And the result is... 2023 ballots were cast, of which 59 were spoilt, leaving 1964 ballots cast for Michael Ignatieff, 97% of votes cast. He'll be in London in July to give the Isaiah Berlin lecture, so we'll get a closer look at him then...
Welcome to the hall here in the new Vancouver Convention Centre, where the newly confirmed Federal Leader, Michael Ignatieff, is about to make his debut speech in his new role. That is, unless something very unlikely happens... More like the selection of an American Presidential nominee than anything we might be familiar with at home, there are signs to be waved, inflatable moise sticks to be banged together, and bilingual nomination speeches to be made. And just as there is always a Liberal Democrat presence at a Democratic National Convention, there is a presence here. Ros, naturally, but also Lord ...
Could it be that the cabinet is working up the collective courage to dump Gordon Brown? In an article in tomorrow's Observer Hazel Blears has an obvious dig at the prime minister: I'm not against new media. YouTube if you want to. But it's no substitute for knocking on doors or setting up a stall in the town centre.And her analysis of this government's weakness is spot on: All too often we announce new strategies or five-year plans, or launch new documents - often with colossal price tags attached - that are received by the public with incredulity at best ...
Cross-dressing is a logical consequence ... If Tony Blair was still Labour leader, Nick Clegg had become Liberal leader and Dave Cameron was leader of the Conservative Party it's almost physiologically they're all merging into one." Come back Ming all is forgotten
This was the week that... · The World Health Organisation warned of the threat of a pandemic as swine flu spread across the world [more] · Gordon Brown was forced to make concessions in his plans to reform MPs expenses [more] · Labour MPs, including two former Home Secretaries, queued up to criticise Gordon Brown and his government [more]; [more]; [more] · The government made a u-turn on their communications database plans [more] · And the government also cancelled plans for Titan prisons following Lib Dem opposition to the scheme [more] · The Home Secretary who launched ID cards called ...
{simon-ashley.jpg} Is the decision to devolve some of the Whitehall bureaucracy up to Manchester one of those policies that sound good, but will go nowhere with a lame duck government? Manchester LibDem leader Simon Ashley wants the jobs sooner. Reacting to stories that a "super campus" for over 5000 Government employees is planned in Manchester by 2014, Manchester Lib Dem Leader Simon Ashley said,"Of course, the Manchester Liberal Democrats would welcome more Government jobs being devolved to Manchester from London. However, nothing will be built till 2012/3, and not a single job devolved until 2014.Why is the Labour Government waiting ...
Jobs gone, years of work wasted and Salford COUNCIL still pay the owners around £80.000 per year rent on the market!
As a semi-detached member of the delegation, I was able to slip out of a discussion of a report on the World Economic Crisis to see what else was going on. My eye was caught by a reference to a 'blogger space', so I ventured into a room to see what was going on. The answer? Not much, just a few bloggers busily working on postings. However, I did discover that there is a Canadian equivalent of 'Lib Dem Blogs', called 'Liblogs'. It seems that, like in Britain, there is an informal link between bloggers and the Party, although there ...
Some words of Paddy Ashdown's last night have hit the media running. I am not pleased, to put it mildly, that any idea that some present Labour MPs will be defecting to the Liberal Democrats after the next election in Labour do not win. Paddy had put this forward last night, but I thought it was just what one person thought, and of course it still might be. But if any Labour MPs are genuinely...
When I was 13 I could have named the full team of every English county - and quite possibly their second elevens too. These days England Lions (a sort of reserve test team) pick players I have never heard of. Who is Chris Woakes? Still, well done to him and the rest of team for beating the West Indies so comprehensively. Congratulations particularly, to Adil Rashid (an early hero of this blog) for important contributions with bat and ball. Come to think of it, I had never heard of Darren Pattinson when he played for the full England team last ...
