With the news that the Government has overtaken Proctor and Gamble as the single biggest spending advertiser in the UK (thanks, Liberal Vision), I felt compelled to blog. One hundred and seventy eight million pounds. On propaganda.
Tomorrow's Daily Mail tells us: Eighty-two Labour MPs signed three Parliamentary motions, dating back to 2005, opposing the Extradition Act and sending Gary McKinnon to the U.S. for trial.But only eight of them had the integrity to back the Tory Opposition Day call for an 'immediate review' of the one-sided treaty. Of the other 74 Labour backbenchers, 59 displayed rank hypocrisy by supporting the Government. Another 15 abstained.And the paper's website helpfully goes on to list them all.
Earlier this week I was interviewed by BBC Sussex because I have called for our Labour MP to resign from his new job as Equalities Minister. I have done this because of the Government's refusal to help Hastings & Rye fishermen. This is a significant matter of principle - just as it was a matter of principle [...]
Scrutiny Overview Committee Agenda items for this committee included papers and a presentation from the Audit Commission on the new Comprehensive Area Assessments, and scrutiny of the Council's preparation for major incidents. Howard Simmons of the Audit Commission talked about how the new form of assessment for councils would operate in practice. The new Comprehensive Area Assessment [...]
Yesterday I clawed back a 2-0 win at ping-pong over JW, but he's still well ahead at 121-116.
This brewing company's website says: Phipps NBC are dedicated to creating quality beers based on the original Phipps NBC products sadly lost when the brewery closed in the early 1970's.Part of Northamptonshire's history going back to 1801 (Pickering Phipps started brewing in Towcester) was almost lost and our aim was and shall remain to celebrate the past whilst looking forward to the future. Working with several retired brewers and past employees to develop our premium traditional beers we now have a strong demand for Phipps once again across the East Midlands and beyond.The site also has numerous old photographs of ...
no, not claiming more - just more to write about. i found with horror, not that I had claimed something I shouldn't, but that an error had happened "on the way to the printer, via the ether" and the last 2 lines of a Focus article on expenses had been chopped off and didn't make sense. you can see the full article on our website. Look for Focus 203. And yes - all 203 Focus are paid for out of...
Nick Clegg has become a twittering leader of a political party and personally I think it's excellent. First he reclaimed his account from an activist, and then he held an online Q&A and now again another twitter chat. Nick really is leading the way on social networking politics. If team Nick are reading this then my piece of advice to them is to now start using social networks to get activists in local areas to hold local public meetings in which PPC's take to the stage. This will boost the Lib Dem campaign across the country and will push soap ...
Wed 15th
22:31
Back on to city west tommorow it's that time of the week me and Mole Junior share out the work.
It's great having a partner with a university background. He writes some kicking letters. And of course it's great to have someone to confide in.It's a great job being a councillor when you win but it taste pretty bad when you loose. It's hard some days ,one case closes and one more opens and some [...]
Guido has blogged about how the online community e.g. blog readers are donating money to the Sunlight COP's campaign to sue Jacqui Smith and that's why I think the online community is great. If the Sunlight COP can sue her and get into the main stream media on the day of the court case with interviews with the Harry Cole and others I think Sunlight has really shown how strong an online campaign can be. Let's sue Ms Smith and let's get our money back! I am upset that Gordon Prentice has been claiming for "local newspapers" as an office ...
I am thinking about places in the world where women are oppressed. Iran for example. There, I gather, militia roam the streets intimidating and attacking women who behave or dress in ways of which they disapprove. In my country, such militia would be arrested and tried for public order offences. It is not that the British have no opinions about what is acceptable dress or behaviour in public and what is not. Of course we have opinions. But individuals behave in a way that is their own choice, provided that it does not contravene a specific law, and it may ...
It always amazes me at council to see the slow and painful pleasure certain individuals take in pulling apart policy But have the total lack of ability to offer realistic alternatives.It confounds me sometimes that if the shoe was on the other foot what would certain people do? you can argue till your blue in [...]
The great, the good and the sometimes naughty of the old Liberal Party were out en masse in the Attlee Suite of Portcullis House at Westminster this evening, for the unveiling of a portrait bust of former party leader Jeremy Thorpe, as well as a preview of the three latest (and final) acquisitions of busts [...]
