Off to Donington Park tomorrow for a Superleague Formula presser with the Liverpool, Rangers and Spurs cars/drivers. Should be interesting. # RT @DesignerDepot 12 Steampunk Gadgets and Designs: http://ow.ly/h6d2 [Also this Oxford exhibition in the comments http://bit.ly/QaU9n ] # http://twitpic.com/abuj4 – # http://twitpic.com/ac3vs – In Donny pitlane with Spurs car # Always nice to start the day by playing 'hunt the wheelie bin' up and down the street. Blasted thing has vanished following binmen visit. # RT @BritsOnPole New story: Superleague Formula: we're not green and we don't care http://bit.ly/4qQHFN [The words from Monday's press trip.] # RT @BritsOnPole New ...
what a sorry tale. Blaming everyone but themselves for the woes and chaos around them; inability to deal properly with demonstrations against them; secret committees to establish truths; obsession with their own rights and privlileges ? what Sunday papers have I been reading ? none you will be pleased to know, I've been using my third day "off" doing more research into the life and times of...
Once upon a time the Press Association was a reliable agency; now, in this age of immediacy, it appears that it just regurgitates stale news just as much as the papers themselves. While one would expect the News of the Screws to print out the three-week-old ICM/UEA poll for Norwich North as if it's a news item along with the other opinion polls today given those initial findings, what with the NotW's own ideological leanings (such as they are) and the fact it's rather more clued up on soap operas/reality tv/slebs/tits than on politics, one expects the PA to hold ...
Independent on Sunday ComRes poll Con 38% (+2) Lab 23% (-2) LD 22% (+3) Other 16% (-4) [Change since the last ComRes poll for The Independent, published 30 June.] Liberal Democrats gain as Conservatives still fall short of 40 per cent. Additional questions: I don't really know what David Cameron stands for Agree 53% - up from 49% in July 2008 Disagree 42% - unchanged from July 2008 More British troops and resources should be devoted to Afghanistan Agree 34% Disagree 60% All British forces should be withdrawn from Afghanistan as quickly as possible Agree 64% Disagree 33% I expect ...
{fox-gets-it} Welcome to the Norwich By-Election, where Labour appears to be taking lessons from Peta on how to layer on the old emotional blackmail. Words failed Iain (hat tip, btw). The part of me that just wants to do exactly the opposite of whatever Labour wants or says almost tells me to start campaigning to bring back Fox hunting after this sort of thing. I mean, look at the cute little Fox pup. Awww. Who'd want to kill that fox? Well, apparently Labour will if they lose. I mean, one could assume that they're implying that if any candidate other ...
Some relatives were given this print of a painting by T.Waugh for Christmas. It's absorbed many hours of head-scratching because we can't decide the location of the place depicted. We've done lots of Googling to no avail. My bet is Weymouth (I vaguely remember a multi-storey building near the dockside at Weymouth). Another hot bet is Dover (because of something which vaguely looks like a castle - but Dover castle is much higher up, so I don't think so). At one point I thought it was Falmouth but there isn't a multi-storey building in Falmouth that I can remember. Or ...
I haven't met David Cameron. With age, I have decided to at least try not to hate people I have not met, although George Bush is naturally an exception. With a carefully contrived cocktail of alcohol and prescription drugs inside of me, I am sure I would enjoy an hour in a pub with David Cameron. I'd probably need to scream (and wash thoroughly) afterwards, though. But, as regards Cameron's attitudes I find it very difficult to exaggerate the contempt I feel. His pronouncement on the protests in Parliament Square just sends me into waves of anger. I find it ...
In his blog Neil Woollcott asserts that the opinions of bloggers like Lynne Featherstone and Costigan Quist are not putting the `Childrens' authors` complaint regarding CRB into context. In his example he states that he can't refuse to go through the physical procedures at the airport. He later asserts that all that needs to happen is [...]
