Quite astonishing from Conservative MP Eric Pickles on Question Time this evening. 37 miles he lives from Westminster and there he was on telly arguing passionately for his right to a second home allowance - because (I paraphrase) it's really difficult to get in to work on time otherwise. Beware those who tell you that the New [...]
The general election is probably at least a year away, yet the Roslyn Hill Chapel in Hampstead held a four-party parliamentary hustings this evening which drew in over a hundred people. Perhaps it is not surprising that in these troubled times, people are in the mood to voice their fears, even their anger — and [...]
Good news from Monday's church council meeting. Our church has adopted eco-congregation status and as part of this we got an energy audit done. Traditional church buildings are a nightmare to heat in an environmentally conscious way. In fact, they are a nightmare to heat full stop. High ceilings, big windows, and sometimes only used [...]
There are lots of "last time's" John is having as his Mayoral year draws to an end, and we had a good finale to work on Fairtrade today as he presented certificates to organisations who had become Fairtrade organisations since I last gave them out 2 years ago. A good number turned out from the many that were invited and it was quite exciting to get everyone together. Lots of thanks go to...
When Harlequins announced they weren't going to take up the option to play their Heineken Cup Quarter Final against Leinster at Twickenham Stadium, but opted for playing in front of a home crowd at Twickenham Stoop, I thought the chance of getting tickets was zero. Initially tickets were sold to members and Guinness Premiership Season ticket holders. But they have gone on general sale this week,
Dragon's Eye broke the story.But this website may have broken Welsh politics forever!Peter Hain describes it as an "Obama moment" in Welsh politics.More like a "Howard Dean moment" perhaps?
Here's how The Guardian reports it: Liberal Democrat spokesman Lord Oakeshott used parliamentary privilege today to blow a hole in a gag order obtained by Barclays Bank over its tax avoidance scheme. The documents detailing the schemes, previously leaked to the Lib-Dems, were now available on Wikileaks and other websites, he told a Lords debate on tax avoidance. Barclays had previously obtained a high court injunction banning the Guardian and other papers from disclosing that the documents were publicly available on Wikileaks. The gag order, provided by Mr Justice Blake, also forced the Guardian to remove copies of the documents ...
I am not going to watch the rest of Question Time if the first question is any pointer to the rest of the show. What is the point of having a guest like Michael Winner ? He offered nothing on a really important question about Iraq and couldn't really answer the subsequent question put to him by Dimblebore. And as for Caroline Lucas .... ZZZZZZZZzzzzzz. Time to sleep
Off work today with damn ear infection . # It looks like the knives are out in Hebden Bridge # Pondering whether or not during my mayoral year to organise drinks in a brewery. #
Ed ('call me Edward') Davey, the Lib Dems' shadow foreign secretary, is the party's representative on tonight's Question Time (BBC1 and online, 10.35 pm GMT). This week's been a busy one for Ed, as the Government's various foreign affairs shames - the war on Iraq, extraordinary rendition - catch up with it. Ed will be joined on the panel by some, erm heavyweights... senior Labour politician Charles 'two pizzas' Clarke, rotund Conservative Party chairman Eric Pickles, and asinine gourmand Michael Winner. For viewers of a nervous disposition, the fragrant Caroline Lucas (normally fairly sensible, for a Green) will be on ...
