Big thanks to Roger and Viv Weeden and Tricia Kennelly for all their efforts last Sunday at Icklesham car boot sale. As we don't rely on big business or the trade unions for our funding, the Liberal Democrats are often out trying to peddle our bric-a-brac so that we can continue to post those leaflets though [...]
TheyWorkForYou says of John Leech, Lib Dem MP for Manchester Withington, "Voted strongly for laws to stop climate change" (source). John Leech put out a leaflet saying he voted for climate change laws. Fair enough you might think. After all, that claim is backed up by a widely-respected independent website which bases its descriptions of MPs' voting records directly on the official Hansard voting records. But LabourList's response? To pick up on the leaflet: In it he claims to have voted for "Climate Change Laws" And to say of this claim (and one other in the leaflet) that this is ...
Today we held very successful seminar on the political and human rights crises in Bahrain at Millbank House, a Parliamentary annex. Our regular guest Dr Abdul Jalil Al-Singace wasn't able to attend because he is one of the main defendants in the show trial, but he sent us an excellent video statement. We also had a video statement from Maitham Al-Sheikh, who was severely tortured during his 15 months in prison and had to be released for urgent hospital treatment. Then we had a short account of the March 25 court proceedings from Dr David Gottlieb of the Islamic Human ...
It's been a full moon tonight, so I've been doing what any sensible dog would do: Full mooooon on 12seconds.tv No related posts.
The Lib Dem press release headline is stark: Wasteful VAT cut only benefiting the rich. (It's also, whisper it gently, not 100% accurate: for 'only' read 'mostly (ish)'). Here's what Lib Dem shadow chief financial secretary Jeremy Browne has to say about the party's research showing that the VAT 'savings work out at an average of over £9 a week for the richest households, while poorer households are saving less than £3, despite recent claims from Gordon Brown that families would save at least £5 a week': The Government's defence of its wasteful VAT cut continues to unravel. Its benefits ...
I was so happy to see Jane on Saturday and for the update on her blog. I know it's been tough for her and her family yet she's come out the other end. What a lovely story - keep that lovelight shining Jane.
It''s amazing we used the police in a campaign in irwell riverside.And all hell breaks out. We get letters demanding leaflets are taken back the police are none political. What had we done we had a picture of a candidate stood with a police officer. Well it is merry-s new labour after all. [...]
Some choice quotes from Stuart's latest posting: I just wanted to alert all my readers to the fact that the cops are trying to hack my blog in an attempt to take it down or remove certain postings and comments.They've been too thick to quite get there yet - but I imagine it's only a matter of time. I expect they'll have to get someone in who knows what they're doing.And: Given it takes about 4 minutes to open a blogger account, I'll establish several others, under slightly different names - so if you return to this site and find ...
Brace yourselves, for I have invented a Thing that is sooooo stupendous that it out-stupendises everything that has happened before. It is even more stupendous than me!I give you ... the Meatster Egg.This culinary MARVEL consists of a tasty chocolate shell, shaped as unto an egg, and filled with tasty MEAT.I shall endeavour to buy a mould tomorrow and make one.
Today's Financial Times brings us news of the latest Conservative brain-wave, the 'right to move'. Presumably, this is a rather lame attempt to imitate Margaret Thatcher's 'right to buy' scheme which did undoubtedly appeal to upper working class types who had always dreamed of owning their own home. Under this scheme, those in social housing will be given the right to tell their social landlord to sell the property and use the proceeds to buy a property in any part of the UK. Apparently this will; "allow people to move in search of work or to be near their families, ...
Here is Ray Bradbury writing in Something Wicked This Way Comes: A carnival should be all growls, roars like timberlands stacked, bundled, rolled and crashed, great explosions of lion dust, men ablaze with working anger, pop bottles jangling, horse brasses shivering, engines and elephants in full stampede through rains of sweat while zebras neighed and trembled and like cage trapped in cage.I'll see what I can do. But, seeing it from across the Atlantic, something seems to have gone out of the American liberal blogosphere in the 18 months since I last hosted this carnival. A little brio, a touch ...