Well if there is a complete meltdown in the labour vote. We sink back to the days of Bob Boyd then the Tories will take the town hall. But i look at seats like Irwell Riverside, yes i no it's Labour but if you have the Blears fiasco and Labour in Freefall and you still [...]
I sat through a debate today over the YOS move from encombe place. I took no part in the debate it would have been unfair to comment on something that i personly had no part in. The work in this area was done by other Liberal Democrat members, if my view was requested it was [...]
So, the Tories have dumped a candidate, not really big news but is it all as it seems? There are a lot of unhappy Tory activists who are sounding off all across the Borders. Chris Walker's email to Tory Members paints a picture of a busy hotelier wanting to spend more time with his business - good on him for that, especially in the current climate. But is it more about canvassing targets not being reached and not enough doors being knocked on, or just the fact that the Liberal Democrats in the Borders ran a super European campaign? Or ...
This afternoon I attended the official opening of the Halcyon Centre in Thornaby. This former infant school building has been transformed into a day care centre for adults over the age of 55 who have been assessed as needing such a facility. It's a relatively small scale operation, only 22 clients allowed on any one day, which covers Eaglescliffe, Yarm, Ingleby Barwick and Thornaby with the
Earlier today Mark Cavendish notched up his fourth stage win in this year's Tour de France cycle race. Mark Cavendish equals cycling record It's a fantastic achievement, notable for several reasons. It's a rare cyclist who wins four stages in in one year, and he has now done this two years in a row. Moreover, with eight stage wins he is now tied for the British record total number of career stage wins in the Tour - and that's despite this being only the second year he's raced. With many years of racing ahead of him (he's only 24), he's ...
Oh dear. How must David Cameron rue the day he caved into his party's right-wing and promised to withdraw the Tories from the centre-right EPP in the European Parliament and establish a new anti-federalist right-wing grouping. At the time it was a last-gasp roll of the dice solely calaculated to pep up his then faltering leadership bid. Four years on, and something he might have been able quietly to drop – risking the wrath only of his most headbanging Europhobes – has become a running sore which reflects badly on Mr Cameron's leadership abilities. Three weeks ago, the Tories snuck ...
I had an interesting little chat this afternoon with the rather pleasant duo from NOTA (None Of The Above) who were out leafleting in Norwich North today. NOTA are something of a rarity in today's political system. They are a small group of people who are prepared to spend a lot of their money in order to publicise and gain support for a principle. That principle is that people ought to vote, rather than not turn out, and that they should be given the option to put vote for "None Of The Above". I am, of course, a Lib Dem ...
For the second night running all the candidates gathered (except the Tory this time who only seems to bother if the press will be there) for a hustings meeting and for the second night running it has been cancelled due to lack of interest. It says something about the excitement this election is generating that nobody seems to want to attend hustings meetings. From my perspective this bodes ill for Labour as it suggests a general dislike of politics and that hits governing parties most in elections.
The Lib Dem leader is having, it appears, a tweet-tastic week. On Monday he reclaimed his @nick_clegg Twitter profile from a party supporter who had been sending messages on his behalf. Yesterday, Tuesday, was his #askclegg online 'Town Hall' Reuters meeting. And today, Wednesday, was his 'Twinterview' (not my neologism, I promise you) with the Indy, which m'colleague Helen Duffett highlighted here. Well, the interview happened, through a combination of Twitter text, 12seconds videos and audioBoo podcasting – and the final results can be read, viewed and listened to over at the Indy's site HERE.
I was reading today that the unemployment level has rising, to well, the number it was at the last time I was unemployed, in early 1996. But the following graph shows another untold story. As you can see the gap between unemployment claimants and the level of unemployed has actually grown, largely since 1997 when Labour came to power. Now there are all sorts of people missing in that gap, some are those that do not and will not seek work, but another group is often overlooked. I've had a lot of correspondence recently with a few local residents whose ...
