I had a meeting with Tristar Homes who manage the Council housing stock. They do it very well too, in general. However we disagree with their launch of a "golden number" for tenants to use which is an 0844 number. this is a "revenue sharing" number, so tenants making a phone call from a mobile phone (which many have as their only phone) or a phone box pay sometimes exorbitant amounts to make...
The parallel Universe which is Ireland continues to whirl on. Via 252 RTE Radio 1 I enjoy all those wonderful lilting Irish accents and their wonderful home-spun phrases. Today, the talk of Dublin was the publication ( at last) of the Report by the McCarthy Commission looking into cutting squillions off the government's spending bill. They've certainly come up with a slew of radical recommendations. From the BBC: The Irish government has published a report recommending 17,300 public service job cuts and a 5% reduction in social welfare payments. A group chaired by a University College Dublin economist - dubbed ...
It's that time of the year for the Total Politics Best Blog Poll again and this year it is being supported by both Lib Dem Voice and LabourList. As with last year, Tim Ireland is organising a boycott and as with last year I disagree. Nonetheless, I totally accept that the annual Dale blog poll [...]
I had a funny moment today. I've just had a busy week. On Tuesday I was all over London watching the exciting de-installation and re-installation of a tape library (oh - the stories I could tell!) and for the last two days I've been in Manchester. It sounds a bit cliched but Manchester really is an exceptionally exciting city. Walking through the streets at 1am was quite exhilarating. The architecture is a bit of a muddle but, somehow, it works. There are some wonderfully odd-ball buildings. One looks like a coat hanger. Anyway - my funny moment. At Knutsford services ...
Yesterday evening the Neighbourhood Committee turned down the application to convert the Old Coach House in Elm Road into a doctor's surgery. We also discussed the planning application from Lidl. We accepted that the design was much better than the first one they had submitted, but we raised a number of concerns around the impact of traffic on neighbours, loss of gardens, the effect of...
I must say, I cheered when I read about Philip Pullman and his friends, and their brave stand against the government's latest child protection database horror. I absolutely endorse what Pullman says. Like CRB checks for people working with children, this kind of database simply gives the illusion of safety, and by doing so makes people less vigilant. In fact, like so much New Labour regulation, it punishes, frustrates and molests people who comply, but makes it easier for those who don't - the real fraudsters or paedophiles - to slip through the net. It is also a brave stand ...
I tend to groan whenever I alight on Radio Four's Afternoon Play while driving. However, yesterday's was superb. Written by Martin Jameson, it gave a fictionalised account of the (actual) 1964 attempt to kidnap the, then, Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home. I thoroughly recommend listening to it on BBC iPlayer here. There's a particularly wonderful performance by Tim McInnerny (Captain/Archdeacon/Duke Darling and Lord Percy from Black Adder). The playwright engineers a wonderful moment of vulnerability for the Prime Minister as he is menaced by spirited Aberdonian students. In the end, he foils the plot by plying the students with the ...
Trust Tory Assembly Member, David Melding to liven up Rural Affairs questions: David Melding: Minister, are you aware that on the third day of the Ashes test match last Friday at Sophia Gardens, they ran out of Brains beer by lunchtime? I am reliably informed that they underestimated demand, and that many Australians, frustrated by the poor nature of their traditional potations, turned en masse to Brains beer. Does that not underline the point that tourists enjoy visiting places where there is a lot of good fresh local produce, and that this needs to be marketed with even greater vigour ...
Here are the latest leaflets I received in Norwich North. They are from the Libertarian Party, NOTA, Bill Holden (Independent), the Conservative and April Pond (Lib Dem). The Tory leaflet is actually A3 (when folded out) so I copied it as best I could not including the fold out middle. I also have another Lib Dem A3 leaflet but it wont fit in my scanner. So the leaflet score is, Tory 10, Lib Dem 10, Labour 4, UKIP 3, Murray 1, Holden 1, Libertarian 1, NOTA 1. And I have still not received anything from the BNP or the Greens, ...
Hmm, so you human Liberal Democrats are a bit of a contrarian lot. So if someone tells you to do something, you most likely instinctively want to do the opposite. Right, so here we go... Do NOT vote for me. Under NO circumstances should you vote for me in any best political blog polls going. I do NOT want your votes. You should NOT vote for me. Vote for the blogs with the most pictures of cats. Cats, cats, cats. That's who deserve to win any polls for best political blog. Hope that's all clear and understood. Woof woof. Related ...
The quiet Norfolk village of Rackheath is to be turned in to a town (or eco-town as the government insist on calling it). It wouldn't be so bad if the town was actually going to be an eco town. However, the standard of eco friendliness required for building the houses is a lower standard than those standards expect of all new homes by 2016, and by 2016 none of the new houses will be built. So in effect the government has dumped 4000 new homes on prime farmland which will not be built to a higher standard than any other ...