So here is a snippet of Cornwall canvassing ...... With our local MP we called in on a an elderly woman as she laid tucked up under her crocheted blanket and her feet up, sitting in her living room with her carer tidying up around her. She explained that she recently suffered her third stroke and although she was recovering well she wouldn't be able to help us with this election. She told us that she used to help that nice Mr Pardoe (who was an MP in 1966!). We thanked her for her support and I asked her if ...
She writes in today's Guardian: Cameron has just performed a U-turn of breathtaking dimensions. Gone are the hoodie-hugging, husky-driving, go-green and let-the-sunshine-in days, replaced by nothing but hard Thatcherite 1980s promises of austerity and cuts. Look what's coming, and be very afraid.Thanks to Labour's excessive spending and borrowing, we are in for austerity and cuts whoever wins the next election.
{philip-vial-web.jpg} All, I've been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Shipston Division of the County Council on Thursday June 4th. Many of you will know me from my time on the Town Council, and from the regular Focus leaflets we deliver in Shipston itself. Those in the villages such as Brailes, Long Compton and Stretton that help to make up the Division will have seen our recent special Focus, detailing Liberal Democrat policies and how our councils under Conservative rule have let us down. I'll be updating this site every couple of days between now and the election, ...
What's your idea of a tory. Well these pictures come to mind for me. Harry enfield and Boris. It's like a Nightmare, But if you have a smart suited salesman with an Eaton accent you have a perfect Tory. I done think this country could cope with five years of that but i will wait [...]
Bobbysocks won the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 with the song La det swinge ("Let it swing"). Second favourite!
Going back to the Comments from PAUL the Swinton South Labour activist with regards to his REMARKS on repossessed properties. I just wondered if you would like to talk to a good friend of mine, worked all his life, spent thousands on his home,his pride and joy. well his house is no to far from you and guess [...]
failure
Security gates to help with Peoples safety, Roads at last being repaired, Skips on local estates to prevent dumping, Setting up of residents groups to create local cohesion, They may be only three of us working within Swinton South but with help from Residents and fellow ward councillors we think we can make the changes. [...]
Come on PENDLEBURY councillors get the mess cleaned up. Road after Road is the same..
Is nothing sacred? Surely if there's one group in society we can expect to be law abiding it's our school Headteachers. But today the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) conference voted overwhelmingly to ballot its members on boycottings SATs for 11 year olds. And who's bet against such a ballot passing. Ed Balls was there, warning them not to cross the line. He promised reform. But the Headteachers went ahead and did it anyway. They let Ed down, the let Gordon down and they let themselves down. From the NUT, I would expect this. But the NAHT? John Prescott ...
Pinched the Clip but who cares. ID CARDS. Micro Chips in you rubbish Bins, Micro Chips in your Passports. CCTV. More new laws on Terror. Keep the people in fear Data Base state. Even though you are not guilty of a crime you are fingerprinted and your DNA taken Perhaps Orwell was right but if i read the book right, i thought [...]
I have spent the day campaigning in Bedfordshire ahead of the unitary and European elections on 4 June.
A couple of articles I have read recently display the reality of life, and in particular of travelling by public transport, in today's Britain. Writing for the Financial Times, Matthew Engel describes a week spent exploring the country by train: If you think well of Britain's railway companies for a second, they will turn round and prove you wrong. Standing on Leeds station, I was struck by a big double TV screen showing that all the trains for the next hour or two - about 50 of them - were allegedly on time. I thought this was magnificent enough to ...
You will not hear us say that often! Our congratulations to Peter Taylor, players, staff and supporters of Wycombe Wanderers FC. A credit to our Town, Well Done. {Tense awaiting confirmation!} Tense awaiting confirmation! {Party time!} Party time! {Chairboys Joy} Chairboys Joy {we're up} we're up {Mascot Down!} Mascot Down!
I'm ashamed to admit it, but thirty years ago tonight, I, a fairly innocent 11 year old, went to bed and prayed for Mrs Thatcher to win the 1979 election. I really didn't understand much about politics then - the geekery and obsession didn't take hold until about a year and a half later, when I had had enough time to rue my earlier enthusiasm. I did know that I wasn't keen on Labour - there seemed to be nothing but strikes, and my dad hadn't had a properly stable job for a good couple of years. My parents and ...