It's only a couple of weeks since Lib Dem Voice noted the defection of Denton and Reddish parliamentary candidate Paul Moss from the Lib Dems to Labour. Now comes news of a second defection, this time of Karen Wright, a former Lib Dem leader on Tameside council and a councillor for 12 years, until she stood down in 2008. The Manchester Evening News reports: Explaining her decision to quit the Lib Dems, Ms Wright said: "The timing of my move was always going to be difficult but, the failure of the Lib Dems to put forward a candidate in the ...
To Dr Zep, who's comment got caught up in my deletion of someone else's. Sometimes comments are just a little too far beyond reality to be published.
It was amusing to see a certain councillors face. When the suggestion of using Walden Library for the Yos center if the motion was defeated. If only i had my camera...
Time to value common sense Liberal Democrat Norman Baker MP sets out the case for his Personal Responsibility Bill, which is being introduced in the Commons on Wednesday. I am introducing the Personal Responsibility Bill. The aim of this Bill is simple: it is to place upon all of us as individuals a greater responsibility for [...]
Councillors consider plans for ice rink at Elland Road, Leeds Published by Hannah Wooderson for 24dash.com in Local Government Wednesday 15th July 2009 – 5:03pm Councillors consider plans for ice rink at Elland Road, Leeds Proposals to build an ice-rink at Elland Road will be considered by senior councillors next week. At a meeting of Leeds City Council's [...]
A few months ago, Lib Dem Voice highlighted North Cornwall MP Dan Rogerson's attempts to create a new Cornish bank holiday on 5th March, St Piran's Day. Well now he's taken up cudgels again on behalf of the county, but this time with a more serious and far-reaching proposal – by introducing a new bill which would take power from Whitehall and unelected regional quangos and pass it to the new Cornwall Council, effectively transforming the new Council into an Assembly similar to that in Wales. Dan's Government of Cornwall Bill was presented in the House of Commons yesterday, and ...
Debt management for our residents lack of advice, or help. This week i have dealt with a case relevant to community charge and the use of bailiffs. I really feel it is urgent that this council looks closely to the calibre of staff we are using. We must offer help advice and give people time [...]
After the Gas Pipe Layers went through the mains cable connecting the street lights. Urban vision are going to repair it as an emergency's and bill the Gas company? not bad after two months but thanks any way.
The document was broken into sections, with an overall theme to get us out of recession? The document offered nothing of real creative stimulus only a basic work plan, i offered my support in broad terms to a range of ideas that need implementation urgently. And who ever created the plan we must work together as groups to [...]
Keighley Liberal Democrats are trying to find out why drivers have been fined for parking outside their own homes since the new parking enforcement rules came in. There are no yellow lines at the location concerned and even if there were householders should surely be given parking permits. Otherwise they would surely be tempted to drive everywhere to cut down the risk of being fined again. This can't be what "climate change" agreements had in mind. There must have been a mistake and we're aiming to sort it out.
Time for another quick round up of what I think is brilliant on the internet. First up, and don't run away cos it's Formula One cos there's more to it than that, is Jake Humphrey's blog from the German Grand Prix. It's fascinating because he plays us a good chunk of what the production crew are saying to him as he's presenting. While he's conducting interviews, they are talking in the background, changing the running order with seconds to go, leaving Jake to think on his feet. I don't know how on earth he manages to make it all look ...
Council today was extremely long - a problem partly caused by Labour slashing the number of full council meetings where they have to face scrutiny and questioning. Issues discussed: Relocation of the Youth Offending Service - see previous posts of mine and Steve Middleton's blog. Residents were ignored, the decision was forced through. Labour voted in favour [...]
If you are wondering why the blog has been awfully quiet over yesterday and today it's because I have been busy writing a magazine for a Parliamentary campaign. I know, I know you will want more information/a sneaky look at it but I am afraid that you aren't going to get one any time soon. The magazine is 8 pages and will be going out in the not so distant future and after it has been sent out I might share a copy with you until then you will have to wait. As I now have the artwork finished I ...
A few months ago I lamented on here that despite what appeared to me to be the possibility of fraud having been committed by the then Home Secretary Jacqui Smith in relation to her second home claims, that the media and the authorities were basically going to let her get away with it. Then more recently the police indicated that they were not going to investigate her. I always thought this was very suspect and the anecdotal evidence I have seen from neighbours etc. would suggest to me that her sister's home was not her main residence. Frankly it beggars ...