Let me make no bones about this: I am now of the opinion, and have been for some while, that the only true way to Liberty for all is by abolishing government entirely: traditionally termed "anarchism". I'm also not much good at gradualism: someone once said to me that gradualism is a recipe for ultimate failure, and I agree. Give me a revolutionary change; get it over and done with and let us enjoy our new way of life as quickly as possible. This is because I am, in Hayek's terms as explained in his "Why I am not a ...
Sun 19th
21:57
Just reading Cllr Lindleys site, and it seems his key focus is on the General election. What chances...
Big majority to turn over,and the Labour candidate what's her name i always forget seems to have come out of the expenses fiasco OK, unlike Hazel. And if a well known Lib Dem stood it could act as a spoiler. So i am not a betting man but it's a close call. [...]
ANY VIEW? It worries me that you can use statistics to say what the hell you wish.Do you think they are manipulated or am i getting over cautious?
Sun 19th
21:47Well the arguments go on and on about the Advertisers closure in Eccles but wo do you blame
I shamelessly Blame Labour, as Tom said but who do you the readers blame. Ok it's not all down to Labour but i have to say that anyway. What concerns me is when we deprive advertising Revenue from a product that lives on it, surely we will kill it, maybe slowly but in the end [...]
Sun 19th
21:46
The mask slips - Tory Candidate works for the Tory Party - So much for her honest campaign pledge
The Times is reporting that Chloe Smith is not what she claims to be in her leaflets. The Times reports "She describes herself as a "business consultant" but is vague about what exactly she does for Deloitte. Perhaps this is because she is currently on secondment to the Conservatives' implementation unit. Ms Smith, who is registered as an assistant to James Clappinson (sic), a shadow work and pensions minister, is drawing up plans on how the party would govern once in power." Whereas Chloe Smith's leaflets state that The James Clappison referred to in The Times article would be t ...
Do you know anyone with a big heart who devotes time to making Birmingham a better place, or has made a difference in their local community?Birmingham City Council is now looking for nominations for the Birmingham Local Hearts Awards 2009. The awards are to recognise the exceptional contributions made by local residents in the community. Anyone can nominate individuals, groups, organisations, and
Just to catch up with some of the events I have attended this week. One was the consultation / exhibition of the proposals for the new Hornsey Depot. The land is owned by Network Rail and they can and will build this new depot where lots of the new longer trains will come for cleaning etc. Prime concerns are obviously what this huge depot will look like and its impact on the new, still to be built, Haringey Heartlands housing development; noise, environmental impact; traffic etc. So the task is to minimise the impact on the community - and ask ...
These are pictures of Bridget Prentice, Labour MP for Lewisham East. So who is this lady on the Labour Party leaflets in Norwich North not so local after all ? Doesn't she bear a striking resemblance to Bridget Prentice ? Of course, I am sure that Labour are not that short of local members that they are having to pass of their own London MPs as local party members, are they ?
I am flying off somewhere hot tomorrow and I do not plan to go through airport security. It is after all my only holiday of the year and I will be on the plane with 180 other people, including 4-5 airline staff. I am a teacher. I am involved heavily in the local community, through organisations such at the Liberal Democrats and Scouting. I am in fact a consort to the Deputy Mayor of Waltham
The Prince of Wales' Rainforests Project (PRP) has developed a proposal for emergency funding to help protect rainforests and to use incentives to encourage rainforest nations to continue to develop without the need for deforestation. The goal is to achieve a relatively fast and certainly significant reduction in tropical deforestation by helping rainforest nations to focus instead on...
As the 'Creative Dundee' blog pointed out back in April, the "City of Discovery" campaign is no longer (see "RIP Dundee, City of Disco Very" at http://tinyurl.com/discoverdundee). The campaign was recently re-born as "Dundee - One City, Many Discoveries" - see logo below. Actually I rather like the new branding (hence the sticker on my car!) but it is not entirely great that if you go to the http://www.cityofdiscovery.com/ site you are met by the stunning page indicating : "Could not grab the file from: http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/" OK, a temporary problem I am sure (I have advised the Director of City ...