It's Thursday, it's 10.35 pm ... it's BBC1's Question Time. The incorrigible Lembit Opik is the Lib Dem representative on tonight's edition – fresh from helping launch today's 'Say No to Size Zero' campaign with model Katie Green. The Lib Dem MP for Montgomeryshire has been the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the party's spokesman on housing. However, his two attempts to win the party presidency have both ended in resounding defeat, to Simon Hughes, then to Ros Scott. Joining Lembit on the panel will be Labour's foreign office minister Chris Bryant, vice chairman of the Tory party ...
I thought it only right to publicise the hustings debate event 'What A Flipping Liberty!' being run bu the No2ID group in Norwich tomorrow evening, particularly given the dreadful attendance and subsequent cancellation of the previous meetings held this week. Venue: The Forum, Curve Room, Millennium Plain, Norwich Date: Friday 17th July 2009 Time: 7.00pm for 7.30pm start until 9.30pm Entry: Free (donations welcome) I can't make it (last day of the school year and I am attending the staff do), but would urge anyone who wants to find out more about the candidates to attend.
The political 'blogosphere' is talking right now about nothing except Iain Dale's ego-trip the Total Politics Blog Awards, where all Iain Dale's readers vote on their favourite blogs and Iain Dale gets to win, which must be very nice for him. I won't be taking part myself, because I have no interest in Dale's gossip-mongering. But [...]
Liberal Democrats are used to seeing Vince Cable praised for his insight into economics. But this is sometimes a bit double-edged: I meet more than a few voters who like Vince but are completely sold on the rest of us yet. But our reputation for economic competence is certainly enhanced bu the FT today. Martin Wolf takes as his text the latest CentreForum publication: A Balancing Act, And Wolf likes what he finds there, descriing it as "an excellent new paper". Wolf struggles to stay positive for long, and turns from the impressive CentreForum document to a less impressive document ...
This is painful to say, being my Internet and campaigning hero, without sounding like a stalker, I often follow with interest what Lynne Featherstone has said and been up to. But on this occasion I think that Lynne is wrong with regards to safeguarding our children.Now I agree there is lots of things wrong with CRB checks. They take too long, are costly for schools and as soon as they are
Well, I'm nothing if not topical... I wanted to write something on this more than a month ago, but my lack of net access pushed it on to the back burner until now. However, this month's Liberator contained several articles on these things, which have brought everything back to mind. The first thing to say is that [...]
Here's the innocuous-enough sounding press release from the Deprtment of Transport, 'Cost of Ministerial Cars for 2008′. But look at the bottom-line – well, you could do if they'd published one. What the bottom-line would show is that the cost of ministerial cars has increased to more than £6m, with the number of ministers claiming for cars also increasing. As you might expect, Lib Dem shadow transport secretary Norman Baker isn't going to let this one lie: There are now nearly one in seven MPs enjoying Government largesse at the public expense. Ministers are happy to pump carbon out of ...
In light of the decision of Chamali and Chandila Fernando to join the Conservative Party, it is worth repeating what Chandila said about the Tories only last year. Interviewed on Liberal Democrat Voice during his campaign to be elected as president of the Liberal Democrats he said: I left the Tories for a number of reasons, but mainly because of their position on race and immigration. As the son of an immigrant myself, I am appalled by the way the Right often takes an extreme, populist and dangerous stance on these sensitive and explosive issues. I am a true liberal ...
Following my post at the weekend about the state of some of the streets around the University area I am pleased to report some action has been taken by the Council, although clearly there are questions about how this problem can be better anticipated and handled next year. RBC has apparently contacted two landlords and 3 Letting agents "telling them to clear the rubbish up. They have done so." There is a lot of work still to be done to improve: I received a further email from a constituent today deeply frustrated by the situation: "I can confirm that rubbish has still ...
The magazine Total Politics is again running its poll for Britain's top political blogs. To quote the magazine's website, the rules are simple: You must vote for your ten favourite blogs and ranks them from 1 (your favourite) to 10 (your tenth favourite).Your votes must be ranked from 1 to 10. Any votes which do not have rankings will not be counted.You MUST include ten blogs. If you include fewer than ten your vote will not count.Email your vote to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com.Only vote once. Only blogs based in the UK, run by UK residents are eligible or based on UK politics ...
Welcome, sadists, to Blog Deathmatch 2009. Political Blog owners are now, as we speak, debasing themselves across the internet soliciting votes in this year's, "Oo's got the best blog?' competition. It's cruel. It's unusual. And yet, bloggers, being shamelessly egotistical creatures, are powerless to resist. This year it's not being hosted directly by Aunty Dale. As a special treat, it's being run by his ambitious organ, "Total Politics" with the full backing of Labour Barf, and Lib Dem Voice. This makes it not just a battle between bloggers - it's a battle between parties, too. Be still my beating (and ...