Our week at Bonkers Hall gathers pace. Wednesday I shall not pretend that I was delighted back in the 1930s when a steel works was built beside the pretty little Northamptonshire village of Corby: I had Meadowcroft (or perhaps it was his grandfather?) plant a spinney lest it spoil the view from the South Terrace here at Bonkers Hall. My foresight was rewarded over the following decades as Corby grew into a large town of quite preternatural ugliness. Nevertheless, when the works closed in the 1980s I did what I could to help the town's inhabitants by encouraging the establishment ...
I don't normally do the "fisking" thing as I find it quite tedious to base a post pretty much solely on someone else's. But this is different. Richard Murphy, who runs the "research" group called "Tax Research UK LLP", recently produced an extraordinary rant about libertarians who had had the temerity to comment on his blog. Libertarians are, he seems to believe, neo-Victorian, un-Christian, sociopathic, contemptuous, vicious, self-interested enemies of civilized society who are as repugnant as racists and ought not to be allowed to have a voice in any sensible media outlet, especially his own blog (of which he ...
A review from the days when there were just three Doctor Who DVDs available rather than sixty-odd... "Rather amusing, don't you think?" Spearhead From Space has a lot of baggage. Surely one of the best-known stories, it was the first novel created for the Target range, one of the first videos released, one of the first re-released, one of the few recent terrestrial analogue repeats, and now one of the first DVDs. It's highly entertaining, but still something of an oddity - one of the series' most significant relaunches, it's both highly derivative and a taste of things to come. ...
Was it a clever way for Big Brother Labour to get hold of my biometric data once my passport comes up from renewal? We may never know. The government wanted to shelf quietly their U-Turn over plans to make residents in the Common Travel Area that included Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man to produce a passport on coming over to the fourth component Great Britain. Yeah all of you who know how pedantic this Northern Irish man is will know when I say Great Britain I'm not including all of the United Kingdom. Labour had planned for ...
Common sense prevailed last night in the Upper House, what with two late items of news that crept out too late to make the main headlines (wonder why?) - firstly that last week's statutory instruments regarding Blunkett's dogtags were slapped down 157-98 in a procedure known as a "motion of regret", and secondly that Philip Woolas's stupid knee-jerk proposal to effectively tear up the '49 Agreement and make it compulsory to have passport controls between Britain, the Republic of Ireland, and everywhere else in the Common Travel Area was struck out of the increasingly unworkable e-Borders Bill by the Lords. ...
The European Parliament met yesterday for the first time since the elections, I was saving this post and embargoed it until today.
Definitions... social-democrat — a fascist so far gone that they think fascism is for your own good. @bradspangler About right when you take the economic definition of fascism and what social democrats advocate (and what social democracy ends up as)
So the Dept of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has published its plan for cutting carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 and 34% by 2020 (vs 1990 levels). The "plan" is to create more than 1.2 million green jobs (eg installing insulation), to improve vehicle emissions standards and to subsidise small-scale renewable electricity production through feed-in tariffs. All good, but it pales into insignificance when set against the current programme for airport expansion, roadbuilding and the like. What's more the DECC report says a 21% reduction in emissions has already been achieved, but that's complete nonsense - all we've done ...
Whilst talking to the Bear via Google chat with the discussion at hand earning some money the Bear suggested that I contact Jag Singh and ask to get listed on Message Space. After doing that I got a reply and a conversation went on for a while and eventually the answer was that the blog (this one) doesn't get enough hits or hits from important media outlets for Message Space to allow me to post adverts on the blog. But after I decoded the answer into the terms that anyone could understand the reply I got was- Never in a ...
I've been writing Focuses since at least 1973. If you are running a campaign, survey or petition I've frequently had back what the headline writer would call a 'massive response'. In our most recent edition there is no such attempt to get residents to contact us other than the usual details of how to get hold of your councillor; but I can honestly say I have never had such an unsolicited response from so many people just ringing up for a chat and to thank us for our work. I've even loaded the edition on to the website where it ...
