kind of military artillery demonstration taking place in my head. Occasionally I get these 24 hour bug things which make me generally horrendous, and today is one of those days. Last night I managed to get absolutely no sleep at all, and have just about staggered from my bed to the computer now to see whether anything's happening in the world. It turns out that there isn't, and so I may take my blanket downstairs and lie groaning on the sofa until Tamsin gets back. Three people already ...
I've received this message from Phil Booth of the NO2ID campaign: "Please join the Stop Clause 152! facebook group and act NOW to preserve privacy, confidentiality and trust. "I know some of you have already written to your MP on this issue - thank you! - but it's vital we keep the pressure up, and [...]
You may have noticed that re3 - the waste PFI which organises recycling for Reading, Bracknell and Wokingham - has started a consultation on business waste. The Labour Council appear to have briefed the press on the issue, but in there continuing arrogant manner, didn't see fit to inform any one else in the NOC council. I am quite disappointed in the Lead councillor for Environment who has said in the past he was quite open to keeping his Tory and Lib Dem shadows 'in the loop'. Business as usual from the "silly boys" - why should I ever expect ...
We're midway through Fairtrade Fortnight (23rd February - 8th March), and so today and tomorrow Lib Dem Voice is running two articles asking the question, 'Should liberals back Fair Trade?', putting two opposing viewpoints to our readers. Today, Lib Dem MP John Pugh makes the case for fair trade. Why Liberals Should Back Fair Trade There is no such thing as free trade. All trade is conditioned and controlled by regulation, convention, norm and even tradition. It is a process of social exchange. Historically, Liberals have seen little benefit in insisting that people buy goods only from a given nation ...
Why did the BBC censor the video above in which Benazir Bhutto the late says that Osama Bin Laden is dead, which is something that lead to her assassination as many have put it. Are the BBC scared that Bin Laden would then no longer be the bogeyman and they would have to find someone else to blame for the "War on Terror"?
Personally I do not see why not. After all it might improve the quality of the information that MI5 hold on us if we are able to review and correct it. That is especially so when the target is an emminent historian who has been honoured for his work. The Guardian reports that the Labour government is being challenged to explain to parliament why one of Britain's most eminent leftwing historians has been barred from seeing a file kept on him by the Security Service, MI5: Eric Hobsbawm is 91 and a Companion of Honour, an award given to only ...
Many local residents in the Vauxhall, Stockwell and Oval areas will remember the De Lieto family through their excellent craft bakery on South Lambeth Road (corner of Aldebert Terrace) which they ran for 27 years. The family now want to get back in business and re-open the old bakery on Brixton Road (corner of South Island Place). That sounds like good news to us! The shop has never been anything else other than a bakery - some residents remember it as Wilson's (and there is an old sign on the wall, Schmidt's bakery, which is getting on for a hundred ...
For those of us who retain a fascination for local politics with all of its petty jealousies, overly-zealous attention to detail at the expense of strategic perspective and the personal idiosyncrasies of individual Councillors and officers, this morning's Western Mail is a real treat. First off is the case of Caerphilly Council and their sensitivity to criticism. If some journalists never let the facts get in the way of a good story then this is magnified several times over when it comes to political leaflets, and I make no exceptions in that regard. But to call in the lawyers does ...
This morning's Western Mail reports on the growing rift within Plaid Cymru over the proposal of their Assembly Group to unilaterally abandon the party's opposition to top-up fees. As the letter from Cymru X to AMs outlines, Plaid's opposition to top-up fees was clearly set out in their election manifestos in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007, whilst at the weekend, their national council instructed all
Mon 2nd
11:02
Peter Black calls on Welsh Government to create financial stability so Councils can better use their...
The Welsh Liberal Democrat Local Government Spokesperson, Peter Black, has called on the Welsh Government to create a stable financial climate for local Councils so that they can make better use of the cash and capital reserves they hold for the benefit of the local economy.Commenting on the news that the 22 local Councils in Wales hold over £625 million between them in reserves Mr. Black said
Being Human, the wonderful vampire/werewolf/ghost in a house show has been showing the rest how it should be done for a few weeks now. It kicked the piss-poor Demons into touch from the first episode but the darker turn of the last few weeks have taken the show to a whole new level. The paedophile episode (where our friendly vampire unwittingly lends a vamp snuff movie to a twelve-year, with hilarious consequences) was genuinely disturbing and marked the show's move to a darker level. Yesterday's finale saw the battle between our three heroes and the evil vamps get serious, as ...
