{hpim0492} On 30th April I posted a photo of the cleared-up grot spot on the corner of Upper Tollington Park and Oakfield Road. Well Laura and I checked out the progress a few days ago, and its looking even better now its finished. The money for this clean-up came from left-over money in the local neighbourhood fund for 2008/09. Bids are now in from residents for projects from the 2009/10 fund, and on Tuesday I attended a meeting to look at the proposals. There are some great ideas to plant trees, install bike racks, hold community events and improve local ...
The latest opinion poll, conducted by yougov, is in The Sun. It shows the Labour vote at an all-time low of 22%, with the Tories on 41% and the LibDems on 19%. This is the first poll to fully take account of reaction to the Fiddlegate revelations -and shows the minor parties on a combined total of 18%. This puts Labour in possible meltdown territory in a General Election - and suggests a collosal number of votes for fringe parties on June 4th. At the last Euro elections, in 2004, 64% voted for the "big three" and 36% of voters ...
Result just through in Chopwell and Rowlands Gill:Lib Dem 898Lab 1221Con 177Labour usually get in with a majority of 800-1000 so it is down heavily. If you look at my last post, it is in line with that.The Tory vote however has been more than halved. Admittedly it was over two decades ago but the Tories used to be strong in Rowlands Gill. Now they barely register.---Sent via BlackBerry
I'm trying to get back to posting at least something here every day... as my comic shop still has no League, and the Star Trek film doesn't have much to say about it, you're getting a politics post. Before I start, as with many of my posts, this will be wrong in detail. I'm trying to [...]
I blogged earlier about how the spotlight - rightly - is turning on Great Ormond Street and its role in the death of Baby P. As I mentioned, Andrew Gilligan has written a big piece on the story - and here's the link to it which I didn't have when blogging earlier.
As we head towards Eurovision 2009, here's another classic Eurovision from 1979.
Tomorrow's Daily Telegraph turns its attention to the justice minister Shahid Malik. As with all these expenses reports, it is hard to judge its truth or fairness until their had been wider debate. But one fact strikes me. The Telegraph says: Since being elected in 2005, Mr Malik has claimed the maximum amount allowable for a second home, amounting to £66,827 over three years. Last year, he claimed £23,083 from the taxpayer for his London town house, equivalent to £443 per week. The Telegraph can disclose that the "main home" for which Mr Malik pays out of his own pocket ...
On Monday I led for the Liberal Democrats in the Second Reading of the Equality Bill. The key issues are: the gender pay gap, the duty on bodies to reduce socio-economic inequality; the ending of discrimination on age in goods and services; procurement and much much more - as you can see in my speech here. But one idea I floated in the speech was how to stop being disbarred from getting a job - before you even get an interview. Lots of people get thrown on the scrapheap because their name is a give away as to their ethnicity, ...
Surely we needed someone who was "clean"? We have plenty of them! Maybe I'm over-reacting but this seems like a bit of a wasted opportunity/own goal by us. I guess we shall see in an hour. Maybe he'll do us proud but I don't think the public is in the mood to hear any politician explaining away their claims...
The Live Chat for BBC's Question Time will start here from 10:30pm this evening. I suspect there will be at least one question about my Member of Parliament and it will be interesting to see how Ming deals with the inevitable questions about his claims too. Now finished. It was a very intense episode and an interesting chat. Thanks to all who attended. Please pop by every Thursday when QT is on for more Live Chats.
Watch tonight's Question Time.... its hysterical...
News just in from Burnley where the local Liberal Democrats have put out this press release: COUNCIL DRAMA: BNP, TORIES AND LABOUR IN UNHOLY ALLIANCE Councillors from the BNP, Tories and Labour parties tonight joined together to try to unseat Coun Gordon Birtwistle as leader of Burnley Council - but failed after one opposition councillor abstained. There was tension in the chamber as the votes were counted, with the four BNP, six Tory and eleven of the twelve Labour councillors voting against Coun Birtwistle. But for the abstention of a single senior Labour councillor, the vote could have seen the ...
Well, here's irony for you - Lib Dem representative on tonight's Question Time (BBC1 and online, 10.35 pm) is none other than Sir Menzies Campbell, former party leader and ardent cushion fan. And joining Ming on the panel will be Ben Brogan, assistant editor of the Daily Telegraph, the paper which has led the news agenda over the past week by peddling stolen documents. Both were booked weeks ago - it's simple coincidence tonight's the night they spar. Also on the panel are that great Labour survivor (well, survivor anyway) Housing Minister Margaret Beckett, Tory shadow work and pensions secretary ...
So the MP who is alleged to have claimed 59p for the purchase of a chocolate santa turns out to represent me. Except that it was not a santa that was bought, it was a packet of chocolate coins and the MP did not claim for them nor did she receive reimbursement for her purchase. They appeared on a receipt alongside another legitimate item. They were not itemised on the claim form. Sian James is innocent. There have been some terrible abuses of the system by members of all parties. Their actions are inexcusable and the failure of Parliament under ...
I went to a conference recently on Technology for Health Systems Strengthening (THeSyS). Not a huge conference, about 30 people altogether. (Great conference - really enjoyed it.) There was the usual request to turn off mobile phones, but I noticed that several other people didn't so I didn't either. That suited me because I was able to use my WAP connection to twitter and text from the conference to various people. This post is partly about manners, partly about psychology and partly about technology. Manners first. I knew I was OK in a sense because my phone is set not ...