Regular readers will know that I am quite a fan of Jennie Rigg's blog, The Yorksher Gob. She's shutting it down and is moving her insight, irreverence and humour over to a new platform at Dreamwidth so update your blog rolls accordingly, cos you really wouldn't want to miss anything. I have an account at Dreamwidth myself, and I think it's brilliant. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but I like the layout and the culture behind it. How's this for a diversity statement, to start with? I particularly like the "We welcome fans, geeks, ...
Now that's a title with gravitas, no? Here in Vancouver, a workshop with that title has just gotten under way. You guys at home may be talking of Gurkhas and possible Labour defections, but here it's all about deep philosophical thoughts, of the rise of Chinese military power, of the future of international co-operation, of defence of the free market. All done with simultaneous translation in a windowless box with an enormous cruise ship outside. That cruise ship is a metaphor for Liberal International in many ways. Everyone is heading in the same direction, although occasionally new passengers get on, ...
Sat 2nd
17:45
Old Chinese Councillor once told me that it's a bad omen to find your leaflets in the Gutter.
So beware new Labour, we found lots of them floating round Irwell Riverside today. And with me being superstitious i think you should start reading your Horoscope i think you could be in for a big fall.
Tom Harris made this this posting about advertising on his blog. I've made wry observations about ads posted on his blog before, from caviar to energy companies, several weeks ahead of the Sunday Times mentioned them in their Atticus column. The rather ironic pick of today's bunch were an ad for May's Total Politics containing an interview with Norman "on your bike" Tebbit and one for a job search website. Given Labour's mishandling of the economy, leading to a 70% rise in Fife's unemployment for example, are there actually any jobs left to find? LibDig This!
Having a look around local websites, I took a look at the Epping Forest Conservative site. I noticed that there is a lot on it about their county council candidate in Buckhurst Hill and Loughton South and none on any of the others.I know the Tories were surprised to lose the Buckhurst Hill West district seat to us last year. Also they have a lot of poor decisions (potholes, failing to keep our
Now parliament has decided that more information needs to be declared and that some of the income that MPs receive other than for being an MP needs to be declared it will be interesting to see what comes of this.It is a bit odd that only part of the external income is to be declared. An MP who rents out a flat has income from this, that MP also has to spend some time managing the tenancy even it
One of my brothers (10 years my junior) is always in bands. It's just my luck that this time he'd end up in one called, "Flags of the Soviet Republic." He also makes videos, and this time he's made a video for his band using rotoscoping. I'm reliably informed that this took ages, drawing each [...]
As Gordon Brown sinks further into the depths of electoral unpopularity it is worth reflecting on how his own party views his appeal to the electorate.Mark Pack found this Labour Party recruitment leaflet a month or two ago. Obviously Labour decided that they needed somebody with mass appeal to inspire potential supporters. The problem is that it was not Gordon. In fact he is not mentioned on
I sit on Greater Manchester Fire Authority and know we are making great steps in saving lives. In the last year, we had one tragic death in Chorlton, but overall fire related deaths were down a massive 34%. In Greater Manchester we are committed to reducing fire deaths by ensuring that every home in the county has a working smoke alarm. To make certain this happens, firefighters now carry out free home fire safety checks and fit free smoke alarms. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service has already fitted over 100,000 free smoke alarms in our local communities. Along with ...
It would be frankly naive to think that the Police have not be monitoring campaign groups and protestors so this morning's Guardian report about information being collected on groups opposed to the expansion of Heathrow airport should be no surprise. The extra dimension though is that it is civil servants who are collating information and passing it onto the forces of law and order: The latest documents, released under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal how the comms directorate at the DfT was monitoring campaign groups in the consultation period leading up to the announcement about the planned expansion of ...
