Well I've caught up at last. Pictures are a good thing, but, as I said a few days ago, they can be hard work. It isn't actually doing the job, but remembering everything that has to be done, at least when it's all new. Just so you know, I now have 5 pictures up: Feb 2, February Snow March 9, Nick Clegg and our raffle March 11, Park Wood March 13, Delph Playground March 15, Raffle prizes From now on I intend to include pictures whenever I can. Wish me luck...
Yate Town Council Easter Egg Hunt will be held at 10.00am on Monday 13 April in Kingsgate Park. This free event is open to all children aged 12 and under. Find a token to win an Easter Egg (separate area for children aged 5 and under); wear an Easter Bonnet to win a prize. While we're talking about eggs, here's a video showing a creative way to break Creme Eggs. Sorry but we couldn't resist it...
I was there to meet the 100,000th visitor to Preston Hall today, and delighted that it was a young couple, one of who was a visitor from the south. After the surprise gift and photos we were telling them of some of the things to see in the museum and I was telling them about the small display upstairs about Brass Crosby that I have been doing research on. For those not following the story in...
Google Street is getting lots of headlines this week and Norwich is one of the 25 cities that Google decided to feature, although it is a Norwich I barely recognise. Oddly, virtually every shot of Norwich seems to be in great weather and sunshine, things which I certainly don't recognise as being typical of Norwich. It did make me wonder when the city was photographed, but looking at specific shots of buildings I knew to be closing and area where building work was ongoing, I have worked out he photography was done during late July, which oddly was our sunny ...
The London Press Club, at the St Bride's Institute off Fleet Street, hosted a well-attended European elections hustings this evening, at which I was the LibDem representative, alongside fellow London candidates Jean Lambert MEP (Green), Gerard Batten MEP (UKIP), Jean-Paul Floru (Conservative) and Kevin McGrath (Labour). I was pleased to be called (alphabetically) after Gerard [...]
Let Alexander Fleming and the NHS be praised. My ear is beginning to feel better. # I've just seen my first bumble bee of the year. Hooray spring is here. # Watching a programme about a family trying to live on a desert island and feel I would probably drown the wife and her materialism. # Work tomorrow [...]
Just as the Conservatives try desperately to untangle their taxation knots it seems we have one of our own. Or do we? Nick Clegg's interview in the Financial Times where he abandons the goal of cutting the net overall burden of taxation *in the short term* has caused great waves on the blogsphere as maybe expected. The operative phrase is in asterisks above to highlight it for those, on left and right, who think this represents a fundamental policy shift. It doesn't. Towards the end of the article we find this paragraph; "Mr Clegg said his long-term aim was still ...
The Victoria Line was in a mess tonight. It took 30 min to get from Victoria to Kings Cross. I nearly missed the train. Fortunately I had built in enough time (just) to catch the train - I'm on it now,heading back to the North East. Tomorrow I managed to double book myself. We have a fair in Crawcrook in the morning where I am running the jam stall (yes it really is a case of jam tomorrow!) But
I didn't get back to the flat last night until 11.15 pm and then I broke a rule by watching politics on tv - I get enough through the day so I try to avoid it in the evening. But somehow I managed to catch the last few minutes of Question Time and the remarkable grave digging demonstration by Eric Pickles. For someone touted by the Tories as the "Great Organiser", his performance seemed to fall
After a long day with the day job in Edinburgh today, nice to be back, Indian take-away, Coronation Street, then American Idol - Motown Night - but nothing compares to this!
Weekend quiz anyone?In Cardiff, Labour activists have started distributing a petition to keep open various police stations across the capital. So far so good. More constructive than this too.However, your weekend quiz question is this: why might South Wales Police be considering closing police stations?a) they have had a series of poor grant settlements from the Labour-run Home Office; (Jenny
There comes a point when a politician's performance on Question Time is so lamentable, it is embarassing and actually awkward to watch. For a brief moment, I had a great deal of sympathy with Eric Pickles, thinking that he was trying to say something of value, which was being misread. Of course his cheap, assinine comment about the Liberal Democrats (obviously trying to score cheap points even when his own credibility had just crashed completely) made my sympathy reduce quite considerably. Pickles' concerns about making it in are ridiculous. Umpteen millions of Britons have to commute daily to work. He ...
Have finally given in to the most annoying internet craze ever: Twitter. I now have this urge to tell everyone in the world what I'm doing all the time! And if you like you can even follow me.
Sorry for the lack of posts in the last few weeks. I've just finished this term at Uni and had loads of essays to do so have been a bit busy! There's also a by election on in Leeds at the moment so I have been helping the Lib Dem candidate Ian Dowling. It's in Temple Newsam ward in East Leeds. Let me know if you fancy lending a hand! Did a bit of casework for someone the other day. They live in Hyde Park and their bin had been nicked so they needed a new one. Within 15 hours ...