Today I have mostly been to prison. My mother has been a probation volunteer at Gartree Prison near Market Harborough for many years. Today I went with her to Stocken Prison in Rutland to meet one of her old boys.I can't recommend prison life, but we did have a tour of Bonkers country on the way.And as inspired today's music choice. I have always loved the primitive guitar break in this.
The annual St Albans LibDem constituency barbecue took place today - the same day as people across the land were organising their own Big Lunches. Ours wasn't a street party. But 70 of us gathered in the garden of the LibDem headquarters in Hatfield Road to enjoy some brilliant food and just about dodge the showers. The food was brilliant and some deft manoeuvrings in marquee and gazebos kept us dry. Older Albanians will remember when the back lawn of the City Liberal Club in Hatfield Road was a very fine bowling green. LibDems have always believed in fairness - ...
Well another succesful OUTeverywhere Manchester posse yesterday that ended up drinking on Canal St bumping into other OUTers and their friends. Ended up with a friend Ian in Chinatown. I've also found a lovely independent coffee shop that has seating both inside and out.
Euthanasia is in the news again. What is most poignant about some of these recent cases is that many do not concern terminally ill individuals. The cases of both Daniel James and that of Sir Edward Downes and his wife Joan reveal very different arguments being used to justify euthanasia. Daniel James was only 23 years old and had been almost completely paralysed in a rugby accident. Whilst Joan Downes had terminal cancer her husband was not terminally ill. The retired conductor was almost completely blind and deaf; his wife had become his full-time carer. The decision that both Daniel ...
This is not a hoax, this is the latest Labour leaflet in a desperate Norwich North Campaign. {This is not a spoof. Labour's Norwich campaign "leaflet": on Twitpic} Is it just me and all my friends playing Mafia Wars affecting me? But does this mean that unless Labour get in they are going to kill the poor innocent fox they are holding hostage?
Peter Baggs - Independent Candidate He who stands alone against strong and powerful political partys. But it is he who they should fear most as they cannot control him and what he stands for. No party whip to make him vote the way they want, no gag to stop the truth coming out. Alone he has no real power, so what we need is a group of individuals with the common goal of promoting real democracy, promising to obey the wants and needs of the majority. That is what I stand for here in the Norwich North constituency, hoping to ...
There seems to be a bit of a fuss about SNP candidate for Glasgow North East David Kerr's membership of Opus Dei. Now, I'd find it very difficult to vote for anyone who was pro life and anti gay rights, whatever religion (or none) they followed. Let's not turn the by-election into a Dan Brown movie. Opus Dei with its secrecy and flagellation is just the sort of thing to give the tabloids a feeding frenzy as they did when Ruth Kelly another Opus Dei associate, was appointed to the Cabinet. However, followers of all sorts of religions and denominations ...
Andy Burnham, Health Secretary, has announced plans for reforming the provision of social care in England. There was an opportunity, especially given the problems with dental care, to reform the structure of health and social care in a more socially just direction. Transferring primary care and allied services into a compulsory social insurance scheme would have given an opportunity to include extras such as long-term social care. The current proposals do little to ensure effective and socially just provision based on need and not ability to pay, which merely continues many of the inequities of the current system.
Lib Dem canvassers in Thorpe (Norwich North) were surprised to be handed a Tory leaflet (with a mystery bar graph) that had been delivered to the house by the Tories a few days earlier. What was the problem with it ? It is a leaflet for Norwich South, not Norwich North. Now we know that a small number of houses in Norwich North transfer to Norwich South at the next general election, but it doesn't half confuse matters to give them leaflets telling them they are in Norwich South when all their election leaflets (and polling cards) say Norwich North. ...
Call me Dave, a liberal Conservative has shown his true colours today. Yes David Cameron has said that he is going to shut down the peace camp on Parliament Square and move it on. He says that the encampment right outside Parliament is "pretty poor place" and looks like a shanty town. While he may be correct he is forgetting one important thing. The reason people feel the need to camp out in Parliament Square is because of the draconian approach to protest taken by the Labour Government. If the right to bring protest to Parliament Square were allowed people ...