The Wallaces have quite a history in the Whickham/Sunniside/Ravensworth area I represent on Gateshead Council. It goes back over one hundred and fifty years and one day I shall explain some of it on this blog. But a brief summary is needed here. Mr great grandfather Henry Wallace was land agent to Lord Ravensworth in the later Victorian period. He had 3 sons and 4 daughters. The eldest son was
All, Richard has joined the 21st century (his words, not mine!) and has his own website. You can see it here. He hopes to be able to use it to keep you informed about his activities as your District Councillor, and to give people more ways of contacting him. Enjoy! All the best, Philip
So, Mat and I have been re-watching Andromeda Season 1 on Virgin Central (Hurrah for free TV on demand!), partly because it's basically an updated Trek, and therefore cool by definition; and partly because I lust after Tyr Anasazi. Small person was watching with us tonight. The opening credits started. Keith Hamilton Cobb appeared on screen, and Small Person immediately exclaimed Ooooh! I like him! * so proud *
It's not often that you actually see one of your local MEPs, especially ones who are not Liberal Democrats.One of my previous MEPs, who I have actually seen in the flesh, is Caroline Jackson, who is currently an MEP for a neighbouring region.She addressed a meeting, which I attended, of the Newbury United Nations Association in about 1992. For a Tory, she is not a bad egg. One of their more
Many of you have already replied to the supermarket survey in recent Focus leaflets. Richard Cheney has promised that he will let planners know all of the views of the residents of Shipston, whether for or against so keep the replies coming. As of a week ago 71% of replies opposed the idea of a supermarket of any sort at the site, and most of the rest were in favour. Some of the comments were: The shopping centre of Shipston would die (Horseshoe Close) I agree it would damage the town centre (Manor Lane) A supermarket in Shipston would kill ...
Lembit Opik has been denied access to the Daily Sport website in the House of Commons and personally I think its right that Parliament are blocking him from the site. The Commons is his place to work, not visit porn sites so the blocking of the MP from the site is perfectly OK! Lembit, you can use your own computer from your London property or use a computer in a cyber cafe to check out the Daily Sport website! Parliament isn't always the best place to get things done, Nigel Griffin MP will tell you that!
Barack Obama has held a Question and Answer with a question that was submitted to him via the website that his administration set up to make the president more transparent. The President answered the question of one the one hundred thousand people who submitted questions, and it was a process of voting which video is preferred by people with the most voted being answered. This sort of process has been taking place in the UK with Gordon Brown using Youtube, but Brown records the videos and uploads them where as the President of the USA holds a press conference in ...
Another week, another scandal about MPs allowances. It's obviously about time they were sorted out. After all, most MPs don't fiddle their allowances and most of the allowances are used to pay for the things they need to do their job (such as computer, staff, postage, train travel etc) rather than it going in to [...]
So - my old partner in crime is leaving the Lib Dems! Mark Pack - my campaign manager who masterminded the Lib Dem strategy in Haringey and Hornsey & Wood Green and who has been at Lib Dem HQ forever - is going to become an Associate Director at Mandate PR. I think they are well lucky to get him! He is such a brilliant man! Can't imagine what the Lib Dems will do without him. But I think it will be good for him to have new frontiers and challenges. I have no doubt he will continue to aggravate ...
{Lynne Featherstone feeding birds with Tim Webb} Was away with the birds again today - when Tim Webb from the RSPB came to put up some bird feeders with me in my garden. None have yet come to inhabit the bird box I put up a little while back - but I think it probably takes a while. And a bloody squirrel has just nicked one of the fat balls I hung from my tree. My wire bird feeder is more squirrel-proof - so must get some more food to put in that. If this goes on - I will ...
Much debate amongst MEPs stemming from the awful realisation that Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the Front Nationale, convicted racist and known Holocaust denier (or diminisher) could chair the first session of the next Parliament in July. The job is to preside over the election of the Parliament's next president, and the rules say that the job goes to the oldest elected MEP, who might well be 80-year old Le Pen. "We will have to change the rules," say many MEPs. A British Labour MEP has just told me of looking at pictures of Nazi Party members in full kit ...
The Guido vs Draper mudfight took place on The Politics Show today. I am in an internet cafe in Leicester and the video does not work for me, so I have not watched it yet. From the still, neither participant is an advertisement for blogging as a healthy lifestyle. In connection with this contest, Draper has slammed Guido and Guido has slammed Draper. Elsewhere, Mark Pack has got a new job and is leaving Cowley Street. Congratulations to him, but whatever shall we do, O Lord? And congratulations to two denizens of my blogroll - Iain Dale and Alix Mortimer ...
Thu 26th
17:53
Does anyone in the real world give a flying fart about this playground blogger bitching?
Anyone seeing this might come to a negatory conclusion on that one.
