Really bad back day yesterday, couldn't get up stairs unaided at end, had to be helped up on hands & knees. Got plans to work on it however. # Pete & Dave's Dodo Emporium http://bit.ly/3k91A6 [I'll take a v3.6 please] # Back is much improved – just as well, since we are touring the Williams F1 factory tomorrow and interviewing Sam Michael # RT @girlonetrack http://twitpic.com/b4huj – If everyone did this the world'd be a better place. # Gah. Six o'clock and all's well. All set for the drive across to Oxfordshire from Herts, avoiding motorways #AAroutefinderisyourfirend # Six o'clock ...
A couple of things about today's Spotify playlist. Firstly, I'm starting to lose track of what I've posted before, so if some tracks come up more than once, forgive me. I'm assuming no-one's listening to *all* of these, anyway, just the ones that sound interesting to them. The other thing is the notable lack of female [...]
We went to Keighley Town Council's Civic Service today. It was actually rather enjoyable, with a very witty but telling sermon by Father Patrick about the pitfalls and pratfalls possible for those elected to office and reflections on duck houses. Thankfully town councillors have no such temptations put before them.
Gulf Arabs who can afford it tend to flee their region during summer. Given their climate, who can blame them? Since the 1960s, London has been a favourite summer destination — many Gulf families own houses or appartments along or off the Edgware Road and in Mayfair — but Beirut and Cairo date back even [...]
Ha! No sooner had I put up the previous post on the shop front in Flask Walk than I was up in Hampstead... Blow me down if the shop hasn't been re-opened as this ice cream parlour (pic right). So I thought it only polite to update the blog with the after as well as the before!
Conservative-run Kent County Council have cancelled the Full Council meeting due in September because they say there is nothing to put on the agenda. It is unbelievable that these people could think that the county does not face problems that need councillors' attention now. They may be too busy spending the 8% pay increase that Conservatives have [...]
There has been a lot of debate in the Lib Dem blogosphere about the our performance in the Norwich North and whether it represents the end of the road for Rennardism. By Rennardism is meant our traditional way of fighting by-elections: delivering colossal quantities of leaflets, playing up local causes and grievances... you know the sort of thing. What the participants in that debate are missing is the fact that Norwich North was a triumph for Rennardism: it's just that it was not the Liberal Democrats who were using the technique. First there was the quantity of paper delivered. On ...
This weekend finds England ahead in the Ashes series. In case this happy state of affairs doesn't continue, now is a good time to enjoy The Duckworth Lewis Method, seen here playing live at Tower Records, Dublin. As The Times explained last month:Neil Hannon, better known as the cerebral lead singer of the Divine Comedy, and Thomas Walsh, of the Irish band Pugwash, have just released the first pop album entirely devoted to the sport of cricket, to coincide with the start of the Ashes series. It contains one song that dissects a single ball bowled by Shane Warne. The ...
If you are wondering how fast you can launch a campaign I have the answer for you in this blog post. Mr Iain Dale tweeted about how he was going to delete his twitter account and a campaign by James Graham via twitter was set up to stop him. The campaign #keepiaindaleontwitter had two supporters, one being Mr Graham himself tweeting the launch of the campaign and one being a supporter. Clearly Mr Dale hasn't got a large fan club of people who are interested in his tweets? The lesson from this, if you want to launch a campaign make ...
Let's be quite honest. In terms of developing a consistent narrative flow this week has been a bit of a disaster but has also highlighted some key problems. Wednesday saw Nick Clegg mounting his own personal campaign to convert a number of key policies into aspirations ahead of the launch for A Fresh Start for [...]
Just caught part of Dragon's Den and the amazing performance of Sharon Wright. What a star!
Peter has been amongst a number of bloggers today who have discussed the Tories plan to target Holby woman. This of course builds on New Labour identifying Worcester Woman or Mondeo man as key demographics whose vote they will have to gain to win. I'm wondering if we should point out to the Tories that Holby doesn't actually exist. Patsy Kensit is an actress playing the role. Labour at least had the sense to go for reality, in that I've been to Worcester. I know women live there. And I've seen a man driving a Mondeo. So target away at ...