The video of the Police attacking Ian Tomlinson before he died in raising serious question and I thought I would add my ten pence to the whole argument. I am someone who is among a group in this Country who think the police are more corrupt then they make out and the video is evidence. The video of Ian Tomlinson being pushed by Police Officers and attacked just shows that the Met teaches its officers to act like that. Near enough everything a Copper does is what has been dictated to them by the Met but has anyone ask the ...
It looks as if the press are going in for the kill with the whole MPs expenses thing. A report in today's Times details the lack of attendance of some MPs to select committees. At least 60 of the 220 members on the important select committees have missed more than half the meetings over the past year. Departmental select committees are the most important components of democratic scrutiny and, surprisingly, have only really been around for thirty years, although select committees have played a role in Parliament for centuries. Several important changes in Government policy have been made due to ...
The Italian President has said of the victims of the Italian earthquake: "They have everything they need, they have medical care, hot food...... Of course, their current lodgings are a bit temporary. but they should see it like a weekend of camping" Well Silvio for starters when you go camping you generally have a home to head back to when you want to or get tired of it: with all the home conforts available. Secondly if what the people of the towns and villages affected have been saying is right they are bing told they may be out for at ...
Well, they've kept that under their hats. Channel 4 News tonight revealed their week-old film of the incident involving Ian Tomlinson and a masked riot police officer. Shot from a different angle, the delay in revealing the footage is apparently due to the C4 camera having been broken. The footage very clearly shows the officer batonning Tomlinson to the leg from behind before pushing him to the ground. I was, frankly, dubious about this bit on the evidence of the Guardian video, but you can't miss it here. One other thing - the officer is apparently left-handed. And Ken Livingstone, ...
Less haste more heed may well be the lesson learnt by Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick today. This morning he exited a car in Downing Street carry plans for an anti-terrorism raid. This evening, after the top sheet was photographed clearly giving far too much information, 10 suspects were arrested in raids. The obvious conclusion to be drawn was that Quick was entering Downing Street to brief on the plans that were captured. However, as the details on the agency photograph were zoomed across the world the raid and arrests were moved up in Liverpool, Manchester and Lancashire. Evening raids of ...
The Award goes to the headline: Tony Blair says Pope's views on homosexuals is wrongThey is, is they?
----- Original Message ----- From: Wilson, David To: Alborough, Ray Cc: Robin Hughes Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2009 4:52 PM Subject: Smannell Rd closure - cllr hughes concern over signing Ray Councillor Hughes raised concern about the signing of the Smannell Rd closure. The main problem is the signing near Little London which states Smannell Rd closed suggesting to drivers that they cannot gain access to Smannell. It may be more appropriate to say "Road to Andover closed after Smannell". In addition we need signs to say that the businesses (pub/s?) are open for business as usual. I would appreciate ...
Just in case anyone is interested, here's the latest video about what I get up to on my allotment!
Bath & North East Somerset Council is opening the Park & Ride service on the Bank Holiday, Friday April 10. All three Park & Ride sites, which serve the major approaches to the city, will be open from 9.30am - 6pm. The services will run as follows: Newbridge - Westgate Buildings (service number 21) From 9.30am every 15 minutes Last bus from...
Commenting on the Competition Commission's recommendation that train companies should be given longer franchises, Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson, John Leech said: "The Liberal Democrats have been arguing for longer rail franchises for a long time and the Competition Commission's conclusions are welcome." "Passengers continue to suffer under the current system because it...
Commenting on the video which shows the man who died at last week's G20 protests in London being hit from behind by a police officer, Liberal Democrat Shadow Justice Secretary, David Howarth, who attended the protests to monitor police behaviour, said: "This video clearly shows an unprovoked attack by a police officer on a passer by. It is sickening." "There must be a full-scale...
Commenting on the announcement by water companies of their five-year business plans, which include potential price rises of nearly 30%, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, Tim Farron said: "It is unacceptable that greedy water companies want to hike up prices by as much as 30%." "Vast amounts of water are being lost through leakages and it is customers who are being asked...
