The BBC reports: A social worker and three managers have been sacked for failings in the care of Baby P, Haringey Council has said... Haringey Council said Cecilia Hitchen, the deputy director of children and families, had been dismissed for "loss of trust and confidence" following the damning Ofsted report in December last year. A council spokesman said social worker Maria Ward, team manager Gillie Christou and head of safeguarding services Clive Preece were sacked for gross misconduct.
Yvette Cooper was really poor yesterday when she responded for the Government on the Budget Debate on Work and Pensions. Yes - I caught Mr Deputy Speaker's eye - after jumping up and down for about five hours in a freezing chamber (air conditioning over kill). I wanted to tackle four issues: support for Citizens Advice Bureaux who are struggling terms with the huge rise in people needing their help; the need to make the Small Business Rate relief (about £1,200 per year) automatic - as so many businesses fail to get this relief; the issue of help for women ...
When was the last time the Liberals won a division in the House of Commons.? The FT man on BBC News 24 who is reviewing the papers says the 1920's. I suspect that must have been Lloyd George coalition with the Tories which many Liberals (including those in Southport)had nothing to do with and even contested elections against. My money is on 1916. But someone will tell me very soon I've no doubt. The groundwork for this victory has been laid over a long time. But today in parliament it was Prime Ministers questions which marked the beginning of the ...
I have decided to boycott the Guy Fawkes and Iain Dale's diary blogs as i feel they both have developed an anti-Palestine mentality. I offered both of them the opportunity to join my Peace through Dialogue campaign so that us bloggers can stick together, and bring about lasting peace within the region. They both declined the offer by not embracing the display of my logo, therefore i have deiced to boycott them both and hope the readers will do the same. I know they may send their "reinforcements" to flood my blog, but couldn't care less. Note - I have ...
Noorul Chowdry has been voted off the Apprentice. Sir Alan Sugar;s decision was based upon the fact that Noorul has taken a back seat in all the tasks, and remained under the radar. In my opinion it was the right decison. Noorul is a talented chap, and is not afraid of throwing himself in the deep end. As he left his comfort zone of being a science teacher and moved towards business. I think he maybe should try a career as a politician, as he is clearly quite capable of being an MP or even MEP.
During a heated debate the other day, i stood up for Muslim women and how they should be involved in all fields, including politics. As i came home and read blogs i noticed that Nosheen Bhatti a lib dem parliamentary candidate has deflected to the tories. There seems to be no apparent reasons for the defection apart from being unable to agree 100% with policies of the party. Well for me politics and the membership of a political party always meant that it was invitation to discuss or debate further. On the other hand i feel that Muslim women and ...
A big victory for the opposition on Gurka rights today. PM Gordon Brown has been defeated by 21 votes to a Lib Dem motion, to allow Gurkas equal rights. With the help of the tories and backbench MPs the motion was voted through. This to some people may indicate a sign if an early General Election, as the PM does not want to continue to face humiliation and loosing the support of his MPs. I feel he may call a snap election if he looses the votes on MPs expenses. Lets see what happens....
The Liberal Democrats have won a historic victory in the House of Commons, overturning the Labour Government's outrageous decision to block UK residency for Gurkhas who had bravely fought for Britain.Politics.co.uk have an excellent report on this historic victory: Analysis: Clegg's victory Big win for Nick Clegg Wednesday, 29, Apr 2009 12:00By Alex Stevenson The Liberal Democrats have won
Apologies to my reader (if i have any left that is) i have been unable to blog, due to the fact that my laptop and home computer contracted a virus. It is not fully sorted.... I could have rushed my technical guy, but i have been quite busy with work, and have not had the time. Apologies once again!
Over at The Guardian's Comment Is Free blog, former Lib Dem leader Ming Campbell explains how today's Commons defeat of the policy to restrict Gurkhas' right to settle in the UK is another crack in Prime Minister Gordon Brown's authority: What the government failed to appreciate was the extent of feeling within the Commons and the enormous public affection outside. The Gurkhas hold a special place in British hearts and, for once, public opinion was in favour of immigration rather than against it. ... It is wise to remember the government hasn't fallen. But this defeat adds to the woes ...
When Women like Ms Bhatti who defected to the Conservatives last week from the Lib Dems skip through political parties a role model is lost in their category in society, if I can call it that. When Ms Bhatti defected to the Conservatives she knocked the ambitions of young Asian women out of the window as they would now have at the back of their minds the fact that many politicians are career hungry animals. Ms Bhatti destroyed the chances of many Asian women with her actions of defecting from one political party to another, I hope she can sleep ...
As the photo (right) shows, the phone box at the top of Magdalen Place at its junction with Seafield Road is in poor shape. Residents have complained to me about the lack of glass in many of the panels and the general poor condition of the box, including graffiti on it. I have taken up the complaints with British Telecom.
My brother in law tried to ring the swine fever helpline but all he got was crackling... Er, 'boom boom'?
Today's Times asked five female MPs for their perspectives - here's what Sarah Teather had to say about the difference sex makes to how women are treated in politics: I never would have imagined myself doing this job. I speak to female researchers who are brilliant, confident and articulate and they say that they've never thought of being an MP. They see people working in the building and think, 'That's not for me - I want a life.' "The qualities that are prized in the Westminster village are quite male. The "yah, boo" politician, the big hitter; inevitably that means ...
What a triumph for common sense, led by Nick Clegg! The vote on allowing Gurkhas the right to settle here. Soundbite of the day must be "If someone is prepared to die for the country surely he should have the right to live in the country." Well done to our parliamentarians - leading the opposition to this "government" is something you did well today. In the words of the school report - Keep
Joanna Lumley, David Cameron and Nick Clegg react to the vote Gordon Brown's government has suffered a shock defeat in the Commons on its policy of restricting the right of many former Gurkhas to settle in the UK. MPs voted by 267 to 246 for a Lib Dem motion offering all Gurkhas equal right of residence, [...]