The Leicester Mercury reports: Leicestershire's proposed eco-town has been rejected, the Government announced today.Pennbury, a 15,000-home development for land between Oadby, Great Glen and Stoughton, failed to make the shortlist of preferred sites for the flagship homes developments.More significantly, the site at Stoughton is not mentioned in the "second wave" of developments that need more work before the government considers them again. They'll be dancing in the lanes of High Leicestershire tonight. I made my own opposition to the plans for a new town at Stoughton clear in an article for Comment is Free a year ago.
The Press Association reports a claim in the Interim Report of the Speaker's Conference that more women MPs would "boost trust". This is an irrational assertion. For every male mortage-flipper or questionable expense-claimer – like Geoge Osborne, Elliot Morley or David Chaytor – there are plenty of female examples – Jacqui Smith, Hazel Blears, or Margaret Moran. It seems to me that trust depends more on how MPs behave than what gender they happen to be. Liberals should argue for people to be appraised as individuals not simply reduced to groups in which we happen to be classifiable. As Jo ...
You know I'm kind of wishing that should Labour manage to hang on to Livingston whenever Jim Devine finally goes that the researcher who has left (and has still not recieved the travel payments owed) gets employed as the new MPs researcher. I'm not just saying that as they are a relative of a good friend but because of the following. Jim Devine has decided that the people of Scotland should take action against against Diageo on August 12th. Now that is good. But Jim Devine has only named one Diageo product and from the title you can guess which ...
The art of Governance is often defined by the ability to Govern in a crisis. Love them or loathe them although they got the UK into the fine mess they gotten us into over the Banks collapsing Labour did at least find a way to do something about it. While it may not be the right thing in the long term they did something. However, with the swine flu issue the SNP are failing to display the art of Governance. The £33bn budget for the current year was only passed in February but already John Swinney is running cap in ...
Total Politics are running their annual Best Blog Poll. I am very grateful to those of you who voted for me last year. The whole thing really passed me by and I was totally surprised to appear in the lists at all. I absolutely love blogging and I really enjoy the new people I've met, some online and some in real life as a result of it. Even if I'm cast into the blogging wilderness and don't appear on any of the rankings at all, I'll still carry on just because I enjoy it, once I've recovered from the abject ...
I watched the program on TV,and i am slowly coming around to the fact they are as bad. I am gob smacked we loss so much in unpaid community charge, with these people on the job. This job don't get any easier.
Validate me! It's time to vote for your top ten favourite blogs of 2009. The poll is run by Total Politics (backed by Iain Dale) but this year it is also being co-promoted/sponsored by Liberal Democrat Voice and Labour List which may help to give it a little bit more legitimacy. I am not above grubbing for votes so if you have enjoyed some of my postings this year and/or the BBC Question Time Live Chat that I run every week, or you just like my face (see right) then please vote for me. The nearer to number one the ...
Yes folks it is that time of year again and once again the Blogfather Iain Dale is organising that great big love in of the web the 2009 Total Politics Guide to Political Blogging sponsored/promoted by LabourList and LibDemVoice. The rules are largely the same as last year's mass participation event. 1. You must vote for your ten favourite blogs and ranks them from 1 (your favourite) to 10 (your tenth favourite). 2. Your votes must be ranked from 1 to 10. Any votes which do not have rankings will not be counted. 3. You MUST include ten blogs. If ...
... but this latest incident does not seem to be the kind of youth street crime that caused so much distress last year. It appears to be a stabbing incident inside a flat, involving an older man. Still disturbing, still tragic – but not in itself evidence that our streets are less safe. I will [...]
It's BBC Question Time day again and with no messing around with the scheduling tonight, the Live Chat on this blog will start at 10:30pm. The panel will include Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant (who?), Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party Margot James (who?), the Liberal Democrat spokesman on housing Lembit Opik MP (Lembit!), the talk show host and campaigner Trisha Goddard (Jesus wept) and the editor of the Financial Times Lionel Barber. You can also follow people's comments on Twitter via the #bbcqt hashtag (you can also follow me here on Twitter by the way). Liberal Democrat Voice also ...
A bit of good news as the caravan that was parked on Bamburgh Close on Hexham estate has left. Residents contacted us to complain about the fact people were sleeping in this caravan and that they were leaving a lot of rubbish on the estate. The situation was complicated by the fact that the caravan was parked on land owned by Places for People Housing Assocation so sorting the problem out wasn't directly the Council's responsibility. Also apparently the property associated with the caravan is actually sublet to someone who is not connected to the HA making things even more ...