There have been a lot of posts recently about the use of YouTube by politicians and production values etc. This video from the Hertfordshire LibDems' Six To Fix campaign for the County Council elections is really good. The use of vox pox is very effective and the whole things looks really professional.
The rumours that some Labour MP's/Peers might be considering defecting to the Liberal Democrats has certainly caused a stir on the blogsphere at least. Let's fly straight off the bat; this is kite-flying of the most blatant kind by malcontents in a Conservative supporting newspaper in a media climate where the media narrative is 'government in crisis. So, having said that what are the wider issues? Firstly, there is nothing inherently wrong with attracting support from people within the Labour Party. It amuses me greatly that the same people who were only days ago celebrating our Gurkha success would think ...
I was reading the Evening Standard on the train yesterday when I came across this article: MPs say they face hardship after axing second homes cash. It had details of some of the MPs ("rebels") who voted against scrapping the second home allowance for outer London MPs. Given our London MPs' sterling record on second homes (they don't have any!), I was enjoying going through the list of Labour and Conservative MPs who opposed the scrapping. Imagine my surprise, dissapointment and annoyance when I came across: Lembit Opik (Lib Dem), Montgomeryshire What was he thinking of? Was he objecting to ...
As from today, I will no longer be posting to The Yorksher Gob, and my LJ account will only be updated with crossposts when I remember to do them and twitter updates (to make absolutely sure that my large LJ f-list will be notified when I post and won't miss anything unless they choose to). This is mostly what has been happening for the last week or so anyway. I will still be reading my LJ f-list and commenting and things. I am not abandoning my friends on LJ, or deleting my account, or anything over dramatic like that. My ...
I was just listening to Any Questions in the car on my way home and was very impressed with Nick Herbert's answer to the question about whether Gordon Brown can now regain the trust of the electorate. I have transcribed his answer below: No, I don't believe that Gordon Brown will regain trust. I mean firstly, because of what he has done to the economy in the seriousness of the mismanagement, bringing this country to the edge of bankruptcy. The highest budget deficit since the war, which will take now concerted action to fix and as a consequence increasing taxes ...
The fact is that this story should be titled "Labour MP scared he will lose his seat". Do you think Mr Clarke would be so concerned if he had a 17,000 majority ? With a slim majority of the Lib Dems in Norwich South, Clarke really is starting to look more and more scared by the day.
The elections to the European Parliament will be held on Thursday 4th June. My voting card has already arrived. London has 9 Euro seats, but that is reducing to 8 in the elections this year. The election is carried out using the party list system, which means that each party produces a list of eight candidates. You have one vote, for your preferred party. The seats are then allocated...
Hovering around the 100 unread emails point.Have finally got around to setting up the flock together and facebook for Thursday's Liberal Drinks West Yorkshire. Do come, all welcome!Have more beer festival at work today - do come, all welcome! - until midnight.Have still to have bath, eat lunch, feed dogs, walk dogs, get dressed, etc. For all these reasons, and many more, the people who are giving me access and/or subscribing to me will have to be patient. I don't have time to give you a fair assessment today, but this does not mean I won't do so. Hopefully it ...
Labour messed up when they started taking online campaign advice from Dolly Draper, who with his mate McBride was planning to create the Red Rag website and in my view that's when it all went ti** up for Labour. Labour should have picked someone like Tom Harris to lead their online campaign because Tom unlike most Labour party activists understands online campaigning. Tom Harris has been at blogged for not long but yet he has taken over the world of blogging in this short time and I think its this that has made him what he is today. Labour could ...
Following their formation as the 'Labour Representation Committee' in 1900, the policy of the Labour Party (the name they adopted in 1906) regarding electoral reform was an obvious one. Primarily, they were interested in extending the franchise to their main group of supporters, the working class, who in the large part were excluded from the electoral process. Alongside this however came a demand for electoral reform - an end to the 'unfair' First-Past-The Post and the introduction of a form of Proportional Representation which would create a better correlation between votes and seats. Perhaps not surprisingly, Labour abandoned this policy ...