Just after I had sent this off to Cowley Street, Liberal Democrat Voice posted Tony McNulty's attack on benefit thieves". There is a case for the Ironic Squad if ever there was one. Henry Porter's Guardian piece is here, and the most ludicrous skirmish in the police's war on chalk was that with five-year-old Ryan Badland from Burnham-on-Sea. Ironic times Writing on the Guardian website, Henry Porter complained about the arrest of a 23-year-old student. Paul Saville was collared by four police officers after chalking "Liberty: the right to question. The right to ask: 'Are we free?"' on the pavement. ...
Local Lib Dem Councillors kept up the pressure for action on the recently announced bus cuts at Wednesday's meeting of South Glos Council. (Have you signed the bus petition? Click here to sign) They won cross-party support for a motion calling on the Tory Cabinet Member responsible for transport to negotiate with all bus operators to achieve a number of key improvements and to recognise the importance of improving public transport in the area in time for the opening of the new Badminton Road Council offices. But Tory and Labour Councillors voted against an amendment suggesting a timescale for implementing ...
Today's news that the Liberal Democrats have reviewed the pledge to cut the overall burden of taxation is timely and welcome. It was obvious that financial pressures were disproportionately hitting those on the lowest incomes, even before the start of the recession. Labour's 10p tax fiasco showed by public reaction that hitting the poorest is not only no way to achieve a fair society - it offended the public as a whole. Liberals should applaud a commitment to tax the lowest paid, less. That commitment must go hand in hand with measures that promote equality; as we recently confirmed, extending ...
After a bit of a hiatus, the LDV members' surveys are set to be revived. So if you are a registered member of the Liberal Democrat Voice forum - and any paid-up party member is welcome to join - then you now have the opportunity to make your views known on a range of issues in our April members' survey. Topics we are asking your opinion on include: - Lib Dem tax policy post-credit crunch; - when you think the economy will recover; - whether British troops withdrawn from Iraq should be redeployed to Afghanistan; - your views on assisted ...
Heavy Goods Vehicles relying on Satellite Navigation (Sat Nav) technology are using one of the most dangerous routes in the UK when they come North-South through Bath instead of using the A350, according to the Liberal Democrats. Bath MP Don Foster has previously encouraged the Council to work with Sat Nav mapping companies to provide appropriate routes. Now he has written to the...
I have a response from Ofsted as to what they are doing now about encouraging councils to have more children adopted from care. They say:2059SC - PAF CF/C23: Number of looked after children adoptedduring the year as a percentage of the number of looked afterchildren at 31 March (excluding unaccompanied asylum seekers)who had been looked after for six months or more on that day (BVPI163)Notes on
A quick plug for a quick plug - in this week's Newsnight Review (BBC2, 11pm Friday 27th March, and online), Kirsty Wark and the panel will be discussing Vince Cable's book, The Storm: the world economic crisis and what it means: Vince Cable's book The Storm is one of many pieces of non-fiction about to be published which attempt to explain the roots of this economic crisis. The Lib Dem Treasury spokesman has been called the "sage" of the credit crunch. He warned years ago about the over-heating housing market, and advocated the nationalisation of Northern Rock months before the ...
Glenn Greenwald hits the bullseye with a superb post on Salon.com comparing the US now to Russia and Argentina during past crises. His article is a must read by any standards. He starts by quoting Desmond Lachman, a former IMF official, who describes his experience of Russia and Asia. I still recall the shock I felt at a [...]
Roger Kennedy of the Cassell Hospital organised as justice for families? event at which I spoke amongst others last Wednesday. It was unique in having system people and non-system people at the same event. I found it quite useful talking to some judges about the issues. We took four tapes of the speakers and have so far uploaded one of them. These are now on youtube.The presentation is
There will be major roadworks for a couple of days on the section of Shire Way near Blaisdon, Woodchester and Littledean. They are going to plane off the surface and then put new tarmac down. Work will run from 8 am to 5 pm and there will be temporary traffic signals. It's going to be disruptive but the results should be worth it. We are still asking for repairs further down Shire Way - the potholes near Kingscote and the broken-up road centre on the hill section. We'll keep you posted about those.
So apparently the economic crisis is now so bad that there's really no choice but to increase taxation, in order to continue funding our massive public sector whilst tax revenues are falling and welfare costs increase. So in addition to all that debt you're trying to pay off and all those wage bills and other costs you're trying to meet - despite falling orders and cancelled contracts - the solution to your problems is to be taxed yet more. Cos, apparently, we're all sitting on a great big wodge of cash that needs spending, and, you know what? If you're ...