This case is one which we hope to get to the European Court. Basically there is no evidence that warrants keeping the child in care. There is also evidence that being in care is doing her harm.However, the state wishes to keep her in care for further assessments.Wrong.
Here's a little picture that gives some idea of how far men travelled in the era of moon landings, and how far we've managed since. Manned space travel since 1973 has been little more than sticking our heads out of the earth's sunroof and having a quick peek around.
As I blogged about back in March, David Davis made an impassioned speech during The Convention on Modern Liberty where he pleaded with his own party to "keep my promises". There is an mp3 of his speech available here and a transcript of it here. A key section is:Please look at every law you pass, every law you pass, and study it so that it gives freedom, privacy, and dignity back to the people even if it is at the price of taking power away from the government from time to time. I wonder how that can be reconciled with ...
Having spent the past year heavily involved in championing more women from black and minority ethnic communities around the country to come forward and enter political and public life, as a member of the BME Women Councillors Task Force - I think it does. But I'm under no illusions that I am probably not in the majority of thinking that this is a topic that really matters to many. Strange really that many commentators, men and women from all the political parties often point to how our society has become more unequal in the past decade, and social mobility has ...
I now had a Twitter account, and you can follow me at colinross1976
I now had a Twitter account, and you can follow me at colinross1976
I will from tomorrow be posting a 150-200 word statement from the minor parties and independents standing in the Norwich North by-election. The Libertarians have promised to send something, NOTA have already e-mailed me and one of the independents says he will send something later. Whilst I am in no way supporting or endorsing these other parties, as part of the democratic process I think it only fair to give them a little more coverage in what is a very crowded field. So if you want to know what the minor parties (essentially not those with money to burn) have ...
Sun 19th
16:04BRITAIN faces a public spending squeeze lasting a decade,The Business Secretary admitted there WILL ...
His confession blew apart Gordon Brown's repeated claims that only the Tories will have to slash spending. Lord Mandelson said it will take the UK economy ten years for public spending to return to pre-slump levels. He said in the Commons: "I think the fall in the economy is coming to an end, but the [...]
Sun 19th
16:00TORY veteran Ken Clarke last night admitted that hard-working families could pay MORE tax under a Co...
The Shadow Business Secretary revealed the party is looking at ways of raising taxes to pay for coping with the slump. And he insisted British companies should not be hit first, saying: "If you're looking for tax increases in a recession, it's obvious that you don't look in the first place to business." Dead bloody right mate.... [...]
Charles Clarke: Gordon Brown and expenses to blame for Norwich North crisis Gordon Brown's mishandling of the expense scandal is to blame for Labour's problems ahead of the Norwich North by-election, Charles Clarke, the former home secretary, has said. By Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent Published: 2:41PM BST 19 Jul 2009 Charles Clarke has blamed Gordon [...]
Thursday will see the long-awaited by-election in Norwich North following the resignation of popular maverick MP, Ian Gibson. Despite, its unprediactable nature, the campaign momentum seems to be heading for a Tory v Liberal Democrat, April Pond finale. Labour seem well out of the race yet their is still not massive enthusiasm for the Tories in a seat they would have been expecting to win in the next General Election anyway.Despite their previous predictions, there is no evidence that the Green bandwagon is really rolling. I suspect that this will be the story of the by-election, at a time when ...
The debate about the Lib Dems and BAME candidates is short and sweet and I personally think people are dragging it too far. James Graham blogged about it first on his own blog which led to Lester blogging about it at LDV and I think both need to look at my take of the argument. First of all the lose of the Fernando pair, Norsheen Bhatti and even Sajjad Karim has caused problems for the Lib Dems but it doesn't mean politics ends with four people leaving the Lib Dems. Sajjad Karim was fair enough high profile so was Norsheen ...
