In addition to my day job, I've taken on some additional contract work with a very nasty deadline which is leaving no time for blogging. Blogging or sleeping? Hmm... decisions, decisions.
According to The New York Times the planner of the September 11th attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was waterboarded 183 times in a month. Although it is likely that he did plan the September 11th attacks, after just one waterboarding I would confess to: the Gun Powder Plot (Apologies to Guido Fawkes); the murder of the princes in the [...]
Nick Perry, the Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye, has welcomed the report from Hastings Borough Council on the recent communal bins consultation. The report is to be discussed by the Cabinet on Monday 27 April and recommends that the Council does not proceed with the scheme. Paragraph 16 states, 'The Steering Group has considered [...]
Mon 20th
23:35
Mr Clegg, can you give us a categorical assurance that you will not prop up Gordon Brown?
I know, I'm getting repetitive now. For the last few months my blog has focussed on three rather unfashionable propositions (which are gradually gaining traction). They are: 1. That it is inflation we should be worried about, not deflation (which has been Labour's justification for the abandonment of any notion of financial discipline when it comes to the public finances) 2. That the Tories would be doing so much better if they sacked George Osborne as Shadow Chancellor 3. That the Lib Dems are literally f%*$ed unless they urgently wake up to the fact that Gordon Brown is a goner ...
I've just finished reading Kevin Carson's Studies In Mutualist Political Economy. Despite its rather dry title, I found the book to be excellent, if tough going at times. I am still digesting it, and I don't agree 100% with the book, but it is undoubtedly a very important work in left libertarianism and the mutualist tradition. A [...]
Strange things are happening in Kingston, Surrey. A few nights ago, at about eight in the evening, a friend of mine was sitting at home in the kitchen when she heard the sound of crunching footsteps coming up the pebbled driveway. Nothing unusual with that - she thought it must be her husband arriving home from work. But there was no husband. A few minutes later and there's more footsteps. This time it was her husband. So, who was the earlier visitor creeping around the house? There's no flyer left through the postbox. She opened the door, and there, slapped ...
Nick Perry, Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye, has backed the Hastings Unite Against Fascism campaign to encourage as many people as possible to register to vote in the elections on 4 June, and to use those votes to keep out the British National Party from Hastings and St Leonards. Nick said, "People of [...]
I was pleased to see Chris Huhne calling for independent inquiry into the policing of protests. After what is being revealed after the G20 protests, and also all that is now coming out about Hillsborough to say nothing of the De Menzes shooting. Chris Huhne says the need for an enquiry is compelling and he is right. Not only does there need to be a thorough investigation about what is...
Can be found here. Hello, incidentally, to those of you who've come over to this site after a bunch of us used Twitter to do naughty swears on the Telegraph website, if any of you have stuck around. Fill Your Heart by Tiny Tim is a cover of the Biff Rose song that was made famous [...]
This 'folk community' and 'common blood' he talks of suggests that his philosophy of nationalism or 'statism' was really racism in disguise (Kangas 23) as this excerpt from Mein Kampf conveys: "The German Reich as a state must embrace all Germans and has the task, not only of assembling and preserving the most valuable stocks [...]
Thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils converged spontaneously on Parliament Square in Westminster today, to swell the ongoing demonstration of several hundred, as news came in of Sri Lankan government forces breaking through earth defences to the last stronghold of separatist rebels, the Tamil Tigers, amid fears of massive civilian casualties. As it is, tens of [...]
A short note from Nick Clegg MP Leader of the Liberal Democrats. Vince Cable and I are currently briefing the press about what we want to see in Wednesday's Budget. I thought you would like to know what we are saying. It is clear that this recession demands a radical overhaul of the British tax system. It remains scandalous that the richest in our country pay a lower share of their wealth in tax than the poorest. We are demanding that both sides of this distorted equation be changed. We are renewing our call to close the loopholes exploit by ...
There's another open day at Boones Chapel this weekend from 12-5 both days - another chance to see the Drawing Tools exhibition. See my previous entry for full details.