According to accusations made by Paul Staines yesterday about a Number 10 employee being behind that attacks that Draper launched on Iain Dale about being a racist, this has lead to Iain Dale to write to the man who is claimed is behind it. Damian McBride the guy behind this whole issue has been emailed by Iain as you can see from the screen shot below. Personally I think if true then the Prime Minister and his employees need to find something a lot more interesting to do with their time instead of going after bloggers. Personally like I have ...
I've had to be politer than I want to be! The 4.30pm train from Glasgow Queen Street was cancelled, after we had already settled down, coats off and ipods on. No reason given - just "this train is cancelled". So we all pile off the train and all head from platform 2 to platform 6 to get the 4.45pm - I refuse to get on a train like a cattletruck so waited for the 5pm. I've just had a big argument with the guard who insisted that now I'm on a peak train I have to pay a further £8.80. ...
Yesterday Eric Pickle MP on Question Time just drove straight into a whole with his stupid argument of having a second home yet living only 35 miles away from his Constituency home. Now I am not one to boast but aren't Conservative MP's and Labour MP's really pushing the boat out of expenses. As Guido points out Labour and Tory MP's are a little expensive to have as your MP because they claim the expenses and drain the public purse like its an orange juice that they can just drink! Personally I think it was funny seeing Erick Pickles land ...
Blogging will be light over tomorrow morning and probably most of the day as I am going on an all nighter. Its not an all night rave because Thatcher put an end to them when she was running this Country, yet people like Allan Duncan MP think she is marvelous! The next time Allan feels a little cheeky and wants to go and have a rave he will think differently of Margaret Thatcher!
Earlier today I was delivering leaflets and chatting to old friends in a rather chilly Barnsbury. Now the spring sunshine is out again just as I'm back in the office, filtering my EARS (don't ask). But there's a wonderful touch of online Spring with this blogpost from Urban Legends about the Regent's Canal. And if you want [...]
Blogging has been a little dry today because of me attending a Question and Answer with Conservative front bench Allan Duncan MP at College. Alan is a lively character I do have to say that and personally I think he did feel under heat from the questions that were being asked especially from people like myself. I do take pleasure from interrogating Conservatives and Labour politicians, that's why Gordon Prentice suffered the same kind of interrogation that Allan Duncan MP received. Many people have suggested to me that I work for Mi5 as an interrogator but its not for me ...
This week's issue of the magazine formerly known as the Times Higher Education Supplement is reporting that a student in Bristol has been arrested and charged with criminal damage for chalking on a pavement. The words he wrote? "Liberty. The right to question it. The right to ask: 'Are we free?'" I guess he has his answer. LibDig This!
Yesterday evening Paddy Ashdown gave a lecture at Edinburgh University entitled The World will never be the Same. There was poetry, a song, accents of Northern Ireland and Somerset, an Afghan war revisited, Bosnia and Herzagovina, China, Obama, India and Africa all visited. Plus the introduction of Ashdowns 3rd Law*. There was also a look at the cover (the inside is embargoed) of his new Autobiography A Fortunate Life which two lucky people will be winning a signed copy of. However, after retiring from the campus to a Indian meal with the man himself, some of the students, Fred Mackintosh ...
Even as the Prime Minister was, according to the headlines, proving his commmitment to 'ending anomaly of royal ban on Catholics', his Government was conspiring to 'talk out' Dr Evan Harris's private member's bill reforming the right of succession and the laws preventing the monarch marrying a Catholic. Evan was not amused: Despite the spin from the Prime Minister about amending religious and sexual discrimination in our constitution being a higher priority, the Government has dealt a serious blow to the prospects of reform by talking out my Bill. Jack Straw was asked three times to provide either a timetable, ...
The Conservatives have attacked Labour's Tony McNulty for his manipulation of the House of Commons rules on second homes to his benefit, even though his constituency is in inner London. (He is not the worst offender, by the way; top of the list is Harry Cohen, Labour MP for Leyton. Hywel Morgan has drawn up a table of comparisons of seven MPs in adjacent constituencies.) Surprising, then, that Eric Pickles (the Tories' answer to Chris Rennard) should not only be exposed as another beneficiary, but is also prepared to defend the system, as he did on "Question Time" on Thursday ...
BBC News reports that the police are to investigate MI5 complicity in the torture claims of Binyam Mohamed. Two weeks before starting a criminal investigation into torture claims does seem a little on the slow side. I would hope that the West Yorkshire Police would be a little quicker off the mark if I was to report [...]