Sam Coates on Red Box puts Gordon Brown's London Summit into perspective:Gordon's save the world summit next Thursday is going to be awfully short.Leaders' breakfast 8.30am - 9.45amMorning session including finance ministers and central bankers 9.50am- 1.25pmLunch 1.25pm - 2.30pmAfternoon session including finance ministers and central bankers 2.30pm to 3.30pmClosing press conferences, 3.30
At least I think this revelation is down to me. The BBC reports: MPs are prevented from surfing the internet for pornographic and other "inappropriate" material in their Commons offices.And one of the pages deemed inappropriate by the authorities is the one on the Daily Sport site which archives Lembit Opik's columns for that organ. I suspect it is the accompanying funbags. The BBC says this censorship was brought to his attention by fellow Lib Dem MP Adrian Sanders. And how did Adrian discover it? Judging by his comments on the post, it was when he tried to access Lembit's ...
I've finally finished the boatload of coursework that always piles up towards the end of term. Honestly, the sooner Glasgow slims down the number of courses in Level-2 biology, the better - they never talk to each other! Everyone sets projects for the same damned deadlines. But I digress. It's over now, as is the term. [...]
I've a number of things that I've been wanting to write about here for the last few days, and some for the last few weeks, but I'm finding it difficult to fit it in. Usual story.But I have got time to say a very well deserved congratulations to Alix Mortimer for being shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. She says she is "dumbfounded, and a bit shuffly" about it. There really is no need. As she goes
Some issues that come up regularly are the speed of traffic on Meadow Way and Ridgeway and parking at the BF Road end of Ridgeway.I guess most of us saw the electronic 30 sign in use in Meadow Way for a couple of weeks last year. The City Council has one of these, on a kind of loan from the County Highways Department. This sign has been "on tour" around the district, targetting areas where
{683609_grahams_christmas_tree_1} Figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show that thousands of council staff have been using anti-terrorism powers to keep watch on people suspected of non-terrorist type offences. From the Telegraph: "A survey of 400 councils in England and Wales by the Liberal Democrats using the FOI Act found that many of them were using the powers to investigate trivial misdemeanours. In the study, 182 local authorities admitting employing 1,615 staff who had used the powers 10,133 times in the past five years. If the figures are extrapolated for all 400 councils in England and Wales, it would mean that ...
I've spent today chairing a housing symposium organised by the Centre for Parliamentary Studies, bringing together people from local government and housing associations, voluntary organisations and government agencies. We're all trying to make some sense of where we might go next with the housing agenda, and to be honest, I think we're all struggling with a problem which we can all see is getting worse. Clive Betts MP kicked off the day with an overview, starting with a look at what is still current government policy of 3 million new homes by 2020 and 40,000 new affordable houses each year. ...
Jeremy Browne, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, will be taking part in a live webchat on Wednesday 1st April at 1pm. From moneysupermarket.com: Jeremy is responsible for helping set the Liberal Democrats' financial policies. Clare Francis, editor of moneysupermarket.com, will be putting your questions to him in a live webchat at 1pm on Wednesday April 1. As always, your questions really do set the agenda. So if you want to know what the Liberal Democrats would do to tackle to recession and ongoing financial crisis and how their policies would affect your finances submit your questions now ...
Conservative MEP Caroline Jackson has threatened to leave the Conservative party all together if they change group in Europe and personally I think this is all hinting to what I blogged about a while ago which is that the change of group will impact the outcome of Junes European election! I personally think Caroline Jackson will be making the right decision if she was to change groups, and personally would urge other Conservative MEP's to speak out against Cameron's decision to switch European groups. Just something to think about for Conservative MEP's is the fact that if they leave their ...
Anyone who follows this blog will know a few weeks ago I was bitching about the huge waiting list for allotments...only to find that actually I turned out to be right near the top of the list and, on a glorious Mothering Sunday...finally got my hands on one! I still think that there needs to be some investigation as to why plots are in such short supply, not just in Kent but all over the country, and so will still look into the matter but for now...I've got a lot of digging to do! Photos are from the Yalding Organic ...