Tonight, at the City Council's Development Quality Committee, I move refusal of another modern house proposal south of Richmond Terrace & Court, but I unfortunately lost the vote narrowly. The decision was unfortunate, given that committee had previously supported (on two occasions) to support my objections to inappropriate planning applications in this area to the immediate west of Magdalen Green. Here is my motion to committee tonight : Application 09/00065/FUL Land at Richmond Terrace, Dundee. 1) The proposed development is contrary to Policy 1 of the Dundee Local Plan Review 2005 by virtue of the design, layout and associated traffic ...
At Redemption Blues.
Reggie Perrin - as The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin has been rechristened for the attention deficit generation - begins on Friday on BBC1. This is wrong in so many ways. The original series was very much of the 1970s, expressing the decade's dawning dissatisfaction with corporate culture and - like The Good Life - offered a way of escaping from it. Leonard Rossiter was an incomparable actor, always on the verge of going over the top but never quite doing so. The early episodes of Rising Damp defy comic gravity by getting funnier as the years go by. ...
As today's "Courier" mentions, I have backed new speed limit guidelines for residential streets, where these are appropriate. This follows news that the Department for Transport is this week expected to start consulting on new speed limit guidelines across England and Wales and media reports indicate that the Scottish Government may follow suit (click on the headline to read the full article). It had been my intention to bring forward proposals to committee on 27th April to consult on possible traffic speed reductions in parts of the City Centre, in response to calls for a pedestrian-safe, traffic calmed city centre. ...
I've had so many questions on this I thought I'd lay out the basis for how I'd like to operate if I am fortunate enough to be elected as your local MP when the General Election is called... 1. I live in the constituency - it's the least residents can expect from their local MP. I will never claim for a second home. Taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for second homes of London MPs. 2. I will never employ members of my family. My staff will be appointed on merit, not on connections and they will have to work hard ...
The British National Party has over 70 members in Pendle as the BNP membership list that was leaked has revealed but their was something that I didn't know about until today which is that the BNP in Pendle have a blog. First of all I would like to congratulate the clowns on using the Internet to further their cause because they aren't going to further it any other way. The BNP in Pendle are a group of numpties with two councillors and 70 members, not a lot to be honest and most people wont vote them or take them seriously. ...
Damian McBride's local Labour Party branch, the Finchley and Golders Green constituency, will vote next month on whether to oust him from the party, says the Guardian. One local is particularly livid: Rudi Vis, the Labour MP for Finchley and Golders Green, said McBride's actions were "scandalous, totally scandalous". He added: "Something like this is really important, especially when the government is not doing very well."He has done the Labour party an enormous disservice. I don't believe he is the sort of member we should have.Before you accept Mr Vis as the arbiter of what is and is not scandalous, ...
Have you seen the trailer for Ashes To Ashes Series Two? Classy, fun, cinematically shot and set to one of Spandau Ballet's better tunes, it's been all over the BBC for weeks, and I've been looking forward to tonight's first episode... But not without doubts gnawing at me. I'd already had more problems with Ashes To Ashes than its predecessor Life On Mars - and, after Red Riding made old-fashioned violent policing seem less funny, and the death of Ian Tomlinson warned us that the Met's changed less than we'd all hoped, will we still be laughing with Gene Hunt? ...
I didn't start very efficiently this morning, having put the wrong date in my diary for a meeting. Fortunately I'd also forgotten to put in an important deadline. Why fortunately? Because that necessitated my contacting my colleague, Alan Lewis, who then put me right about the date of the meeting I was about to go to and thus saved me a valuable 2 hours in which to produce the article in time
I am having difficulty figuring out words for describing how cool this is: My quote of the day is from the description: Keep in mind the scanner and floppy drive are not musical instruments. These are mechancial devices whose frequencies tend to drift and can cause some notes to be out of tune. Seriously, how cool is that? (via) Also, I'm testing the DW crossposter, apparently there are issues with post edits and embedded videos that we need to iron out. So comments off on LJ and on on DW, I don't plan on making a habit of this until ...