It's taken me a while to catch up with Alun Davies' declaration that he wants to stand for Labour in the ancestral home of Bevan, Foot and Llew Smith. See here for his full statement, courtesy of the Western Mail's man in the Bay David Williamson. So far so interesting. At first glance, it looks like a man looking for a way out, following in the footsteps of: Lorraine Barrett, Jane Davidson,
The BBC's trailer for the news series of Inspector George Gently uses the introduction from "I'm a Man" by the Spencer Davis Group. Before all the coffee chains set up store in Market Harborough, I was a regular customer of the first shop here to do frothy coffee. They used to play CDs and one of them was a sixties compilation that included this track. I had always known the Spencer Davis Group's singles, but listening closely to that introduction was a revelation. It blows your socks off now. It must have sounded even more remarkable in 1967. That set ...
Last November I questioned Phil Willis's approach, as chairman of the Commons innovation, universities, science and skills select committee, to its inquiry into claims that standards in higher education are falling. He called on critics of government policy to "put up or shut up" and challenged them "to come out from the woodwork". A report in the Times Higher Education supplement suggests that he should have been more concerned for the welfare of the witnesses he called: An academic at loggerheads with Manchester Metropolitan University after he blew the whistle on alleged grade inflation at the institution has claimed that ...
Today's historic victory for the Gurkhas and an historic defeat for Gordon Brown has already been chronicled by our own Alix Mortimer. Here is the Channel 4 News report: Nick Clegg's superb performance at today's PMQ already won him rave reviews, as our Alex Foster noted. Other mentions in dispatches for the role Nick Clegg played in forcing this issue: "Credit in particular to Nick Clegg" - The Telegraph's Benedict Brogan "the Liberal Democrats can feel justifiably pleased that their long game has truly paid off" - BBC's Gary O'Donoghue "It was a rare triumph for the Lib Dems and ...
Proposals for the expansion of Southend Airport are one of the big issues here in Southend. This afternoon I met with some committee members of the Stop Airport Extension Now campaign. This is what I told them: "My gut instinct has always been that the plans were a bad thing for the town. But I have taken my time to consult all those concerned. I have visited the airport to talk to management there. I have spoken to SAEN. And I have spoken to hundreds of local residents. "Expanding the airport runs counter to national Liberal Democrat policy. We do ...
Cross-party alliances are the flavour of the day. Today, David Cameron backed Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg's successful campaign to overturn Labour's shameful treatment of the Gurkhas. Meanwhile Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable has won the support of senior Labour backbencher Frank Field by tabling an early day motion highlighting the UK's huge borrowing requirements, and calling on the Government to set up a special committee to investigate ways of balancing the national accounts. Frank Field explains his reasoning in a stark article on his own blog, laying into both his own Government, as well as the Tories, for ...
The silly advert on TV this evening promoting registering to vote in the European elections (no mention of English council elections by the way) highlights the fact that the people who put adverts together do not speak English properly. At the end of the ad it says "Register by May 19th" What ? May 19th ? 05/19 ? What the hell is going on ? In Britain we say "19th May" and we write dates (and before 9/11 said dates) correctly stating the day before the month. Who are these pillocks who think we speak American ?
Let me join the rest of the Lib Dem blogosphere in celebrating the victory of the Lib Dem campaign all former Gurkhas to be allowed to live in the UK. As the Guardian says: Gordon Brown's authority suffered a blow today when MPs inflicted a surprise defeat on the government, voting to allow all retired Gurkhas to settle in the UK.Twenty seven Labour MPs voted with the Liberal Democrats and the Tories to back a demand for all former Gurkhas to be allowed to live in the UK, not just those who retired after 1997 and a small proportion of ...
Ahh, ID cards. Time was the Lib Dems were alone in campaigning for this new invasion of our privacy by the state to be abandoned. Then that nice Mr Cameron's Tories decided they were, after all, probably not such a good thing. And now it seems that even David Blunkett - perhaps Labour's most authoritarian home secretary, and against some stiff opposition, too - has decided that, really, they're maybe unnecessary. The Lib Dems' shadow home secretary Chris Huhne's response is delightfully withering: When even the father of ID cards spurns them, the idea is truly an abandoned orphan." He ...
Excuse me if I am a little excited - this is the first time the Liberal Democrats have defeated a government since at least 1997. Nick Clegg took up the issue of justice for the Gurkhas shortly after becoming leader. He was all but ignored at first. But consistency and purpose have meant that the issue has become ever more visible and ever more popular. Today Clegg put in a powerful performances in the House of Commons at Prime Minister's Questions, before the Liberal Democrat sponsored debate on the Gurkhas. The result? First the government made a number of concessions. ...
Some numpty at ITV has decided not to show The Bill today and play Midsummer Murders and personally I haven't heard of anything stupid. I am Bill fan and on a Wednesday and Thursday's want to watch The Bill not football or bloody Midsummer Murders. So when I turned on the TV and was welcomed by Midsummer Murders at 8pm, I thought I would get online only to discover that Jonathan Calder had blogged about it I got a little worked up and had the following rant on Jonathan's blog in the comment section: I think ITV are a bunch ...
Iberdrola, the owners of Scottish Power, are world leaders in energy generation especially wind power. They have pledged to establish a centre of excellence for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology at Longannet if the power station is successful in securing government backing for a CCS plant.That would be a huge boost for Fife and would be complementary to the energy park being developed in Methil and would give the Kingdom a central role in developing new energy technologies.My full speech is available on www.theyworkforyou.com
The First 100 days. Americans love the drama in their politics. The story arch is as important to CNN as it is to a Hollywood blockbuster. So here in New York we are drowned with coverage of every Presidential movement, whether it is running around with a Portuguese poodle, running around with Chavez and co or running around Europe. Once again President Obama is winning the media battle, while
I still feel we are missing a leader who can hold respect. We have a party that is young and full of ideas, party workers willing to go the extra mile. But unless we make it on the national stage we will fail. Time after Time i get well we vote liberal Democrat locally but [...]
