And it's in Torchwood country too. More on the Daily Telegraph site. Boringly, The Register proves that it is just a woman in fancy dress.
I have a letter in the Echo on school choice. Dear sir Starting a new school should be a time of great hope for pupils - but those who get their first choice are likely to be just relieved. The Echo article ("Hundreds of pupils fail to get school of choice") reminds us why.Nationally around one child in six will not get their first choice this year. In Southend that figure rises to one child in three. Nearly one in ten children did not get either first, second or third choice. One in twenty will find that their "choice" has ...
Money-saving "Smart Meters" will soon be available to borrow free from libraries across South Gloucestershire, thanks to a successful proposal made by the Liberal Democrats at the South Gloucestershire Council meeting this week. Smart meters measure the electricity being used by home electrical appliances and enable users to find ways to reduce their electricity consumption. When a library loan scheme was introduced last year in York, the overwhelming demand for the meters meant that the number available for hire had to be doubled. Bringing the scheme here was the brainchild of local Councillor Dave Hockey (pictured right with a smart ...
Why is this government giving our tax payers money to a quangos to buy up important sites in Birkdale earmarked for urgently needed low cost housing and then allow them to lie empty and undeveloped for years. I have identified two sites in and around Birkdale that have been acquired by Servite Housing Association and left empty. One is in Upper Aughton Rd and another is behind the Thomas Moore site. Now we learn that Servite Housing is selling off it's sites to another housing association so there is yet more delay. We need to get a move on. We ...
Work is quiet. Feel need to hoover #
Shame on Labour and shame on Gordon Brown. I cannot believe that Gordon Brown and his Government are planning to sell off the Dunfermline Building Society as reported on the BBC website. Willie Rennie MP who represents Dunfermline & West Fife (and is also Gordon Brown's MP) has been campaigning to save the Building Society and you have to question why the Government has turned it's back on this Building Society given what support they have given to every other bank in the UK. The Government, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority have apparently decided they cannot ...
One of the oddities of the debate in the council on Thursday was the jibe that was uttered from the Leader of the smallest party. She suddenly declared, seemingly without cause, that the last time the Liberal party was in Government was 1922.I was intrigued on what basis she made that assertion. Clearly the Liberal party was in the Churchill government during the 2nd World War with Sinclair as Minister for Air and along with other Liberal Ministers took part in cabinet discussions and committees.The last Liberal government to be elected was Asquith's. Much as in the 2nd world war ...
Sat 28th
21:28
"A bomb won't go off here because weeks before a shopper reported someone studying the CCTV cameras....
I saw this surreal advert for the "Anti-Terrorist Hotline" operated by the Met police and the British Transport police. It's truly preposterous because it's intended to give the impression that some kind of actual near-miss has occurred, and that lives were saved only thanks to the vigilance of a "shopper". It's doubly terrible because it was placed in a part of London most visited by innocent tourists: What are they to make of this fear-mongering... that British intelligence is so incompetent that the only way we can keep all of our limbs attached is if we rat on any beardy-man ...
How are we going to get our playground back? asked an angry Richard Hands. Because of the crazy system of funding such projects there is a real danger that there will be no money for the scheme. Richard explained: Money coming from the developer who had planning permission to develop the land behind the Thomas Moore site was earmarked for funding the new play facilities in Carr Lane. Now we find that because the scheme has not gone ahead there is no money for this scheme' All this shenanigans has been inflicted on becomes of the shambles of local government ...
The National Grid in the UK has a website showing the real time usage over the last hour. The above is a screen shot taken at 21:00 half way through Earth Hour it shows a steady drop off from 8pm and an even sharper decline after 8:30. Don't forget this is a Saturday night and peak TV viewing time as well. I'll take another at 22:00 to show what happens afterwards
The BBC parliament channel has tonight carried an evening remembering the night in 1979 when the Labour government lost a vote of confidence by one vote. One gem was the discussion chaired by Robin Day and involving Michael Foot, Francis Pym and John Pardoe. I had forgotten just how formidable a debater Pardoe was. These were difficult times for the party in the aftermath of the Lab/Lab but Pardoe more than held his own and effectively promoted the Liberal case. At the time of the debate I was helping at the Edge Hill by election which was held the next ...