Commenting on the recent job losses announced by RBS, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: "Ordinary workers are now paying with their jobs for the unsustainable and irresponsible practices of RBS' previous management "Regrettably, these job losses are an inevitable consequence of the awful results of RBS over the past year. "As he enjoys his multi-million...
Commenting on today's survey of doctors and nurses which reveals that the majority believe low priced alcohol has to be tackled, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said: "It is common sense to acknowledge that the less alcohol costs, the more people will drink." "The Government has got to tackle the pocket money priced alcohol that is available in supermarkets and...
Commenting on the G20 summit, Nick Clegg said: "Gordon Brown has clearly passed the test as a host to the world. He must now prove that he can turn this deal into real help for British people." "To close the gap between his rhetoric and lack of real action Gordon Brown must urgently close the massive loopholes in the British tax system and force British banks that are owned by the...
On the issue of Ian Tomlinson's death following the violence of a policeman at the G20 demonstration - I watched the video and I thought - there is nothing the police can say to justify knocking someone down from behind who is doing nothing wrong. And it pains me to say it - as I was on the MPA for 5 years and grew fond of the Met and believed there was progress - but my eyes don't decieve me. What I see on that video, outside of the outrageous felling of Mr Tomlinson, is that there still appears to ...
The Government's VAT cut is benefiting the richest households the most, figures highlighted by the Liberal Democrats have revealed. The richest households will save around £1.2bn from the Government's VAT cut, while the poorest 10% will only save an estimated £360m. The savings work out at an average of over £9 a week for the richest households, while poorer households are saving less...
There was much publicity a few days ago when the Telegraph tried to work out which MPs gave the best and worse value for money. They compared the total cost for each MP and their office against measures of how hard working they were "as measured by their voting attendance, how often they speak in debates, and the number of written questions they put to ministers". I can understand why: all those things are not only measurable but the information's freely available online, so a journalist can get the answers to pop out pretty easily. But when you start off ...
I'm grateful to the organisers behind the Reading Campaign for Continuing Education for this comprehensive campaign update. Keep up the good work! If you haven't already done so - sign the petition. The campaigners asked a question to Council on the issue last week to the Lead Member for Education - Cllr Jon Hartley. He said: "It is very sad that the University is once again looking to remove facilities that are valued and much used by local people, particularly at a time when informal adult learning is nationally very topical. I do hope that your campaign is more successful than other recent ...
If, like me, you find polling numbers oddly fascinating, then you'll love Google's Trends feature. It allows you to compare and contrast the frequency by which certain phrases are entered into Google's search bar. This provides a picture of the relative curiosity about a particular topic among Google users over time. It is, however, not an exact science. This is because search terms do not necessarily reflect the intention of the user inputting them. For example, if we look at the figures for 'Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats' over the last 12 months, we get: {Chart of Google search terms by ...
I've been wondering at what point the unfair funding our Haringey children get compared to neighbouring boroughs (i.e. £1000+ per head less!) would force our schools into impossible positions. It's happening now. I visited St Michael's in Highgate because - despite the miracles they have worked with their meagre budget - the coming year is posing a real problem. If the shortfall from unfair funding was made up - they would be able to deliver the schools service that parents expect and children deserve. I don't know how they have manged up to now. Seems to me, in Haringey, you ...
I see LibDemBlogs has had its account suspended (due to high load I expect), so I can't see if I'm duplicating information but there is a facebook group Justice for Ian Tomlinson which you can join and also a Number 10 petition you can sign calling for a seperate enquiry to the "I"PCC one. Let's see if we keep this in the public eye with our interweb skillz and effectively combat the police spin operation.
Well well well. Sounds like my Conservative counterpart's stamina is faltering a little. In her column last week, the irritation about Gordon Brown not calling an election until the very last gasp was palpable. But, I detect that this was not entirely on behalf of the electorate. At a glance, Amber's piece may have read as though her [...]
Just a short list of things that annoy me beyond all reason: 1) "The Liberal Democrats need to get off the fence and say what their actual policies are" Yep, because it's not as if we've got tons of policy papers out there, or a simple pocket guide to our policies, is it? 2) "Ringo Starr was a [...]