From Peter Black's Blog Breaking News – First Minister apologises to Kirsty The First Minister has written to the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty Williams, to formally apologise for calling her a liar in his press conference yesterday. Rhodri Morgan had told the press that Kirsty was wrong to allege that civil servants had flown first class. It now emerges that he was misinformed. I am sure that this story will develop as the day goes on. Update: the text of the letter from Rhodri Morgan to Kirsty Williams is as follows: Yesterday at the weekly press lobby ...
Silvio Berlusconi, with his outlandish behaviour and flamboyant lifestyle, may be hard to take seriously – but he is certainly no joke. Behind his carefree playboy public image is a man who is damaging democracy in the heart of Europe. Berlusconi is a man who clearly likes to enjoy himself, and I am sure that his parties are a lot of fun to attend. Perhaps justifiably, some have asked whether this in itelf is really at all relevant, whether we should take Berlusconi at his word when he says, "Italians like me as I am, I won't change", and leave ...
Interesting piece on the BBC's 'Open Secrets' blog; it reports on the possible release of Cabinet papers under a Freedom of Information request relating to devolution. It also says that the government is determined to resist any FOI requests which strike against the notion of 'collective responsibility' and that the government will exempt Cabinet papers from [...]
The First Minister has written to the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty Williams, to formally apologise for calling her a liar in his press conference yesterday. Rhodri Morgan had told the press that Kirsty was wrong to allege that civil servants had flown first class. It now emerges that he was misinformed. I am sure that this story will develop as the day goes on.
Many people in Southport have feared this day. The A&E department for children was shut in 2003 and relocated across the county boundary in Ormskirk. It is hard to imagine how the family of the 4 day child who died are coping. I'm sure everyone's first thoughts are with them and the ambulance crew who rang the closest hospital after resuscitating the child only to be told to drive across the Moss to Ormskirk The Southport Visiter has the story . John Pugh was quickly off the mark and has called for a public inqiry. the Story was front page ...
David Cameron's brave new European World suffered another setback yesterday with the loss of one his own MEPs from the new right wing anti-European grouping the Tories have formed in Strasbourg. Edward McMillan-Scott, who is the longest serving Tory MEP had the whip removed for standing against Michal Kaminski, an MEP from the party's new Polish allies, in a vote for vice-presidents of the Parliament: He stood against Mr Kaminski in defiance of orders from Timothy Kirkhope, the Conservative group leader, to give the Pole a free run. Mr McMillan-Scott was elected an independent vice-president of the Parliament. Mr Kaminski ...
Just when you thought you were safe the news breaks that the British Government still intends to press ahead with its plan to install Tony Blair as the Supreme President and Ruler of the whole of Europe. In her first outing as Europe Minister, Gleny Kinnock confirm that Blair has the backing of the UK Government for the post if he is interested in it: "Blair is seen by many as someone who has the strength of character, the stature," Kinnock said. "People know who he is, and he would be someone who would have this role and step into ...
{Hexham pic} As I mentioned earlier this week a public meeting was arranged for Tuesday evening of this week at the Community Centre on Hexham Road. I asked officers to organise the meeting to get more local people involved. The meeting had a good turnout - despite the awful weather. I looked around but couldn't see any representatives from the other political parties, leaving Glenn and I to fulfil the role of 'local politicians' (one of my least favourite titles but there you go!) The focus of the meeting was working with the community to improve life on Hexham estate ...
Pre-implantation genetic testing or screening IVF embryos for signs of crippling disabilities, to use its sexier title, has been back in the papers again over the last few weeks. In little more than a year, the BBC tells us, a universal gene test, karyomapping, which can detect almost any inherited disease in a newly formed embryo, will go on sale to the masses for a paltry £2,500. Of course that is still dependent on the Bridge Centre Clinic, the developers of the technique, being granted a license to practice by the Human Fertilisation and Embryonic Authority, but then the public ...