The "I love Southport because ...." campaign is mainly funded by £5,000 provided by Southport Area Committee, which was agreed at its early February meeting. Birkdale Lib Dem councillor Simon Shaw was the driving force behind getting the funding for this fantastic initiative, over some opposition from Ainsdale Conservative councillors. However their more sensible Tory colleagues from Dukes Ward (covering the town centre and shoreside Birkdale) managed to embarrass them into finally voting for the idea which Simon had proposed.
Today, in Scotland, the Dunfermline Building Society, Scotland's biggest such society, was taken in to government control after effectively going bankrupt. This is sad news for the employees who may lose their jobs but it says something about Gordon Brown, doesn't it, that his constituency includes parts of Dunfermline ?
The Annual Crocus Walk which in Southport is held in Hesketh Park. This year on a cold spring morning there was a good turn as the pictures show . I will report later on the amount raised but suffice it to say the donations and sponsorship form returned on the day was very encouraging. The event was brilliantly organised by Cllr Sue Mc Guire.
Don't forget to put your clocks forward an hour tonight, as British Summer Time begins. I know that this menas we'd have less time to sleep tonight, especially for those of us (like me) getting up early to watch the Australian Grand Prix.
Stuart Wheeler a Tory money man has given UKIP £100,000 for their campaign leading up to June because he disagrees with Tory policies on Europe. Stuart Wheeler has told Tim Montgomerie that he is "likely" to vote Conservative at Junes local elections and support them (financially) at the next general election. Just imagine if the Conservatives were to make him a Tory peer and a high profile Tory like they did with a well known Conservative money man Lord Ashcroft. Stuart would be skipping through all the main political parties when he had nothing better to do, or when he ...
Call me paranoid, but I can't help thinking that there is a right-wing conspiracy to drag our system of government back to the Middle Ages. I refer to the long-running campaign in the Tory press calling for cuts to pay and expenses for MPs. The argument, often aired by columnists like Simon Heffer in the Telegraph, is that MPs should all be very rich, successful people who represent their constituents as a kind of pastime. Their pay should only be necessary for the occasional lunch at Smiths of Smithfield, or a bit of light opera. Dishearteningly, I have heard this ...
Fresh on the heels of the news that Conservative MEP Caroline Jackson is thinking of quitting the Conservative Party comes this news via The News of the World: The Tories' top donor today told the News of the World how he has defected to the eurosceptic UK Independence Party. Spread-betting millionaire Stuart Wheeler has written a cheque for £100,000 to UKIP and said he will be voting for them in the June Euro elections ... In 2000, Mr Wheeler gave the Tories £5m - their biggest single donation. He has continued to back them since, but has become increasingly angry ...
Ok, it's not the best way of spending hundreds of millions of pounds polluting the environment, but I have always loved Formula 1, always been a Ferrari girl and have had a crush on Martin Brundle forever. Don't expect to hear much about downforce and grip when I write about F1, by the way - I only talk about such mundane mechanical things when I have to. However, fellow fans Stephen, Malc and Yousuf might wish to get technical when they write about it - and Duncan has even devoted an entire blog to our favourite sport. Good to see ...
Over at the Daily Mail, former Liberal party leader Lord (David) Steel recalls the dramatic evening of 28 March 1979, when the Labour Government lost a confidence motion by one vote, and the then Prime Minister James Callaghan was forced to call an early General Election. It was this election that swept Margaret Thatcher to victory. Here's an excerpt: The tension was palpable, politicians from all parties talking and arguing with one another, all speculating about what was going to happen next. I had never seen the chamber so packed before. Not one of us had the slightest idea what ...
A correspondent not unadjacent to Islington contacts The Voice to note: Islington South and Finsbury Conservatives have selected their PPC, more than two years after the Liberal Democrats re-selected Bridget Fox to fight the seat. The Tory hopeful, Antonia Cox, is an investment banker turned journalist who lives in Kensington. She has promised to move into Islington if elected - a pledge she is unlikely to be called on to fulfil. Ladbrokes have given the Conservatives (surprisingly generous) odds of 25/1 to win the seat. The borough has 0 (zero) Conservative councillors. Even the ConservativeHome post announcing her selection helpfully ...