To go for a vote and lose on the moral high ground is one thing. To press for a vote and lose on the moral low ground is unforgivable. Well done to the Labour Gurkha rebels. Shame on the rest of Labour. ---Sent via BlackBerry
With ITV repeating an old episode of Midsomer Murders, this is a good time to share a recent discovery: the website Midsomer Murders body count. As the Guardian article that put me on to it says:Nettles's DCI Tom Barnaby was the least successful fictional detective in TV history, invariably discovering the killer only when every other suspect had already been knocked off.
Gordon Brown forgot he was the Prime Minister today as he walked out whilst he was being called by the speaker to make his statement. He was then reminded by Balls that he had to go back and make his statement.You can't get better then this humiliation, I would have expected a co** like this from someone like Boris Johnson if he ever became Prime Minister but not Brown.
The Government suffered a symbolic defeat today when MPs voted by 267 to 246 on a Liberal Democrat motion to give all Gurkha soldiers equal right of residence in Britain. The government's unpopular and unfair plans were vigorously opposed by Lib Dems from the moment they were announced, and I'm delighted that Parliament has backed the Lib Dem plans to give former Gurkha soldiers residence in the UK. Commenting after the vote defeating the Government, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said: "This is a historic victory for the Gurkhas who have served our country so bravely. "This Government has now ...
The Gurkha vote in Parliament today was a victory for common decency. To win by over twenty votes was a pleasant surprise.To me it was a simple issue the Gurkhas put their lives on the line for our security. I therefore believe they have the right to live here.In a Parliamentary debate led two years ago by Bob Russell MP we edged the Government in the right direction but they refused to budge on the right to live here.I raised the issue in Parliament several time and again last week when there were indications that the Government were preparing for ...
Hi guys the campaign starts in earnest so get your lipstick on and your plasters for your feet, Oh this message is for the women members only... Guys can forget the lipstick good luck every one.
It may only be described as symbolic, but the Government defeat by 267 votes to 246 on the motion by Nick Clegg and his Liberal Democrat team to give all Gurkahs the right to residence in Britain is a great victory for those soldiers who have served this country with honour and distinction. Once again [...]
I've been too tired to blog properly for a couple of days - the migraine mentioned in the last post was actually a symptom of me coming down with some minor infection - not bad enough to keep me from going to work, but bad enough that I'm too tired to concentrate. Getting a bit [...]
A wealthy old Gentleman decides to go on a hunting safari in Africa, taking his faithful, elderly Jack Russell named Killer, along for the company. One day the old Jack Russell starts chasing rabbits and before long, discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of [...]
What's incredible about the Gurkhas is that they've enjoyed near universal support for their cause across the political spectrum - except for the Cabinet, of course. Putting right the travesty - and backdating it - is incredible news, and this footage on the BBC is, I think, is Nick Clegg's finest moment - made all [...]
Wed 29th
19:15
Recession could cause civil unrest and fracture communities says Hazel Blears, bit late hazel spend ...
Blears: 'Recession could cause civil unrest and fracture communities' Blears: 'Recession could cause civil unrest and fracture communities' The recession could tip Britain towards riots and civil disorder unless voluntary organisations are handed extra resources, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears will warn today. Promising to come up with sustainable sources of funds by the summer, Ms Blears will say [...]
RIVAL multi-million pound bids are being made to revamp Eccles after decades of decline. A development company is cooking up a recipe for regeneration that will make the most of the town's baking heritage and be themed around the Eccles Cake. The plan comes in response to a rival bid to build a giant Tesco store next [...]
I haven't commented on the Gurkha issue before but it has always been my feeling that we owe them a great debt. They have been willing to fight and die for this country and it is scandalous that we have treated them in the shoddy way we have until recently. The motion that we tabled today defeated the government (despite some attempted strong-arming - old habits die hard eh Gordon?) by 21 votes. This is not a binding vote but the government's credibility is now shot to pieces on this issue. Nick Clegg did brilliantly well during PMQs today and ...
Man who robbed pensioner arrested - Swinton <!–Last Updated - 29th April 2009 at 03:51 PM –> A man has been arrested after a woman was dragged out of bed and burgled in Swinton. On Saturday 18 April 2009, around 12.20am the victim was at home on Folly Lane when a man climbed over her fence, forced [...]
Proof bobbies on beat works Comment, we don't see enough high profile policing in a way that we need to effect the problems we are suffering with crime. This story proves a point, we need more police officers out of cars and on the ground. April 29, 2009 CRIME has been slashed in an inner city area of Manchester after [...]
Great news - following the recent restoration and refurbishment, the Manor House is re-opening on Tuesday next week. The new extended opening hours for the library are 9am-7pm weekdays, 9am-6pm Saturdays and 9am-4pm Sundays. There are lots of events planned to celebrate the re-opening: There's a talk by Lewisham's archivist, Sally Deves, on the history of the Manor House on Thursday 7th May at 3pm There are tours of the building on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th May - to book call 8314 8024 or email manorhouselibrary {at} lewisham.gov(.)uk var mailNode = var linkNode = document.createElement('a'); linkNode.setAttribute('href', tNode ...
I spent a fascinating three hours last night in the company of GPs and Immunologists as well as one journalist discussing the issue of vaccination. The case for vaccination is of course overwhelming and the clinicians there were very generous in praising the Assembly Government for its far-sightedness in investing in the HPV vaccine and administering it to girls in their schools. As one contributor said, the benefits of this investment may not be seen for 30 years and could lead to a halving of deaths from cervical cancer. It is the sort of long-term investment that politicians are wrongly ...
..for a great brace of goals at Norwich and to the rest of the team for an excellent performance. Fingers, toes and everything crossed for Sunday...