{lordsleaping} Ten Two Lords a leaping methinks as a couple of Labour peers - Truscott and Taylor (sounding delightfully like a dodgy legal firm) face suspension from Parliament for six months after being found guilty of misconduct following the Sunday Times expose on cash for amendments. Am I the only one to wonder however, why the fate of these two Lords rests with the House of Lords itself (which votes on whether to exclude them next week) ? Surely this is elitist self interested nonsense? I can see that there may have been a view (once) that no one else ...
Apparently the worst excesses by a government minister will be revealed tomorrow in the Telegraph. I have some pride in the fact that I have read the Telegraph every day for the last two weeks but never bought it. Such are the benefits of having an elderly relative.Let's look on the bright side of all this. At last the public are becoming engaged in politics! Yesterday someone totally unpolitical
Irfan Ahmed's exclusive book Competition Irfan Ahmed's exclusive competition gives you the chance to win your own copy of the groundbreaking book, 'Dirty Politics' by Pat Regan. This unique exposure of the political machine is creating a storm surrounding the Government's detested 2-week waste collection scheme. Please check this link for Completion rules http://dirtypolitics.viviti.com/win-a-copy-
I was at the Vote Match European Election launch held at Apple's palatial showroom on Regents Street this past Monday, drawn by the special guest appearance of Stephen Fry. Appearing in a tuxedo and bow tie, he did not disappoint as he opened with an apology for the rest of us being under-dressed for the event. What I hadn't expected was to discover that the collective consciousness of the 200 or so guests in the audience, on answering the 30 specimen questions by democratic show of hands, managed to produce a Liberal Democrat voter! Following the success of Vote Match ...
Hurrah, Wallington town centre has finally got its hanging baskets. Two to each lamppost no less. It has taken no small effort to make it happen but thanks to Local Committees getting their own budget to spend on enhancing the public realm we have been able to bring some cheer to Wallington high street. Hanging [...]
Thu 14th
20:03
Manchester gave the congestion charge a resounding 'No' vote in December 2008, it seemed there was n...
But five months later, a £1.5bn transport fund has now been agreed to fund the final Metrolink extensions to Manchester Airport, East Didsbury, Ashton-under-Lyne and the town centres of Oldham and Rochdale, as well as a second city crossing between Victoria and G-Mex. And it's not just Metrolink that will benefit. Money will also be spent [...]
{Blinky Balls} Can it be true ? There are suggestions that Ed Balls and Ms Cooper may be the Telegraph's headliners tomorrow. But they will surely sleep soundly. As New Labour have told us a million times "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" . Update. Clare Short on front page of Telegraph website...... how long can this strip tease go on - and just what is the finale ?
Highgate is not, unless I'm mistaken, a theme park for 'The Flintstones' - though you wouldn't always know it, from what Haringey has done to these two lime trees on Muswell Hill Road (see previous post). I think local MP Lynne Featherstone and my fellow councillor Rachel Allison were laughing at this sort of remark, and not the tree works in question. I snapped them at weekend, though they make this concrete calamity look more uplifting than it really is.
Despite all their attempts at reinventing themselves in the hope of winning a seat at the European elections the BNP cannot help themselves. Their racism and bigotry rises to the surface every time. According to yesterday's Daily Mirror, their leader Nick Griffin went on Nicky Campbell's BBC Radio 5 Live breakfast show on Tuesday and claimed that the Gurkhas are "mercenaries" who should not be allowed to stay in Britain. The leader of the far-right British National Party said: "We don't think the most overcrowded country in Europe, can realistically say, 'Look, you can all come and all your relatives.' ...
The BBC News website reports that Elliot Morley says the reason he was claiming money for his mortgage even though he'd paid it off was that he did his accounting in 'yearly bundles'. Yet, somehow, he managed to claim the cash for 18 months. To be fair to him, if he's sufficiently bad at maths not to realise that 18 months is longer than a year, it's no wonder he got into such a muddle over his mortgage claims. But among people I spoke to today, there was utter incomprehension that anyone could miss something as significant as finally paying ...
Here's an example of how NOT to do it. Too many `spare tyres` on stage; a so-so song; stilts and poor singing. Notice how the two stilt people didn't finish properly lol Now a lesson on using more than two people that works – all the stage occupants were there FOR A PURPOSE. Forget the out [...]
Andrew MacKay is my MP. I live in his Bracknell constituency. Today he has quit his role as a senior adviser to David Cameron (or been forced to stand down) because of a scandal involving him and his wife claiming second home allowances on both of their family homes. According to his comments during the interview linked to above (where Matthew Amroliwala ripped him to shreds) they have two family homes. Mr MacKay claimed that their London home was their second home and his wife (Julie Kirkbride) claimed that their Midlands home was their second home. This has apparently been ...
The secretive Bilderberg Group, long a favourite of conspiracy theorists and target of anti-globalists, are holding their 2009 conference in Greece over 14-17th May. As Paul Watson of globalresearch.ca reports "Elitists [are] divided on whether to quickly sink economy and replace it with new world order, or set in motion long, agonizing depression". The way he writes it, [...]
It is a shame that the publics trust in our MPs has progressed to this low point, that MPs are now having to resign there roles within the parties because they have made 'mistakes'. I'm not sure how my MP Andrew Mackay could not of seen the wrong in claiming for a second home allowance while married to Tory MP for Bromsgrove, Julie Kirkbride who also claimed for a second home. However he didn't appear to understand the wrong in this (See the Bracknell Standard article link here). I'm also not sure why it has taken the Tories so long ...