Labour MP's and Peers are thinking of defecting to the Lib Dems as they feel that the Labour party is no longer the same according to a news report by the Telegraph. Labour politicians told Paddy Ashdown that they are considering defecting and as Charles Clarke put it yesterday he is "ashamed" to be a Labour MP. To read the news article follow the link. Personally I think its great that Labour MP's and politicians are thinking of joining the Liberal Democrats. As I have said before in the past their is only one Liberal party in this country that ...
I am disturbed by this video of Iain Dale, Shane Greer and other Tory bloggers doing a dance with their tops off. Many might find that arousing but personally I am disturbed. Maybe its about what tickles your fancy?
You have had years of this Labour or New Labour Regime. What ever they call themselves the question still remains how are you better off in your POCKET Under Labour. I can guess i know the answer. Not a lot, well the choice is yours, vote lLabour for more of the same, ? well your choice, all [...]
... is presented here. With a mix of good online monitoring (so they spot the story or this blog post) and a commitment to talking to people who haven't had a good experience, they could turn this online complaint into a positive outcome. Will this happen? Well, it's nearly two months so far, but in fairness many (and probably most) online monitoring services are not good at picking up references on sites such as www.fixmystreet.com. On the other hand, this blog post (with Tesco in the title, tags, URL and body text, just to make it easy) should be an ...
The BBC. This is just cruel. "Labour MPs Ponder move to Lib Dems if Labour loses election" says Paddy Ashdown, being played for a complete idiot. If Labour MPs are talking about going to the Lib Dems, it's because they're trying to embarrass Gordon Brown and scare him into doing something. That's the story here. Paddy, [...]
Patrick Murray has written an excellent article for LibDem Voice on the Gurkha's debate and Martin Salter's behaviour.Martin Salter was really going for it at PMQs this week. As Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Gurhas' rights, he deployed all of his considerable motor-mouth skills and really went for Gordon Brown's jugular on the subject of the Gurkhas, saying:Last December it was
Tavish Scott was on top form at First Minister's Question this week, this time highlighting the failures of the SNP government to deliver its promises on education, particularly in light of the worrying fall in teacher training places in Scotland.
It was good to see the Labour Westminster Government suffering a symbolic defeat this week when MPs voted by 267 to 246 on a Liberal Democrat motion to give all Gurkha soldiers equal right of residence in Britain. As Nick Clegg said afterwards, "This is a historic victory for the Gurkhas who have served our country so bravely." Nick highlighted that "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." What, however, is astonishing is ...
From the BBC:Six men have been jailed for charges relating to election fraud during a council vote in Berkshire.The charges related to an election in the Slough Central ward in May 2007 where Labour councillor Lydia Simmons lost her seat to Tory Raja Khan.Raja Khan, along with two others, had previously admitted the offences. Three other men were convicted by a jury.The men, all from Slough, were
He looks and sounds like Private Pike off Dad's Army. He's a health spokesman but worryingly and rather self-defeatingly sounds permanently like he's got blocked sinuses like that bloke in the Tunes adverts who says "Tunes" to the ticket collector in a very bunged up voice.And now Frank Skinner has made him the butt of a very good joke (here on Question Time) when Lansley discussed his second job
Gordon Brown's recent foray into YouTube in order to promote his plans for reforming MPs' expenses has been widely panned. So what lessons should be drawn by anyone thinking of using YouTube to strengthen the communication of a message in future? First, YouTube can be very powerful (think just how much mainstream media coverage the clip got) but it shouldn't be over-prioritised. As Matthew Parris points out, Gordon Brown recorded the clip before even consulting his Cabinet about the reform plans. Scheduling time to get new media content ready in advance of a big announcement is a good move, but ...