The Birkdale blog has already reported on this excellent initiative. The campaign logo is on the right and is already beginning to appear on cars throughout the town. At last night's council meeting the Lib Dem councillors were almost all sporting the lapel badge. More details here
My Amazon account flags me that Vince Cable's book 'The Storm' will be delivered to me on or about 6 April. Pre-ordered in January... So not long to go before we all can get Vince's thoughts in detail. Meanwhile this article in the current edition of the 'Atlantic Monthly' looks of interest. The summary says: The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the United States. One of the most alarming, says a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government—a state of affairs that more typically describes emerging ...
Simon Shaw's question at full council, reported below, has be taken up bu our MP. The Visiter has the story
Stephen Tall has posted on LDV about the eerie silence from the right wing blogosphere regarding Eric Pickles' performance on Question Time that I blogged about earlier. In the comments someone pointed out that Con Home have now commented on it, albeit in a fairly muted way whilst claiming still to be a big fan of Pickles. Iain Dale however posted in the thread that he "did not want to intrude on private grief". I am not quite sure what he means by this seeing as it was broadcast on the most popular channel in the UK on one of ...
Below is the speech which seems to have ended with Noel's HQ leaving Sky.Noel Edmonds has reportedly pulled his Noel's HQ show from Sky TV over a disagreement about presenting the show live.Sky bosses wanted Noel to start pre-recording the series following a live rant the 60-year-old presenter made on air last month, according to The Sun.But Noel refused and is now taking the second series of the
The Times has a standard council tax article today, telling its readers what huge increases are being imposed on them. I expect many readers were worried by the third paragraph, which read: The move came after [local government minister] Mr Healey announced that the average Band D council tax bill would go up from April 1 [...]
Russell Brand today has shown his sensitive side in this very genuine, touching and heartfelt tribute to Jade Goody which he put on his blog this morning. I never knew that his mother had Cancer several times during his childhood - and survived them - and Russell's sympathy for Jade's boys is very clear. These gentle and empathetic qualities are not what you would normally expect from the often outrageous comedian and it's good to see this aspect of him. It's been obvious that people in "showbiz" who actually met Jade, Stephen Fry being another example, were impressed with her. ...
MEPs were in Strasbourg this week for a week of formal debates and votes. Thanks to the good work of my UK LibDem colleague Sarah Ludford MEP, we voted to prevent children under the age of 12 from being fingerprinted for visa or immigration purposes (though the UK will opt out because our government wants to take fingerprints of 6 year olds). And thanks to the good work of my Catalan colleague Ignasi Guardans MEP we have struck what I think is the right balance between aid and trade in new partnership agreements with the former colonies of EU countries ...
Labour have ruled, this land for too long, we are waiting, Waiting to tell them that their time, now is at hand, They sit there laughing! They do not care for us all, they care about power. Why, why, why, New Labour? Why, why, why, New Labour? Our country still is stuck in poverty, How long will New Labour keep hammering Wales' poor? Okay, its a fairly rubbishly-constructed verse. But heck, in 5 minutes, that's what you get. But the sheer arrogance of this blog astounds me. You wouldn't think that this Government is part Plaid Cymru, would you, according ...
I had great fun talking to a very sensible Tory supporter in my `growing up` town of Upminster - stating that Angela Watkinson MP received over £80,000 for ACA. I shall make that call tonight to my parents - one of whom works in a hairdressers salon as a receptionist! She'll tell all her neighbours - [...]
I may be blogging light at the mo, but there are a couple of things I could not let pass. Firstly, the news yesterday that one in six therapists would attempt to curb homosexual feelings in their patients. Who are these people and why are they allowed to practice? To imply that being attracted to people of the same sex is some sort of defect that can or should be cured is unethical and immoral. End of story. Secondly, I was horrified to learn via Labour blogger Yousuf of another example of media hypocrisy. It seems that there has been ...
I didn't catch Question Time live last night. That's not unusual; the busy lives in the household mean that we are often dependent on the Sky+ box and its wonderful 'Series Link' feature. So this morning I sat down with a large cup of tea and a chocolate chip cookie and prepared for an hour of [...]
I'm feeling ill and can't go to bed cos the children don't go to school on Friday afternoons in these parts so I've been catching up on some blog reading over the last wee while. I haven't watched last night's Question Time yet, but a brief glance at the overnight Tweets from my insomniac friends indicated that Eric Pickles, MP for Brentwood and Ongar, made a bit of an arse of himself as he attempted to justify having a second home in London when his constituency is just a few miles north of London. The more he spoke, the bigger ...