Thu 16th
17:47
Just recived a Letter from Cllr Paul Shannon vice -chair Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authorit...
I am aware you have been contacted regarding a campaign by the Fire Brigades Union. It's three pages long and disagrees with what the Union as told me. So Mr Shannon we have a problem two sides tell me a different story. So i would like to take you up on your offer of a [...]
Thu 16th
17:39Just had a post from looks like someone called Mr Nowen must be welsh asking for directions for the ...
Sent the directions for you Mr Nowen hope you enjoy the meeting! oh bloody hell just relised who Mr Nowen is.
So the long-awaited town centre health centre is set to open tomorrow, we learn today. I hope it will have the impact on improving the health of people living and working close to town it was designed to. Potential patients for this centre form part of a highly-mobile and diverse population with, studies have shown, limited access to healthcare, so a walk-in health centre such as this is much needed. I'm glad to say health inequality has risen up the agenda locally with publication of public health profiles showing that Reading continues to be a very unequal place when it comes to health. In my view it's a scandal ...
Please can all readers vote in Iain Dale's top ten blog list so that he can compile a list of blogs and the top blogs from every blogosphere. Last time he did it a year ago I came 39th in the top ten Lib Dem list and I am hoping to move up this time. Please feel free to vote me at Number 1 and email your list to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com. If I get higher then I did last time which was 39 I might give something in return to the voters! Update: You can not publish lists on blogs for ...
Great idea when they work, and work they will we are pushing them all over. We believe it's the communities that should have control of their own destiny. And yes your right when i bite don't like to let go, not sure if it was an insult but who cares. [...]
So children's authors have decided that they may boycott going into schools because some jobsworth has decided they may be a risk to children and will henceforth have to register. The authors believe (and so do I) that those who would harm little children are hardly likely to do it in front of 30-100 children with numerous teachers in the hall or room when they have gone into the school to read from their latest book for an hour. There have been many mad politically over-correct requirements in recent years - but this takes the biscuit. For goodness sake let ...
Thu 16th
16:29Well we have a meeting arranged to start a boxing club, we have the bits of the jigsaw and all we ne...
Things are looking good, we have the officers, two Labour cllrs have said they would meet with us, we need this to be a cross party scheme, i hope we succeed with the idea. If it works we will be looking into further schemes to give our kids something constructive to do. The money is [...]
...tends to leave you with a lot of time on your hands. As such, I was playing around with pageplus and decided to rip off the Obama campaign. I like blue. * Anyway, aside from the shiny new header I thought I'd try a facebook image. Could be nice to have something like this for Freshers' [...]
Wales is still getting a "raw deal" when it comes to accessing broadband internet services, a UK minister has admitted. According to the BBC, the Creative Industries Minister, Sion Simon, believes that Wales currently gets a raw deal from commercially provided broadband. He accepts that broadband access remains a particular problem for parts of rural Wales. The UK government says it is committed to universal broadband access by 2012. They also want to see all homes covered by DAB radio by 2015. That is of course beyond the next General Election and as such will be difficult to hold them ...
Should councillors, MPs or MEPs elected under a party banner be able to defect to another party without facing re-election? Is it acceptable to demand councillors pay a proportion of their allowance to their party – so-called tithing? Can MPs' £10,000 communications allowance really be used to leaflet constituents as long as it doesn't promote a party? Three questions, one common source of confusion: the role of parties in our political system. Go back a couple of hundred years and the situation was clearer. Voters elected a gentleman to represent their interests in parliament with no party machine to speak ...
Total Politics is running its best blog of 2009 poll and, shallow person that I am, I'll measure my success not from the wisdom I impart or the good that I do, but instead on how well I rank on a series of fairly random polls, competitions and link counts. So please consider sending in a vote and ranking the Cafe highly, and you might like to consider some of my favourite blogs - on the right somewhere - for your other votes. Here are the rules: 1. You must vote for your ten favourite blogs and ranks them from ...
Answer Phones where people ring but don't leave a message. You say to someone did you no Mrs Smith is Dead and they say your joking. Going to Macdonald s and looking at the pictures of the Food, and what you get looks nothing like it. Selling your Car and someone comes to look at it and kicks [...]
Thu 16th
15:54The bee population in Britain has been in sharp decline over the past five years, and now Salford Co...
God i sat there yesterday cringing. Why don't repeat it but i whacked one the other day it landing on my knee i thought it was a wasp. Bloody glasses,save the world seems to be at the bottom of my agenda this week. It's funny really everything said about bees is true. Just can't get [...]
Thu 16th
15:47From the Salford Star, sorry i just had to put it in. do you think anyone will notice me sat at the ...