...is just one of the stories that I'll be covering on SkyNews.Com tonight. It's a 7pm and I'll try and make it with plenty of time, this time.
Couldn't quite believe what I heard on the radio yesterday morning: according to the organisation Grandparent Plus, Grandparents ought to be paid to provide childcare for their grandchildren - or get tax credits or whatever! So, this is what we're in for, as baby boomers become grandparents! Was there ever such a fortunate generation? Was there ever such a self-centred generation? Ever a generation with such a strong sense of entitlement? Baby Boomers are those born between roughly between 1946 and 1961 (pre 1946 they're categorised as war babies, as my mother will tell you, but I challenge you to ...
From a party press release: Commenting on the news that the Attorney General has given the go-ahead to a police investigation into allegations of torture by Binyam Mohamed, Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary, Edward Davey said: "After months of delay, the Attorney General has at last made a clear decision. "These are incredibly serious allegations of complicity in barbaric acts of torture and breaches of international law. There must be complete faith in the way the investigation is carried out if the public's trust, and Britain's standing in the world, is ever to be restored. "It is now absolutely vital ...
I'm not sure how many of you picked up on the story of the man who recently died after being attacked by two komodo dragons who had been waiting for him to fall out of a tree. Komodo dragons are interesting creatures, in that they are remarkably patient hunters. They aren't particularly quick, and they aren't so large as to be able to overpower their prey. What they do have is an incredibly nasty bite. Their modus operandi is to bite their prey and then wait patiently. You see, their saliva has an unpleasant necrotising effect and so, like journalists ...
Last night I was one of the guest speakers at the Dialogue Society's event: Prevent & Deradicalisation Default Strategy. This was a joint event held in conjunction with Islington Liberal Democrats, and the Liberal Democrats Friends of Turkey, ably chaired by Bridget Fox, PPC for Islington South. The Dialogue Society is based in Islington and its objectives are 'to promote intercultural dialogue, greater understanding and community cohesion in the UK'. The organisation was founded by second generation British Muslims of Turkish background. The Dialogue Society's Director, Ozcan Keles presented his recently published 'Deradicalisation by Default' paper. Jonathan Fryer , Liberal ...
10am: On the doorstep. The first person I find who is in has been waiting for years to speak to us. He immediately says he will display a poster and asks about coming to social events. That is the sort of thing to put a spring in your step. We get good results throughout the morning. We're on the doorstep until midday, finding a number of supporters. Now: I'm getting ready to meet and greet Norman Lamb who is coming to visit Southend General Hospital, and then to speak to our annual dinner. I have the White Stripes on - ...
Because LabourList and Derek Draper have nothing better to do at all they have been researching the life of Guido Fawkes aka Paul Staines and have created a life profile of the Conservative blogger. Personally I have said it in the past and will say it again, Paul Staines and Derek Draper and the children of the blogosphere and they have nothing better to do except dig up information about one another and post it on their blogs. Paul Staines needs to get a day job so he can get out a lot more and stop researching the boring fart ...
Only one way to find out... FIIGHHTT! On a more serious note, neither of them covered themselves in glory in that discussion. Draper was his usual hectoring aggressive self (and was even inconsistent at least twice contradicting himself). Staines did not do well either. That is the second time I have seen him being interviewed now (the first time being his infamous Newsnight appearance) and he does not come across well as an interviewee. There was also too much blogocentric talk referring to people and things that only bloggers and Westminster insiders would understand. I doubt many non-blog involved people ...
I don't normally delve into the politics of the European Parliament, but this video of Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan stripping the bark off British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is worth noting. ("The devalued prime minister of a devalued government.") Many American politicians might be hearing the same criticisms next year if the U.S. economy is still depressed even as the national debt soars. Here is a transcript: Prime Minister, I see you've already mastered the essential craft of the European politician, namely the ability to say one thing in this chamber and a very different thing to your home electorate. ...