I wouldn't be asking this question if the Mail hadn't posted this article on their website of politicians from foreign countries compared to women politicians from the UK and they are much differences! The women politicians from the UK are the dirt that might win Iain Dale valentines day competitions but foreign politicians really know how to go out. The image below shows women politicians from the UK and how they were rated compared to foreign women! They didn't get listed, does that prove the point! Politics in the UK is an old women's games especially at Parliamentary level!
Police estimate that 35,000 people marched through London today. If history is anything to go by, we can expect event organisers to go for around ten million and we'll just shrug and split the difference. If we go on police estimates, the 35,000 is a little under one tenth of the numbers who made it out to the Countryside Alliance march in 2002. Hopefully the G20 leaders will listen to the voice of the people and act accordingly. "OK, people. We need to sort out this international banking crisis, end poverty and build a better future but first, let's kill ...
A man was assaulted and is now fighting for his life in hospital after being beaten up in the heart of Norwich's "clubland" down Prince of Wales Road. The big question for me is how could this have happened at 1.00 am, in the heart of Norwich, an area where there has been a constant history of drink related violence late at night, yet the police were seemingly not there or failed to intervene before the victim suffered life threatening injuries ? If I had to place police anywhere on a Friday night in Norwich is would be half way ...
Regular readers of www.dundeewestend.com will know that over the past year, I have been keen to give support to the Riverside Boys Under 10s football team (click on headline above to view an earlier article about the team). Earlier today, I was pleased to take part in a photocall to mark the launch of a new association between the team and prominent Dundee Amateur Football Team, Riverside Athletic. Riverside Athletic - celebrating its 40th anniversary this year - is taking the under 10s team under its wing so that it will become its 'junior arm' of the long-standing and prominent ...
Interesting that the EHRC (Equality & Human Rights Commission) seems to be imploding. I have to say I was, like many, underwhelmed by their recent thoughts that equality for women might have to be put on the back burner during the recession - surely that is the time that we need the EHRC most? But I was very interested to read in the Guardian this morning, that some of the concerns are about a shift in focus aware from equaity to fairness. As an equality lawyer saying in the piece: "The problem is that 'fairness', unlike equality, has no basis ...
Yesterday the Government talked out Dr Evan Harris' Private Members Bill which wanted to allow females to have their rightful place in succession to the Monarchy (not just letting the boys have the first turn regardless on the order of birth) and allow Catholics to marry into the Monarchy and allow a Catholic Monarch.
Irish sports fans have a reputation of being friendly, loving to party and win or lose having a good time. It is therefore with sadness that I initially heard that there was trouble today in Belfast ahead of the football international against Poland. Even through the troubles one thing that pulled the people together was the fact that nobody cared that George Best was a Protestant of that the other guy who shared his debut Pat Jennings was a Catholic. When they pulled on the Norn Oirish shirt none of that mattered. It was with sadness that when Neil Lennon ...
There is a proposal being put forward by the Council to allow a set barbecuing area on Woodhouse Moor (Hyde Park). I got my consultation papers through my door the other day and have decided that I support the idea of a BBQ area on the Moor mainly because the current situation is unworkable. Regardless of what the council wants the bylaw prohibiting BBQs at the moment cannot be enforced effectively so I believe it would make more sense to manage BBQs, so the harm to the Moor can be limited, rather than ban them. Just wondered what people thought ...
For some reason certain members of the Welsh blogosphere are obsessing about Labour's new attack blog Aneurin Glyndwr. There really is no need, it only makes them feel more self-important.Hen Ferchetan has set up a mirror blog in which she seeks to analyse and respond to every nuance of the Eluned Morgan song as well as identify the site's authorship. Meanwhile a video has appeared on YouTube
Sat 28th
15:22
James Landale, fighting cancer himself, criticises those who closely followed the Jade Goody demise
For some strange reason I am quite a fan of a little programme called "News Watch" on BBC News 24. It goes out at 7.50am on Saturdays, which seems to fit into one of my prime attention span opportunities. It's presented by Raymond Snoddy, who acts like a little terrier in calling to account BBC executives on behalf of the viewing public.This week, the programme majored on the coverage of the
Last month I was very concerned about Transport for London's decision to stop the Capital Call service in Kingston. Capital Call enables disabled people to use their Taxicards for mini-cabs, a service which has lots of advantages over black cabs, especially for blind people, not least the ability to book trips. Following protests from local users, TfL decided to postpone the decision...