Last week, the Government released guidance on tackling bullying in the community. It's a welcome and interesting departure because it signifies an acknowledgement that bullying isn't just an education issue. Yes, bullying happens in schools, but these behaviours aren't confined to classrooms and playgrounds. For years, Beatbullying has understood that bullying can happen anywhere - in youth groups, parks, on buses, etc - and bullying in the community is a significant problem. That is why we run bullying prevention and anti-violence workshops in youth clubs and community groups, as well as in schools. Crucially, what we're also seeing is a ...
One hundred years ago in 1909 David Lloyd George rose to the Liberal Government's dispatch box to present what was to go down in history as the people's budget. From the speculation of what Darling is going to announce of Wednesday the people aren't going to do too well out of the budget marking that centenary. However, step forward Vince Cable alongside another Liberal leader Nick Clegg with the ideas that really do put the people first. This morning they announced plans that would effectively cut income tax bills for those on low and middle incomes by £700. This will ...
A ICM Poll for tomorrow puts the Tories back down to where they below and has showed that the gap between the Conservatives and Labour isn't as big as the Tories would like it to be. The results of the poll can be seen below: CONSERVATIVES: 40% LABOUR: 30% LIBERAL DEMOCRATS 19% After running this via the seat predictor on UK Polling report the result is: Conservative 326 seats (+128) Labour 250 seats (-106) Liberal Democrats 44 seats (-18) This would give the Conservatives a majority of 2 seats, which would easily get knocked back if the Lib Dem spoke ...
The Social Liberal Forum will be hosting a fringe event at this years Compass Conference; No Turning Back - building a new political economy for the 21st century. The Conference will be held on the 13th June at the Institute of Education in London Running in the afternoon slot the SLF session is titled Work and Happiness: Democracy and Work-Life Balance. Register for the Conference on the Compass website, come along and join the debate.
I have set up a twitter campaign called tweeting voters and personally I think everyone and anyone should follow the feed. The whole point of it is to spread information about elections, campaigns, political parties and other political info to people via twitter. If you would like to support the campaign then follow the link to the twitter profile!
Benedict Brogan is back to blogging on his new horribly designed Telegraph blog that you can read by following the link. The Telegraph layout is horrible but he has moved to the paper so we will have to just live with it unless Ben wants to get an independent blog so we feel more comfortable! Ben you have been missed mate! Hat Tip to Tory Bear.
What would you do with an extra £705 per year? If Liberal Democrat tax proposals announced today are implemented, you might well get the chance to find out. Basically, you would only pay tax on earnings over £10,000. This would be a much needed and significant boost to the budgets of many low and middle income households. It would also go some way to redressing the terrible situation which, under successive Conservative, and more scandalously, Labour governments has meant that the poor pay a higher proportion of their income in tax than the rich. It's a good idea, easily explained ...
The revolution will be tweeted? Well, it was in Moldova. Two more stories which show that politicians and the mainstream press underestimate new media at their peril: From Jemima Kiss at the Guardian: Telegraph.co.uk has taken the 'brave' decision to publish a live Twitterfall stream of #budget tags on its Budget 2009 homepage. Sounds simple enough, but, as some of Twitter's more mischievous users have demonstrated, it does rather leave the Telegraph website open to editorial sabotage. Anything with a budget hashtag makes the page. Some moderation required, me thinks. The Telegraph has now removed Twitterfall from its Budget 2009 ...
I'm hearing suggestions this afternoon that former council Leader and current Lead Member for Resources, Charles Adje, is stepping down from his Labour cabinet post. This follows a string of disasters - and what I would certainly call scandals - like the revelations last week, that he had private discussions with Firoka, when he was chair of the Ally Pally Board. His version of the events that led to a disastrous licence agreement (that cost local taxpayers at least £1.5 million) had no credibility. If true, this is not before time. But in or out of office, there is definitely ...
I've blogged many times before about the Kings Cross access campaign - keeping easy access for Islington residents to and through the redeveloped Kings Cross. Now this message comes from campaigner Sophie Talbot: "Network Rail will permanently close this entrance on Friday 24th April. At 1.30pm on that day we are inviting people to gather at [...]