David Cameron's so-called liberal-Conservatism has been undermined a little today with his announcement that he will do what Gordon Brown and Tony Blair failed to do and remove the long standing peace camp in Parliament Square. Anti-war campaigner Brian Haw has been camping opposite Parliament since 2001, surrounded by banners and placards. He has been joined in the square by other protesters over the years - most recently a large group of Tamils. Mr Cameron today told Sky News' Sunday Live today a future Tory government would take steps to have the encampment removed on aesthetic grounds. He says that ...
With the Liberal Democrats one point behind Labour in a poll and before the local elections of 2009 ahead of Labour I ask the question in the title. Could the Lib Dems become the main opposition after the next general election? I promised to write about this yesterday (via twitter) and here is the blog post, personally I believe that the Lib Dems could beat the Labour party into third place if we win Labour strongholds like Pendle and Burnley. If the Lib Dems win Labour seats and don't let the Tories take them then clearly we are on task ...
It's a case of déjà-vu all over again. The defections of Chamali and Chandila Fernando seem to have produced carbon copy internal debates to the ones that greeted Norsheen Bhatti and Sajjad Karim's walkouts. As a party we really need to start learning some lessons from these regular blows because I, for one, am tired and frankly quite bored of witnessing the same depressing spiral of losing bright young BAME talent followed by a debate more notable for its heat than light, as the membership lob brickbats at the defectors. All too often there is precious little by way of ...
Forty years ago while Apollo 11 fever was sweeping the earth I was just a very sizable bump. I was merely biding time to arrive at the same time that the political party of my adulthood would have its annual conference. Therefore last night I was quite shocked to find this compelling evidence that the lunar landings were faked (may I encourage younger readers to read the whole way to the bottom before throwing stuff at me*). Today I am however glad to find that there are of course a list of twelve things that we do know are on ...
{Lynne, Ed and I on Woodstock Road} Haringey Council have pulled funding from a cross-Borough initiative to stop dumping, littering and graffiti in the Finsbury Park area. Through local regeneration agency FinFuture, Haringey, Islington and Hackney had all contributed to employing 'Street Enforcement Officers' to tackle the rubbish that often blights the area, which includes much of Stroud Green. Haringey have unilaterally withdrawn this funding despite the fact that dumping and littering remain huge issues - particularly on the roads leading off Stroud Green Road. A few weeks ago Lynne Featherstone, Ed Butcher and I were doing a walk about ...
The latest spat about CRB checks shows every sign of missing the point. Famous authors complain at the indignity of having to pay the government £64 to get a piece of paper saying they're not a paedophile. They suggest they'd rather not bother than go through the hassle. After all, it's not as if these authors are ever left alone with children and, as they point out, a classroom with thirty kids and a teacher isn't exactly a very likely location for child abuse to take place. Others, though, say these authors should go through the process; and the Government ...
Just as it was thought that the storm had abated an emergency hearing of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee is to be convened on Tuesday to hear evidence from David Cameron's communications director and former News of the World editor, Andy Coulson over that paper's phone-tapping scandal. He will be joined by Sun editor Rebekah Brooks (née Wade) and former News of the World managing editor Stuart Kuttner. The Independent on Sunday reports: The Tory spin-doctor, who resigned as the paper's editor two years ago over the affair, will be asked to put on the record a categorical ...
Tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission's landing on the moon. I was just nine years old at the time but I followed the mission avidly right up to those famous words of Neil Armstrong as he placed his feet on the lunar surface. There is speculation that President Obama is thinking of reviving the American Space Programme and funding more trips to the moon. In the meantime there are some who believe that they have proof that the first moon landing was a fake.
Picture shows Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg pledging his support to the Jubilee Debt Campaign to "End Vulture Culture", whilst attending the Glastonbury Festival earlier this month. One of the shadier aspects of international finance has been the role of companies known as 'vulture funds'. Vulture fund is a name given to a private company that seeks to scavenge profit from some of the world's poorest and heavily indebted countries by buying up 'bad' debt at a cheap price, then trying to recover the full amount, often by suing through the courts. At least 54 companies, many based in tax ...