Chopwell and Rowlands Gill byelection in Gateshead today. This is normally a rock solid Labour ward. The Chopwell area has been represented by Labour since the First Eorld War. But Labour is going through a decidely bad patch and the question is, what effect will this have in CRG. The canvass has been encouraging but I like to believe these things when they happen. My feeling is that there will
SALFORD MP Hazel Blears appeared on television brandishing a cheque to the taxman as she tried to rebuild her reputation following the expenses saga. Ms Blears hit the headlines after leaked expense claims showed she accrued more than £20,000 per year in second-home allowances as the fall-out from revelations about MPs' expenses centered on the conduct [...]
Ed Joyce over on the shiny new Liberal Vision blog laments that, so far, On Liberty's 150th Anniversary has gone unmarked. I think that's just not good enough, although we do still have over 6 months to put it right. Do we have an On Liberty Blogging Carnival? Should we send a copy of On Liberty to every single Lib Dem MP (can't think where I got that idea)? On Liberty is important enough to justify doing something. Anyone with me?
An article in today's Guardian by Steve Rose tells the story of the friendship between the two film directors. Though many today would name him as the greatest ever British director, when the two first met in 1975 Powell was living in obscurity and poverty. His reputation had never recovered from the furore over his 1960 film Peeping Tom and many of his best films were known only in inferior, re-edited versions. Scorsese describes their meeting thus: "He was very quiet and didn't quite know what to make of me," Scorsese recalls. "I had to explain to him that his ...
{alison-firth.jpg} My friend and colleague Alison Firth, who has been a LibDem Cllr in Withington since 1984, has been made Lord Mayor for the next Civic year. I have always been impressed by Alison, who did major fundraising work to restore John Rylands Library (not a sponsored run - raised millions) and was an excellent parliamentary candidate in Wythenshawe & Sale East in 2005, boosting our vote considerably. I know she will be a credit to Manchester and wish her well.
This is damned impressive! This wizened old cynic is positively impressed. Nick Clegg's rating, according to the excellent Politicshome, has soared in the last few weeks from a position 16 points behind Cameron to just 4 points behind. Nick's performance on the Gurkhas and the expenses row seem to have rocket-boosted his profile in a very positive way.I am also deeply impressed by Chris Fox, the
Nick gets passionate about justice, reducing crime and the EU. Good to see that the European Elephant has been welcomed into the room. We've spent too many European elections when our campaign strategy has been to avoid talking about it as much as possible. We've come out this time quite bullish about how essential it is that we should work together with our neighbours on issues like crime, trade, jobs and climate change. There's no point in trying to tackle international crime or global warming on our own - we need the sort of co-operation with our neighbours that the ...
This news release popped into the Voice's inbox from party HQ late this afternoon - Nick Clegg has today written to Gordon Brown and David Cameron to call on them to declare that they will accept in full the recommendations of Sir Christopher Kelly's investigation into MPs' expenses. Here's Nick's letter in full: This has been a terrible week for British politics. Days of revelations about expenses claims have caused immense damage to the standing of all MPs and Parliament itself. It is now vital that we act as swiftly as possible to draw a line under these events, clean ...
I see both The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph are calling on Speaker Michael Martin to quit. And even Michael Martin's predecessor, Betty Boothroyd, has expressed her disapproval over his conduct. The Daily Mail quotes an MP friend of hers as saying: "I have spoken to Betty and she is just appalled at the way Michael Martin has behaved. She sees it as a failure of leadership. If Betty had been in charge she would have called the three party leaders in and banged their heads together like little boys until they agreed to reform the system. 'She would instantly ...
One of my favourite by-election stories - I now forget where I heard it - comes from the 1985 contest in Brecon and Radnor. A young Liberal activist was telling at a polling station out in the wilds somewhere, when an elderly farmer turned up. "What are you doing?" he asked. "I always take the numbers for the Liberals." It turned out that for years the farmer had come along on polling day, collected numbers for a couple of hours and then taken them home with him. It represented a folk memory of Lloyd George's day. Any Liberal organisation in ...
If you missed it last night, fear not! The latest Lib Dem party election broadcast is yours to view via the magic of YouTube, below - in fact, why watch it just once? Don't forget to give it a 5-star rating if you do watch it (only if you feel it merits it, natch), and add it as a favourite - it all helps boost its popularity, giving the broadcast a bigger total audience. Oh, and give Nick at least one cheer for mentioning Europe in a positive way in a campaign for the European elections - chances are he'll ...
{douglas-carswell} Douglas Carswell, the outspoken, media-savvy, maverick Tory MP for Harwich is leading the campaign to remove Michael Martin as Speaker by tabling a motion of no confidence.. Unlike most backbenchers, he is increasingly unlikely to have the words "little known" prefixed to his name when mentioned in the national media. (I described him as such on Radio 5 yesterday, but having looked up his recent mentions in the press, I was wrong to do so) David Cameron has, rather shame-facedly, said that the Speaker retains his support. Nick Clegg has said nothing so far that I've seen, but surely ...
So, after 6 months, Westminster Council have finally sent me another Penalty Charge Notice, I've made a representation against it for the second time, and my representation has been turned down. But this time they have actually managed to deliver a Notice of Rejection to me, so I have the opportunity to appeal, which I [...]
West Side Story is deservedly a classic. This animated remix for our times is another. H/T naked capitalism
Nick Clegg's approval rating is on the brink of overtaking a flatlining David Cameron according to this. Poor old Gordon Brown, though - we'd better send a diving bell for him as he languishes with an eye-wateringly low rating of -45. This man has such a rollercoaster ride as PM. He was feted on taking office as the decent, honest one after 10 years of the smarmy, insincere Blair. A few months later it all started to fall apart when he bottled the election that never was. He then had a few months of relative popularity as the global economy ...