A poll out by tweetminister about voting intentions of people on twitter suggests that more people who use social networking will vote the Lib Dems then the polls done by other pollsters. This suggests that many people who socially network are potential Lib Dem voters but are probably not going out to vote at elections because of apathy or because they can't vote via facebook. The results of the poll are: 35% would vote Labour 27% Liberal Democrats 20% Conservative. 8% indicated that they would vote for one of the other parties 8% were undecided 2% would not vote Now ...
Just to prove that he was there, on good form and at the centre of things, here Lembit gives his verdict on the Welsh Liberal Democrat Conference on 17th to 19th April 2009
Great bunch of real men and women with commitment. But with as much bite as a 90 year old. I know they are not policemen you say. Well why are they taking on the role.
You should go and see Armando Iannucci's new film, In the Loop. It may not quite be up there with Dr Strangelove but the film is good political satire all the same, with some great lines and sharp teeth. The question is, who gets bitten? As Charlotte Gore says: "In the Loop . . . delivers on the comedy - but you're left wondering whether, by laughing, the joke is actually on you." The obvious targets of this satire are the people who got Britain into the disaster that was the Iraq war. Yet liberals and others who opposed the ...
A tragic picture of Salford is about to emerge when a new `Community Strategy' is launched in May. Salford Star got a sneak glimpse of the draft document. And the facts about the city are well shocking... • Almost a third of our kids live in poverty• Life expectancy for our men is over 3 years less than [...]
No sooner do I criticise Welsh Ramblings for their outrageous personalisation of politics than I am referring to one of their posts as an example of further splits within the One Wales Government. It is not the accuracy of the post in question that is important here but the mistrust that it demonstrates building up within Plaid Cymru about their Labour allies. The Plaid Cymru staffers who write this blog are asking whether the Secretary of State for Wales, Paul Murphy, is seeking to fix his consultation on the Welsh Language legislative Competence Order so as to get the result ...
I failed on two occasions,Labour seats to sure of my self. Changed tact started writing my own focus leaflets and i won. Labour hate me but who gives a damn, my advice to any one who as lost, get back on your bike and fight the buggers, it don't come easy. [...]
Mon 20th
15:57
Are our policies election winners or do people still see us as the pipe and slipper brigade?
Well labour went to New Labour And The Tories are well i don't know. But what are we doing wrong, Why are we struggling. Do we need to change image.do we need to be more radical. or less. Where in the political arena do we stand?Any comments.
Mon 20th
15:51Is Scrutiny Really working within councils or are we going through a process with little real use??,
As an opposition councillor i attend scrutiny, the majority party are labour, what concerns me is apart from myself and a couple of tories the labour members never really quiz a decision, yes i know what you are going to say but some of the decisions are terrible and they understand how the people within the [...]
The Liberal Democrats will fight the next general election with a pledge to cut income tax bills by £700 for people on low and middle incomes, Nick Clegg revealed today. The party will promise to raise the income tax personal allowance to £10,000 by closing tax loopholes exploited by big businesses and the wealthy. Speaking today, Nick Clegg said: "These plans...
A complicated tax system only really helps one thing - The Government - By creating a complicated and opaque tax system the government is able to perpetuate a system of doublethink. By complicating tax beyond recognition with incentives and loopholes and credits and rebates, government is able to hide behind an impenetrable wall of words and [...]
It's not easy to live in this country on £10,000 a year - and really difficult if you earn less than that. I've just been talking with 'someone close to Nick Clegg and Vince Cable' (as they say) about their tax announcement today. The top line news is that Liberal Democrats will pledge to cut income tax completely for people earning less than £10,000. It will take 4 million...
Well I managed it! I walked a total of 7-10 miles yesterday as I walked a bit further than I had planned at Hestercombe House. The final 2 miles dragged and were a bit painful on the way home, but as I've raised over £60 so far, that soon became bearable! Many thanks indeed to everyone who has generously donated - I expected £50 so have been very pleasantly surprised... I had a beautiful day for a country walk and enjoyed the sun when it shone underneath my sunhat at 1pm after lunch! The formal gardens are stunning with spectacular ...