I'm sure LDV readers would like to join with me in congratulating Mark Pack on his new job - he will be leaving the Lib Dems, where he is the party's head of innovations, this June to take up an appointment as associate director of Mandate Communications, where he will be developing their online PR. The announcement was made today by the Lib Dems' director of campaigns, Hilary Stephenson: Mark joined the Lib Dem staff in 2000 - in his own words he has been with us 'for the entire century!' He started off working on London elections, then moving ...
Orange By Name can't be sure that Chris Grayling is a ManUSA fan, but as he lives in Surrey this is somewhat likely. In either case, it is a little odd that the Tory "minister for Liverpool" has advised youngsters in Toxteth to look up to ManUSA (that's Manchester United, for those not in the know) right back Gary Neville as some kind of surrogate father figure. Football-astute readers will be thinking: "but what, you mean the Gary Neville who was once sent off for a hilariously shameful dive against Man City, only to be criticised by a leading referee ...
Thu 26th
13:31
Caroline Jackson MEP is considering leaving the Conservative Party over EPP withdrawal
South West Conservative MEP Caroline Jackson has joined the growing rebellion over the Conservative Party's decision to quit the EPP and form their own right-wing euro-sceptic grouping in the European Parliament.
Three anglers claim they were arrested under anti-terror laws in Woodley after using laser pens to frighten ducks away from their bait hooks. The three men were taken into Loddon Valley Police Station late on Friday, March 7, and two were held overnight, DNA tested, fingerprinted and then released without charge. The third man was released almost immediately following the 10.30pm incident.Former Lib Dem councillor Tom McCann said: "When I was in the Thatchers at the weekend and they came in and told me what had happened to them, I couldn't believe it. "These were all local men who knew ...
Sadiq Khan the MP for Tooting has been labeled on Sky News as the leader of a terrorist group, this comes from Tory Bear and you can see the image below. Personally I think its funny at one point and ridiculous at many others! Personally I think its ridiculous because Sky News should at least know who the Leader of Lashkar E Taiba is and who the Member of Parliament for Tooting is! If Sky are going to Label Labour MP's terrorists today, imagine what they would be doing very soon! Personally I think its to much time spent on ...
The Parliament's Joint Select Committee on Human Rights has officially criticised the police for the 'unacceptable' way photojournalists are treated while covering protests.Over the past few weeks, the Committee has been looking at how police handled the media covering recent protests and demonstrations.The report, released this week, says that it 'is unacceptable that individual journalists are left with no option but to take court action against officers who unlawfully interfere with their work. Journalists have the right to carry out their lawful business and report the way in which demonstrations are handled by the police without state interference, unless such ...
I have just been watching the Daily Politics on BBC2 and think it was an interesting debate between Paul and Derek. Paul Staines for the first time in history came onto the Main Stream Media as himself and did not hide behind the dark as he did on Newsnight a while back. Both went at each other like two hungry dogs who wanted to rip the head of each other, but Guido said something which I think was interesting. Guido claimed that the press officer at Number 10 had said to Draper to slander Iain Dale, if that is true ...
Having sorted out the dissent within his own group, the Welsh Conservative Leader, Nick Bourne has moved quickly to eradicate all the plotting against him in the Assembly.Those who bought into the excuse that spending £7,200 of taxpayers money on knocking down walls so that Tory researchers and press officers can share the same office were missing the point. It was to stop conspiracies being
Welsh Liberal Democrats are pointing out the financial, environmental and health benefits of allotments and garden shares in all communities. This week's inflation figures suggested that while food prices are going up, wage inflation is likely to stay at zero, meaning that many will struggle to pay their food bills, and many are looking to alternative solutions such as growing their own food.
I admit it. The Apprentice is one of my favourite programmes on television and so I have been looking forward to the new series for weeks (I know that it always annoyingly clashes with election campaigns and so it must have been due). I accept it doesn't exactly give you a realistic view of the world [...]