HAZEL BLEARS MUST GO! HAZEL MUST GO! CAMPAIGN PUBLIC MEETING Tonight – Thursday 16th July 2009 7pm Pendleton Bowling Club, 13 Eccles Old Rd, Salford M6 7DE (map) (further details here) EVERYONE WELCOME!!! Lots of speakers including Justice4Georges kids, Unison reps and people from the community...and Neil Hill's cousin, Leigh Edmenson will be reading a special Hazel poem in [...]
We previously mentioned that a tall wall on the Mawbey Brough Estate had been demolished, helping open up a previously narrow and intimidating alleyway. Part of the work was paid for from our local "neighbourhood purse" which is a very limited fund that we have direct control over as ward councillors to help improve the area. The good news is that the wall on the side of the playground has also been demolished, which means there is now a new, much lower wall, built on both sides. And we have now had confirmation that the lower walls will soon be ...
Email your ten favourite blogs (ranked from 1-10) to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com It's that time of year again, when Total Politics asks you to vote for your Top 10 favourite blogs. The votes will be compiled and included in the forthcoming book, the Total Politics Guide to Blogging 2009-10, which will be published in September. This year the poll is being promoted/sponsored by LabourList and LibDemVoice as well as Iain Dale. The rules are simple. 1. You must vote for your ten favourite blogs and ranks them from 1 (your favourite) to 10 (your tenth favourite). 2. Your votes must be ranked ...
It's that time of year again, when Total Politics asks blog-readers to vote for your Top 10 favourite blogs. This year the poll is being co-promoted/sponsored by Lib Dem Voice in conjunction with LabourList and Iain Dale's Diary. {Click here to vote in the Total Politics Best Blogs Poll 2009} The rules are simple. 1. You must vote for your ten favourite blogs and rank them from 1 (your favourite) to 10 (your tenth favourite). 2. Your votes must be ranked from 1 to 10. Any votes which do not have rankings will not be counted. 3. You MUST include ...
I have a 12 year old daughter. Along with I suspect every other mother, I am not keen for my daughter to be sexually assaulted. But being reasonably sensible, I know that the risk of such assault is pretty low. So she goes over the park with friends, has travelled on her own to school [...]
MSP Lamont now targets Westminster seat Chris Walker stands down as Conservative candidate This is the headline and sub-headline in today's Berwickshire News. The fact that Chris Walker is standing down is not the main headline shows how much Conservative John Lamont MSP wants this more than he does being an MSP in my opinion. Also, I did predict this earlier this week on my blog. "Speaking to The Berwickshire News Mr Lamont was clear that should he be selected, and be successful at the next general election, he would also continue to serve as an MSP until the next ...
I had intended to post this yesterday but, having read Hansard, I rather lost the will to live. Indeed, Tuesday was one of those days when much is said, but little is apparently achieved. That said, the first day of the Committee Stage of the Parliamentary Standards Bill demonstrated that this is an astonishingly poorly drafted piece of legislation, with much of the debate intended to probe into the actual meaning of the language used, and the Government conceding that much redrafting will be needed. Baroness Hamwee and Lord Shutt of Greetland prodded and poked the Government, the Earl of ...
Mr Nick Griffin who is also my MEP* claims that he is not racist. Why doesn't he show he isn't by taking on a person from an ethnic minority and showing the world the BNP are not racist. Clearly we won't see that happening any time soon... The people of the North West in my opinion made a mistake electing this scumbag as an MEP. I hope by the next election they have realised that and get rid of him. *If you are wondering why I write my MEP because even if he was a one eyed son of the ...
Dismayed, but not surprised, that police are still arresting photographers for taking photos in public places – without reasonable suspicion that these are connected with terrorism or other illegal acts. Last week Kent police arrested 5′ 11" Alex Turner who had refused to show his ID after being challenged in Chatham High Street. From The Register: According to his blog, our over-tall photographer Alex Turner was taking snaps in Chatham High St last Thursday, when he was approached by two unidentified men. They did not identify themselves, but demanded that he show them some ID and warned that if he ...
Liberal Vision is very disappointed to read that Chamali and Chandila Fernando are joining the Conservatives. While we respect their personal decisions, we believe that liberalism is best served with the Liberal Democrats and that David Cameron's party will severely disappoint anyone expecting a liberal agenda. Questions must still be asked about the Conservatives' underlying beliefs on immigration, constitutional reform, the EU and even civil liberties. Meanwhile Cameron avoids all matters of substance, such as how to balance the UK's budget during and after the recession. In the run up to 1997, some Liberal Democrats such as Andrew Adonis were ...