Tory Bear has a blog post in which he has created a South Park character for Gordon Brown becuase he has news that the Prime Minister is to feature on the cartoon. To see TB's Prime Minister look at the image below: The image of the Prime Minister close to a computer has reminded me of something that I think needs to be discussed. For all those who got a look at the Red Rag before it got taken of the Internet you would have realised the logo was a bitmap that's why it was so blury. If you want ...
I've been rather busy of late so not much time to blog, but I am breaking my silence to say a massive WELL DONE to Vince Cable and Nick Clegg for their announcement on tax. Raising the threshold to £10K - giving every low and middle earner 700 quid back into their pockets - is exactly the right way to rebalance our monumentally unfair tax system. It gives spending power to those for whom it will make a real difference and reduces disincentives to work at lower income levels. And it is paid for not by punitive tax increases at ...
Tory Bear has some good treats for his Researcher of the week this week. My pick for this week is Victoria Parker and if you want to see the treat that Victoria Parker is and see who is up against her then follow the link to the Bear's post. If Victoria Parker wins this week maybe Tory Bear won't be the only person sending her a prize, she might just get one from me!
At last! I'll write up a fuller analysis later, but for now, here's the announcement that I, and many others in the party, have been waiting for. Let's skip over the £700-and-a-pony-for-all headline. This, friends, is a liberal tax measure. The party will promise to raise the income tax personal allowance to £10,000 by closing tax loopholes exploited by big businesses and the wealthy. Measures which will be used to pay for this proposed increase in the personal allowance include: Restricting tax relief on pension contributions to the basic rate Taxing Capital Gains at marginal income tax rates, allowing for ...
Here's a link to a petition to sign against an increase in nuclear power in the UK. I have read a couple of articles with interest recently, on in the gardian abou the propossed 11 sites for new nuclear power plants , this article about Spain's wind power farms in La Mancha having a record breaking output recently and how they already supply 12% of the country's power and in today's Independent, this article about how the UK could be about to miss out on an green energy boom by not investing in wind power. Why is this government so ...
Well done to Nick Clegg for announcing a very clear income tax cut of £700 for lower and middle earners. It will be a refreshing relief to go into the next general election promising a tax cut rather than having to defend tax increases. And I am delighted that finally we are expressing these things in pounds rather than pence. If you to say to someone they will receive a 4p tax cut, they really
The Isle of Ely by-election in 1973 was my first serious political campaign. I was a student at Cambridge, the sun was shining, and we bunked off lectures to join Clement (or "Clay") Freud in his quixotic campaign. The by-election followed the death of Sir Harry Legge-Bourke, who was one of the last National Liberal MPs - they sat with the Conservative Party in the House of Commons. The constituency had the jewel of Ely Cathedral and city at its heart and then mile after mile of featureless fen. Freus at that stage was best known for his dogfood adverts ...
I realise that title could be directly from a Cowley Street press release but it is true. Labour have had twelve years to do something like this but have pussy footed around terrified of being seen as too left wing. They have even done stupid and wrong headed things like abolish the 10p tax band which has taken us in the opposite direction. Now, the Lib Dems are proposing to increase the tax free band to the first £10,000 of income paid for by closing tax loopholes for big business and the wealthy such as: Restricting tax relief on pension ...
Caroline Pidgeon is someone I've known, and worked with, for a few years now. When I became active in local politics in East Dulwich, I watched her carve a swathe through Southwark politics and wondered where her ultimate ambitions lay. She was selected to fight the target constituency of Lambeth & Southwark in 2004 and came close to winning it, but didn't let that put her off, and I was delighted when she was successful via the top-up list last year. One hope that I shared with many Liberal Democrat activists was that she would form better links with Local ...
Nick and Vince are clearly on the right track with their announcement today of a £700 tax cut for low and middle-income earners, to be paid for by those with piles of cash. True, there are a fun bunch of philosophical debates we could have about it (and perhaps we should - libertarians and social liberals seem to be getting on worryingly well at the moment and it can't be healthy), but it looks good to me. If ever there was a time for the wealthiest to pay a little more tax to help out those at the bottom, now ...