Like many bloggers, I'm always moaning when I say anything at all, but today I am rejoicing. Congratulations to Nick Clegg and the parliamentary team for defeating the government. On a less glorious but still highly enjoyable note, how wonderful to see Joanna Lumley and Nick Clegg sharing the limelight, with David Cameron playing second fiddle. I shall go out and buy the SatNav with Joanna
I'm very late with this news, but my colleague Cllr Matt Davies (Fortis Green) completed the London marathon on Sunday, in 5 hours 57 minutes. As you can see on the right, Matt has smashed his fundraising target in the last couple of days, possibly on a tidal wave of sympathy over his ordeal. There's still time to donate to his chosen charity, Refuge, via the Just Giving widget on the right.
The Ebay song for all you users of the site out their! You know this makes sense if you use the site. Hat Tip to Tom Harris MP...
29th April, 1909. Chancellor of the Exchequer Mr David Lloyd-George today took the unprecedented step of publishing the calculations of the national accounts and the details of his proposals to be announced in the House of Commons later today to Honourable Members with the vote bundle first thing this morning. Mr Lloyd-George hoped that it would "lighten my task in delivering my speech, and lighten the task of the House in having to listen to it, but also because I think it is fairer to Members". Mr Austen Chamberlain, Shadow Chancellor, welcomed the move, saying that it "was congenial to ...
Pendle Liberal Democrats Press Release: Liberal Democrat Councillor Tony Greaves has called on the Council's community services director and monitoring officer Philip Mousdale to investigate political "dirty tricks" at the last meeting of the Council's Executive last week. The names of three prominent local political figures were notified to the Town Hall by telephone as wishing to speak on the item about medical health checks for taxi drivers. None of the three had agreed to do so, or were able or intended to do so. The three names phoned in were Afzal Anwar (the Liberal Democrat candidate forPendle), Shazad Ahmed ...
{A laptop with a warning sign} The Government has announced it has scrapped plans to build a national database that would have held details of all internet browsing, emails, phone calls and social networking activity. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith admitted a central store of electronic data was an "extreme" solution and would have undermined privacy. Instead, the Government has announced proposals to allow communications service providers to collect and retain details of every electronic communication made, costing the tax payer a staggering £2 billion over ten years. The proposals will extend beyond the remit of the recent European Directive to ...
Commenting after the vote defeating the Government on rules restricting retired Gurkhas living in this country, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said: "This is a historic victory for the Gurkhas who have served our country so bravely. "This Government has now lost its moral authority. From the first moment I challenged Gordon Brown on this over a year ago, he didn't understand that there was a simple moral principle at stake. "People who are willing to die for our country, should be allowed to live in our country. "The Government must listen to Parliament and scrap these shameful rules immediately ...
Nick Clegg's Opposition Day debate motion has passed this afternoon by 267 votes to 246 - a narrow but highly significant victory. The motion demanded that all retired Gurkhas be awarded the right to settle in the UK. Brown seems to have a political death wish at the moment. He was on the wrong side of today's argument and he'll be on the wrong side tomorrow when he tries to push through his hasty YouTube mash-up of MPs expense reforms too. More analysis when that happens - suffice it to say for the moment that if tomorrow goes as well ...
Party political broadcasts tend to just amuse me but once in a while they can be truly disgusting. This official Labour Party video shows us that when Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell isn't slagging off people caught in a vicious cycle of poverty before the economic crisis, he travels the country finding out the impact of Labour's policies on unemployment. Awww, what a nice man. Actually more specifically he travels to HENLEY! Not only is Henley the single richest constituency in the UK, it also has the fifth lowest rate of unemployment in Britain. There are 641 other constituencies ...
As Iain Dale quite rightly points out the Lib Dems motion to give the Gurkha's who retired before 1997 was passed through Parliament with a majority of more then 60 MP's. Personally I didn't find time to ring up Prentice and panel him over this whole issue but putting that aside I think Nick Clegg deserves a round of applause for taking this opportunity and standing up for the Gurkha's. This vote will have brought a worrying tone to Number 10 as they have had a decision over turned by the Liberal Democrats, how bad is that for Labour? The ...
The Government is keeping a stockpile of 39,500 bottles of wines and spirits worth £792,000, according to figures revealed by the Liberal Democrats. The figures, contained in an answer to a Parliamentary Question, show that the average price of a bottle in the cellar is £20. Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Don Foster said: "It is...
In their opposition day debate today, the Liberal Democrats will call on the Foreign Secretary to make clear to the Sri Lankan Government that war crimes prosecutions could follow if it refuses to implement a ceasefire and is party to a bloodbath of Tamil civilians. With David Miliband visiting Sri Lanka today, Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary, Edward Davey will tell him that...
please look at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8023882.stm
Just back from Parliament where I filmed Nick Clegg's speech to the Gurkhas after the historic Commons vote. Here's the video.
Today's big political news has just broken - that the government has been defeated in the vote for the first of two Lib Dem motions, which make up our opposition day debate. The motion called for an equal right of residence to be offered to all Gurkhas, rather than the unfair cut-off for those whose service ended pre-1997 which the government was doing all it could to preserve. I should firstly say a big congratulations to Chris Huhne, who opened the debate powerfully, and fended off a number of pathetically twatty interventions from the Labour benches with ease. What is ...
Redcar and Cleveland Council has set up a new scrutiny panel to investigate the value of Local Government Bonds as a potential to raise funds The process will allow the Panel, under the chairmanship of Councillor Philip Thomson, to make recommendations to the Main Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Cabinet, the Council and to any other relevant body or individual. The members will be inviting experts to come and talk to them in order to collect a body of information over the following weeks on which to base their recommendations.
I have been contacted by a Journalist from Lancashire Telegraph promoted the event that they have this Friday with David Cameron to me. The Journalist contacted me via this Rag and said that he enjoyed the blog and thought I should send them some questions that they can use to ask Mr Cameron. I will be emailing him the questions which will be tough as ever ask Allan Duncan and Mr Prentice on how tough they can actually become when I get a little worked up! So good luck David Cameron as you are going to need it on Friday... ...