There are a number of points on which it is possible to disagree with the Welsh Government's Transport plan but on the fundamental point I find myself in agreement with the Deputy First Minister. That is the need to shift people off roads and onto public transport and the abandonment of plans to build an M4 extension around Newport and a new link road to the Cardiff Wales airport. It seems to me that the case for an M4 extension has never been made. Despite businessmen arguing that it is vital for the south east Wales economy its £1 billion ...
Yay! The Duckworth-Lewis Method are playing live on TMS! Whatever would John Arlott have said?
and his government. Just one example: John Holdren, Obama's 'science czar'. A few quotations from him: In today's world, however, the number of children in a family is a matter of profound public concern. The law regulates other highly personal matters. For example, no one may lawfully have more than one spouse at a time. Why should [...]
For the last few weeks in my spare time, I've been trying to create a hybrid of Dabr (a PHP open source twitter client which supports oAuth) and juitter (a javascript jQuery client). {twhash} twhash Today I can announce twhash. To do anything you need to be logged in to the site, via the oAuth call to Twitter (don't worry if you don't understand, just follow the links on the site). Then you select the #hashtag you want to follow, and in near real time the tweets appear on the page. If you want to take part you can enter ...
Lembit Opik has teamed up with Katie Green to launch a campaign to try and get women to not lose weight to get into modelling. Lembit is fighting Katie's corner which promotes curves and women with them. First for the record I don't blame Lembit for liking his curves but come on mate you're meant to be an MP. Clearly Lembit needs a place in the Lords. As an MP he should be going what MP's do which is represent their constituents but Lembit rather play the Playboy of Westminster. If Lembit was to become a Peer he would have ...
Forty years ago, on a Wedesday I believe, my class at Redlands Junior School had gathered in the hall, to watch the Apollo 11 launch. There'd been a big build-up to the whole event, the Radio Times even had a rocket on the cover with the caption "Target Moon". That evening I was fascinated by the BBC's coverage, and thought that James Burke was the most brilliant person I'd ever seen. Like most children of the Space Age, and the first job I wanted to be when I grew up was to be a cosmonaut, like my hero Yuri Gagarin, ...
With the Tories pumping money into Pendle to try and win the Parliamentary seat I have some interesting information for them that might make them reconsider before signing another cheque so Andrew Stephenson can run a full time campaign centre in Pendle. In 2005 Pendle had a general election alongside many local Council seats up for grabs. After studying the results the verdict was that people voted LibDems in the local elections (they got the most number of votes) but didn't vote Lib Dem in the general election. 4000 people didn't vote Lib Dem at the general election but did ...
LDV have reported that Chandila and his sister Chamali have joined the Tories and they link to a news report but personally I am not shocked or amazed by this news because I knew about it a month ago. Chandila and I had a facebook chat a month ago and he told me that he had left the Lib Dems but he didn't tell me he had become a Conservative. I didn't blog about it because I didn't believe I was in the position to abuse the relationship with him as a friend. So I am not shocked or informed ...
I am someone who thinks websites like Conservative Home and Labour Home have become communities so it's great to see that the Tories have organised a coach from London to Norwich North to campaign and I think LDV need to take as an example and follow it. In my opinion LDV lack the community aspect which the Tories have got that's why I think CCHQ need to make sure they throw their support behind the site. My advice to CCHQ is to use Conservative Home as a website to get in contact and get the view of the grass root. ...
Guido has a blog post that tells us about Edward Vaizey the Tory MP who made the following comments in Parliament yesterday: Blogs, such as ConservativeHome, Iain Dale's Diary or Guido Fawkes' blog, are effectively taking over some of the role of national newspapers and are capable of breaking important stories with very few resources. That shows that technology will help to fill the vacuum.... For example, a website such as ConservativeHome provides a community base for those of us interested in Conservative politics. Although it might break news, it also keeps us in touch with what that wider community ...
One of those bits of casework that make you realise thing aren't quite as joined up as you would wish came yesterday from Lyton Rd. They have a street sweeper-about whom everyone is complimentary ( I hope they tell him that and not just me ) Sadly his rota sends him to Lynton Rd on the same day as the dustbin men come; which means he is not around to sweep up if there are any spillages. I must say that the introduction of wheelie bins and the alternative weekly collect has significantly reduced the amount of spillage. We no ...
There's a very interesting article on the Independent website from David Cameron writing about his experiences of looking after his son and what this has taught him about future plans for support for families with disabled children. It is fascinating to read as it demonstrates what a thoroughly decent person he is. In this piece he writes in earnest and that comes across loud and clear. There is no doubt his experiences with his son affected his life fundamentally and his thoughts and proposals are eloquently put and well thought through. This depth and honesty does not come across in ...