Toby Cooke was due to go to Ghana to help build a children's hospital. Instead he ended up on the receiving end of Harrow's Graham Cahill's fist in a road-rage incident. Toby Cooke didn't recover from the knock down. He died from his injuries. Cahill admitted manslaughter. Cahill got a pathetic 27 month prison sentence from the judge, oh and let's not forget the 18 month ban on driving. On this occasion it seems Mr Cooke was the driving menace, the type that probably would annoy me, too. It's an awfully light sentence, though, and I would expect this to ...
I was walking down Oakwood Drive on Saturday with Cllrs Sheila Burton and Iqbal Zia. The sun was shining and the street looked lovely with the blossom, people doing their gardens etc. We were chatting away, and I just noted these bin bags dumped at the side of the pavement out of the corner of my eye. It just looked a mess. Just as we walked past them, a voice out of the blue somewhere below my knees said "Hello. How are you?" It made us jump out of our skins. And the only place it could have come from ...
Nick Clegg today announced proposals to raise the income tax personal allowance to £10,000. Looking at the costings it is all pretty uncontroversial though I have to say I object to extending National Insurance Contribution's to multiple jobs mainly because this is counterproductive. Low and middle income earner's the very group we are supposed to be targeting and 'putting money into the pockets' of are the group most likely to actually have multiple jobs to make ends meet. So, realistically it strikes me that you are potentially taking them out of tax with one hand and putting them back in ...
Over at the Daily Mail, Lib Dem deputy leader and shadow chancellor Vince Cable oultines his plans to get the British economy back on track. Here's an excerpt: What can the Government do in the Budget to help avert an unemployment crisis? The panicky VAT cut, designed to get consumers spending again, was not a success and very expensive for the Government. It would be better now to redirect the remaining £8.5billion set aside to public works projects which provide jobs and leave taxpayers with a useful asset at the end of it. The obvious priority is affordable housing. Private ...
"Never again," says Dee Doocey AM, Member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, on the death of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 demonstrations on April 1st. Writing on the Progressive London blog today, Dee lists six basic principles which should be reflected in future police policy towards protest: • Demonstrations and other peaceful forms of protest are a fundamental democratic right • Demonstrations are usually peaceful • Policing should be proportionate • It is unacceptable for any officer deliberately to obscure his or her identification number • The police must exercise due care and attention when making statements to the media ...
Headphones in, press play and read on. This is what I've been waiting to hear: The Liberal Democrats will fight the next general election with a pledge to cut income tax bills by £700 for people on low and middle incomes. The party will promise to raise the income tax personal allowance to £10,000 by closing tax loopholes [...]
David Cameron's former Chief of Staff Alex Deane puts his climate-sceptic head above the parapet today on ConHome, ironically to tell all the other blue green deniers to keep their heads down for the moment. He doesn't believe that climate change is linked to human activity because he has read one wayward book that breaks with evidence that the overwhelming majority of climate scientists believe is effectively incontrovertible. Like so many others I am terrified by the idea that leading politicians and decision-makers publicly or privately ignore the greater mass of scientific thinking on an issue which most scientists believe ...
If you would like a hard copy of the recent report blogged here minus the typos and errors, just phone my office.Footnote: Going back to the last meeting on the Monday I have been informed that Craig ...
Whilst all the focus has been on Damian McBride and in Wales, Aneurin Glyndwr, there has been another smear campaign going on for some time which so far has slipped below the political radar.The existence of unofficial Plaid Cymru blogs, Welsh Ramblings and Guerrilla Welsh Fare has been evident for some time. These sites are highly partisan, personal, and partial in the way that they interpret
A debate is taking place about the risks of inflation. Martin Feldstein - once the chair of Reagan's advisors - thinks they are large, because that will be the only way of paying for the massive fiscal deficits. (Mark Thoma explains the issue algebraically in the accompanying comment.) Unlike Feldstein, Harless would like inflation but thinks it won't happen. Sellers have to be given a proper reason to raise prices. What I find powerful about his piece is that it draws attention to how historically unique the previous run-up in inflation (over 1968-1980) was: "that whole process took a long ...