Redcar and Cleveland Council is offering advice on home composting as part of Compost Awareness Week next week The Council's Community Waste Liaison Officer Barbara Webster will hand out leaflets to shoppers in Redcar High Street on Wednesday, May 6, from 11am-1pm and visitors to the Household Waste Recycling Centre at Warrenby, from 3pm-3.30pm. She will also be at Guisborough library on Thursday, May 7, from 11.30am-1.30pm and at the Household Waste Recycling Centre, Dunsdale, from 2.45pm-3.15pm. The week's theme, Food for Thought, is about learning how to make a difference with compost - composting household kitchen and garden waste ...
I've got half an hour before our weekly parliamentary party meeting - but I can't settle down following the sheer exhilaration and excitement of winning the vote on our, Liberal Democrat opposition motion to give the Ghurkhas full rights to live in our country. When you see your tellers, the LibDem tellers come and stand on the right as you face Mr Speaker - you know the Government has suffered a defeat. And then you wait - and then the teller from the winning side reads out the vote - and you hear that you have defeated the Government by ...
Within the last hour we have seen a landmark victory for justice in the House of Commons. On a Liberal Democrat motion the House of Commons voted by a majority of more than twenty to reject the Government's mean-minded response to the Gurkhas and instead to give - in the words of Nick Clegg - "the right for people who are willing to die for this country the right to live in this country". Given that the Government normally has a majority of more than sixty votes, this shows the strength of anger at the inadequate government response on this ...
Adam Price MP thinks that the Welsh Liberal Democrats are irrelevant, yet despite that he has now blogged about us on two successive days. He talks about a process of opposition to the abolition of the tuition fee grant that he and two Plaid Cymru AMs took part in, forgetting that they were operating within the government system. In such circumstances it is not easy for an opposition party to join in that process unless we are invited to do so. There was no such invite. Nevertheless, the Welsh Liberal Democrats are the only party opposing this policy in the ...
The BBC is reporting that the Government has lost the vote on Ghurka rights by 267 to 246. Excellent news. I know this vote is non-binding but it will hopefully have the desired effect on Government policy (or at least drag it kicking and screaming towards what is right). This was despite earlier "concessions".
Thanks to him (and I'm sure the advice of Paddy Ashdown) it's the Lib Dems that have led the way on this issue that has grabbed hold of public opinion. Having watched the debate it would be churlish to neglect the contributions not only of Messrs Huhne, Harvey, Howarth and Campbell but also and I'm going [...]
As I type, the Lib Dems are holding the Government to account on their stance on rights for Ghurka troops to settle in the UK. But in PMQs this afternoon, Clegg launched a blistering attack on the Prime Minister on the Ghurka issue, despite following Cameron's similar question. And he's been rewarded for his efforts with a round of ace reviews from bloggers across the spectrum: Jane Marrick: Clegg's finest hour But it was Clegg who played the real blinder. This was the Lib Dem leader's best performance at PMQs. Clegg has struggled to find the right issue to get ...
Wed 29th
16:20
Nick Clegg calls on MPs of all parties to join Liberal Democrats in vote against shameful Gurkha rul...
Nick Clegg clearly had the moral high ground in PMQ's today, good to see the government was defeated in the commons vote, 267 to 246. Have a look at this page on the Liberal Democrat website.
Lynne Featherstone has just tweeted to say the government has been defeated on the Gurkhas vote! Back of the net!! 267 for the Liberal Democrat motion, and 247 against were the scores on the doors.Sky report the news here:A Liberal Democrat motion - not binding on the Government - was supported by267 to 246, a majority of 21.It came only hours after he (Brown) explained ministers' position that
Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has (re)joiend the Democrats taking their number of Senators to 59 and if Al Franken is ever seated 60 - the magic number to force cloture.
The "Gordon Brown resign" petition has just reached the top of the chart with 28,454 signatures. Congratulations to Kalvis Jansons for getting there in just over a week! It will be interesting to see how Number 10 responds to this now. They surely cannot completely ignore it. I know they can claim that some of the signatures will be spurious but I bet the vast majority are from real people and it reflects a strong feeling within the country that the man is a disaster and he should go. There was talk within the blogosphere earlier today that David Cameron ...
Seeing this photo of Barack Obama's small TV reminded me of this story about the size of the TV installed in the office of the then Labour leader of Haringey Council. I'm sure there are plenty of good reasons why the leader of a council needs a much bigger TV than the leader of the free world {:-)}
3000th postMany, many happy returns to Jeremy Thorpe who is the grand age of 80 today.Here's a great photo of him in the Sixties with Jimi Hendrix.
As of 1st April 2010 there are big changes in the reporting of what happens in family courts. This greater degree of openness is welcome. Contrary to the fears of most social work professionals this I believe will improve the outcomes for children. A similar debate is going on in relation to child care issues in local authorities. In the aftermath of baby P and the arguments about whether the full 'serious incident report' should be published many of us became aware for the first time that the synopsis of those reports were public documents. The only problem was that ...
Although now it's 60% which is the effect of the £1 for £2 reduction in personal allowance for those over £100000 per annum. Pensioners who are lucky enough to get about one fifth of this income have suffered the same 60% as their extra personal allowance is clawed back. This has being going on for years but the media hasn't said much about it.
Following the media frenzy about soaking the rich & punitive taxation that has been flooding the media since the budget one might be forgiven a certain cynicism. Although only some 1% of the population make more than £150000 per annum that 1% includes just about anyone who is anyone in the media circus.
There is a vote today on this campaign in Parliament. Follow this link to our website for the full story
I attended the associations latest meeting last night, along with representatives of Six Town Housing and the Police. It was very assuring to hear from the Police of a number of positive improvements taking place on the estate, especially following a crack down on anti-social behaviour. In addition the TRA is pushing ahead with its own plans. Starting with a joint Councillors surgery on Saturday May 16th from 2pm to 4pm at Heaton Park School. Ostensibly this is being run as a sort of tea and cakes afternoon and will also have a raffle. Councillors, TRA reps, Police and Six ...