I have always been 100% pro-European, while always viewing it as a largely disastrous organisation which needs root and branch reform as it remains hidebound by the original idea which came from that bastion of efficiency and democracy, France. Nevertheless the idea that 27 countries (is it 28 now? I have lost track) can and do work together more or less amicably, despite centuries of nose thumbing, war and the odd atrocity or two, remains remarkable and something to stick in the proverbial pipes of all those imbecilic Tory and UKIP sceptics and invite them to smoke. Europe remains a ...
A defection from Labour has put the Lib Dems on a record high of 21 councillors in Waltham Forest, according to Neil Woollcott's blog. Last week I commented on the Labour in-fighting in the slightly-more-cockney Barking and Dagenham, and accusations of racism in the slightly-more-Essex Waltham Forest. As Labour falls deeper into turmoil, will this become a common tale in constituencies and councils throughout the land?
On The Wardman Wire.
I've just been sent a poll from ComRes about the reading habits of MP's and Peers. Asked which daily newspapers do you read at least twice a week, the figures for the Lib Dems are as follows: Liberal Democrats MPs' Top 5 Most Read Newspapers 1 The Times 72% 2 Evening Standard 71% 3 The Guardian 61% 4 The Independent 48% 5 Metro 32% Slightly surprising to see The Evening Standard and (freebie) Metro score so high when you consider most Lib Dem MPs come from the far flung parts of the country. Hardly surprising, the most read newspaper among ...
We're used to having Greenpeace in Islington, but it seems they are not alone. I didn't know, but among the bars, gift shops and estate agents of Upper Street, is a radical charity working undercover around the world: the Environmental Investigation Agency. They track issues like illegal logging and wildlife slaughter as well as environmental abuse [...]
{metal plasticine man} I am not sure where I have been for the last six months but I have somehow missed the "change4life" campaign. By accident I caught one of the ads on TV last night telling me that our kids should do 60 minutes exercise a day (featuring a very spooky "Morph" type character and an even spookier sounding kid doing the voice over). A bit of research and I realise I have missed an entire series. Now, I can see why the Whitehall boys think that we need to be told to get our kids off their lazy ...
{school} Julian Harris has kindly asked me to comment on the news, as relayed by the National Secular Society, that the Conservatives are planning to go full steam ahead with increased provision for faith schooling in the now inevitable event that they form the next government. Well, that's no great surprise. Conservatives have always been deeply wedded to religious values. While some may protest the generalisation, the voting record in Parliament speaks for itself. From blasphemy to gay rights, stem-cells, and abortion, it's pretty clear that God is a Tory; even if his only kid is a beard-and-sandals liberal. A ...
The political conventional wisdom in Britain is that the increasingly tired Labour government, bereft of ideas, is headed for an inevitable defeat at the next general election, whenever that election comes. The Conservatives are already considering the calibre of the large intake of new MPs that they expect to gain in the class of 2010- for May 2010, the last possible date for the election, now looks like the most likely date. The polls currently point to a sufficient advantage for the Conservatives to gain an outright majority and put David Cameron into 10 Downing Street as the fifty-third Prime ...
"What would you do if you were Gordon Brown's adviser?" The thin lips of the interviewer momentarily pulled themselves into a smile as he congratulated himself on the cleverness of his 'off-the-wall' question. I hesitated, momentarily thrown by the absurdity of this question in an interview for what was ostensibly a job to do with [...]
From the Independent: Twitterers and readers of the Independent are to interview Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg on Wednesday, in a question and answer session delivered purely through Twitter. It will take place live on Wednesday July 15th at 4pm (BST). So we're looking for Twitterers around the world to join with us to help put questions to Mr Clegg – we are working with Tweetminster, the estimable company that focuses on UK politics and brings news and commentary together with its Twitter service (of which, more soon), and we will launch the first ever (well, so far as we ...
2 Big Stories BNP shunned at European Parliament opening The Times reports on the British National Party MEPs taking their seats yesterday at the opening of the European Parliament: The new members, Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons, avoided the European anthem and were allocated places 780 and 781, towards the back of the Strasbourg chamber with kindred MEPs from the neo-fascist parties of Belgium, Bulgaria, France and Hungary. They were immediately shunned by their fellow non-aligned MEP, Diane Dodds, the Democratic Unionist, who refused to take up seat 782 next to Mr Brons. It remained empty throughout the opening session ...