I have been on Twitter for well over a year now and have seen some of these events before, they seem amazing and raise a lot of money for a nominated charity. The Edinburgh Twestival (EdTwestival Local) will be on Thursday 10th September 2009 and will run from 7pm to midnight at a venue still to be confirmed. But, the battle to nominate the charity that will benefit from all the fundraising there has already begun. You can vote for a charity using all 3 votes you get when you visit the site or give 1 vote to 3 different ...
The expenses scandal has quite rightly hung around parliament like a bad smell since the Telegraph first exposed many MPs' horrendous claims. However, there was one good thing that has come out of the scandal, and that is the more renowned recognition of the need for change. Our political system has an extensive democratic deficit, and before the scandal, the two main parties seemed to be able to resist any fundamental change without any harm being done to them in the opinion polls. However, when you consider the safe seats, as a very good article in the Guardian today showed, ...
I recently visited an elderly constituent who lives near Perth Road and who has real difficulty negotiating the pavements in the Perth Road shopping area, given the gaps in dropped kerbing. For anyone with mobility difficulties, this is a very real issue. All credit to the Dundee Accessible Transport Action Group (DATAG) who led on the "Hannah's Highway" campaign - to make getting down Perth Road to be accessible to all. The Head of Transportation at Dundee City Council has advised me that : "The 'Hannah's Highway' project has identified a route from Sinderins to Duncan of Jordanstone Buildings - ...
Yesterday, I had the privilege of of speaking to and meeting Members of the UK Youth Parliament. This was an exciting opportunity because I was a Trustee of the British Youth Council when the UKYP was founded, about 10 years ago. It was a pleasure to see how UKYP has grown into a vibrant active organising. They [...]
This is a classic example of Labour's "don't do as I say and certainly don't say as I do" approach to politics in Gateshead. A little bit of background at this point is necessary.Gateshead has a relatively high number of people who suffer and die early from smoking related illnesses. Gateshead Labour MP David Clelland is the leading critic of his own Government's attempts to end smoking in public
Mike Smithson has a blog post over at PB that suggests Labour MP's will resign, so Brown will lose the by elections, and will have pressure put on him to resign and personally I think that's a silly idea. Labour MP's are not going to force Brown out of Number 10 with resignations and like I have said before Brown should be told at Conference to go. Labour activists who attend Conference could really tell the Prime Minister they want him to go by going to every debate, speech except for Brown's speech. Now that really would send out a ...
The Fleet river is one of London's lost rivers, running from springs at Hampstead and Highgate into the Thames at Blackfriars Bridge. On the way, it flows through the 'Ken Ditch' that apparently gives Kentish Town its name, and of course, past Fleet Street. Between the two, it runs through Battlebridge at Kings Cross, [...]
We are not only winning from Labour in affluent areas like Kensington & Chelsea, but also in the deprived north-east of England. Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council (UA), Dormanstown ward LD 805 (52.3;+27.2), Lab 515 (33.5;-18.6), BNP 145 (9.4;+9.4), Con 73 (4.7;-18.0) Majority 290. Turnout 29.88%. Lib Dem gain from Lab. This, from last Thursday, is the third by election win in a row for Redcar and Cleveland Liberal Democrats, all wins from Labour.
I have to agree with James Graham about LibDig the bookmarking tool for Lib Dems which I don't think really took off. When it was started people used it like crazy, hey even I was using it but not any more. I think we need to thank Ryan Cullen for creating it as he has put a lot of work and effort into Lib Demmery online and I think he should be thanked despite the failure of the site. Eventually people have got bored of it and have moved on and so James is right when he says it's failed ...
Charlotte Gore posted an excellent piece on campaigning that takes in the UK Libertarian party and how to conduct political campaigns generally. This was a follow-up to an earlier post on the Norwich by-election. On Liberal Vision, Sara Scarlett can't wait for Harry Potter to attend a Liberal Youth conference. Jock Coates makes the case for the denationalisation of currencies and explains why he wants to see government abolished. And earlier this week, the Washington Post ran a chilling piece about North Korean gulags.
Poltical Betting has a piece openly speculating on whether we will see any more shocking Liberal Democrat by-election victories. This is, of course, relevant to the debate that has been happening within the blogsphere around 'Rennardism' and so on and such forth. Firstly, I don't buy into the view that it is the amount of literature that [...]