Lynne Featherstone MP, Lib Dem spokeperson for Youth and Equality, has referred Cambridge University to the Equality and Human Rights Commission for investigation: She explains in her blog: "It's because of the appallingly wide gap between what the university pays men and women. The university's own Equal Pay Report shows that men are paid on average nearly a third more than women - £37,157 compared to £28,247." The Director of External Affairs at Cambridge University has agreed to meet with Lynne in a few days, so see Lynne's Parliament and Haringey Diary for updates!
A new model army appeared at Bankside yesterday as a tribute to Tony Hart.
I've watched the debate over Sir Fred Goodwin's pension with increasing unease.I suppose that this stems from two things, firstly my belief that a contract is a contract. Secondly, when a government claims that it will take retrospective action, then bad law is likely to result.There is little doubt that the pension pot available to Sir Fred is absurd and, to many people, an outrage. Many will
Ireland's ruling Fianna Fail is on its way to join the UK Liberal Democrats and other European Liberal parties in the continent-wide European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR), according to the Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Brian Cowen. Successful integration into the ELDR — on whose governing Council I sit — would then probably lead [...]
During the financial crisis, Lib Dem blogger Millennium Dome, Elephant, has agreed to give LDV a glimpse of his Credit Crunch Diary. You can read Part One here. Rescue packages for everyone* this month: from Mr Lord Mandelbrot's car loan scheme to Bank Bailout II (this time it's RBS) to the slightly surprising suggestion in the Grauniad that our beloved Prime Monster, Mr Frown, might be taking to his own little dinghy. But all these rescue packages have the same message: Mr Frown's PLAN to save the economy DOESN'T WORK. With the Hard Labour Government's opinion poll ratings on the ...
Today's Financial Times reports on the electoral situation at Waverley council, where the Lib Dem group was reduced from 27 seats to three in the 2007 local elections after introducing fortnightly waste collections to boost recycling rates. It also notes the problems suffered by Labour in Telford, Shropshire and Blackburn, and by the Conservatives in North Lincolnshire, for the same reasons. Celia Savage, one of the surviving Lib Dem councillors in Waverley, claims the Tories ruthlessly exploited the issue of fortnightly bin collections in the run-up to the poll. Stories abounded of stinking garbage piling up in people's gardens while ...
Today Lembit Opik celebrates his 44th Birthday as pointed out by Facebook yesterday and I would like to take this opportunity to wish him a happy birthday on behalf of everyone who reads this blog. I have written a blog post over at Blogging 4 Lembit about his birthday!
Somehow, I'm not convinced that Simon and Garfunkel would have been especially inspired by such a scenario although, as if in consolation, the sun is shining.Unusually, my inward journey from mid-Suffolk is delayed by both a signal failure at Colchester and a bridge strike at Kelvedon, so I may be pretty late this morning.My fellow passengers this morning in seats B9, 10, 13 and 14 are a Chinese
On page 21 of the Observer of 1st March the story is of police going over the top (sadly an all too common event nowadays) in searching & confiscating personal belongings at a Kingsnorth protest. The facts uncovered by LibDem David Howarth. Congratulations to him. But on P 6 & 7 of the same paper there is the much bigger story of the 'Liberty Group' conference in London. As the headline says 'Liberty groups unite to defend UK rights'. The paper writes ' Yesterdays gathering was by far the largest civil liberties convention ever held in Britain' . No mention ...
James Graham and Paddy Ashdown. I like both of them. But which one is best? ....There's only one to find out: FFFIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGHHHHHHTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!See you after the break.
Harrogate here I come!! I'm off to Harrogate at the weekend and feel really excited. Gentle slap on the wrist from my agent for not being out there knocking on doors and looking at pavements - but Friday to Sunday I shall be soaking up the atmosphere at my first party conference. The added bonus is that Harrogate is such a beautiful town so I'm hoping to have a bit of time to look around. Betty's Tea Room has been a recommendation from everyone I've mentioned my trip to. Sadly, being intolerant to wheat I'm not sure I'll get the ...