Sometimes, I just wish I were human as this story from Liverpool illustrates: Pet lovers are being urged to protect dogs and cats from the perils of eating chocolate in the run-up to Easter. The warning comes after a hungry Patterdale terrier named Polly wolfed down 20 chocolate cakes and cheated death only because her owner realised the mortal danger. Related posts:Facebook users know what matters in life: chocolate Two of the top ten Facebook fan pages are for...Chocolate melt-off postponed It appears that my methods of melting chocolate have caused...Good news for chocolate lovers Hoooooooooooooooooooooray. Woof woof woof. And ...
While this information may be a little out of date, my father-in-law Councillor David Fallows SNP recently emailed me an interesting article located here that proves in 2007, Salford had the worst roads in the country. Excerpt: The ministry of Transport has published it's annual survey into the Road Conditions of England (2007), and we are bringing you here the top 10 in the best and worst roads. The results show the percentage of the road network for each local authority responsible, that require further investigation. The Best; Reading 2% West berkshire 3% Blackburn 4% Waltham Forest 5% Hampshire 5% ...
May I first of all begin by thanking Lib Dem Voice readers for indulging us, and to the editors for letting me write a response to Mark Pack's post, Jury Team: so far, it's a flop. You won't be surprised that I disagree with some of Mark's points - the idea that all of our media coverage was friendly, and this strange accusation that we were 'going out of our way to solicit anonymous donations'. Neither are true - our press officer did well to get as much coverage as possible, but that didn't stop the knives coming out. Similarly, ...
A poll of party members on the Liberal Democrat Voice website has delivered an overwhelming endorsement of Kirsty Williams' first few months as Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader.A survey, conducted via Liberty Research on the site's private member's forum, asked a number of questions about the party and the current state of British politics. Almost 200 members completed it.One of the questions
A hot topic, in this week of Teaching Unnion meetings is disruptive pupils & worse parents.I have some exposure to primary education. In the region of my experience there are typically 10% of pupils on any school roll who have serious behaviour problems. Of those about three quarters are responding well to modern methods of behaviour improvement with the support & involvement of their parent(s). The staff work incredibly hard on this process and are always elated when a child settles down. The difficulty is that, from the Director of Children's Services down through the system, there is NO effective ...
Today the media have been full of reports about the assault on Ian Tomlinson. Quite understandably police officers are being defensive about the video and the role they play in policing demonstrations. They do a very difficult job at the best of times. If CCTV footage of the area surrounding the incident does surface, the [...]
Hello Councillor O'Neill. The report was prepared by staff in my division and I can assure you that staff spoke to several businesses in the area. For the most part businesses did not identify there any impact which could be attributed directly to the ice rink, except i . One food provider said they had to arrange for extra staff to cope with demand Successs all round i [...]
The Guardian's video showing a policeman making an unprovoked attack on Ian Tomlinson in London during last week's G20 protests has sparked a great deal of coverage on Lib Dem blogs today. Here's a full round-up in chronological order: Video on Guardian website appears to show police assault on Ian Tomlinson - Jonathan on Liberal England Ian Tomlinson - video footage emerges - Lib Dem Voice Shocked and appalled by Guardian's G20 video - Councillor David Walker: Working for Bridgnorth Morfe Ward all year round! Guardian video reveals police assault on G20 protestor that died - Duncan Borrowman Ian Tomlinson ...
Transform Drug Policy Foundation (TDPF) have published a cost-effectiveness study of the prohibition of drugs in the UK. Their findings are that a legalised (but strictly controlled) drugs regime could save £14 billion per year (interesting to note in the current climate). It is well worth reading this report and I would also question why the government has not even attempted any sort of cost-effectiveness or cost benefit analysis of their policy in this area. EDIT: I should point out that the focus of the report is also on harm reduction as well as saving money. This is an important ...
The Guardian today has footage of the attack on Ian Tomlinson, who died from a heart attack shortly after being bludgeoned to the floor by a police officer as he tried to walk home from work during the G20 protests. The news is shocking. I sincerely hope that whichever officer did it is hauled before a court. Depending on what evidence is available, it may be possible to charge him with manslaughter, and perhaps even murder. It's harder, though, to work out what this case tells us about the police. For example, what about the other police officers that went ...