A letter to the Torbay local paper follows. Ironically this is after recent exchanges within it's letters pages between Marcus and Labour about integrity and funding issues in politics ! This is, of course, the unedited and as yet unpublished version. Marcus Wood, from the Torbay Tories, has frequently been on these pages seeking to uphold integrity and honesty as a virtue in politics, whilst excoriating others to do likewise. So what does he make of Eric Pickles' statement that he needs a second home near Westminster, paid for by taxpayers, despite his Essex constituency being arguably less than 30 ...
{loveprestwichweb.gif} Last nights Area Partnership meeting at Sedgley Park School was billed as "the one not to miss", and I think it lived up to expectations. The meeting was well attended - although most members of the public were there to here further about proposals for the development of Prestwich Village or arrangements for the Oasis concerts in Heaton Park. Key highlights included: Prestwich Festival Panel and residents received an update on progress for this years inaugural Prestwich Festival which will run from May 17th to June 21st. David Curtis who leads the carnival organising committee and is coordinating the ...
Sir Ron Watson was in fine form last night at the full council meeting moving his motion on Council Tax which can be found on the agenda here. Now let us be clear Sir Ron was only after staging a debate and getting a discussion going on this issue. He was of course intent on scoring a few point against the government and the Lib Dems. I regard that as entirely appropriate and like Sir Ron regret that the structuring of the council with an executive cabinet has militated against such debates. Of course such debates require us all to ...
I blogged earlier today on LDV about Eric Pickles' pitifully embarrassing performance on last night's Question Time, the Tory chairman riling the audience with his tone-deaf defence of MPs' second homes. It's not just in Lib Dem circles that this attracted attention - it's provided much water-cooler comment in the office, and PoliticsHome.com has uploaded the transcript and video here. You might have though it would have merited some coverage in the right-wing blogosphere, whether springing to the Tory party chairman's aid, or brushing it aside as a momentary gaffe. I've checked a couple of times today on the leading ...
Yesterday saw three by-elections in the West Midlands - three in Redditch and one in Wolverhampton South East. The Conservatives held one in Redditch and lost the other to Labour and Labour held in Wolverhampton.
Last night saw the parliamentary candidates of the newly formed Hampstead and Kilburn constituency battle it out in their first public debate. But what did we hear? We heard Glenda Jackson admit that New Labour only courted the City to win an election and Chris Philp demand that any MP found to be breaching Parliamentary rules on expenses be expelled by their party. Ed Fordham's speeches suggested a more appropriate slogan for his campaign would be 'vote Fordham, get Cable' and Magnus Nielsen of UKIP's strategy was to blame everything from the Great Plague to the sinking of the Titanic ...
An independent organisation representing carers is organising a protest rally highlighting the fact that many carers are forced into poverty as a result of their caring role. The London protest will be held in Old Palace Yard at 11am on Wednesday 22nd April 2009, marching to 10 Downing Street to present a petition. The protest is supported by [...]
Last summer, when Nick Clegg launched the party's Make It Happen policy statement, he made a bold declaration for a Lib Dem leader: that we would "get wasteful government spending under control, and look for ways to cut the overall tax burden." Today, Nick conceded in an interview with today's Financial Times what has become increasingly obvious since the collapse of Lehman's in the autumn, and the plunge of Britain's economy into full-blown recession - that it's simply not possible now to cut the overall burden of taxation: Nick Clegg yesterday abandoned the Liberal Democrats' short-lived pledge to go into ...
Vote Earth! Switch Off Your Lights For Earth Hour by Shepard FaireyOriginally uploaded by Earth Hour GlobalIs it really a year since Earth Hour 2008? I don't feel as though much has changed in the intervening 8760 hours (or 8729 as I write) to improve things. Governments say the right words and do the wrong deeds. Most of us need constant reminders but then we resent being "preached at". So
I obviously made it too easy for the squirrels who have been nicking the bird food - so am off to take a course in design, architecture and engineering!
Yalding Organic Gardens and Hall Place in Ripplestone Review.
Last night at the Local Area Partnership meeting, the promoter of this summer's Oasis concerts at Heaton Park was present to answer resident's questions. And I have to say he answered them all very convincingly. Naturally, the influx of 210,000 people over three nights into Heaton Park is alarming, especially for residents living close to the park. And, having been at the front at Oasis gigs in the past myself, I know that some of their followers have a less than conservative view of the best way to behave at such events. But I have to say that the promoter ...