That love was meant for beauty queens, and high school girls with clear skin smiles, who married young and then retired. Actually that was Janis Ian's experience of being seventeen. But having been tagged by Stephen Glenn (well he said "feel free to have a go yourself" and I read those words and assumed he was speaking directly to me) I thought I would have a crack at this "Politics and me at Seventeen" meme. I did also sort of learn the truth (about politics in my case) because I studied "British Government and Politics" at A-Level and it opened ...
Labour MP for Tyne Bridge, Mr David Clelland, is not having a good year. There is open speculation in the North East press about his future following his interesting use of the expenses system to give his then partner Brenda an equity release of £45,000 from his taxpayer funded London home. (Shortly afterwards Brenda became Mrs Clelland.) To add to his troubles, it was revealed that Mr Clelland
It looks like the refurbishment of Yate library may be finished ahead of schedule, with Monday 19th October pencilled in for the re-opening. The library closed last October and the service has been operating from 23 South Parade in Yate Shopping Centre. There won't be room to run the usual summer holiday activities in these temporary premises but there will be activities at other libraries including Chipping Sodbury, Emerson's Green and Winterbourne.
{mugabe} Unsurprisingly, efforts to form a new Zimbabwean constitution are being disturbed by ZANU PF troublemakers, according to a civil society group in the country. The report highlights the "partisanship of the police" and "selective arrests of Civil Society Activists" while the ZANU PF terrorists walk free, tacitly condoned by the party leadership. Progress at the constitutional conference has thus "almost irretrievably broken down." The future of Zimbabwe, as ever, depends on the complete fall from power of Mugabe and his clan.
The Daily Post reports on Kirsty Williams' very effective intervention in First Minister's questions yesterday in which she accused the Assembly Government of pouring money into helping the least well-off without improving their prospects. During exchanges in the Senedd, she said there were signs that two flagship anti-poverty schemes were failing. Schools inspectors Estyn this week said the Raise programme had not delivered major changes in the performance of pupils who get free school meals. Last week, a Wales Audit Office report said the Assembly Government could not demonstrate the impact of its ambitious £214 million Communities First policy. The ...
When the First Minister spends the first fifteen minutes or so of his press conference slagging off the Welsh Liberal Democrats for a particularly effective piece of scrutiny of his government then the only conclusion that can be drawn is that Kirsty Williams and her party are doing a good job of holding the government to account. Rhodri Morgan's choice of words is actually quite interesting. He says that it is untrue that civil servants had flown first class but can he actually say that for certain. His reasoning is unusual to say the least: "I don't think I have ...
So he has finally done it. Councillor Milton Martin has 'crossed the floor' and joined the Liberal Democrats from the Labour Party. This follows news that he was deselected.I am not necessarily convinced that is a true defection. Does the Liberal Democrat values really reflect Councillor Martin's values or is it a point scoring exercise against his old guard? Only time will tell.This new
I have been in touch with the City Council's Housing Department regarding the state of the garden railings in the Tullideph area, following tenants in the area contacting me to ask when the railings will next be painted/repaired through the External Cyclical Maintenance (ECM) programme as it is now 9 years since they were last done. I paste below the response I have received and have asked to be kept updated on the matter as I wish to see the work undertaken as soon as possible : "Unfortunately this development is not included in the current year's External Cyclical Maintenance ...
Councillor Gerry Curran (Twerton) who is the Lib Dem lead on planning, has said that the situation following last week's second Bath Transport Package planning committee is one of chaos and confusion and is trying to persuade the Council Leadership to agree to bring an alternative scheme to the next planning committee. Councillor Curran said: "As things stand, the...
{Proposed Design for Birmingham Aquatics and Leisure Centre} I am delighted to report that the City council Cabinet has given the go ahead for a full feasibility study into the proposed Aquatics Centre in the heart of Birmingham. The centre, as I blogged about here, is set for land next to the Nelson School opposite the NIA. It will contain a 50m pool, leisure pool, climbing wall, gym, sports hall, 5-a-side and 11-a-side football facilities and community rooms. I am impressed with the way that residents' concerns about parking have already been addressed within the plans. Despite Labour's claims to ...