So RBS is going to shed some 9000 jobs. Fred Goodwin won't care. I don't remember it exactly but in one episode of Sherlock Holmes the line was 'The law is with us always but justice is rather rare'. How true. If there was any justice Sir Fred would be stripped of everything he possess & left to live on job seekers allowance but the law lets him keep his wealth. Then we hear of companies reducing their contribution to employee pension funds. Never hear of reductions to their Executive Pension Scheme funds do we.
The Political Slot at 7.55pm: "Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg visits Islington to examine green solutions for unemployment". I'll be out door-knocking but will record it.
The European Elections take place on 4 June this year, a new website is predicting the results at http://www.predict09.eu/default/en-us.aspx basically it looks like the Liberal Democrats will gain an additional MEP - I believe Jonathan Fryer in London will be the new MEP.
From the BBC to the front page of the Express, women in their twenties are being warned of an "alarming rise" in skin cancer caused, it's believed by all those trips to tanning salons (you know, the ones the Express promotes in its general ethos that skinny and tanned is good, overweight and pasty is terrible). We're told, to be fair, that 340 women in their 20s are diagnosed with malignant melanoma in 2005 - a big rise from 2003. So time to panic, yet again. There are 3.7 million twenty-something females in the UK (as of the 2001 census ...
An update following last night's NO2ID meeting. Street stalls: Saturday 11th April from 12 noon at Hackney Central train station Sunday 19th April 12pm - 4pm at Angel Tube Next meeting: Tuesday 5th May 8pm at the Kings Head, 59 Essex Road N1
I shared the concern of Andy Hayman former-Assistant Commissioner Special Operations at the Metropolitan Police when he said today "the commissioner must ask serious questions about the style of policing. If left unchecked, we have a more violent crowd in uniform than the crowd demonstrating." After the reports, the emotion and the scandals over policing of the the G20 protests, we need a full independent criminal inquiry into police action which establishes what happened, how it came to pass. It must attempt to establish accountability with reference to the command structure of the Metropolitan police for misinforming the public (some ...
Last night I was hurrying along the Cally on the way to a school governor's meeting when I saw two or three police cars pulled up, lights flashing, outside the petrol station near Cally Pool. The word this morning is that three young people may have been stabbed, with one at least reported to be [...]
So are these Moldovan protests a twitter revolution or not? The Telegraph certainly seemed to think so. ( More info about the demonstrations & background here There's another good post here which backs up what people have been sying about the relative unimportance of it. Since there was no mobile reception in central Chisinau, people were using the GPRS on their phones rather than normal SMS... (While it's the poorest nation in Europe, Moldova does seem to have a fair number of Blackberries!) An interesting comment on that post: Twitter was not used to manage manifest. Also cellphones works bad ...
The Times today carries an interesting piece about the very low attendance rate at select committee meetings from some MPs. Select committees, and their reports, can be very influential, and particularly for those MPs who are not ministers or in the top media starts of other parties, select committee work is often the most effective way to exercise influence on matters outside their constituency. There's missing a few for good reason, and then there's missing a lot: Dawn Butler, another Labour MP who was promoted from the back benches last October, attended only 15 of the 64 meetings of the ...
I have a Twitter Account and am @CharlotteGore. I don't understand it at all. What do I do next?
A prediction on the outcome of the European Election 2009 shows a lot of lose for the UKIP and a gain for Labour and the Lib Dems and no change for the Tories. The Prediction suggests the following outcome throughout the UK: Conservative: 27 MEP's Labour: 22 MEP's (+3) Liberal Democrats: 13 MEP's (+1) UKIP: 4 MEP's (-8) These are the results for the main political parties but if you want to see the full table and see the write up that comes with it then follow the link. I would have posted the table to the blog but the ...
This is the footage of the incident that led directly to the death of Ian Tomlinson at a G20 protest in London last Wednesday. It raises serious questions about police tactics and conduct that must be answered through a full independent inquiry. Mr. Tomlinson's family deserve answers as to how he died. The public deserve answers as to what exactly went on that day, who was responsible and what is going to be done about it. I know that this has been said on so many occasions with similar incidents but we really do need to ensure that lessons are ...