It is looking increasingly likely that the Irish will vote 'yes' in the re-run of their referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in the autumn, which means that the Treaty could be operational before the end of the year. Among the various important implications of that is the replacement of the cumbersome six-month rotating presidency of [...]
I appreciate that some of you reading the previous post may have seen it as a bit of a rant, and for that I apologise. I really shouldn't post late at night, however the central premise I still hold, namely that private education seeks merely to entrench and widen privilege based on class and wealth. Now I readily admit that there are some benefits to those who go through, but at what price and at what cost to whom? Indeed, some of my best friends have had a private education, and don't seem the worse for it, as indeed has ...
Yesterday I was over in Solihull helping in Lorely Burt's Action Day. We did some canvassing in the morning followed by some delivery in the afternoon. We got a fair patch done and the results of the canvassing were very encouraging - people switching from both the Tories and Labour to Lorely - very pleasing.
A chance to question FirstDownload our local First Bus timetableGet regular bus updates from South GlosWhat's your experience been of the X27? A chance to question First This week you have the chance to put questions to representatives of First Bus. Jenny MacLeod, Operations Director, and Simon Cursio, Commercial Director, are attending the Planning, Transportation and Strategic Environment Select Committee on 22 July to respond to councillors' questions and concerns. Pat Hockey, who chairs the committee, said, "Members of the public are always welcome to attend our select committee meetings, to raise issues, ask questions or present petitions. If you ...
For me, it's the most difficult decision of the year – which books to take with me on holiday. So, I thought, what could be better than to pick the brains of my fellow Lib Dem bloggers, and ask them to select just two: one should be a political book - whether you want to re-read it, or try something new you've been recommended. The other should be your own choice of summer reading - the book you're most looking forward to reading (again, could be something new or something old). Here's what they said: 'Costigan Quist' (Himmelgarten Cafe) The ...
Cllr David Dixon writes, Thank you to The Thoughtful Bread Co for the idea of beetroot bread, we were wondering what to do with all the beetroot we have had growing in the garden so this was the perfect recipe. Delicious.
The Wales on Sunday reveals that children in Wales are five times more likely to find themselves put behind bars than their criminal counterparts in parts of England. They have published figures that show that offenders in Newcastle face a one in 50 chance of being put behind bars, while for those in Wales, the likelihood stands at around one in 10. The Children's Commissioner Keith Towler has responded by saying that: "This shows there is a definite need for children who have been through the youth justice system to be listened to so we can find out what has ...
Arrived in Norwich yesterday and picked up at the station by my good friends Sarah and Rhiannon and then we went straight to Subway for the lunch run! I was instantly impressed by the sheer level of Liberal Democrats garden stakeboards as we drove back to the HQ. It was also clear from those and window posters that the race in Norwich North is in fact between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. Labour are out of the race, and the Green party were never really in it but their voters and Labour's probably could make the diference between a Tory ...
Earlier this week it was reported that shops (or in fact shoppers are not taking) are giving out as many plastic bags. I for one try to take my reusable bags out wherever I can and when I am going from shop to shop, I try to fill one bag without taking a bag in each shop.Now plastic bags may not b the biggest cause of global warming and environmental damage, but what these latest figures show is
Last year, with the global banking system in crisis, we taxpayers lent hundreds of billions of pounds to financial institutions clinging on by their fingernails. Loans and mortgages to the likes of us are still hard to come by, but one by one the investment banks are reporting much improved figures and, we're told, the big bonus City culture is well and truly back. Now, it could be that the institutions doing well are all ones that didn't take public money; but if that's not the case - if there are companies that accepted our cash and are now back ...
As Paul reported on Liberal Burblings on Friday, two senior Tories (Andrew Tyrie and Sir George Young) have authored a report where they are advocating a system of proportional representation for a mainly elected second chamber. Here is a snippet: We favour a system of Proportional Representation for elections to the chamber. We believe that the First past the post system, with its ability to deliver clear party majorities, works well for the Commons and entrenches its role as the source of legitimacy for a government; however, the second chamber requires a demonstrably different system Elections for the chamber should ...