While we're all having fun over MPs' expenses (by the way, sack the lot I say, and don't replace them - turn the building into a nice hotel and destroy the state apparatus as much as possible) space a thought for poor old Oxfordshire County Councillor Olive Steadman. While these MPs get away with excuses like "it was a paperwok error" and so on, and whilst it's not that we actually believe them when they say it but there doesn't actually seem to be terribly much movement on taking criminal action, Ms Steadman, a truly batty seventy-something lady whom anyone ...
{clegg.jpg} Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has today written to Gordon Brown and David Cameron regarding MPs' expenses. In his letter Nick Clegg calls on Gordon Brown and David Cameron to declare that they will accept in full the recommendations of Sir Christopher Kelly's investigation into MPs' expenses. The letter says: This has been a terrible week for British politics. Days of revelations about expenses claims have caused immense damage to the standing of all MPs and Parliament itself. It is now vital that we act as swiftly as possible to draw a line under these events, clean up the ...
The Bank of England provided its quarterly inflation report yesterday. Watch the video, it's really amusing. Chris Giles of the FT, arguably the best financial journalist in the country, was particularly punchy in the way he interrogated Merv, and as ever zeroed in on the most important fact: whether the economy's economic capacity has been permanently impaired by this crunch, or rather, by how much.The Bank's answer was: "The governor and Charlie Bean, his deputy, confirmed that the Bank has lowered estimates of the level of output that the economy could sustain without triggering inflation. Mr Bean said the credit ...
Two days ago, like m'colleague Alix, I was nervously braced, fully expecting that at least one Lib Dem MP would be exposed by the Telegraph as a major expenses-sponging freeloader. The downside of the party having grown to 63 MPs was, surely, that one of them would have made a catastrophic error of judgement, one so serious it would result in their being publicly shamed. The party as a whole, and in particular Nick Clegg as leader, would then have the painful task of working out how they should be disciplined (withdrawal of the whip, compulsory reselection?), almost certainly gifting ...
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has published his proposals in full here.
Today's Yorkshire Evening Post flags up the start of a consultation process on whether Leeds should have it's own directly elected Mayor. This is one of those issues which I swing both ways on because while I am in favour in principle of the maximum amount of direct democracy I also see the potential problems of creating yet another layer of bureaucracy and concentration of power in the hands of a dwindling executive. {Link} As is rightly pointed out the experience of directly elected mayors across the country is something of a mixed bag. Leeds City Council already has an ...
The council has informed me that the waste paper collection for today is running very late due to a training exercise this morning. It is hoped to get everything collected by tonight, but anything not picked up today will be collected tomorrow, Friday 15th.
The full story is here.
There are two by-elections in the London Borough of Barnet on June 4th, in Totteridge and Edgware wards. The Liberal Democrat candidate for Totteridge is former Big Brother contestant Jonty Stern. From the Barnet and Potters Bar Times: SELF-CONFESSED teddy bear and hand-puppet obsessive Jonty Stern, from 2007's Big Brother, has been chosen as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Totteridge in the upcoming by-elections. Jonty, 38, is a passionate vegetarian who shares his flat with his collection of 50 stuffed toys. He is also a keen history and Dr Who fan, speaks seven languages, and collects old coins and money. ...
Election material is now beginning to plop onto the doormat. I once got a letter published in a National paper suggesting that I had come to the opinion that we should pull out of Europe because the rest of Europe would be so much better off without us. It's about the only letter I've ever had published that got a reaction - most of it abusive & anonymous. But one dear chap did sign his name & his concern was loss of our national identity. So I wrote to him in a friendly fashion & asked if he found the ...
All of the talk about David Cameron being the man to lead Britain out of the mess that Brown has left us wallowing in is starting to stagnate. The PoliticsHome leadership tracker shows that the boy wonder Cameron's lead is slipping. While he has stagnated at just over a quarter of the 1,000 respondents questioned fast coming up almost doubling in impact is Nick Clegg who is now just 4% behind the man being talked about in some circles as the next Prime Minister elect. PoliticsHome say:"The figures show Clegg has moved from a position sixteen percentage points behind Cameron ...
I spoke on Wave 102's news today, supporting calls for the drugs misuse issue - and council policy to assist tackling the issue - to be a top priority for the City Council's new Scrutiny Committee. I was also interviewed about my concerns as to how the SNP administration has failed to listen to opposition concerns about the way the committee has been set up. You can hear the news clip from Wave 102 by playing this clip. I intend to write a further update on the issue and a number of other matters from this week as a "round ...
In all the smoke & thunder surrounding MP's expenses we should not forget that there may well be a substantial majority of the 646 Members who have NOT abused the rules. Liberal Democrat, Sarah Teather MP, has never claimed her second home allowance. She lives just half an hour from Parliament and, under the idiotic rules which are still in force, she would be allowed to claim up to £24000 . There was a chance to overhaul the system last summer which was not taken. Immediately after that failure Nick Clegg wrote to Brown & Cameron proposing joint talks about ...
Politics Home has a new poll out that shows Clegg gaining on Cameron (23% to 26%) while Brown languishes in a -45% approval rating (or 45% disapproval rating.. it's complicated). Again one suspects this can't last - a good blast of Pro-EU stuff, perhaps an announcement on the Environment and muted response to MP's expenses means that Cameron is likely to shoot off ahead again. Most interesting will be how Labour supporters take this sort of news. It's a point of pride for them that they can guarantee on doing better than the Lib Dems. Silly, Silly Socialists. All this ...