Interesting experiment this. A week or so ago we told a few friends / family. And it didn't leak (apart from my Dad being over enthusiastic). Friday I announced it on Twitter. And now I'm announcing it here. After here I'll do Facebook. And eventually I'll send an email to everyone else. My guess is that Facebook will be the bursting of the dam...
This week Laura Edge and I met with Council officers to discuss a plan to bring the Chettle Court Community Centre back into use - after decades of being left empty. The community centre is very large (2 floors) and was build to a high standard with a kitchen and disabled toilets, so it is outrageous the Council have squandered this resource for so long. Laura and I and the Chettle Court residents have made this point to the Council hundreds of times. However, the Council have now got their act together and have developed a plan to make the ...
Borders Bill Report stage was the main activity in the last week. Apart from the debate on the floor of the House on Wednesday, there were several meetings offline with the Government and the Conservative opposition. With the Tories, we (the LibDems) agreed to vote on transitional protection for some migrants already in the system when the citizenship clauses come into effect, but there are still flaws that will have to be addressed in the Commons. We didn't get as far as the concessions on minors and British National (Overseas) citizens, already agreed with the Government, and these will now ...
20) Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen (London: Faber, 1988, ISBN 0571171044). This edition combines Yoshimoto's first novel with her novella Moonlight Shadow (inspired by the Mike Oldfield piece, according to the author's preface.) Both paint a portrait of a grieving process, with touches of magical realism. Lovely.
So, one of the things that Mark Thomas talked about last night was the idea of a maximum wage. Not as a set figure, but as a multiple of national average wage (he suggested ten times). This would mean that any earnings above ten times the national average wage (and obviously we'd have to choose mean or median or mode, and everyone's wage would have to be public to work out the accuracy) would be taxed at 100%, and if any plutocrat wanted to have a bigger wage they would first have to pay their workers more, so that the ...
As I have done for several years now, I am taking part in Christian Aid's "Count your blessings" for Lent. This involves reading and thinking about one factoid everyday, then calculating a donation based on the fact. I mention this only because today the factoid led me in an interesting direction.After taking part in Basingstoke's weekly timed 5K "Park Run", we finally got round to doing
Sat 28th
12:17
Council response to graffiti "war" symptomatic of everything wrong with this do-nothing administrati...
The Bury Times reports this week on MP Ivan Lewis' belated jumping onto the graffiti bandwagon. After months of my Councillor colleagues and I banging our heads against the Town Hall's brick walls to get some graffiti cleaned, Mr Lewis joined us on a graffiti clean up last week, and has this week launched some Facebook groups against the graffiti plague. He should be commended for both these things, and now at least Labour has joined us Lib Dems to present a united front against this ongoing problem. However, the Council's response in the article is such a ridiculous pile ...
Following my post earlier this month about the forthcoming licence review of the Kings Tavern on Kings Road after a long period of nuisance caused by this venue, I have been notified that the review hearing will be held on 28 April at 5pm. Councillors and officers will hear from the licensee and also take in to account comments submitted by residents and also the Police. Let's hope something is agreed in April which will reduce disturbance to local people by rowdy behaviour and other problems at this venue. Residents who have been affected by noise or any other problems related to this venue wishing ...
Yes, I know, it's a Hung Parliament question, and all Lib Dems hate those - after all, we're a political party in our own right, not just an addendum to one of the other two consevative, reactionary, estabishment parties that trade under the names Labour and Tories. But still, there's a chance, a slim chance, that the next general election will see no one party emerge with an overall majority. In which case, the Lib Dems will be under scrutiny like never before, our every move examined under a microscope. So it's as well to be prepared. And this question ...