There has been lots of talk about the interactivity at Plaid Conference on the blogs. Less talk of what was actually said and analysis of the speakers. Rumours have reached the Lib Dems that one keynote speaker was particularly interesting.Their speech was described by an insider as 'cottage burning' in its attitude to outsiders coming to Wales; using language that exposes the worst of
I flabberghasted at the comments of the Met Police Federation Chair on the Today Programme today. This man seems to have little idea of the law of assault and should be removed from whatever rank he holds as a Police Officer. Asked about the Guardian footage showing a Police Officer shoving Ian Tomlinson in the back - despite the fact he was not protesting and was walking peacibly away at the time - Peter Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said some physical confrontation was inevitable during a large protest. He told Radio 4's Today programme: "On a day ...
Since the beginning of 2005, the Buddhist Prison Chaplaincy has been trying to get the Prison Service to process the confidential Counter-Terrorist Check (CTC) forms quickly and with proper care for the sensitive personal information demanded. After endless attempts to get the matter taken seriously including much correspondence with Ministers and changes of procedure, forms are still being lost and seriously delayed for no apparent reason. Not only are chaplains reluctant to trust that personal information is being held securely, but the effect of the system's unreliability is to demotivate existing chaplains so that they resign, and new potential chaplains ...
Charlotte Gore has a good post on whether there will ever be a prosecution or a general outing of the truth arising from this tragic event and speculates on the many ways things can be subjective and muddied. Mark Reckons thinks that without the footage emerging the police would have never volunteered an account of what really happened. I wonder whether more evidence must have been caught on CCTV and whether the relevant CCTV footage will conveniently disappear as it did in the IPCC De Menezes case. I'm not holding my breath for anything less than a whitewash... All this ...
Readers I have some information that shows defectors from the Lib Dems to the Tories taking part in Lib Dem activity after defecting, the activity they took part in was all after they defected and their position in the activity is very high! I ask one question to readers should the News Of The World be given this story so we can have all the information come out into the public domain, or should I inform the Tories that they have housed a group of dodgy characters, what should I do? If I do not get a reply or any ...
A protestor's view of the protests in Moldova. There is still a lot of information on Twitter: hashtag #pman. Apparently there were few protestors first thing this morning, but more have begun to turn up now it's lunchtime in Moldova. Sounds like a student demonstration to me...
The BBC reports: The Liberal Democrats are demanding a criminal inquiry after video footage of the G20 protest showed a police officer pushing over a man who later died. Newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson, 47, who was walking home from work, suffered a heart attack afterwards outside the Bank of England in central London. Lib Dem justice spokesman David Howarth said the footage showed a "sickening and unprovoked attack" by police. The IPCC is investigating and said it would examine the footage. Here's Lib Dem shadow justice secretary David Howarth's statement on the Guardian video showing a policeman attacking Mr Tomlinson ...
Being ahead in the polls for so long is obviously going to the Conservative's head if their latest gaffes are to be believed. Their problem is that they do not have the sort of unassailable lead enjoyed by Tony Blair in 1997 and that any sign that they are returning to type will just reinforce the mistrust that people still feel towards them and eat into their lead. It really is the case that for David Cameron careless talk will cost votes. Thus the Tory Leader needs reports like this one in today's Independent like a hole in the head. ...
God old news we have raised this issue time and time again. I feel that we as a council are there for one purpose and one purpose only. To offer the best service to our residents at the best price. In Salford's case we offer a poor service at a high price. There are to [...]
The blogosphere has exploded today following the recent release of video footage by The Guardian which shows that during the G20 protests, a police officer hit a man across the legs and pushed him onto the floor, from behind. The man appears to have had nothing to do with the protests and was walking away from the police. There is no indication that there was any sort of provocation. The man died a few minutes later of a heart attack. His name was Ian Tomlinson. At first the police made no mention of the assault on Mr Tomlinson and indeed ...