In November 1979, Roy Jenkins, then still a Labour grandee, was scheduled to give the Dimbleby Lecture. He called it "Home Thoughts from Abroad", since he was still serving as the President of the European Commission at the time. Yet his message had an immediate impact at home. Thirty years later his words are still relevant: "...You also make sure that the state knows its place, not only in relation to the economy, but in relation to the citizen. You are in favour of the right of dissent and the liberty of private conduct. You are against unnecessary centralisation and ...
Rockin' René quite rightly asks about the silence amongst the four parties' health spokespeople about claims by a top sexual health consultant that people living with HIV in Wales are routinely facing discrimination at the hands of their GPs. In many ways I do not think this is deliberate. Rather the revelations suffered by virtue of the fact that they played second fiddle on the BBC's Dragon's Eye to claims that the Welsh Government's free prescriptions' policy might be unsustainable in the face of cuts in public expenditure. Certainly, I spent most of yesterday commenting on this claim and on ...
She's got a rather feisty piece today: Legislation for change has at any time to confront the natural resistance of those who are happy with the status quo. In times of recession it is even more instinctive for businesses to cling to old, familiar ways — they assume that new legislation means increased red tape: in fact, this Bill often frees businesses to act more independently. Who can now deny that the legislation of the 1970s that launched society towards a more equal future was a fair set of measures to introduce? It wasn't long ago that a woman could ...
Busy Saturday morning, so here's the story from The Times about the latest heart-wrenching news from Haringey, The failings of social workers at Haringey Council have again been exposed in a criminal trial. The local authority, which is still reeling from the criticism it received after its failing in the Baby P case, confirmed the two-year-old rape victim was known to social workers and was on its "at risk" register. Officials at the North London borough said last night that a Serious Case Review was under way into how the girl could have been raped while in their care... The ...
When was Polly Toynbee granted the unique privilege of having comments disallowed on her Comment is Free pieces? I don't read her often enough - is this a new thing? The only time I've ever seen comments disabled on a CiF piece was a recent example of Clegg's, for legal reasons as it discussed the [...]
A quick update on my March blog post: the six people (three convicted, three confessed) involved in electoral fraud in Slough have now been jailed: The charges related to an election in the Slough Central ward in May 2007 where Labour councillor Lydia Simmons lost her seat to Tory Raja Khan. Raja Khan, along with two others, had previously admitted the offences. Three other men were convicted by a jury. The men, all from Slough, were jailed for between four-and-a-half years and four months at Reading Crown Court. (BBC)
You might expect that a third party, out of power for the best part of a century and with no immediate chance of returning to govern, would be a perpetual follower. That's how our political opponents like to paint the Liberal Democrats: Labour-lite, Tory-lite, a party with no ideology which will do and say anything to pick up a few votes. Yet, over the last decade or two, the party has punched well above its weight, not only following a clear liberal path but pulling others in our wake. Before I get carried away, I do of course recognise the ...
The critic F.R. Leavis was once asked if he had read a book he was complaining about. He replied: "To read it would be to condone it." I have much the same attitude towards the current remake of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, so I have not watched it. But that does not stop me concurring with the observations made about it by Manchester Confidential: Part of the problem for Clunes is out of his control. lt is a bit like getting a new stepfather; however likeable he is, he just isn't your dad. Reggie Perrin owes its ...
Sammy Davis Jnr was survived by his maternal grandmother. He died in 1990 aged 64. She died in 1996 aged 112.
The news this morning has suggestions that some senior Labour MPs have a plan afoot to defect to the Liberal Democrats, if Labour loses and moves to the left after the next election. Based on my own experience, I'm not keen. Genuine political conversions do of course happen, but they're not common. When I was Lib Dem leader in Haringey, we had to deal with two Labour councillors who made overtures about defecting, just before the 2006 local elections. We said that we wanted to see evidence of their commitment to the party and its values, and there certainly would ...