I've been away in Cardiff this weekend at the Welsh Liberal Democrats conference and have had a great time. I stayed at the brand new Sleeperz hotel by the railway station - on the whole very good, great wet room styled bathrooms but inconsistent on cooking bacon - Friday crispy, Saturday fatty and undercooked and Sunday okay. Lots of Celtic liaison and training which was why I was there and its always good to see how other conferences work! I managed a bit of sightseeing as well including a run out from the Bay to the City on the boat ...
Yesterday's Observer reported that one of the Lib Dems' bigger donors, Sudhir Choudhrie, faces allegations of "accepting tens of millions of pounds in kickbacks from an arms deal between an Israeli company and the Indian government": Sudhir Choudhrie, who has personally donated £95,000 to the party and whose relatives' companies have donated a further £475,000, was named as a key arms broker in foreign reports. ... This is the second time that Choudhrie, 59, has been accused of being paid an illegal commission from a major arms deal in India. The allegations are said to be politically motivated, and to ...
OK, forgot to tick a box on the crossposter, let's try that again. If you're already on Dreamwidth then really, nothing to see here... This are a test post. There is nothing really to see. However, if you fancy following the link and saying hello to test the OpenID login, that'd be cool. Gotta love beta testing features, this might not even work... ETA: not only does it work, but apparently it auto-edits as well. How cool is that? This entry was originally posted at http://matgb.dreamwidth.org/360244.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
This weekend my delivering took me to Borden, an attractive little village not far from Sittingbourne in Kent. The village is centred around a large church next to a nice pub called The Maypole - which is very popular at Sunday lunch. Borden is full of quiet, leafy roads with fields and houses wide apart. This last point makes it difficult for delivering leaflets as once you have come to a house it's then quite a walk to get up to the front door. But it's all good exercise. The people we met walking around were friendly and receptive, all ...
My post on cyclists turning left at red lights got picked up as part of the Liberal Conspiracy overflow, if that's the right way of putting it, thanks to Lee Griffin. More interesting in the round-up are the various commentaries on policing and the G20 demos. One colleague who was caught up in it is Greg [...]
This lunchtime (1pm-2pm), at the London Stock Exchange, Nick Clegg will be setting out the Liberal Democrats' policy on Europe, at an event organised by Business for New Europe: 'Stronger Together: A Liberal Future for Europe'. Essentially he'll be unveiling the LibDems' manifesto for the European elections, with its three main foci: economic security during the [...]
Is it me or is Guido disappearing up his own proverbial? Calling this ongoing Smeargate episode "schoolboyish" is being extremely unfair to schoolboys.It seems Guido's main gripe is that Draper/McBride etc weren't as good at doing what he (Guido) does very well. Sort of gossip under the radar type of thing. There is this classic from Guido yesterday:Maguire was still peddling innuendo from them
Well, I assume that Sebastian Vettel, the driver who has stepped into David Coulthard's shoes at Red Bull, saw a penny and picked it up on Saturday before he landed pole position from just one flying lap at the end of the third qualifying session. He'd stayed in the running with a similarly late flying lap in Q2. Apparently there was some problem with the car, which meant that Red Bull did not want to push their luck. It's not easy to go out there and deliver under pressure like that, and it takes huge skill to drive in the ...
It gave me a fair amount of pleasure to be one to the 10 reps signing the emergency motion calling on the Nat/Lab government in Cardiff to reverse its decision to break its sponsorship of Wales Rally GB.What am I talking about. Well for the measly sum of £2.4m that expert on rural tourism IWJ decided last week that the event which the government are contracted to support is not worth the
Labour need to stop denying the fact that the whole party near enough knew about the Red Rag, I won't be surprised if it comes out that all members were send information from Labour HQ telling them about the Red Rag and asking them to donate to it (They probably would have got millions) as Labour supporters would think its a good idea but are they wrong. Guido has two blog posts in which he writes about how Labour sources have told him that Draper's breakfast parties were places at which the Red Rag idea was openly discussed, yet no ...
2007: Vonnegut 2008: Clarke 2009: Ballard All the futures are dying.
When Rich was still living in the Barbican, one of his locals was the Fox & Anchor in Charterhouse Street. It was a traditional pub, John, the resident landlord, was always welcoming, it was a pleasant quiet place for an evening drink - and provided us with some hearty breakfasts during the 2005 election campaign. Then [...]