North East Lincolnshire UA, YarboroughLD Peter Bailey 763 (35.8; +4.4)Con 513 (24.1; -0.3)Lab 437 (20.5; +2.5)BNP 370 (17.4; +17.4)The Generalist Party 49 (2.3; +2.3)[Ind (0.0; -4.7)][Ind (0.0; -21.4)]Majority 250Turnout 25.5%LD holdPercentage change is since May 2008 Redditch DC, Headless Cross and OakenshawCon 764 (48.2; -14.7)Lab 502 (31.7; +8.5)LD John Stanley 162 (10.2; -3.7)Green 113 (7.1;
One of the downsides to the Local Area Partnership meetings is that often we are helpless in the face of very reasonable requests for action from residents. Last night's hot topics were, unsurprisingly, alley gating, graffiti, litter and dog mess. These are the "usual suspects," raised every time to us as Councillors. And every time we have to make the same apology for the Council's woeful inaction, unwillingness to listen, and shameful failure to provide a decent service. Sometimes we have to explain to people that we are not the Council itself, but merely the people's representative to the Council. ...
Over at The Independent today, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg explains why an Iraq inquiry should examine every detail the Government would like ignored. Here's an excerpt: We had the whitewash Hutton inquiry, then the Butler inquiry, but the real truth about the political decision-making that led us into this war has never yet been exposed. Labour and the Conservatives came together to drag our country into an illegal war: we need to know how that happened so that we make sure it never happens again. The government has finally accepted that it can no longer duck an inquiry. The ...
Last night's Local Area Partnership (LAP) was a packed and busy affair, and a success I think. There must have been at least 50 people in the audience to hear updates from the business of the Partnership over the last couple of months, and to hear three very important presentations as well as put their questions to LAP members like Councillors and the police. Say what you want about the merits of "partnership working," but these meetings certainly draw a crowd. Although a lot of the issues that residents brought up remind me of the frustrations we continue to face ...
Oooh, Eric Pickles on Question Time on MP expenses is just awful. I mean, even us dogs know that it isn't only MPs who have to turn up on time at work. I've often returned from work late at night and I don't expect the taxpayer to pay for an extra kennel for me in central London. Bad boy Eric Pickles, very bad boy.
Belarus is usually described as the last bastion of tyranny in Europe. It continues to be a weird post-Soviet throwback, under its dictatorial leader, Aleksander Lukashenka. It officially uses the same flag and symbols as it used under the USSR, with only the hammer and sickle removed. Indeed the security service of this state of 10 million is still known as the KGB and it uses the same brutal methods as its Soviet namesake. Yet the situation in Belarus is not static. Although the dictatorship is certainly extremely repressive, the fact is that it is also somewhat erratic and now ...
Will Howells' take on that weekly monstrosity, Prime Minister's Questions:
Yesterday's Evening Standard includes a story about a gallant Government minister attacking Network Rail's incompetence in managing to close both the East and West Coast main lines on consecutive weekends. Yes, it's Lord (Andrew) Adonis, standing up for the travelling public. Yet there is, as there usually is, some backstory here. Let's go back to the beginning of the story. Far from this being the initiative of an on the ball minister, this is actually the story of a rather frustrated baroness. As Ros relates, because it is her, gentle reader... Asked By Baroness Scott of Needham Market To ask ...
Life continues incredibly busy. Off to see Mark Thomas in Huddersfield tonight. Hope to catch up tomorrow...
A sad reflection on our society when advertisements for abortion will be shown on our television screens.
A solution to the problems at Dunfermline Building Society should involve a partnership between the mutual sector and the Government. And it must involve keeping the Society as an independent Scottish mutual. It would be unacceptable for the society to be merged with another society, to be taken over by the government or to to be sold off to a private buyer. It's important that we do everything to defend Scotland's biggest mutual.
The link is to one report from the meeting about government efficiency.What interested me was that there was general agreement that more openness is needed in government and that the secrecy allows bad practise.
Are mobile phones penetrating the fabric of society too much? I know a few people in the Liberal Democrats who are quite committed Christians and one such chap jumped on the Underground in London the other day, after having a fairly large stroke of luck at work. Being a Christian he thought about offering a silent prayer of thanks, but he then caught himself thinking "Oh I can't, there's no signal on the tube."
I live in Luton and work in London.Like many thousands of others I do a regular commute each morning to get to the office and one each evening to get home. Because I have the benefit of living close to the rail station and the relatively good service provided by the Thameslink line I can be at most central London locations within an hour or hour and a half of leaving my home. This comes with a
Below is the text of my email sent to Barnet Council opposing the ASDA proposals in New Barnet. I wish to record my opposition to this planning application. The site borders my ward along its western boundary and will have a significant impact on residents across the whole of High Barnet Ward. My specific objections are; Excessive increase in traffic Roads in the area are already stretched to capacity. The additional load that ASDA calculates will occur is not viable. The railway creates pinch points on the road system that cannot be overcome. There is no possible way to ameliorate ...
So as well as the pope being a proven liar, we now have an unnamed cardinal being an obvious hypocrite (about half-way down the page; search for "state-sponsored sectarianism").Unless of course this cardinal is prepared to also call the Vatican's rules for who can become pope "state-sponsored sectarianism" and work to change the rules so that non-Catholics can become his head of state.