The Speaker of the House of Commons is a key figure in British democracy. Even if he (or she) comes from a particular political party, rather like a Mayor in a borough, (s)he should remain totally impartial and uphold both the traditions and the values of the institution. Betty Boothroyd did the job with panache. [...]
Many will have read the blog post that I wrote about the book Dirty Politics now I would like to give a reader of this blog the chance to win a copy of the book. In order to enter the competition you have to send a 100 word reason for why a fortnightly bin collection is a bad idea and one contestant will then win a signed copy of the book. From the publisher: Win your own copy of the groundbreaking book, 'Dirty Politics' by Pat Regan, that is creating a storm over the Government's detested 2-week waste collection scheme. ...
Guido has blogged about how whilst sitting in the Commons terrace yesterday he so the glum side of being politicians or being associated with politics. Guido writes about how the "wannabee Red Rag Bloggers" Charlie Whelan and Kevin Maguire were their and made a quick exit before he could say hello! Brown's Whip Nick Brown was enjoying himself on the terrace and so was a glum Lembit Opik. Another Lib Dem who was drowning his sorrows was Andrew George who was on his mobile phone making a call. Geoff Hoon was also their sipping away on his pint and gave ...
Some bad news for lots of people in Lambeth. The 'Lurking about SE11' blog has a some very interesting information. A leaked investigation into Lambeth's social housing seems to have come up with some very worrying conclusions. That blog says... Lambeth's social housing complaints system has broken down Collection of rents and service charges is poor There's a high proportion of residences without Gas Safety Certificates It is very concerning stuff. As SE11 points out the gas safety problem sounds particularly serious - indeed, dangerous. But the other two aren't exactly trivial either. If Lambeth Living are doing badly on ...
A story flying around today about an NHS trust bizarrely sending a letter to a mother saying her son was too fat: he was one pound over the "ideal" weight range. Needless to say, it's silly and then some. Scaring parents and children about being outside the Government-approved ideal weight is pointless. There is no childhood obesity epidemic. There is no type 2 diabetes epidemic. There's no tragedy waiting kids spending their days in front of the TV. We're starting to understand the weight of evidence that shows being moderately overweight can have health benefits and even being morbidly obese ...
Aung San Suu Kyi has now been officially charged by authorities in Burma (Myanmar) for breaking terms of her house arrest. US Citizen John Yettaw who swam across the lake to her compound and then hid out there for two days, despite Suu Kyi asking him to swim back across the lake and not wanting him there, is the reason for these charges. The military junta seem to be ceasing on this outside and unwanted influence to detain the Nobel Peace Laureate for longer than they currently can and past the date of elections scheduled for 2010. She will face ...
{Town Hall} Yesterday was the Annual meeting of the Council at Bury Town Hall. The event attended by most councillors is in two parts. The first part is dominated by a "State of the Borough" speech from the leader of the Council followed by a short debate and the appointment of councillors to committees for the new municipal year. Traditionally the leader of the Council (and yesterday was no different) takes the opportunity to tell us how wonderful life is under his administration. Traditionally the opposition use the debate to remind him that we haven't quite reached a state of ...
I know I am late with this, but as the Deputy Director of Campaigns and the Agent I am somewhat busy....... Anyhow, it was a great launch on Tuesday at Longannet Power Station. We had a great briefing and tour round the main control room. George Lyon, our number one candidate for the European elections on 4th June, has called for Longannet Power Station to be made a test centre for Carbon capture and storage technology. George was joined by Tavish Scott, Alistair Carmichael MP and retiring MEP Elspeth Attwooll to launch his campaign for the European elections. The Party ...
A big problem with climate change may be "climate change". I am with George Monbiot when he says that the term "climate change" does not really explain the impact of what we are doing to the earth's atmosphere. In a recent blog, Monbiot pointed to the devastating implications that we are already seeing for global food security, water supplies and human settlement and called "climate change": ". . . a ridiculously neutral term for the biggest potential catastrophe humankind has ever encountered." Yet most UK media coverage of the issues uses what Matt Nesbitt calls the "Pandora's Box" frame of ...
The Telegraph will be playing Mr and Mrs tomorrow! The joy!The Robinsons! At last! (Hopefully) Hooray! Mackay-Kirkbride! The Wintertons! Bless them. Cooper-Balls!It's going to be great fun.
{barack} "Never trust a man who wears a bow tie"–so advised Father H to a young Julian H. Not sure why; maybe he forgot that I was a boy, a boy who likes girls. Anyway... ....Barack Obama doesn't wear a bow tie, but he bloody well should. During his campaign he promised that the public would have five days to look online at new Bills before he signed them off. Last month it was reported that this was a great fat lie. He's signing off all kinds of stuff without posting it online at all. And today, of course, we ...
I suppose most of you are familiar with the outstanding scientist Beatrix Potter, who did important work on mycology and established that lichens are a symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae. She is one of 21 names put forwards in a poll publicised by New Scientist magazine to name the outstanding woman scientist in history, and you really should go and read about the nominees. And maybe vote, even though you will curse the fact that it is not by STV as the choices are agonising. The poll is organised by L'Oreal in its Fellowship for women in science programme ...
I received this today the first thing in a year inviting me to see our kids with a fantastic Orchestra,an Orchestra i remember as a child, good news fantastic. Cost Free, what makes my blood boil why do we have to subsidise the BBC Orchestra and i have seen nothing like this, and at this scale. [...]
...or the tale of two Aluns. I am told that the battle for the Labour nomination to fight Blaenau Gwent at the next Assembly elections is hotting up. Apparently, there are 12 potential candidates including Mid and West Wales Assembly Member, Alun Davies and now, former Culture Minister, Alun Pugh. This could be the next must-watch election battle (after the European of course).