The sight of Labour's aspiring potential Leader of the Opposition, the Lady Harriet, beating the drum for the confiscation of Fred The Shred's pension, is one of those classic moments of political spin. And whilst the unbelievably generous arrangements for this particular pension are staggering in the degree to whichthey have rewarded failure, the reality is that Labour are culpable in the
Having never got into the habit of keeping a personal diary over the years - although a great fan of the work / schedule sort - I have to confess to finding it hard to get into the routine of keeping my blog updated on a daily basis. I've now got a note in my diary to do it each evening! Sunday's, when I tend to have a bit of a catch up in the office, are great. I have time to think and clear my mind and then jot down some ideas. My diary and to do list are ...
The St Peter's ward Safer Neighbourhood Team have issued this warning: "Although burglary in St Peter's ward and the Borough of Islington has reduced significantly over several consecutive years, recently we have seen a pattern of burglaries where entry was gained by the suspect(s) reaching through the letterbox and taking the keys from the lock on [...]
Annemarie Wright has now done a picture of Barack Obama using his Inauguration speech for the words - you can see this and more at www.annemarie-wright.com
Over the last few years, Labour have been sending more and more people to prison, and for longer, compared to the sentences handed out ten, twenty or thirty years ago. The idea that the modern justice system is a soft touch is a tabloid myth. Across the western world, nearly all nations have seen crime dropping over the last 10-18 years regardless of their penal and crime policies, which strongly suggests that whatever does cause crime levels to vary, the number of people you send to prison doesn't have much effect. Now, though, comes the claim that community penalties are ...
Put together by A Very British Dude.
A bit of a roundup of politics here. Pensions, the FTSE, and Freedom.
A relative newcomer to Highgate High Street is High Tea, which I photographed on Sunday. I was out early, and I wish I'd also captured the shop front with its gorgeous canopy down, as it looks great. At number 50 in the High Street, I'm hearing rave reviews about this cafe, and its tea and cakes, though I haven't yet been. It also makes me laugh, as it may raise an eyebrow or two among my Labour colleagues (see earlier post here). And 'high tea' has always been a meal for us ordinary folk, if Labour only knew... ...
The SNP may well have thought the hand of friendship was going to be offered to them, especially in light of the favourable agreement that the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists seem to have struck for Northern Ireland. However, George Osbourne has spelled out to Alex Salmond and John Swinney that they will have to make efficiency savings even when a Tory government is elected. Osbourne said on yesterday's BBC Politics Show: "Gordon Brown has left the UK in a complete mess and some of the burden of restraint has to be borne by Scotland as a whole." adding: "There needs ...
Had to smile this morning at news of a flash mob of little plasticine yesterday outside the Tate Modern in London. Hundreds of models of the late Tony Hart's morphened sidekick were a very fitting tribut to the man who taught children to draw for over 50 years.
This is the REAL current scandal - why hasn't someone who was so asleep at the wheel that he's cost the taxpayer £13m, unless of course the Govt does the illiberal thing of creating retrospective legislation `to appease the court of public opinion`, not been sacked. It couldn't be to do with him donating £12,700 to [...]
Via Ben Goldacre comes the answer. FWIW I don't think this just applies to science. It applies to everything. Misquoting, misattributing, copying and pasting without permission and out of context, these are things that journalists do as a matter of course, and can't even understand why non-journalists get upset about them. Anybody got a solution to this?
In the monetary crisis of the late seventies when Hayek wrote the essay I linked to earlier about privatizing the money supply he thought that the then current generation of senior bankers would be too dyed in he wool of the prevailing system to become so innovative as to suggest and work up his radical suggestion. He pinned any hope he had on the younger generation of up and coming bankers, unencumbered by the past, who might have such imagination. Sadly, those young bankers then are the ones who have been in charge for the past decade or so, and ...
For all the bitterness that is being cooked up in the willy waving celebrity death match that is going on between Sir Fred Goodwin and Gordon Brown, an alternative view puts them on the same side of the bigger problem that faces the world. They are both symptoms of a modern (I think) trend of Messianic leadership; Fred on the corporate side and Gordon on the political side. And it's a problem that caused our current crisis - of ever more centralized leadership and a public willingness apparently to believe wholeheartedly in this cult. When our political and corporate systems ...
Women2gether in partnership with Shakti Women and The Drum presents will be marking 100 years of International Women's Day & celebrating women's struggles and resistence.