Click here It's at 8:25 It's very pithy, Meacher is spitting feathers (What's he still doing in Labour if he thinks they've failed the country so badly) while Nelson tries to push back yet doesn't seem to grasp the need for change. It's amazing - Micheal Meacher is in the zeitgeist of the UK! [...]
From today's Daily Mail, following up the story about the widespread using of snooping powers by councils (as covered yesterday by Home Office Watch): Nine in ten of 10,000 spied on by councils using anti-terrorism powers are innocent The revelation intensified the controversy over local councils using anti-terror powers to spy on those suspected of 'crimes' such as putting their bins out on the wrong day. The legislation, which allows secret filming and even the trailing of suspects by undercover officials, has been used by councils at least 10,333 times over the past five years... Others targeted under the Regulation ...
On Wednesday night I was heading up the Holloway Road on the world's slowest bus (thank you blue car parked in the bus lane) for our Pizza Pitta and Politics evening. Each month Islington Lib Dems have a Pizza & Politics event where we discuss politics and, er, eat pizza. This month's was a bit [...]
Here's my spot, with Martin Stanford, on SkyNews.Com from last night.
The report of the Wales Audit Office into Project Red Dragon is sobering reading. It reveals that the £113m super hangar built at RAF St. Athan cost the taxpayer £2.5m for every job that it created. Two years after signing the deal the Ministry of Defence switched the repair contracts to Norfolk and Rutland instead. In the end only 45 jobs were created instead of the 4,000 envisaged.On Radio
We had the March meeting of the North London Fawcett Group last night. I arrived in a rush from a day working in Chesham, looking for the venue, a community centre in Ossulton Street NW1. On the way from Euston, I passed two sites that reflect Fawcett's interests; the former home of the Elizabeth Garrett [...]
Alice Miles has had a piece published in today's Times, entitled "Don't blame second-home owners for all rural ills". She starts off with a fairly uncontroversial reflection on a consultation exercise in her village regarding a proposal for some affordable housing, noting that 90% of respondents had rejected all of the options. So far, so worthy. And then the wheels not so much fall off as sprout Boadiccea-like spikes... Whilst she acknowledges that second-home owners are usually blamed for the unavailability of affordable homes, and admits that, in some holiday areas, there are too many, her real fire is turned ...
I have been waiting for some time for Nick Clegg to announce that Liberal Democrat plans to offer net tax cuts at the General Election are no longer realistic in the present economic climate. According to the Financial Times Nick has now said that the drastic deterioration in the public finances since the policy was adopted means that overall tax cuts in the short term are "implausible". Effectively the state of the UK's finances leave any government little room for manoeurvre: He told the Financial Times that the Lib Dems had to be honest about the need to cut the ...
Surveillance powers designed to prevent crime and terrorism and have been used by councils more than 10,000 times since 2004, research by the Liberals Democrats has found. A survey of more than 180 councils discovered that: Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) powers have been used 10,288 times in the last five years 1,615 council staff have the...
I watched Question Time last night and whilst Eric Pickles seemed to do OK in the first half, when it came to a question about MPs expenses he made an utter fool of himself. You can watch it for yourself here. The question is from 38:30 and Pickles contribution starts at about 44:00. I have transcribed the first part of his answer here: Dimbleby: Eric Pickles do you have a two house system with an allowance? Pickles: I do indeed have a two house system and an allowance, but if I could just make a brief contribution... Dimbleby: How far ...
Nick Clegg proposes reform of the financial system to protect businesses and high street savers from from a greedy few in the City This article was originally published in the Yorkshire Post on 19th March 2009 Britain's banks have been allowed to get away with far too much over the last decade. It's time to draw a line under the age of reckless banking...
I didn't imagine that last night's BBC1 Question Time would be an especially memorable one - but my expectations were confounded by the efforts of Tory chairman Eric Pickles to dig himself into a deep, deep hole on MPs' expenses. And then to keep on digging and digging. Even if QT normally drives you round the bend, I do urge you to watch the three minute segment on the BBC website HERE. (Public appeal: can someone please, please, please put up this clip on YouTube for the benefit of posterity?) Not since Welsh First Minister Rhoddri Morgan made a complete ...
Daily collection of links and thoughts that weren't worth a whole post. 13:51 Ye gods, scruffy git vs fat bastard, the Beeb wants to make all bloggers are arseholes, but these two are gits tinyurl.com/debv98 # 13:53 Draper thinks Staines needed funding to set up Order Order? He's got offices in Picadilly? FFS, the man has no clue. #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 easy.