I went to Fional Hall's celebration party this afternoon in the Biscuit Factory (it's an art gallery, not a production centre for dunking materials) in Newcastle. Fiona was re-elected as MEP for the North East last month so we were all in good spirits, especially as the region got the highest Lib Dem share of the vote in the UK. The biggest subject of conversation raised with me by people was the
I haven't quite escaped from London it seems. I am now at Newcastle Central waiting for my (delayed) National Excess train to Kings Cross. The trip is for a variety of reasons. Firstly, I need to check my flat there is in good health. Secondly, I am continuing to run the photo ops for candidates at conference and I need to sort out some issues regarding that. Thirdly, I need to take jam into
I've just seen this video of Joanna Lumley and Peter Carroll arriving in Kathmandu to see retired gurkhas and their families. It's absolutely priceless. I should add that I love it both because of Peter getting totally swamped by scarves and because it appears that some of the crowds waiting for them have got hold of some of my pictures and printed them on the welcome banners.
Most comic blogs have gone quiet except for the 'news' coming from San Diego Geek-Demographic Media-Property Con, of which the only remotely interesting news is that part of the whole Marvelman/Miracleman rights mess has been sorted out. I'd love for this to mean that some time soon I can read Moore and Gaiman's runs on [...]
After posting my last comment, I realised that perhaps some constructive comments on how it could be improved would be a good idea . . . So here are some thoughts - please feel free to add to the list or make your own comments as you see fit: A total re-design, bringing the DELGA site in [...]
Welcome to the 127th of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (19th – 25th July 2009), together with a hand-picked quintet, mostly courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. What's a Good Result In Norwich for LPUK? on Charlotte Gore's blog. Probably not 36 votes. 2. Make Some Of It Happen (This Year, Next Year, Sometime, Never...?) on Alex Wilcock's Love and Liberty blog. On the de-prioritisation of abolishing tuition ...
A Green Cllr has resigned in Leicester Castle Ward. It is supposedly a bit like the `Hampstead of Leicester`. Matt Follett the erstwhile Green Cllr has moved to Brighton. It just so happens that the Greens were attacking the Conservatives for having a Cllr not turning up to many meetings in Brighton at Thursday's Goldsmid [...]
Am I the only one who thinks that this (the DELGA web site) needs a 'make-over'? Compared to the main party site, it's looking dated, cluttered and does not do us justice! A free-makeover is on offer if someone wants to take me up on it!
Watching Question Time last Thursday brought home to me how little the general public know about our elected representatives. This thought had occurred to me a good while ago when the website They Work For You was launched. In one way, the site is admirable. It provides information about debates in parliament and how MPs vote. But its central premise is summed up by the statement: 'find out what your MP is doing in our name'. Actually, MPs are sent to the House of Commons to represent you and not as your delegate. Technically, they are not doing anything in ...
I have to be honest, I never thought the god that is John Terry was leaving Stamford Bridge and especially to go to Manchester City. Today JT has decided to announce his commitment to Chelsea here on the BBC website. Here is John Terry's statement today; 'There has been a lot of speculation recently about my future and I want to clear this up once and for all. I am totally committed to Chelsea and always have been. Chelsea have also made it clear to me consistently that there was never any intention to accept any kind of offer. 'When ...
the seedley south residents group,was chosen to appear in in a documentary t.v programme by R.D.F media,Gloucester Building,Kingston village Avonmore road,London,W148RF.02070134000, on the behalf of channel 4. Prior to the t.v programmebeing film we had no contact with Chek Whyte. Has far as we are aware he was not drawn into Salford by anybody other than the [...]
Just a quick note that the Rolling Sound Bus will be back at Leybridge Court this Tuesday from 12noon until 7pm offering 3 games design courses, starting at noon, 2.30pm and 5pm. The last visit was a big success, so do get along.
Beautiful day in London. Must be Boris, it always rained when Ken was in charge. 22 hours ago. Well they promise everything else!!!
Perhaps we can look at the New Zealand model used for their elections (MMP), which (thanks to Wikipedia) works as follows: The New Zealand electoral system is a two-tiered system. The lower tier determines the local representative. The upper, over-riding tier determines the proportionality of the House. New Zealand voters have two votes. The main vote is [...]