I have just had a very interesting meeting. Not to give to much away,but we have all seen the up turn in burglary and of course the Labour Government give it the same spin, You know the credit crunch etc etc. But today a member of the audit commission made my ears prick up. I [...]
Apparently it's only official surgical masks protect and the only use for them is for the few minutes of consultation with an infected patient.
Just watched PMQs where the issue of the Gurkhas was brought up again and again by the opposition and the Liberal Democrats. This must be one of the few issues in recent memory where the government has been so out of step with public opinion. The Lib Dems and Nick Clegg have been campaigning on this issue for a number of years. We have consistently recieved the support of former Gurkhas in many election campaigns thanks to our unwavering support of their right to live in the UK. It is great to see genuine cross party support from the David ...
Wed 29th
13:05
Nick Clegg calls on MPs of all parties to join Liberal Democrats in vote against shameful Gurkha rul...
Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg will today call on Gordon Brown to reverse the shameful Government decision that will see thousands of retired Gurkhas forcibly deported.
{A strand of DNA} The Professor responsible for developing revolutionary genetic techniques that contributed towards the development of the National DNA Database has attacked the Government over their practice of retaining innocent peoples' DNA on the database. Sir Alec Jeffreys condemned the Government for retaining thousands of peoples' samples on the database indefinitely, despite being acquitted or never charged. He said the practice caused innocent people to be "branded as criminals". Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne concurred - "it demonstrates how out of touch the Government is with public opinion when the inventor of genetic fingerprinting has to ...
I'm surprised that a state registered coward and instinctive worrier like me isn't in hysterical panic about Swine Flu. The honeymoon couple who are currently in hospital in Airdrie with the first confirmed cases in the UK barely live 15 miles from here. Half the teachers at my daughter's school live near them. Why am I not fretting about living at the epicentre of a Survivoresque Armageddon? It is of course horrifically sad for those who have died, and news is coming in that an American toddler has become the first person to die outside Mexico. It's important, I think, ...
Wow! Nick Clegg's passion for justice and fairness came out and smacked us all in the face this lunchtime. David Cameron had started off questioning generally on the principle of allowing Gurkhas to settle in the country, but Nick actually turned to the specifics of the rules which seem to have been designed to exclude as many Gurkhas as possible from coming into this country. Brown gave a bit of a lacklustre answer, which, to be honest, it was hard to imagine he actually believed himself. Nick came straight back at him saying that "his answer was that of a ...
For the last 2 hours I've been overwhelmed by calls from disgruntled, worried eBay customers. It seems that eBay have sent a few hundred people (my best guess) an email advising them that I've recieved their money for a 2nd hand Vespa motrbike which I am about to ship. The bike in question is long-gone: I received cash and personally met the buyer, so it's physically impossible for anybody else to be the buyer of this singular item. Nevertheless, eBay's systems have sent an email to a large number of customers informing all of them that they have paid-up and ...
The World Motor Sport Council has just given McLaren the equivalent of a cuddle for their appalling behaviour at the Australian Grand Prix when they tried to claim 3rd place from Jarno Trulli by complaining that he'd passed Lewis Hamilton under safety car conditions. In fact, radio transmissions confirmed that Hamilton had let him pass. I remember Michael Schumacher having the book thrown at him for ignoring a black flag at Silverstone some years ago. McLaren's actions in Melbourne broke even the most basic standards of sportsmanly conduct. Ok, they've got rid of Dave Ryan and put Ron Dennis out ...
For those that may be concerned about Swine flu and travel to Mexico etc please go to the page on the left menu for advice on travelling to Mexico and how to obtain more information about the virus and its symptoms.
I've just received a pretty convincing email from a company called Globalguidebook. All the links in the message appear genuine, and it gives a postal address in Chichester. But I was still not entirely happy so googled the name. And I found this article in the Mirror: Email from Globalguidebook? Hit the delete button. By Andrew Penman on Jan 16, 09 10:17 AM in Junk...
I think I should tell you readers about this so you can work out the level of loyalty that I show to all you who read this Rag everyday. A Main Stream Media outlet who I am going to keep anonymous approached me and asked me to join their team and write a blog for them but I turned the offer down. Many will be asking why I turned it down? It is because this is my blog and its Independent, I can be party biased and I can write whatever I want here but if I had moved to ...
Apparently illnesses can spread between humans. I had no idea, but this devastating news has left me shocked and worried. I'm horrified by the 159 people who may have died of swine flu in poverty-stricken, overcrowded Mexico - a nation with a population of 100 million where around 1,300 people die every single day. Even more disturbing is the idea that I might get flu and then recover a week later. This is something totally new in our society. It's a horrific fate that's befallen literally several people in the UK. I'm used to living in a world where no-one ...
The final report to the Parish Meeting was that of the Neighbourhood Watch. Sadly, Georgina Sheldrake is the only member left, after the other two members either moved or withdrew. Luckily, crime levels are low in the village, but volunteers would be welcome. The role of Neighbourhood Watch members is to pass on police warnings and to keep a weather eye out for unusual activity. The Chair of the Parish Council then gave the Council's annual report. Chris Wright paid tribute to the retiring members, as well as the retiring Parish Clerk, Elsie Rivers. The village falls within the area ...
As Iain Dale and Guido have advised David Cameron to bring up the Go Now petition from the Number 10 website I would also like to add to the advice. If David Cameron doesn't bring the petition up then I think Nick Clegg or another MP from the Chamber should bring it up. The Internet campaign needs a voice in the Commons, the Commons can't be just about ties and suits they have to start incorporating online campaigns and blogs in discussion. I hope the next government after the Brown reign brings a more Internet politico spice to the Houses ...
I've seen some terrible potholes in my time (it's a daily chore to dodge them living in Salford), but this one really takes the biscuit! I just could not walk past this one without taking a picture of it, as you could imagine re-telling the story to someone who hadn't seen it. "It was this big," I would say. They wouldn't believe me. Who would? I was trying to describe Salford's roads to my father-in-law, an SNP Councillor in the Scottish Highlands, but he never truly believed they were as bad as I was making out, that is, until he ...