You will recall that, a few weeks ago, I asked Andrew Adonis what the government's role in advising Network Rail was, after I had uncovered the co-incidental closure of the East Coast and West Coast main lines over a weekend. I wasn't entirely impressed by his answer, but it did start a debate about how the railways are run, as Alex Foster pointed out in Liberal Democrat Voice. I then received a letter (pictured) from Iain Coucher, the Chief Executive of Network Rail, dated 13 March, in which he noted that Andrew Adonis had written to him following the debate. ...
So - Gordon Brown is finally 'having discussions' about the antiquated customs that surround accession to the throne - the monarch not being able to marry a Catholic (Jews, Muslims and atheists are OK) and women get shunted out of line to the throne by the boys. So - hurrah! Except he is only doing it because my Lib Dem colleague Evan Harris, in his Private Members' Bill today on this subject, is forcing the issue. As indeed, I have forced it myself before. That time the Government conceded the issue - but said the Commonwealth was the sticking point. ...
Does a BBC sub-editor have one of the keys on their keyboard jammed down? I only ask because the BBC is going a bit mad on single quotes. Three reasons to use quotes: it's reported speech, you're quoting someone else and want to distance yourself from their words or you don't think it's really true. So let's have a look at this morning's BBC website. PM and palace 'discussed reform' Is the BBC not convinced that the discussion really took place -and their reporters couldn't be bothered to find out - so they put it in quotes just in case ...
Labour's new website has attracted a lot of comment on the media and the blogosphere but the most memorable remarks have to be those of its supporters. The site itself carries two endorsements from Wales' most senior politicians. Despite refusing to answer questions on the website on Radio Wales this morning, First Minister, Rhodri Morgan tells its readers that: "This brand new political website is definitely one to watch!" Clearly, he does not spend much time on the internet. Meanwhile, Paul Murphy, who as well as being Secretary of State for Wales is also apparently the Minister for Digital Inclusion ...
Is that a technical error by Channel 4 or have they read the mind of Derek Draper and posted MP in front of his name in advance. Is Draper thinking of running for Parliament at the next general election and LabourList is a way for him to promote himself?
Last year, in the period leading up to the London Assembly elections, Unlock Democracy promoted London Vote Match, a tool which allowed voters to match their views with those of the various competing parties to see which one best represented them. I was enthusiastic about it then, and remain so now. The good news is that Unlock Democracy will be promoting Vote Match Europe in the months leading up to the European election in June. However, they need your help, so why not use this link, and contribute your ideas and thoughts? And, once the final 'product' is available, why ...
The Islington Gazette has published my letter on the Fuel Poverty Bill - and Emily Thornberry's shocking failure to vote.
One of the last engagements of the mayoral year for the present mayor of Stockton was to present certificates to a number of organisations in the borough which have supported Fairtrade over the past year or more. The list included churches, cafes and Queen's Campus of Durham University as well as one of the small shops recently converted to a Co-op store. It was heartening to hear from their
Richard Curtis has a new film out. The Boat That Rocked deals with the pirate radio stations of the 1960s. I don't know much about it, but as The Boat That Rocked is a Richard Curtis film it will star Hugh Grant, an American woman and somebody with an obvious physical disability. There will be a race across London, followed by a happy ending. An article in the Guardian gives the historical background to the film. The pirate radio stations were hated by government, and the minister who forced them to close was Labour's postmaster general Anthony Wedgwood Benn. As ...
You'd have thought the floppy haired Mayor of London would have learnt from the woes of his glorious leader last summer at least just a little when implementing his bike hire scheme. You'd also think that Boris Johnson avid bike rider would also have looked at the examples of the other city schemes such as Paris's Vélib. But no Boris is forgetting one thing the lock. He thinks not having a lock will make people return the bikes they hire quicker to one of the 300-400 docking stations that will be available dotted around zone 1. But what is one ...
Residents will welcome the new CCTV provision currently being installed at Sinderins (see above), which will extend CCTV coverage westwards on Perth Road, past its existing end point at the Roseangle junction. The new CCTV is primarily being provided to improve bus punctuality, but will obviously be of assistance to the Police in terms of crime detection in the future too.
The BNP like to present themselves as `giving it to you straight` type of a Party. `There's no artifice with us. Oh no. If we want to say something we just say it`. Why's it so noticeable then that the BNP are showing their true opportunist colours by NOT mentioning the issue of Hindu burials in [...]
Liberal Democrat Voice brings news that Mark Pack is moving on to a new job outside of the Liberal Democrats. I was surprised when I read in Lib Dem Voice that Mark has only worked for the party for eight years as he has felt like an important fixture of party headquarters for far longer. Hilary's [...]