Here's a thought. Given the BNP's rabid and ludicrous claims to want a pure country of whites only, wouldn't the simplest way to destroy their argument be to invite their leader, Mad Eye Moody, to take a DNA test? Given that none of us is pure bred anything it would be fascinating to see what dark little secrets his family of brown shorts holds. Perhaps the way to do this would be to pander to his sense of self importance by inviting all the grown up party leaders to do this as well. Nick Clegg has a well-known history which ...
The London Evening Standard has the story: David Cameron today hailed the defection of a Liberal Democrat London mayoral hopeful to the Tories. Barrister Chamali Fernando, 30, from Finchley, ran to be the Lib-Dem candidate for Mayor of London but was defeated by Brian Paddick in 2007. Ms Fernando's brother Chandila is also leaving the Lib-Dems to join the Conservatives. The 32-year-old business developer failed in his bid last year to become president of the Lib-Dems. Mr Cameron said: "I am delighted to welcome Chamali and Chandila to the Conservative party. "It is very pleasing that two people who have ...
Yesterday I was able to attend full Council for a few hours prior to work. It turns out the agenda was one of epic proportions and I understand that the day did not end for most Councillors until 5pm. I attended mainly to hear the outcome of the Youth Offender Service (YOS) move proposed by the Lead Member for Children's Services, Cllr Warmisham. Due to the large number of public questions, including four excellent questions from pupils of Lark Hill Primary School (in Langworthy), the Mayor sought agreement to suspend the 30 minute time limit for public questions - this ...
Just a quick one to say Tuesday's Guardian/ICM poll showed 54% of the population now oppose replacing Trident.
A Labour councillor in Waltham Forest, north-east London, has defected to the Liberal Democrats after he and five colleagues were deselected by their own party last month. From the Waltham Forest Guardian: Cathall member Cllr Milton Martin made the switch after he was spurned by the party in a major cull, it has been confirmed. He said: "It's true that I've crossed the floor and I'm no longer part of the Labour group. "It's to do with the deselection but it's a long story and it's also to do with a catalogue of things that have taken place over the ...
Thu 16th
10:00
LDV readers say: almost half believe anonymous job applications "an unnecessary measure"
A couple of weeks ago, Lib Dem Voice highlighted Lynne Featherstone's campaign to make it mandatory for all written job applications to be anonymous, in order to eliminate any subconscious discrimination employers might harbour when they (eg) see a name which suggests the applicant is foreign, old, etc. LDV posed readers the simple question: Do you support the idea of job applications being made anonymous? Here's what you told us: 31% (79 votes) – Yes, it should be made mandatory for all businesses to remove all discrimination 17% (44) – Yes, but it should be voluntary not mandatory for businesses ...
My fellow Scottish blogger Malc has wanted to run a marathon since he was a little boy. My ambitions in that direction are confined to watching the London Marathon every year and in my current condition I doubt I could actually run to the end of my speech. Anyway, there are many easier ways to see Loch Ness, but he and his friend Audrey have chosen to run 26 miles and 385 yards round it in 12 weeks' time. They are hoping to raise lots of money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland. If you have a few pounds to ...
I have been able to help my sister by suggesting that the agonising dystonia (cramp) she has been suffering from several times a day, which can last up to five or six hours, could be linked to artificial additives in foods. She has tried out my suggestions for food alternatives and is suffering far less now; in fact last time I spoke to her she sounded very cheerful and said the attacks had stopped. She still has Parkinson's Disease but has found that the dreadful muscle spasms are not necessarily an inevitable part of it. Several people have been praying ...
Nick Clegg, since becoming Leader of the Liberal Democrats has been visiting people across the UK every week in his public meeting tour Nick Meets... (more), where anyone can ask any questions. This week he has been working to reach out to more people using social networks, online communication tools and of course a public meeting that anyone can attend. Monday 13th July - Reuters 'The Great...
As reported in this morning's "Courier", I have written to the Depute Director of Scottish Government's Schools Division regarding how Scottish Government is to allocate funding for schools capital projects, following the announcement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning on 17th June of a new schools investment programme. Harris Academy has been recognised by the City Council as being in considerable need of improvement and must be a key priority for the city. It would be helpful to learn how Scottish Government will obtain current detail of priorities as perceived by individual local authorities in assisting government ...
Cross-posted from the Mandate blog: The story of Dave Carroll and how his guitar was broken by United Airlines has spawned a hit YouTube song, but it also holds a lesson for how best to carry out customer service in the world of social media. Dave Carroll, a Canadian musician, flew with United Airlines last year and saw his guitar broken as staff threw luggage around. Failing to get a satisfactory response from United, he finally recorded a song and stuck it on YouTube. The catchy tune, amusing staging and power of the underlying story quickly turned it into a ...