There have been a number of local development projects that I have been concerned about. It is always a challenge keeping things on track as politicians do not have the authority to instruct people to develop sites. We do seem to have a local group of "rent an arsonist" who attack closed pubs. They hit the Yew Tree and Wagon and Horses some time ago. Then the Manor House (which is now
The Line Dancing Class at the Downham Leisure Centre has been saved after a successful pressure campaign from the dancers and local Liberal Democrat councillors! On Tuesday, the Council came to visit the class and agreed to find the funding to keep it running... or dancing. Well done to everyone! Cllr Pete Pattisson
What with elections, a change in job and various other things, this last month has yet again been a bit of a washout for this blog, but I plan to change that fairly soon. I have also written a load of posts that never appeared on this site for one reason or another and so [...]
I am considerably bouyed up this morning. Indeed, one could say that my hoop is well and truly a-cock. I have received a communication from the Guardian Readers' Editor (which in itself is cause for celebration) saying that she has checked with the Picture Editor and that they say that Alistair Darling was indeed breakfasting in No 10 Downing Street (not No 11 as printed in the caption) in the
Confetti strewn lawn Rich with footprints running through The falling blossom
Nick Clegg has written to Gordon Brown and David Cameron to continue to seek a cross-party solution to the issues of MPs pay and expenses. In his letter, Nick Clegg proposes to ban MPs from making any profit from the selling of properties whose mortgages have been paid for by the tax payer. Nick Clegg also reiterates his opposition to a system of daily allowances. The full text is here.
Over in the States, the Senate Democrats are currently three members short of 60, a magic number which means they can end filibusters and drive through legislation the Republicans are really unhappy with. With the elections long over, most have assumed that's that for the Democrats chances of getting to supermajority. We thought it possible, but unlikely, back last November. Yet things still seem to be going their way. Firstly there's an independent member who caucuses with the Democrats: 58. The 59th member is Al Franken, a senatorial candidate for the Democrats in Minnesota who should have won ages ago ...
On Monday evening I received a prank call from someone trying to be our old friend. I from the moment I picked it up and listened to who it was knew it was a prank because the voice didn't match the voice of our old friend. Maybe the prankster needs another person to try and impersonate when trying to prank call me. And let me warn you pranker I know exactly who you are mate!
I'm not going to join the clamour for Sir Fred to be stripped of his knighthood. When we allow convicted felons to retain peerages; award instant peerages for political expediency etc., why single out one individual? If you scrutinise the Honours Lists you find that those truly deserving of some recognition - those who have devoted their lives to the (low or unpaid) service of others, or who have done some act of bravery or suchlike - wind up with the lowest award. Meanwhile Peerages & Knighthoods & such go to those who have already had richly rewarding lives - ...
After seven years of working for a group of councillors I now find myself vying to become one. For the first time in my life I am standing properly for election, rather than simply being a paperless candidate. It is nice to be thrust into the front line as I have spent years biting my tongue. No doubt the charming local Tories will get up to their usual tricks of not quite telling the truth about anything and accusing me of drinking the blood of infants [nothing was proven...] but my election plan is to give it back with both ...
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg tabled the following motion for debate in the House of Commons today: That this House condemns the Government's recent statement outlining the eligibility criteria for Gurkhas to reside in the United Kingdom; recognises the contribution the Gurkhas have made to the safety and freedom of the United Kingdom for the past 200 years; notes that more Gurkhas have laid down their lives for the United Kingdom than are estimated to want to live here; believes that Gurkhas who retired before 1997 should be treated fairly and in the same way as those who have retired ...
Until the election of Barack Obama I didn't take a slight interest into USA Politics as I believed that it wasn't anything special but many would argue differently but since he has become President I do try and read up a little about what Obama is doing as the new President in the USA. As Adam Boulton's 100 day trip to the States comes to an end he makes a comment that I think deserves to be republished. Boulton writes "Obama is cool" and I agree with him Obama is Cool. Barack has created political history by getting elected as ...
The First Minister told the Assembly yesterday that the only way to prevent cuts in frontline services in Wales is by reducing the costs of overheads in the public sector. Will he start with the burgeoning bureaucracy of his own government? I doubt it.The percentage increase in central administration for the Welsh Assembly Government this year was greater than that for local government, whilst
Mark Prisk a Tory MP and member of Dave's cabinet has been taking trips to Cornwall to campaign for the Conservatives and meet family and has been charging it on the expenses of us the tax payer. Shadow cabinet members are given allowances to pay for trips up and down the country so they can do their role, but going to one place over and over with the tax payers money isn't actually the role is it? Prisk has made 5 trips to Cornwall in nine months and if he thinks he can use the excuse that I was doing ...
A women and a man had sex every day for a year according to a report in The Sun and guess what? The man got the sex for a year as a birthday present from his wife on his 40th Birthday. I know this has got nothing to do with politics, but is it just me who thinks this women is a little to Liberal in bed? Sorry bad joke...
As the recession takes hold all over the world what better way to take your mind off it than by having a swine flu pandemic?We all spend more, whether on unnecessary antibiotics or completely useless face masks or millions of Government leaflets taking us out of recession, but hundreds of people die instead.I know this is a simplistic cynical view.Seriously though I am really concerned how the media are leading the swine flu story.They are over hyping it on a major scale and I'm worried about that. Yesterday in a supermarket I heard 2 women talking about whether they should ...
The former Liberal leader Jermey Thorpe is celebrating his 80th birthday today, though a big party in his honour at the National Liberal Club in Westminister actually took place last night. It was attended by over 150 people, including his political successors David Steel, Paddy Ashdown, Menzies Campbell and Nick Clegg. Nick gave the first of [...]