She may be angling to become our next Prime Minister but that does not mean that Harriet Harman understands the Barnett formula, or does she? She told the House of Commons yesterday that the Chancellor of the Exchequer's plans for £5 billion of efficiency savings across Whitehall will not lead to the devolved administrations losing out. This could mean one of two things. Either the cuts are all planned for non-devolved functions such as defence and the Home Office or else the Deputy Prime Minister does not understand the basis on which Wales and Scotland are funded? Answers on a ...
With regard to Richard Dawkins (see the end of the last post) I thought I would try to understand so I went to the library and got out 'The God Delusion'. I tried very hard to read it but I lost the fight in the first chapter. The preface told me what a great guy he was and how he had single handedly saved the world from evil faiths. The first chapter increased the volume further and, I assume, set the tone for the rest of the book. The best bit of this first chapter was when he told me ...
Guido is terribly proud that Daniel Hannan's speech, straight out of the Guido playbook of diagnosing Gordon Brown's "pathologies" and wrapping himself in libertarian bollocks, has become something of an internet sensation. Noting that the clip has attracted the attention of such illustrious organs as the Drudge Report, he declares:Cometh the hour, cometh the man - we are all ditto-heads now;
If anybody still harbours the misconception that Plaid Cymru is a liberal party or even a democratic one for that matter then this should quickly disabuse them of such a notion. According to the Western Mail, the student who e-mailed Ieuan Wyn Jones to complain about his party's unprincipled abandonment of a key election pledge has been booted out of Plaid Cymru. So much for their claims that the abolition of tuition fees is still party policy. Ms. Caiach-Taylor sums up what every student and young person in Plaid Cymru must be thinking: "If disagreeing with the leader is grounds ...
Around 127 Councils put money into Icelandic Banks. Only 7 in the country, including Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council have been described as negligent for putting money in just before they collapsed ignoring warnings. Ian Swales Liberal Democrats Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Redcar said: "It's unbelievable that our Council put more money into Icelandic Banks even after they were specifically warned. How can they be trusted to look after our money?" Leader of the Lib Dem Group on Redcar and Cleveland Council said: "The Council's actions were clearly negligent. They claim that an internal inquiry absolved them of blame. What ...
Astounding to listen to the discussion between Tory Kirstie Allsop and LD Matthew Taylor about second homes affecting local communities and their services. According to Allsop, the responsibility for maintaining these services and stopping dwellings being sold for second homes rests with the local community. It is for the owners of thse properties to say no to prospective buyers and instead to hold out for other people to come along who won't simply be treating the property as a summer bolthole. And this from someone who has made her name advising people on buying and selling homes. Well forgive me ...
This little Republic on for the Orwell Prize? We are dumbfounded, and a bit shuffly. We are still in our very early history compared to some of these established states, and our peasants are continuously revolting. Sometimes we even make up our own words, and we are a little too fond of the passive. This [...]
This morning saw John Humprys refereeing a spat between LibDem MP Matthew Taylor and property developer and adviser to David Cameron Kirstie Allsopp, regarding second/holiday homes in the English countryside. Matthew's report into rural housing and business, published last July, came up with a large number of recommendations, one of which was limiting the number of [...]
GetReading reports: Three anglers claim they were arrested under anti-terror laws in Woodley after using laser pens to frighten ducks away from their bait hooks. The three men were taken into Loddon Valley Police Station late on Friday, March 7, and two were held overnight, DNA tested, fingerprinted and then released without charge... [One of the three] said they were told they had been arrested for "endangering aircraft"... A police spokesman clarified later that the men were arrested under the Air Navigation Order 2005 - not terror laws. Whether or not it was anti-terrorism legislation isn't really the point. It's ...
One in six mental health professionals have tried to help clients curb homosexual feelings, and 4% say they would help one of those homosexualists change sexual orientation, to allow them to become normal. That's a (slightly paraphrased) finding from a survey of 1,400 therapists published in the journal BMC Psychiatry. There's no evidence that sexual orientation is something that can be changed, and attempting to do so can do a great deal of harm. But the whole field of mental health care is still a long way from having the strong evidence base that standard medicine does. That's why it's ...