Although they say there will be no compulsory redundancies, it doesn't alter the fact that 4,500 people mainly in Edinburgh and London are soon to be joining the ranks of the unemployed. Gordon Brown should be ashamed of himself and his Government. His Government claim that just in Edinburgh 10 people apply for every vacancy - 160 just applied for a job we have advertised, not 10. My partner hasn't worked since November, and applies for jobs day in, day out and usually the companies he applies to don't even have the common courtesy to reply. So Gordon, I don't ...
The Conservatives are known as a party for being a bunch of people who will pour a lot of money into campaigns that they think they can win an example of one that went terribly wrong for them is below. Conservatives in Pendle had a massive cash injection in their campaign for last Thursdays Cloverhill ward by election. They made the town council election look more like a general election campaign with people from Cheshire on the ground helping out and a Call Bank set up with professional callers to call up Tory voter hopefuls but it all didn't work ...
Quick update on the campaign against an application for a lap dancing club in Crouch End: Petition is hereCampaign blog is hereFacebook group is hereMy previous posts on the issue are here
You may have seen the various news stories about the police suspecting people of being terrorists for all sorts of unusual reasons. I've made a couple of YouTube films this year highlighting how, on the basis of the logic they are using some of the time, it looks like I'm a terrorist too: Watch "Eating a vegetarian meal" above or watch it on the YouTube site here. Watch "Eating a vegetarian meal" above or watch it on the YouTube site here. You can find out more about the background to these and other stories in this great round-up, and there ...
My heart goes out to the family of Ian Tomlinson. To lose someone so suddenly is awful. To do so in the way they have done is so much harder. Mr Tomlinson was walking home from work last Thursday in the area where G20 protests were taking place. Video footage has now emerged and has been reported in the press. It shows him a few moments before he collapsed and died of a heart attack. He was walking away from Police with his hands in his pockets when an officer came up and walloped him on the leg with his ...
As widely reported elsewhere, the Guardian's published a video that shows Ian Tomlinson, with his hands in his pockets and back to police officers being shoved to the ground. It raises serious questions about the policing of the protests. It looks like manslaughter, although I'll be stunned if there's a provable link between the shove and the man's [...]
Sometimes you come back from a meeting really energised and full of hope that, however bad the council or the government or someone else may be - together we really are able to change things for the better. Yesterday was one of those - because Haringey Liberal Democrats had organised a meeting for anyone interested in becoming a councillor to find out more about what's involved. Not only was the meeting packed full of keen, talented people - so many people wanted to come that we're going to have to organise a second event too! There's a whole mix of ...
I may be late to this party but am now a convert to the joys of World of Warcraft Machinima on YouTube, especially this great version of I'm Too Sexy. This led me tangentially to this freshly subtitled version of Downfall, the excellent movie about Hitler's last days that is so darkly absorbing. I wasn't sure whether I should laugh given the weighty subject matter of the original movie, but I did. Heartily.
If, as it increasingly appears, a policeman at the G20 summit got carried away, hit and pushed over 47-year-old newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson and so contributed to his death, justice must take its course. Part of me has sympathy for the challenge faced by the police in this sort of situation. Officers on the ground couldn't have known whether they'd face peaceful protestors or serious violence. They're all tooled up, in their gang and ready to face the enemy. With adrenelin coursing through their veins and the opposition in their sights, it's not surprising that something like this happened somewhere. ...
Our week at Bonkers Hall continues. Wednesday Not having seen Clegg at Westminster for a good couple of weeks (really, he must buck his ideas up if he wants to become Prime Minister), I was more than a little surprised at his appearance when I came across him at Harrogate. I feared that his past delinquencies involving rare cacti and safety matches had caught up with him, as he was sporting just the sort of haircut the authorities favour at the Jack Straw Memorial Reform School, Dungeness. I was assured by his staff that he had not absconded from the ...
Only qualification you have to be able to draw.. Not that funny really, need something really funny John Merry and the cabinet are setting up a petition over the closure of the advertiser.
Just some pictures to give you a flavour for my interest in shapes and pictures and lines and space. There is something slightly catchy, hypnotic even mesmeric in the effect of the design of a building. All very unlikely but true...