I was veryinterested to hear the news that £1.4bn transport investment in Greater Manchester which has been made despite the rejection of congestion charging in last year's referendum. The fact that these improvements to transport are happening without a congestion charge finally exposes the pro-charge campaign's key message as a complete lie. They said that there was no Plan B, but there obviously was and this is it. Bury Lib Dems led the fight against congestion charging, securing Council backing for our motion rejecting the charge. The whole c-charge idea wasted millions of pounds of public money for absolutely no ...
As it happens, I'm currently working with the first semi-final of the Eurovision song contest as background on the tv, and saw this story about the Dutch entry — and NOS, the public broadcaster in the Nederlands — have said they will withdraw from the finals of the competition on Saturday night if a gay rights parade organised for that afternoon becomes violent. Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov has said he will never allow Moscow to have a gay parade, which he has dubbed "satanic." Russian nationalists on Tuesday threatened to "cure" any homosexuals who join the parade on Saturday.
I have been a member of the Liberal Democrats for nearly a year now, having joined in June last year (although I had been helping out before that). Since joining I have been to the one-day London policy conference in January, leafletted in my local area and a nearby constituency, canvassed, become a member of the comittee of my local party, set up a blog for local activists, got involved with the Lib Dem Coders and blogged my backside off on my own blog. So I have been pretty heavily involved. I have met a lot of nice people in ...
This Sunday sees the International Day Against Homophobia and events are planned across the UK to raise awareness of those who are fighting against persecution of the LGBT community across the world and of the problems this can cause. You wonder what exactly has been achieved in Iraq when you read reports of the brutal torture and murder of gay men. Just in case you were thinking that we're all cool about gay people these days and nobody is horrible to them in the UK, have a look at this speech Nick Clegg gave to Stonewall last year in which ...
I wasn't wildly impressed by Liberal Vision's first incarnation, and its subsequent total lack of activity. It did look like a simple attempt to attract attention, after all. But now it's back, from outer space, I just walked in to find it there with that look upon its face. There are more people involved, there's a blog. They claim to be in favour of the sort of things that I'm broadly in favour of - lower taxes, smaller government, more freedom. And yet, and yet, I'm not going to join. Why not? Because I have a sneaking feeling that there's ...
This year is the 150th anniversary of the publication of the Origin of Species which has been widely celebrated. All rational people now accept that it is fundamentally correct, and it provides a bastion against which the common man can protect himself against the irrational. This year, however, also marks the publication of another book which, in my view, is of similar stature in our defence of the freedom of the individual. This book, John Stuart Mills' 'On Liberty', provides a philosophical justification of liberty and was integrally involved in the setting up of the party to which this site ...
Due to losing a democratic vote at the Extraordinary Council meeting on 22nd April, the Conservatives have decided to throw good practice out of the window. They have dissolved the Governance Board, which was in place to oversee and investigate the changes which could be made to the governance of WLDC.I challenged them on this and was told by the monitoring officer "It's obviously good practice
The themes and issues from The Winslow Boy have been playing in my head all morning. I went to see it last night at the Rose - and as the actors took their bows I decided I must come back to see it next week. Not only was it a terrific production, but I need to catch it from a different perspective. Last night I enjoyed the storytelling and the unfolding family relationships, but I...
As the revelations of stupidity, cupidity and greed continue to drip out from the purloined records in the possession of the Daily Telegraph, the chorus for change has grown ever louder. As political leaders denounce "the system", the response from the wider market may not be precisely what they anticipate. They are of course right, "the system" has created a class of MPs in safe seats who are ultimately unaccountable. This may have created the culture that has allowed such absurd expenses claims, but in many ways the expenses scandal is just the tip of a wider and far more ...
Most long term residents of this area have farming in their blood. You don't have to go back far to find a connection to the land. We have a smallholding of 25 acres which we now share with a local farmer and have 8 head of Dexter cattle. 5 cows and 3 followers. Dexter's are small cows and many potential owners think that this makes them easier to handle. Well............... sort of. But the truth is that you can't pick one up and you can't push one through a gate if it doesn't want to go. So really, they are ...
For the last year or so Camden Council has been running a couple of vehicles on biogas (or biomethane) made from food waste. The great thing about this form of vehicle fuel is that it produces virtually no carbon emissions and no noxious emissions whatsoever. So it's good for the planet and good for air quality. Here's a piece the BBC have just done on biomethane.
In the fifth in a series of looking at each of the regions (and nations) for the European Elections I today examine the North West.
{metrolink-2.jpg} Great news that the metrolink line will now carry on to Didsbury. I had real worries about Chorlton becoming one big terminus without the required parking. This gives any commuters much more option of where to transfer from car to Metro - as many will do. i like the idea of increased connection with Didsbury. They are our great rival after all, but i can only see the competion between Chorlton, Didsbury and possibly Withington improving all three areas in the long run. The link is a map of the full network. There is increased work in Oldham ...
Not the kind of stern injunction I was expecting to come out with after a day of Liberal Democrat expenses revelations, I must say. I was all prepared to be angry, disappointed, humbled and even-handedly condemnatory. It has become a sort of communally agreed ceasefire in the political blogosphere and the media in the past few days - no-one's allowed to query, say "eh?" or doubt the word of the Telegraph. That would be being cocky and partisan. One must only observe the same humilities as everybody else. Shock horror expressions must be worn at all times. Well I don't ...