Longtime readers of this blog will be aware of my glowing record of defending Conservative politicians - especially Party Chairperkins. But I do think there is a danger in going overboard in criticism of Eric Pickles after his car crash performance on Thursday's Question Time. I do actually think that an MP with a constituency 37 miles away should be entitled to have a place to stay overnight in central London. MP's do often work very long, very unsociable hours. Most companies that expect their staff to work in such a way do allow them to claim for overnight accomodation. ...
Some things are plain to see such as graffiti, neglected estates or general grot spots. However, in the case of the quality of the air we breathe, it is less apparent where there has been a breach of safety standards set by the World Health Organisation. Perhaps this is also why it is easier for the Government and local authorities to ignore the warning signs. But should we be complacent and take the view that air quality problems are too big for us to tackle at the local or even national level? Sometimes it takes an external force to bring ...
Zennor - our cat, not the village in Cornwall, although that's where she got her name - is now 17 and her eyesight is getting worse.So, three moves in four months was not the best, although we seemed to worry abou that far more than she did/does.Anyhow she's settled now, she has a great life, eats and sleeps whenever she wants. She wakes up between 3am and 4am each day and therefore wakes me up, although I'm used to it now and just get on with work.If there's a box in the flat, that becomes Zennor's property and new bed ...
Sat 28th
10:58
"Not born in Darlo? Then don't tell us what to do! And don't talk about ward issues in Council eithe...
Council on Thursday night witnessed the latest nonsense from an increasingly desperate Labour Group. Sent out to savage the opposition parties, the Labour Group's Rottweiler, Cllr Bill Dixon, shouted across the Chamber at Conservative Councillor Ian Galletley, "It's our town, it's our tradition and I'd thank you for leaving it alone!"What prompted this xenophobic outburst? Well, Cllr Galletley,
Good news this week as three leading national housing bodies and Citizens Advice Bureau(CAB) have joined the campaign calling for the Labour Government to take action now to help private tenants if their landlord's property is repossessed. I highlighted this issue as a major concern back in February, given the size of Reading's private rented sector (double the national average) and numbers of people who could be vulnerable. I received a response from officers at Reading Borough Council although to be fair this is an issue which needs national government intervention. This issue matters. Last year 1,500 people in Reading lost their homes and we know ...
Time for another weekend away, this time to the West Midlands, as Ros and I converged on Rugby for a Local Party dinner in the recently built village hall in Dunchurch, the village where, it is said, the organisers of the Gunpowder Plot met to agree their strategy. I've had the pleasure of working with the local PPC, Jerry Roodhouse, before, and it was nice to be able to catch up. He had chaired an inquiry into the affairs of one of the London Local Parties, and I was one of the Regional Party nominees on the panel. Jerry carried ...
Many people lose weight in different ways, and some people find it more difficult than others. As many people will have read in the newspapers recently I was 18 stone when I left school. It was awful - I was very unhealthy, and only ate fatty foods. Last week, a resident wrote to me asking for advice and practical suggestions to loosing weight. In response, I wrote back with three key ideas. Let's call it my three-point plan: 1) Self discipline and will-power 2) Exercise 3) Eating sensibly I'll go through these one at a time - 1) Self disciple ...
Mike Smithson wrote an interesting blog post yesterday about an election outcome that might not happened, but its something for us all to think about. To see the input into the seat calculator and the outcome Mike got see the image below which I have taken from Mike's blog post to show to readers and get them thinking. The Image above shows the interesting result that could actually take place and happened but the thing is who would the Lib Dems chose to support to get into government. If the Lib Dems backed Labour and said they should go fourth ...
Unfortunately I'm going to be missing NUS national conference this week. If you're going please vote for Tom Woods #1 for the block of 15. Also need to be kept up to date with whats going on so I hope there will be a lot of twittering! Thanks!
In this morning's Western Mail, Assembly Presiding Officer, Dafydd Elis Thomas once more highlights the very real problems that the Government of Wales Act 2006 poses to those interested in making devolution work. In this particular instance it is the delay in processing those private member LCOs that the Welsh Government allow through once they get to Westminister. Of concern is the fate of Jonathan Morgan's Legislative Competence Order that seeks to give the Assembly the power to pass laws on Mental Health. This has been sitting at Westminster for some time with the result that Jonathan may not have ...