There is a really interesting article in The Independent by Tim Lott, who debates the possibility of abolishing private schools. As he recognises, in reality the middle class/upper class families who send their children to these elitist institutions would not support it, but there is a weight behind his view that it would help reduce social inequality. It would help level out the playing field (not completely). He rightly points to how Labour are too wrapped up in the representation of disabled, women and ethnic minorities - which is right to promote, but where is the concern with the limited ...
The council has introduced some free garden waste drop-off points which might be a bit more convenient for Lee Green residents than the treck to Landmann Way. The drop-off points are open between 9am and 12noon every Saturday and Sunday between now and the 1st November. The two points nearest to Lee Green Ward are: Riddons Road junction with Mayeswood Road, Grove Park Laurence House Car Park, Catford You need to ensure that you take your garden waste walong in plastic or reusable bags, to dispose of flowers and plants, grass clippings, hedge trimmings, leaves, twigs and branches (up to ...
Duh! I read these various postings and laugh - despite the savaging that Brown has received in the last week, can you seriously believe ANY of these so-called rebel MP's who are supposedly prepared to stand-down early and force an early general election? They had their chance a while ago with the 'will it happen/won't it [...]
{dscf0588} There are three summer nature events taking place in Manor Park that I thought people would like to hear about: This Tuesday (28th July) there's a river dipping session from 10.30am until 12.30pam, where you can learn more about the tiny creatures living in the Quaggy River On 11th August, there's a nature trail from 11am until 12.30pm. Finally, on 26th September, there's a Nature's Gym session from 11am until 2pm. Numbers are limited at all these events, so do book in advance by contacting the park managers, Glendale : Tel: 020 8318 3986 or Email: lara.al-jabi {at} glendale-services.co(.)uk ...
It's a few months since we last reminded readers about this, so now seems a good time to publish the information again. You may have noticed that next to some people's comments is a small picture of themselves, such as: If you want a picture to appear next to your comments you need to do two things. Visit Gravatar.com, create an account and upload a picture. Post a comment, ensuring that your email address that you've used on Gravatar is the same one that you've put in the comment field. Feel free to post test comments below.
Over at the Daily Mail, Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable argues that the British economy needs older workers. Here's an excerpt: Since 2007, for the first time in British history, there have been more people over pension age than children. Every year there is a growth in the number of elderly people relative to the number of younger working people supporting them. Every Election there is an increase in the numbers of older voters relative to younger voters. These changes are of revolutionary importance. But whenever the subject of an ageing population is discussed, it is usually in pessimistic ...
I am going to take part in the LDV meme that Stephen Tall ran over the weekend to find out what bloggers think of the Lib Dem blogosphere and its state. Here is my reply: What are the greatest successes of the Lib Dem blogosphere? Clearly the greatest successes of the LD blogosphere are the bloggers like Mark Reckons, Himmelgarten Café and if you don't mind me boasting myself. Mark Reckons has added to the blogosphere something different with his posts that can challenge the best in blogging. Himmelgarten Cafe is great and is up there at the top with ...
The petition by parents of a popular local pre school was heard the other week. The result was a foregone conclusion. A bid to replace a closing Montessori preschool at Manor Farm, Ruislip was scuppered when a Tory Cabinet Member refused a licence for a new school. The bid to keep a pre-school facility in the The Stables building at Manor Farm was proposed by the previous school's deputy principal and backed by staff, parents, over 800 petitioners as well as Ruislip Residents' Association. The Conservative controlled council is reported to want to use the Stables to provide kitchen facilities ...
Strength, Felipe, we are with you. The poignant message on the sign held up by Felipe Massa's Ferrari colleagues as the cars assembled on the grid this afternoon. The news on his condition is about as good as it could be. He's had another brain scan, which was clear, and he had an incident free night. He was awake for a while this morning but he'll be kept in a medically induced coma for the next 48 hours. I have had a very limited experience of being around an ICU with a friend with a brain injury and this makes ...
Lib Dem Blogs is full of commentary on local issues by local councillors, and I have to admit that I don't read much of it. Most of it is relevant to a particular, geographically-based audience, and as I don't live in any of these places, news of bus routes, of bin-emptying rosters or of the cut and thrust of retail politics. It's often well written, very useful if you're part of that audience, and exactly what I'd hope to find if I was a voter on their patch. On the other hand, some of them write entertainingly on non-specific issues ...