Whilst Ros worked on her intervention for the Liberal International Executive Committee meeting, I ventured downtown to attend a seminar on VoteBuilder, the technology that was used by the US Democratic Party to underpin their voter and volunteer engagement programmes. I'm a bit of a sceptic about technology, especially if it comes from the US. Not because it's bad, or because I don't think it will work here (for a given value of here, that is), but because I never forget about the vast financial disparities between US and European political campaigns. What I need is cheap, flexible technology that ...
I am up uncharacteristically early since I woke to the news of Paddy Ashdown's clandestine chats with potential "Blairite defectors" from Labour. Apparently there is concern that some local parties are becoming "too left wing". Deja vu - except that the Labour Party of the early eighties - when Derek Hatton roamed the land - is quite a different animal from the Labour Party of today. I left the Labour Party then to join the SDP because I was uncomfortable about the direction the party was taking - yes - too left wing even for me! I was probably one ...
The Telegraph suggests that "senior" Labour MPs and peers are considering breaking away from their party in disgust at Gordon Brown's leadership and fear of a lurch to the left. Talks are apparently afoot to convince them to become Liberal Democrats. As usual with unattributed stories, it is impossible to tell whether there is any basis to the newspaper's speculation - or whether it is entirely unfounded. But assuming for a moment it is true, some will be tempted to question whether the party should welcome defectors from Labour. I've previously outlined why I don't subscribe to the view (held ...
I've received my papers for this and think that the Tories are making a large mistake. They are proposing to keep the Planning Committee at 9 members, but then create the new Audit Committee by increasing the numbers to a staggering 11!The planning committee is one of the most customer facing areas of the council. Unlike the other committees, this has immediate and dramatic effects on the
Well the Conservatives never change: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/8029979.stm
The awful news about the second case of child abuse involving someone Haringey Council was meant to be protecting - with the conviction of the boyfriend of Baby P's mother for raping a two-year old - has rather pushed to one side the publication of the second Serious Case Review into Baby P's death. The original Serious Case Review concluded that essentially nothing too significant was done wrong by those involved in protecting Baby P, but was rapidly discredited once its finding were publicised. This new review paints a very different picture, including the key conclusion that the death of ...
With my engagements not starting until the formal dinner on Friday evening, we had Thursday free for a spot of sightseeing, and armed with Mark's brand new copy of the Lonely Planet Guide to British Columbia and a one day public transport pass, we sallied forth. With our bodies still on UK time, we had an early start - and I mean early - I was wide awake by 4.30am. Still, it left plenty of time to look round even though it meant I was shattered by teatime. I am happy to report that Vancouver is a great place. The ...
Beer is awesome! I have had lots of it! I therefore have not dpone modly things, and not approved people on my access list and things because I think it might be more sensible to do that when sober. Also, there have been emails, and I have answered them., and that might not have been wise. But the beer wav very very very very nice. YAY BEER! I go bed now. Sensible. People wanting onviteness need to email me so I can email them invite coeds. I can't remember how many I have left, except that RibsyMcRib has one booked ...
{mersey-valley.jpg} I am the LibDem Deputy on this, but had to cover for Northenden Councillor Martin Eakins on Thursday. No matter how dull the agenda looks, something always crops up that is interesting. The Wardens Service still have massive IT problems due to the virus/worm that crippled Council services earlier in the year. We share an IT department, but my problems were resovled weeks ago. plenty of consternation from Councillors (myself and Old Moat's Andrew Fender being quite vocal). I apologise if the knock on effects of the problems have caused problems in your use of the service, but we ...
As my family and friends will know, I received my OBE from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace a few weeks ago. I've been asked by so many people why I haven't put this on my blog (modesty?)It did receive widespread coverage in the Turkish media, and friends and relatives from Istanbul and Cyprus, rang up to say they'd seen it on the news. So, belatedly, yes it was a fantastic occasion, great fun, and Prince Charles was very charming. No-one does pomp and ceremony like the British, and the whole day was memorable and great.I enjoyed every minute of it. ...
Carol Ann Duffy has been appointed Poet Laureate. Like her poetry; met her a few years ago. Oh and she's the first woman ever to hold the post.