The good news of Jesus Christ is the good news that needs bringing to everyone, all of the time, in every area of their lives" said Rev Steve "It begins in Hope and soon...the school goes up here, we will end up with a church which is also a school...a school that is also a [...]
The Friends' AGM & next meeting takes place at Dundee West Church on Tuesday 5th May - if you click on the headline above, you can download full details.
When a Plaid Cymru-facing blog like Cambrio Politico starts to argue that the Assembly Government-subsidised air service between Ynys Môn and Cardiff is a potential electoral embarrassment for the nationalists then we have to sit up and listen:That northern air link is threatening to turn out bad for Plaid. The Penarth Times carries on attack from an intelligent left-wing Labour supporter on the
It's been a funny sort of week - and my blog has suffered a bit over the last few days as I picked up the stomach bug doing the rounds in our villages and managed to get 2 days enforced rest and relaxation - whether I wanted it or not! My entries will be sporadic over the next 2 weeks as I'm trying to take time off to spend with the family before I subject them to another round of electioneering. My other half is looking forward to all the exercise and fresh air he's about to enjoy out delivering ...
Lincolnshire County Council have announced today that they are seeking to reopen the Recycling Facility as soon as they can but have to apply to the Environment Agency to have the existing Waste Management License transferred to them. It's hoped that the facility will be open again in a matter of weeks.
I used to know Tim casually and he always came across as a sane bloke. What's happened to him? He defected in 2007 as a Lib Dem Cllr to the Tories and stood in his old seat coming third. Now he's in the Liberal Party. Will we be welcoming him back?
The Ideas Factory is a chance for you to pitch your own idea of what should be in the next Liberal Democrat manifesto. The proposal here is not the policy of the Social Liberal Forum. We will however be passing it - and the response it generates - onto the Manifesto Working Group. The Proposal Richard Church: Public services are now more accountable to inspectors than they are to the public they serve. Millions are spent on auditing and inspecting schools, hospitals, police and every aspect of local authority services, and millions more are spent by public services in preparing ...
I'm posing a theory here: 1. MPs (particularly of the governing party) due to the ACA have had a vested interest in keeping house prices moving upwards. The more they rose the greater their little perk was of buying a house on the tax in London so that they can sell it on later. Given the venal [...]
In what could be a landmark event it has been published that all 5 Sinn Fein MPs have used their full ACA allowance despite never having taken their seats in Parliament nor hardly visited there (well I supposed they must have done to look at the flats!). One wonders what view the long-suffering Catholic population in [...]
Looking at sunpipes http://tinyurl.com/d6nmpg MMmmmmm - green technology #
I'm trying to sum up how I feel having watched the video on the Guardian website of Ian Tomlinson being bit by a policeman with a baton while he had his hands in his pockets and was walking away from them. I'd say anger, but I think the honest answer is: panic. I watched it about 20 minutes ago and my heart is still racing. More than anything, it frightens me. That could have been me, minding my own business. If I had been tripped over in that way by a mob of coppers, however angry I might have been ...
There's an interesting prediction about the likely outcome of this June's European elections on the website www.predict09.eu, produced by Burson-Marsteller, the prominent public relations and public affairs firm. It foresees a collapse in the UKIP vote in Britain, as well as a significant fall in support for the Greens. That would mean UKIP losing eight of the 12 [...]
One of the great joys of a holiday to Cuba, I am told, is aside from the alcohol, sun, sea, hospitality, and cigars is the fact that it is very difficult for any American's to go on holiday there meaning your visit to the island is usually shared with Canadians, Spaniards and fellow Brits. Now I've nothing against Americans, but if you want a quiet holiday I would book it quickly as the US seems set to ease travel restrictions to Cuba meaning Americans taking holidays there, princes rising , big cameras, loud shirts and even louder voices.
Michael Parkinson has put in to words what many of us felt about he way Jade Goody's illness and death were treated by the press and those around her who were supposedly acting in her "best interests". Parkinson wrote that she was "the perfect victim of our times...brought up in a cesspit of poverty and died to an orchestrated chorus of exploitation". He says a lot more too which is hard to disagree with HERE.