Many people have argued that Blogger blogs look to similar so I thought I would prove to them that they don't in the here blog post. Below are two screen prints from different blogs tell me how someone with eyes and a brain will mix the two up? This screen print above is the blog of Labour blogger Sadie Smith. And this is the screen print of the blog of Fiyaz Mughal a Lib Dem from London. How are the two similar in any way and how can they be mixed up with each other? They cant because someone with ...
Thu 14th
09:28Funny thing last night i went to a meeting of residents and a guest from Urban Vision read on.
Urban Vision repair our roads, and what ever you say they are falling apart. The ruling labour group have failed to come to terms with the understanding of basic info structure, the ability to move from point to point. What did amaze me last night was the guest from urban visions use of the word [...]
The 19th May is the last chance for people to get on the electoral register to vote in the European Elections on June 4th. The Electoral Commission has an excellent website, explaining how to get on the register in clear, easy to understand steps - but you need to make sure your registration form reaches your local council by the 19th May. Getting more people on the electoral register is something people from all parties support. In that vein (and because it seemed a good idea when I was talking to some EC people last night) here comes a voting ...
Iain Dale has blogged about how David Cameron should whip Tory MP's to not use the Communication Allowance and I agree with him. Dave has said that the Tories would finish the Communication Allowance and he should put it into practice. The question is will he say to Tory MP's and will they listen? Probably not for both instances. Cameron is to nice with his MP's because he is scared they will destroy him by not supporting him over the next year leading to the general election. Cameron will be more like Major (too nice) then the Iron Lady who ...
2 Big stories MPs' expenses still dominate today's headlines, but in a kind of Vote Match for retail therapy fans, the Times has: MPs' expenses: what those purchases tell us about their characters. The Guardian reports that Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin is facing pressure to quit after his strong words over the expenses row this week. 2 Must-read blog posts Meanwhile, back on the campaign trail, two women bloggers get on with the air and ground war. Fiona Whelan dons her comfy shoes and attends to "pavements, pot holes and other things that need to be ...
Rumour has it that David Cameron is to visit Pendle and in particular Barnoldswick tomorrow but one question for Dave, why not Nelson? And why no public meeting? Dave is someone who I don't like as a politician because of his use of the weird ideology that is a farce "Liberal Conservative" so I would like to meet him and tell him what I think of his whole "Liberal Conservative" joke and the joke he is on a whole. Dave be a man and hold a public meeting in Nelson that's if you have balls! Update this has now been ...
Yay, the world's most boring subject: The EU. I'd better keep this one short. Part 2 "Conversations with Clegg" went out last night and, shock horror, Nick actually defended Britain's membership of the EU with what turns out to be our slogan for our Euro Election Campaign: Stronger Together Otherwise known as Unity Is Strength Pity. In the video, Clegg says, "yes of course there's problems with the EU - it's not accountable enough, it's not democratic enough but..." For this particular video, where the emphasis was to be on a positive message delivered quickly, it's probably the right way ...
SALIX HOMES, I've always had good relationships with area managers and housing staff in the past and worked well together for the benefit of the community, but for now that seems to have stopped. Perhaps it's my suspicious mind,but maybe somebody has told them to! Strange we get on really with City West we meet With [...]
UPDATE: My estimate was about 4 hours early. Elliott Morley has been suspended from the Parliamentary Labour party....at 9:53hrs this morning, I estimate. Well that's what should happen. And Kevin Maguire says it should happen and if Mr Maguire has any uses (and it is difficult to think of any these days) it is as a predictor of Labour party behaviour. I hope that the Tory party also withdraw the
Was it a dream no, found it on the net gave me a giggle
It is difficult to gauge exactly how much momentum there is in the House of Commons behind the motion to no confidence the Speaker, however one suspects that once it reaches the floor of the House all bets are off on the outcome. Liberal Democrat MP, Norman Baker summed up a growing view of Michael Martin a few minutes ago on Radio Wales. He said that over the last few years the Speaker had blocked change, had blocked Freedom of Information requests and had swept reform under the carpet. Quite!
Blears writes cheque to Inland Revenue and vows to 'rebuild' her reputation Cabinet minister Hazel Blears vowed to "rebuild" her reputation after promising to pay £13,332 in capital gains tax she escaped when she sold one of her homes. Acknowledging "public outrage and anger" about MPs' expenses, the under-fire Communities Secretary said she had been "affected personally [...]
Whilst I think that one or two MPs have been rather roughly treated on the grounds of taste rather than sleaze, the scale of some of the expenses abuses takes the breath away. I can understand somebody asking the relevant officials if certain furnishings qualify, but I cannot possibly comprehend how somebody could not notice that he'd finished paying off his mortgage for over two years. If somebody made that sort of "error" on housing benefit, claiming mortgage interest and not noticing that the mortgage had ended, they'd be facing prosecution with the prospect of time inside if convicted. Indeed, ...
Thu 14th
08:15Elliot Morley claimed £16,000 for mortgage that did not exist: MPs' expenses source the Telegr...
A former Labour minister claimed parliamentary expenses of more than £16,000 for a mortgage which had already been paid off. Elliot Morley, who continued to claim for a mortgage that had been paid off Photo: PA Elliot Morley, the former agriculture minister, continued claiming for the mortgage interest on his constituency home for more [...]
for at least being out of touch. How can anyone NOT know that £800 was still coming into his bank account or that his mortgage had been paid off? It either doesn't make sense or it means he's not in touch with the general public. In the private sector wouldn't he be at the least [...]