So a Whitehall mole is taking Jacqui Smith to task via the Sunlight COP's and personally I think it could work. The Sunlight COP's is leading the way with the mole and they are suing Ms Smith of fraud and they need your help via donations. I would have donated myself but because I am strapped for cash so they won't get anything from me. But I shall wish them the best of luck with suing Ms Smith and I hope they can get money out of her because at the end of the day the money she has scammed ...
Very nicely done this, especially the touch about cardboard: Hat tip: Darren Lilleker's blog Related posts:No, Christopher Wren and Isaac Newton were not great MPs Matthew Engel in today's Financial Times has a pop at...Justice Eady stands up for political freedom of speech Cross-posted from The Wardman Wire: A few weeks ago, Justice...
HM Revenue and Customs set an approved mileage rate of 40p per mile for using your own car on work. That makes for a good yardstick to judge mileage allowances against and various parts of the public sector I've come across pay either this figure or a bit more or less. But I've never come across anything quite like Reading Council: About 400 council staff get a whopping £2.10 for every mile they travel by car. Read the rest of the story at Get Reading. And a challenge for our readers: anyone able to beat £2.10 per mile?
Political Betting has floated an idea that I think Labour HQ really need to look into and I shall explain why. The idea is that two general elections could take place in two years with the first making Parliament hung with one party having a small lead over the other party and the second general election could be to secure that majority. I like the idea and I think it could work. If Labour call a general election in October this year they could win with Alan Johnson as leader with a lead over the Tories in the number of ...
{pic} There are moments between a father and a child when one looks at them and is so proud that a lump forms in their throat. So it was yesterday when my father told me that he had given up his membership of the Labour Party. He was always a somewhat odd choice for a Labour member. When challenged, he would argue (not implausibly) that Blair and Brown were the natural continuation of Thatcher and Major, and also that the Tories had it wrong on Europe and only the Labour party could be trusted to keep us in the European ...
Mr MacNumpty has attacked Lord Foulkes for reporting Alex Salmond to the Standards Commissioner for claiming a proportion of the £14100 paid by a group of MPs for legal advice on whether to attempt to impeaach Tony Blair over the Iraq war out of his office expenses. He argues that Lord Foulkes has asked loads of what he regards as stupid questions of the Scottish Government which have cost far more. This isn't an issue of relative costs. I think there is a case for MPs being assisted with the costs of holding the government to account and they should ...
I was pleased yesterday to attend the launch of the Energy Saving Trust 'Green Communities' initiative, which is an excellent scheme that will help to reduce the carbon footprint of communities across Wales through an integrated package of advice, support and funding. 'Green Communities' will play a key role in helping communities across Wales to understand their carbon footprint and how they can take action to reduce the impact that everyday activities have on the environment. Many people often have difficulty in accessing the maze of funding and support that is available for renewable energy which is so frustrating and ...
The first thought I and anyone else from a party other than the SNP thought when they saw the party designation for the SNP's list candidates; 'Alex Salmond for First Minister' was to cringe. The Nats were moving into personality politics over policy to get their chosen goal. Ron Gould the Canadian electoral expert who is looking into what happened in that election points it out as one of the reasons there ended up being 140,000 spoilt ballots on the day. In an Ad Hoc Westminster committee to look into proposed technical changes for Scottish Election Dundee West', Labour MP ...
Keep repeating to yourself "Tories aren't Toffs, Tories aren't Toffs". Lovable (?) buffoon, Classicist, adulterer, Old Etonian, former Tory Shadow Front-bencher (twice), ex-MP for Henley, Boris "Boom Boom" Johnson, has revealed that £140,000 for running our nation's capital as its Mayor is not enough. I know we're all having to tighten our belts in these straitened times, and some people have to hold down more than one job to make ends meet, but this is ridiculous. He allegedly gets paid £250,000 for a weekly column in the Daily Telegraph. That's right, two hundred and fifty thousand pounds, sterling. I'll do ...
Michael McIntyre is at The NIA, Birmingham from Wednesday 7th October 2009 to Friday 9th October 2009.