I spent surprisingly little time on the allotment over the weekend. A couple of hours weeding on Saturday and a visit to check all was well on Sunday. Looks as though we are heading for bumper rhubarb, onion and garlic crops. And everything planted in the new greenhouse is coming along in leaps and bounds. Otherwise, nothing new planted (but there's plenty coming up).It was however something of a
I have said before that in my view the role of the police in any democratic society is to facilitate demonstrations not to stifle them or to take sides. This is clearly too idealistic because frankly the record of the boys in blue is not good. In a comment to a previous post Jennie reminded me of the partisan role of the police in the miners' strike in the 1980s. It was an unfortunate episode in the history of our democracy that I had hoped was behind us. Apparently, that is not the case. This morning's Guardian offers more food ...
I'm sure I'm not the only one for whom alarm bells were ringing this morning when I heard of Darling's plan to cut public spending by £15 billion over the next few years. It's always the easy option politicians turn to (the Lib Dems too). What's not to like about getting rid of a few civil servants, cutting some waste and making the system leaner and more efficient? All worthy aims, and great if they can really be done. But there are reasons to be suspicious of all such plans, especially when they come from this Government, who's track record ...
Lib Dem County Councillors have committed to freeze council tax if they win control of the County Council on June 4th. "When times are hard, the county council shouldn't be increasing council tax unless it's unavoidable," commented leading Lib Dem County Councillor Robin Hughes."With the huge reserves that the council have stashed away and the low rate of inflation, there's no need to put up the County's Council Tax this year or next year. The Conservatives always hike up council tax the year after an election." It's time for a change. Tory run Hampshire County Council has put £83 million ...
I guess we have all been there: made a prediction that turns out to be we'll off the mark. For example, back in September 2007 I predicted there would be an autumn election as there was no way the government would allow all that speculation to grow and they wouldn't be stupid enough to allow all the hype to run riot. I rather underestimated Labour's stupidity! So the talk in the media this
The link is to a prototype spoof of Facebook by the Open Rights Group. It makes the point as to what the government can do by "sharing information".
It begins: Before the success of Empire of the Sun Ballard was known principally for darkly surreal novels such as The Crystal World (1966), which described a West African country undergoing an inexplicable process of petrifaction, and Crash (1973), in which he put forward the idea that modern society finds traffic accidents erotic. Despising the term science fiction, Ballard never used it, preferring to describe his work as "apocalyptic".
Whenever I book the 7.40am Newcastle train to London on a Monday morning, I always turn up at the station with a sense of trepidation. Will the service be cancelled? It often is. Today, I am pleased to report that the departure board indicates a minor miracle. The train is not only not cancelled but is alleged to be on time. Wow!---Sent via BlackBerry
You know when something is bad for Labour when the biggest unions tell them to stop it. So with Unison taking the public stage and telling Gordon Brown to end the 'childish venom' of email smears you have to take note. Two interesting things of note this first is that this message will be delivered by the General Secretary of the union. Not some spokesperson but the head honcho. Therefore this is a message for the top, ie the Prime Minister. Irrespective of what Gordon, Neil Kinnock. Peter Mandelson or anyone else with authority in Labour is saying about him ...
David Howarth has obtained email evidence via a Freedom of Information request that government officials have shared secret police intelligence with a private company. The Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform emailed police intelligence to E.ON about peaceful protestors' movements and meetings in the run-up to the Kingsnorth Climate Camp protest. See the Guardian for more: At first officials at BERR refused to release the emails, despite a request under the Freedom of Information Act from the Liberal Democrats. The decision was reversed on appeal and although large sections have been blacked out, they show: BERR officials passed a ...
On Wednesday the non political one of my two jobs took me to Staplehurst.On the way back we called in at a bakers in Goudhurst to buy some rolls, and there sat in the cake cabinets was Gypsy Tart!It is over 30 years since I had it. It was a mainstay of school dinners in Kent schools.Well, I couldn't resist. Yum. The filling in the tarts was nearer to what I remember, paler than this recipe from