To some of us it is effective scrutiny however to the Plaid staff member who writes Guerrilla Welsh Fare, those who seek to hold the Deputy First Minister to account are trying to undermine him. It is almost as if Ieuan Wyn Jones were a tinpot dictator from South America who is believed to be above criticism. How much more self-absorbed and blinkered can Plaid Cymru get?
Here's a nice story to challenge liberal assumptions. In the past, private landlords of tenants on housing benefit were paid directly by the local authority. Last year the Government changed the rules so the housing benefit went to the tenants, who then paid the landlords. Sounds like a good, liberal, move: giving people more power and responsibility over their own lives and moving them away from a child-like reliance on the State to sort everything out. The new LHA is ment to give more freedom to tenants. You can rent a bigger property and pay the difference yourself, or rent ...
Dear Amber, I have read the following article in The Times this morning: \'Right-wing Polish MEP Michal Kaminski becomes Tories controversial EU leader\' regarding the European Conservatives and Reformists Group. This is the new grouping at the European Parliament that the Conservatives have spearheaded. The appointment of Michal Kaminski as leader of this Group is deeply worrying, and embarrassing for [...]
Another visit to Rutland's most celebrated fictional peer. Thursday Rutland's ink industry has long been the foundation of its prosperity. I am fortunate enough to own several inkwells myself - some supplying blue ink and some black - as well as a plant where the two varieties are mixed to form blue-black ink. In recent weeks, we have been shipping countless barrels of Rutland Extra Black to Westminster and today I discover why. The Commons publishes its members' expense returns and they are simply dripping with the stuff. "Redacting" they call it. If I had covered my work with that ...
The By-Elections blog will take you to a recording of their joint interview on Radio 5 Live from Tuesday.
£179.7 million, spent by the Government on advertising. Obviously, classical liberals see this as an outrage - taxpayers having to foot the bill for Government propaganda. Actually, classical liberals believe that people should have access to the information that allows them to take control of their lives. Libertarians believe that government should be minimalist and, for the most part, non-intrusive. Nothing wrong with either stance, the latter taking a stronger line in terms of personal responsibility, but perhaps less mindful of the needs of those less well-equipped to take care of themselves. Most Government advertising is designed to impart information, ...
For my regular readers, up to 15 now (wow, thanks guys) you will all know that my life is made up of three key things; 1. Roger 2. Zennor 3. Politics So, you will not be surprised when I tell you about the latest activities of our cat, Zennor. For those who don't know, here's a brief summary - we got sisters Zennor and Madron as 6 month old kittens, 15.5 years ag. Tragically Madron died in 2007 and Zennors eyesight has deterioated, she gets by but has bad days! Anyhow, we moved her up with Roger last August to ...
Yesterday I realised I had published the 1500th entry on this blog (it didn't seem that long ago since the millennium). 1500 was quite a significant number in my formative years. I was never a sprinter when I was growing up, even at the age of 11 I was far better suited to the race around the circumference of my Primary School appox. 400m to the 50m sprint up the track. Sadly with a 5 metre lead in the qualifying I looked over my shoulder at the wrong point and twisted my ankle in a hole. However, I'm digressing slightly ...
My once-met net friend Mike who used to blog at Troubled Diva, now uses his blog as a repository for his successful but (to me) incomprehensible music writing for the Nottingham Evening Post Entertainment Guide. Last week, I mentioned on Twitter that Giles Coren, star of the Supersizers, looked hot in his 80s gear. Deliberately a little ambiguous, but of course I meant that he looked attractive. Mike agreed on Twitter, conceding that his "Guilty crush" might move on from Alistair Campbell to Giles Coren. A few hours later, Mike got an unexpected personal response from @CampbellClaret: @miketd why move ...
Dear pals.........this is totally unpolitical, but I do need your help today. During the Euros my daughter Lara worked flat out to help me..........now I am supporting her election/selection campaign in the Next competition. If you have a couple of minutes to spare please support her today. She has moved from page 147 to page 4 in 48 hours, but to be in the final she needs to make page 2. You can help - click here and type in Lara. She is 3rd along (Weerasirie) you will recognise her from this pic I hope, then you can vote for ...
I've done that thing again where you drink the amount of alocohol in one day the you're supposed o ghave in a week. What's worse s thar the peopke who won rhe pub quiz gor 53/70n and we got 52. We lost by one bastard stinking pouibt. Still, I took the dogs to the park amd listebened to lots of Alicw Coo[per and threw the vall lots. So that's OK/ I hope Mat wuill take Hollly to schoool in the morning because som,ething tellds me /i won't be in a fir state. :D Hope oyu atre all well. I am ...
I was on Radio Five Live a couple of days ago talking with Iain Dale and host Anita Anand about the Norwich North by-election. I am grateful to www.by-elections.co.uk for putting the clip on their website. You can listen to it HERE.