Another week at Bonkers Hall draws to its close. Sunday In Leicester this afternoon I come upon a party of disconsolate young men sporting hats with corks dangling from the brim. They turn out to be the Australian cricket team, at a loose end after being ejected from that dreadful "Twenty20" cricket tournament. I point them to the library and art gallery and, when those suggestions fail to please, suggest they come back to the Hall for a cup of tea and some practice. I am unable to raise an XI at such short notice, but am happy to have ...
Following the success of Bike the Strike in June, the London Cycling Campaign announces: LCC will be running 10 BikeTube rides a week for 10 weeks this summer in an attempt to encourage more novice cyclists to ride to work. Working in partnership with Transport for London, who will be publicising the led rides through their website, LCC will provide experienced marshals to guide hundreds of new cyclists from the suburbs into central London. Details of when and where the rides will go have yet to be finalised, so be sure to check back on the LCC news pages or ...
The EDP reports on the Tory candidate's unwillingness to take part on live debates and hints that the BBC East debate which the Tories signed up for and which has been plugged by the BBC for the last fortnight may have to be pulled because Tory candidate Chloe Smith is being "wrapped in cotton wool" and kept from debating issues. This is interesting because the Tories do seem to think that debates are a good idea, most of the time. When Blair refused to debate with Michael Howard at the last General Election he accused Blair of "Running Scared". Tory ...
The latest opinions polls do not make good reading for Labour. The one in the Independent on Sunday in particular with the Conservatives on 38%, Labour 23% and the Lib Dems just behind them on 22%. So the Lib Dems are right behind Labour on share of the vote. However, while the share may have us equal the seat share shows the ridiculous nature of our electoral system. According to Electoral Calculus returns for that vote share 358 Conservatives, 198 Labour and 68 Lib Dems. One percentage point should not equate to 130 MPs and almost three times as many. ...
Welcome to the Sunday outing for The Voice's near-daily Daily View series. As it's a Sunday, today it comes with a special epic mustache bonanza. Not just any old mustaches you understand. 2 Big Stories Iran: public criticism of senior figures is becoming the norm Former President – and opponent of current President – Ali Akbar Rafsanjani has been speaking out. As the BBC reports: By calling for an open debate about the election result, Mr Rafsanjani was almost openly challenging the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Four weeks ago, from the same pulpit, Mr Khamenei called for an end ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpypZHVaD1c Young Tory of the Year Clip off Utube, take a look all you prospective tory voters and have a laugh, i did
I read in the Sunday papers that our dearly beloved government is to issue urgent swine flu advice to pregnant women . {swine-flu-panic} Expectant mothers will be urged to avoid unnecessary journeys and crowds...do not travel on trains and the London Underground at peak times...keep babies away from crowds...limit the movements of their other children, so they do not bring the virus home. Good grief....Anyone would think that the Martians had landed and are feasting on babies and unborn foetuses. All this week I 've been bombarded with talk of a growing death count, inevitable further casualties, vulnerable groups (the ...
I'm quite sure that I am not the only divorced parent in the country cursing the summer holidays. Don't get me wrong - I have a good relationship with my ex-husband - that's NOT the problem! In our house getting ready to go on holiday always involves Olympic feats of getting my children to different parts of the country for drop off and pick ups - and never at the same time - despite having the same two parents! Friday saw me at a Year 6 leavers' assembly at 09:30 and on the road by 10:30 to drop my elder ...
Private schools cheat the taxpayer out of millions of pounds under the guise of being charities, though what good they do society at large has forever escaped me. The Tory front-bench is famously full of privately-educated bods, as is Boris Johnson ...
I am not going to ask readers to fundamentally rig the results of the top 100 blogs, and therefore I believe that if the readers feel my blog deserves to be there then its up to you and your support is appreciated. However I believe that the results are prejudged as Iain Dale and his friend Guido always finish top. I think from the Lib Dem blogosphere the top position will go to Lib Dem Voice. However it may change if it gets noticed by Iain Dale.. p.s. Irfan you have no hope of getting the top spot.