Daily collection of links and thoughts that weren't worth a whole post. 16:05 watching Andromeda, catching up with online stuff, and watching the bread slowly rise. Only one thing can improve this. Coffee. # 00:42 trying to catch up on everything online after a nice evening in Huddersfield watching Mark Thomas. It was good. #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.
The latest Liberal England quiz closes at 23:59 on Wednesday 1 April 2009. To win one of three copies of Eamonn Butler's book The Rotten State of Britain, just email me the answers to the following five questions: In which town was Adam Smith born? Which Scottish Football League team plays its home games there? Who was arrested outside the entrance to Downing Street on 18 June 2006 for carrying a placard saying: "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act"? What is the name of the proposed government database that will hold details of ...
{cat} see more Lolcats and funny pictures
Eric Pickles goes ballistic on Question Time. Clip here. Transcript below from The Telegraph's Three Line Whip. It is hilarious and Pickles certainly demonstrates the art of sanctimonious pomposity. He doesn't seem to realise how weak and pathetic his defence seems from the point of view of ordinary members of the public.David Dimbleby began by asking Mr Pickles if he claims for a second home:EP:
I'm off out early today, so I thought I'd just put this video up. Our esteemed Prime Minister is on his way flitting round the globe. We're meant to conclude that he is the greatest Prime Minister since sliced bread was invented. It is him, you see, who will save us from this recession/depression/whatever it is. Although I am sorry to sully one of my heroes with this comparison, he reminds me a bit of Dr Cox from Scrubs, but a whole lot less efficient. Do you think this clip captures how Brown behaves in Cabinet meetings?: Have a lovely ...
This berating of Gordon Brown in the European Parliament has "gone viral" and been watched by 1,400,000+ people on You Tube. I bet he was practising in front of his shaving mirror for days. I think he is a bit of a burke.
We're in the West Midlands this weekend, starting with a local party dinner in Rugby last evening and going on to visit a handful of seats in Birmingham today. After a traditional meal of roast beef and all the trimmings, followed by trifle, I gave my talk and then on to do a Q & A session. You never know what you're going to get; in South Cambridgeshire last week, it was all foreign affairs. I was given a hard time by one questioner last night on the whole " British jobs for British workers" thing. Whilst I can understand ...
I'm getting angrier and angrier about the way this crappy Government abuses its power to talk out or outvote sensible bills on false premises to shut down the esteem and exposure of our party. If it's not the fuel bill then it's about the Royals. I see Chris Cox, new Communications Director, said that we need to [...]
There is anger in Highgate over the Council's refusal to allow a controversial planning application to come before the planning committee.The plans involve adding a floor to a block of flats called Kempton House, which lies between two listed buildings overlooking the Highgate bowl, Furnival House, and Cholmeley Lodge (see pic). The very controversial Planning Committee Chair, Labour's Sheila Peacock*, is refusing to allow this decision to come before the boroughs' planning committee. This is despite a large body of objectors, who are entitled to 'their day in court' at the Planning Committee. They pay for it, after all. How ...
I spoke with Tom tonight, and we've decided on a date and venue for LYS's Annual General Meeting. It's going to be on Saturday the 25th of April at Stirling University - further details to be confirmed. I've set up the facebook event, and sent out the email informing everyone. Immediately afterwards, I set up a facebook [...]
I haven't done one of my music posts for ages. Perhaps it's a sign of age, but recently I just haven't listened to much new music and certainly none it has been downloaded. The only new music that's been downloaded recently has been Keane's album Perfect Symmetry which includes a number of excellent tracks. I've [...]
Mark Thomas was fab. A bit too close to the bone a couple of times - I'm never going to react well to a rape joke, after all, even if it's a raping the Pope joke - but had me cackling loudly many times. Shame the warm-up act was nearly half the show. He could have been OK if he hadn't delivered in a drab terrified monotone... One of the best things, though, was that we budgeted £4 for parking, and it turned out that parking was only £1. So we stopped off for a half on the way home ...