Following his thoughts on trainspotting and normality, here is another contribution from Professor Strange. It was first published in Clinical Psychology Forum in February 2004. Victorians, modesty and piano legs The Victorians do not get a good press these days. A random trawl of the Internet finds the American AIDS Czarina complaining of a 'Victorian society that misrepresents information, denies sexuality early, denies homosexuality particularly in teens, and leaves people abandoned with no place to go.' A sermon tells us that 'Thanks to the 1960s, we have given up Victorian hypocrisy when it comes to ourselves.' And a journalist announces ...
Well on Wednesday i will see how the chairs of scrutiny and vice chars pan out. I have all ways believed that to offer any democratic balance you need to show proportionality.But with Salford Labour it's lets take it to full council for the decision, pure case of mathematics we loose, How this council will [...]
On Monday of this week my colleague, Richard Hands, noticed that there was a water leak on the pavement in the village he contacted United Utilities who sent an inspector out 2 days later the workman are fixing the leak . That's what I call service
It's smackdown time in the Daily Mail, and no prizes for guessing which side they're on. The Mail's fury today is over a comment in The Pink Guide to Adoption - a book for gay and lesbian couples thinking of adopting. According to the Mail, the book says: 'Children need good parents much more than retarded homophobes need an excuse to whinge, so don't let your worries about society's reaction hinder your desire and ability to give a child a loving caring home.'I can't find the text of the book online so I can't see the context. The word "retarded" ...
On one level, the decision of the majority of Plaid AMs to ignore party policy and back their coalition partners in introducing top-up fees in Wales is a tragedy for every Welsh student, present and future. But on another level it's a far more profound political event, my feelings about which are best described thus;CYMRUPlaidSuddenly on the floor of the Senedd on Wednesday May 14th 2009, aged 79
When I found out that the last doctor to see Baby Peter failed to recognise a broken back and ribs - like the rest of the nation I thought she must be a terrible doctor. And she clearly was. However, I also read that she was a locum - and ever since then I have been digging and digging to find out why there was a locum and what lay beneath. I found out. And whilst I have no doubt that Haringey Labour Council and Sharon Shoesmith were first in line for retribution being the lead agency and lead individual ...
On the plight of MP's, and a reminder of capitalism's ability to bear criticism of itself(read more below)
Yesterday was the Annual Council meeting and "Mayor Making" for Bury Council. {IMG_0290} In recent years annual council has been a relatively nail-biting experience as for the last few years we've either had "no-overall controll" on the Council (so how everbody voted decided who ran the Council for the rest of the year), or the Conservatives had only a one vote majority as in last year. This year all the appointments were agreed with only minor changes. We are meant to receive the annual reports of the Area Partnerships, the Standards Committee and the Scrutiny Commissions. In the case of ...
Aung San Suu Kyi the leader of Myanmar's (Burma's) National League for Democracy Party has been taken from her house where she has been under house arrest without trial for the last 6 years and for 13 of the last 19 years to Rangoon'n Insein prision to face trail. Her current term of detention was due to end on 25 May. It appears that the military junta are going to use the incident of the America who swam over to Suu Kyi's comound last week as grounds for the charge. Myanmar law make it mandatory for any citizen to notify ...
{picture-3} And they tried so hard, too. Another election, another hilarious BNP party political broadcast. Gone are the folk song stylings of Nick Griffin (so your leader wrote a song... turns out, people just not that impressed) - instead they've found their most middle class looking councillors and have tried to sound as much like Labour as they possibly can. Except, of course, unlike Labour they really care. They're not just, you know, politicians, you know, trying to win seats or anything. They're doing it for Das Volk, dontchaknow? So, bored as I was, I found myself alarmed by the ...
It was OK, if not entirely my kind of thing. There was much skill. The acrobats were very talented. I would like to have a go on the Wheel of Death, pls, but preferably one that does not have a dodgy rope holding it up that snaps in one of the more dangerous bits. Two acrobats fell, only one hurt himself, and he's just going to have a nasty bump on his forehead. The trampoline had some very frayed-looking bits too, but none of that broke. amazing_holly was very impressed, and liked the candy floss. I am glad we went, ...
Yesterday, as I blogged, a group of students headed to the Assembly. This was organised without any help, comment or anything of that nature, by NUS Wales. NUS Wales have, apparently, been outside the Assembly arguing in favour of the Government's decision to saddle more students with debt. Why is this? Because quite simply, it has become a bedrock of Labour support. Maybe it is my idealism. Silly me. I thought a union was about representation of its members, through a united block, making it easier to represent those who, individually, lack the mechanisms to effect change. Its why I've ...
Thu 14th
00:14Is this someone saying v for victory to the Labour Leader or do you think this is what labour think ...
Apparently he claimed £16,000 in mortgage interest payments on a house where the mortgage was already paid off. This is now getting to the point where claims of "it was within the rules" can surely no longer be applied. Can someone explain to me how what Morley is alleged to have done here is not fraudulent? There are already murmurings about a possible by election and I would not be surprised if his majority of 8,963 was not overturned by the voters of Scunthorpe in disgust at this.
Wednesday: So... the Horse Manure has hit the Pool Cleaner. The Pergola has broken the Camel's back. The Housekeepers are coming home to roost. We are ALL up the MOAT without a PADDLE. Hard Labour Ministers have been treating their expenses like MONOPOLY MONEY (speculating to accumulate) and Conservatory grandees have been having the state of their Stately Homes improved. On the other fluffy foot, Liberal Democrats have been, ooh, letting their daughters stay in their second homes and, gasp, overdoing the cushions and, shudders, slipping their Hob-Nobs into the Trouser Press (which is NOT as rude as it sounds!). ...