We have launched our policy brief, "Divided we fall: can the G20 save globalisation?" In the last week we have also had two excellent and well-attended events on the theme of this important summit. In Brussels, Andre Sapir, Sharon Bowles MEP and Emil Paulis discussed the role of enhanced regulation in building a more secure framework for global finance. In London, Vince Cable, Roland Rudd and Gillian Tett ranged widely over issues including the future shape of banking, the possibility of a global fiscal stimulus and comparisons with the 'lost decade' in Japan. We make no apologies for treating the ...
... Spandau Ballet are reforming, one of those throwbacks to an earlier, rather gentler era when the New Romantics bestrode the musical world like colossi (if that's the wrong word, I don't care, it looks pretty!). The downside is that I am reminded as to just how old I am, especially given that Tony Hadley has gone from smooth-jawed babe magnet (just check the videos if you don't believe me) to slightly gone to seed, puffy middle-aged West Ham season ticket holder. By the way, that's the look, not the actuality, before anyone gets too excited. Spandau Ballet were one ...
Adam Boulton (who is currently in the US to cover the start of the Obama administration) has written an article for the Times today which contrasts the US system of government with our own. His central thesis is that the US system of checks and balances on the executive means that there is a real debate about what should happen regarding the recession and it is not just the president and/or his close team of advisers who get to decide what should happen. He then contrasts this with the situation in the UK where our political masters decide what should ...
Is the Metro turning into the Daily Mail? I had received a text this morning from a good friend - What the...Metro headline 'experts still try cures for gays.' I sat there getting annoyed, then the BBC News team did the paper review and the headlines screamed "Fern Britton to leave This Morning" - oh my god could the day get any worse? So, sat on the bus I read the story - Experts still try 'cures' for gays. What a load of rubbish. 17% of therapists, mental health professionals who most of actually work for the NHS have tried ...
As blogged a couple of weeks ago Guido Fawkes and Derek Draper will take to BBC 2 as the war between the two bloggers continues. Personally I think its going to be an interesting programme and if anyone isn't going to be able to watch it then they should watch it on the BBC i player because it will be worth watching. So everyone get ready to the best Daily Politics show in a long time!
Over the past 24 hours, the airwaves have been full of the possibility of adverts for condoms being shown on television. I'm in the 'slightly in favour' category on this - I can't see that the reason people don't use condoms is down to the lack of choice and advertisements on prime time television. But [...]
We have a new planning application for the erection of 2 attached two bed houses with associated gardens and parking at Land Between The Old Vicarage And 24 Dominion Road Twerton Bath. The application was first registered on 9th March 2009 and has a decision date of 4th May 2009. The application registration number is 09/00805/FUL and you can view the application by...
I am surprised at the visit by the conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs to Twerton fish Market last Thursday as according to a press briefing given by the Conservative Party that was where he was visiting. As a resident of Twerton for many years I only know of a small fish stall inside a Market that sells general goods or perhaps...
News reaches me that my cousin Clint and his wife Kalina have brought new Valladares life into the world - Kaia Elaine Valladares was born on Saturday. Here's a picture of mother and child, everybody say aah... Kaia is their first child, and a continuation of a statistically unlikely pattern of births. My generation produced an overwhelming majority of boys, whilst this new generation is equally overwhelmingly female. Indeed, so much so that there is a risk, albeit a small one, that the Valladares line will screech to a halt. The five Valladares males in my generation have so far ...
There has been plenty of debate elsewhere already about the privacy implications of Google's Street View service (and this fun Matt cartoon), so I won't add to that here but instead I thought some people may find it useful to know how you can ask to get something removed from the service (e.g. any embarrassed Liberal Democrat activist who has been caught on camera walking past a letterbox and not putting a leaflet through it): 1. Go to http://maps.google.co.uk/. 2. Locate the offending scene, e.g. by searching for the postcode, dragging the yellow person on to the map and then ...