Whilst the Conservative party deny that David Cameron used to Rave in his youth when Thatcher was Prime Minister in 1988 Guido's co conspirators have ran the picture below through a facial recognition software to find out that it is Dave. But wasn't it that Thatcher who banned Raves? So was Dave the young raver going against his predecessors laws and raving? Was that in protest or wasn't Dave a Tory at the time? Is this Political Noviceism or is it a young man enjoying himself you decide? A 22 year old young man enjoying himself or a young man ...
According to Alan Johnson, Britain is the best prepared country in the world to manage an outbreak of swine flu. Where I have heard those words before? Oh, it was last September when Gordon Brown was reassuring us on the state of the economy. Doh! Time to update the Government's "PR handbook for managing global catastrophe's."
Yet again Smannell Road is being dug up to provide services for the East Anton MDA. The latest works involving digging along the northside as far as the church and then across the road and along the southside round to Enham Arch. This is to lay fibre optic cables out to the MDA to provide phone and telecommunications links. Local residents have contacted me concerned about the disruption and the closure of footpaths without notice. I have spoken to the contractors and ask that they minimise inconvenience to local residents. The quality of their work is good and they are ...
This morning's Western Mail contains an interesting article on the impact of debt on students. They tell us that new Assembly Government statistics show that a third of Welsh students have considered dropping out of university as a result of mounting financial pressures. Almost three in five full-time students felt financial stress had a negative effect on their academic progress, and more than a quarter said concerns over debt nearly stopped them going to university altogether. The figures are mirrored for part-time students. Almost 50% of part-time students indicated that issues over the availability of funding had led to them ...
David Blunkett wants an end to ID cards. No, the great man hasn't had a change of heart. He still believes we need to be traced and tracked. He just thinks he's found a cut-price way to do it: merge ID cards fully with passports and make having a passport mandatory. Futhermore, Blunkett believes concerns over the database state can be put to rest if we just use the existing Passport Agency databases. Using existing databases to hold the same information already gathered to issue passports could be a way of allaying fears over a new "database of information", one ...
Allison Pearson, Daily Mail columnist and my former classmate, writes today: My excellent MP, the LibDems' David Howarth, wrote a brilliant article in our local paper.Alongside some photographs of various senior local government officials and NHS fat cats - all on ginormous salaries for four-day weeks - David posed a simple question: 'What is it they do? All I want to know is what do they actually do?'Could this be the benchmark for David Cameron's Thrifty Britain?All those Service Providers and Operative Strategy Target Enforcement Delivery Managers will be forced to answer the question: 'What do you actually do?' Then ...
In my letter to the FT today, I take issue with the implication in Philip Stephens' article of the day before, which tries to draw parallels between Brown and the divisive 1970's. Therefore:"Mr Cameron has been studying the early 1980s to see how Margaret Thatcher's government handled its dismal inheritance after the 1979 election"But the differences between these eras easily outweigh the similarities (read the letter). Some might protest that this is obvious: surely politicians will not sleep-walk into the same policies that seemed to work 30 years before? But the debate on fiscal policy is tangled, mired in politics ...
Just a brief post to recall that today, 29th April, is the hundredth anniversary of David Lloyd-George's 1909 "People's Budget". Thanks to the wonders of the interwebs you can now read the whole budget online. He ended (the main section - in the "Balance Sheet" section) with these words which have stood for a century accusing his successors of all parties for not having solved the problems he set out on the road to do: "This, Mr. Emmott [in the chair of the Ways and Means Committee to which the budget was addressed], is a War Budget. It is for ...
The woman on the right is the former Prime Minister of Canada, Avril Phaedra Douglas "Kim" Campbell. The man on the left is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, James Gordon Brown. Both succeeded extremely successful and charismatic leaders, Tony Blair and Brian Mulroney respectively. Both were committed student politicians and pioneers in their respective Universities. Both had strong roots in their local politics- BC and Scotland respectively and both took with them some of the attitudes of their local politics to their respective national capitals which made them unpopular in the country at large. Both struggled to ...
Tim Ball has blogged the letter that Nick Clegg sent to David Cameron and Gordon Brown regarding the ongoing expenses issue. I was more than a little curious that we are still seemingly so desperate to compromise with a Prime Minister who obvious isn't willing to do any 'giving'. This is now a matter of a government doing the best it can to whip through on-the-hoof reforms with an opposition in both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats who have been rebuffed and told they are inconsequential. Meanwhile, David Cameron and Nick Clegg are engaged in a desperate scramble to ...
Last night I spent an hour on BBC 5 Live's Richard Bacon Show trying to explain why we need to change our resource-hungry ways and why life after cheap oil will be better. Have a listen and see whether you think I got the positive vision thing across: "Do you suffer from eco anxiety?" The Richard Bacon Show. My contribution starts at midnight - one hour in. Then check out my favourite song of the year - "Carnival" by Alistar James. This film from Responsibility TV should hopefully inspire you to take action - "Food Growing in Camden". There's so ...
The sequel from Linda Jack
Gordon Brown has never met a disaster he didn't like, except one. Terrorist attacks, global financial meltdown (and death of a beloved celebrity voice of a generation of course) - nothing seems to warm the cockles of our ambulance chasing Prime Minister more than people getting frightened and irrational, turning to the Dear Leader for strength [...]
I've broken into a sweat, my hands are trembling and my tempreature has risen by about 4 degrees, and to be honest I feel like vomiting. Could it be a case of Swine Flu? No. It's the latest statement from Gordon about Britain being one of the best prepared countries in the world to deal [...]
It seems that Mark Prisk, the self-styled Shadow Minister for Cornwall, may be getting his comeuppance. Mr Prisk has been claiming up to £300 a time to visit the county and the taxpayers are funding these campaigning trips. He is being reported to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner for allegedly misusing public money. Mr Prisk is legitimately a shadow business minister and is therefore entitled to ask Commons authorities to pay for his trips when he is in that role. But he has made 5 trips to Cornwall in just 9 months and fewer to any other part of the country ...