Hat-tip to Jonathan Calder http://www.liberalengland.blogspot.com/
Daily collection of links and thoughts that weren't worth a whole post. 22:39 Who is this Charlie Brooker bloke anyway? Is he always this ranty? #newswipe # 22:45 Hmm, I'm impressed by the £oneygeddon thing because the girl's fairly cute. That's wrong, right? #newswipe # 23:01 Well, that was kinda fun, I'll probably watch again. Marcus up next, he's not on Twitter yet is he? #newswipe #Microblogging using LoudTwitter and Twitter. matgb_twitter is there if you're mad enough. Hopefully I've fixed the recursion problem, and if you'd rather this was cut, then editing your LJ code to do so is ...
My phone and email continue to go crazy today. I spent the morning at Shire Hall talking to an officer about the 09:00 service on the No. 18 bus from Toft which will disappear after 12th April. There are a lot of angry people who are going to be seriously affected when / if this service goes. One option I've asked the Council to explore is funding a 09:00 service themselves - if a minimum number of passengers use the service it would be self supporting. I'm waiting to hear what that magic number is and then I can canvass ...
Back in February I began to write about the scandal in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. There two judges have admitted taking money from the operators of private juvenile detention facilities in return for providing them with a stream of new inmates. The first post is here and you can find them all here. Pennlive.com explains another twist in the scandal: familes were charged for their children's imprisonment: Overwhelmed parents, many of whom had no legal counsel, were given an assessment to pay for the room and board of their children while they were staying at the two detention centers run by ...
As residents are aware, I have long campaigned for more bus shelters in the West End. Earlier this financial year, finance became available for an additional 16 shelters across the City and, as Planning & Transport Convener of the Council, I supported a fair dispersal of these across the city - 2 per city council ward. The two new West End Ward ones are at Perth Road (south side near Seafield Road/Lane) and Magdalen Yard Road (north side near Servite Housing) - as you can see from the photos above taken yesterday - work is now in hand to build ...
When the Government brings in some ill thought out and badly worded piece of legislation, opponents often mention, just in passing, that perhaps the law ought to be worded to restrict it to the thing it's intended to tackle. So, for example, perhaps laws brought in to protect children ought not to be drafted so it is, today, illegal for two fifteen year olds to kiss. "Ah, yes" ministers say, "the letter of the law might say that, but it won't be used in that way. There are guidelines. Guidelines, I tell you." Needless to say, this answers all our ...
From theparliament.com: British Tory leader David Cameron has been condemned as "ridiculous" for pulling his party out of the EPP-ED group. The blistering attack, from one of his own MEPs, comes in the wake of Cameron's decision to cut loose from parliament's biggest political group after June's European elections. Caroline Jackson is so incensed by the move she says she is considering quitting the Tory party of which she has been a member since 1963. "Pulling out of the EPP was ridiculous, is a serious mistake and I am minded to leave the party," she said. Jackson, who is retiring ...
The right thinking people of the UK got and get up at arms when there hear about 'education programmes' in China and that used to go on in the Soviet Bloc. Yet what happens when re-education occurs here. Apparently nothing yet it is going on. As I was getting off the bus this morning the front page of the Metro caught my eye. Apparently 17% of our country's therapists have attempted to 'cure' gay patients of their orientation. This is despite the Department of Health stating 'Homosexuality is not a mental disorder and does not need treatment'. How can these ...
The news that Iberdrola Renewables are to slash their investment in Britain by more than 40 per cent, or £300 million, is possibly a worrying sign that the financial mess we have got into may have more damaging effects to our world than merely in its pocket. Iberdrola are one of the world's largest investors in wind farms, BP and Shell have also shelved of pulled out of projects in recent months including the Thames Estuary porject. But the economic downturn compounded with problems of access to the grid and planning delays is making the UK a place that the ...
I said that I would make up for missing Saturday on the doorstep - and I think I did! 10am meet the rest of the team and start knocking on some doors. Finish shortly after 12. 12.10 Go to speak to some businesses about the local business survey. 1pm Meet with some members of a local campaign group. Very interesting and useful discussion. Outside there is sudden downpour of rain, followed a while later by an equally sudden hailstorm. This is very well timed! 2.30pm A few more businesses... 3.30pm Meet the team again (and say hello to a couple ...