Today's Observer says that Labour are once again considering a referendum on electoral reform. My attitude is very much I will believe it when I see it given the frequency of these stories and the suspicious lack of delivery. What we can glean from the fact that these stories is that there is actually a [...]
What can I say. Great exhibition. I queued for roughly 1.5hrs but not so bad. A little bit of drizzle to contend with. The exhibits were tucked away across the gallery. The odd item here and there. Some interesting takes on great classics in the fine art gallery - aswell as some modern items. For instance a fish finger in a fish tank. A rabbit putting on cosmetics. A salami wiggling in a glass box. All with a message. All with some meaning. I catch Banksy's way of thinking although he is a little forthright in some of his methods ...
Today's Observer reports that Labour's election planners are once again seriously considering proposing a referendum on voting reform, reckoning that if it's combined with a general election they'll be able to paint Tory leader David Cameron as a 'roadblock to reform': Plans to hold a referendum on changes to the voting system on the day of the next general election are being considered in Downing Street as part of a ploy to expose David Cameron as a roadblock to sweeping constitutional reform. The idea, backed by senior ministers, has come to light amid growing recriminations within the Labour party over ...
To enter the 2009 North Riding Duck race please download, fill in and send off the form above to: Cllr Chris Abbott, 39 Essex Close, Redcar, Yorkshire, TS10 4BY together with entry fees (£1.00 per entry). Please make cheques payable to Yorkshire Ridings Society. Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council Licence No LOTO241. Promoter Chris Abbott, 39 Essex Close, Redcar, Yorkshire, TS10 4BY.
Rumours abound that Gordon Brown is considering holding a referendum on the voting system, to be held on the same day as the General Election, and that his preferred option is First Past the Post (our current system) against Alternative Vote (AV). Alternative Vote is the system used to elect the London mayor - it's defining characteristic is that the person elected is the least favourite candidate of under half the people who bother to vote. Neither AV nor FPTP are fair or proportional voting systems. Neither results in the make-up of parliament reflecting the way people vote. Just as ...
Keighley's Town Hall Square and War Memorial are looking great since Keighley Town Council took over the responsibility for running them. The memorial is unusual in being Grade 2 listed. The square has been cleaned, the memorial and its plinth ...
We are now taking orders for our black and white 2010 True Yorkshire Calendar featuring Yorkshire recipes, which is published on Yorkshire Day, price £1 plus 80p postage and packing. A5 on card. Please make cheques payable to Yorkshire Ridings Society and post your order to: YRS Products, 39 Essex Close, Redcar, Yorkshire, TS10 4BY.
Over on his blog Plaid Cymru's leader-in-waiting, Adam Price has been sounding off again about the way that the Welsh Assembly is funded. He is absolutely right to argue that there should be long-term investment in infrastructure across Wales and that the underfunding that is built into the Barnett formula is unacceptable and needs to be reversed. The Welsh Liberal Democrats too, have been arguing for some time that the Barnett formula does not reflect need and should be reformed. Indeed the Liberal Democrats were the only major UK party to go into the 2005 General Election with proposals to ...
You'd have thought that Tom Watson, Labour' by-election attack dog, the man responsible for some of the least pleasant and aggressive Labour by-election campaigns in recent years would have something to say about Norwich North on his blog wouldn't you ? Wouldn't you ? Apparently not. It reminds me of the Daily Mail's re-writing of history when they were the only national paper that didn't report the loss of Romsey by the Tories in the 2000 by-election.
Don't forget, if you're a party member you can register for the Lib Dem Voice private members' forum. You'll be in good company: there are 1,004 registered members, all of whom have the opportunity to read and post on a rich variety of topics which don't always make it into the public blog, as well as having the chance to vote in LDV's monthly (ish, ahem) tracking surveys. Here's a selection of the currently active threads to whet your appetites: # Norwich North result # Fingerprinting children in schools # [ Poll ] Tuition Fees # Saving Pubs – should ...
I have been having a little play with one of my favourite web-based tools, the Electoral Calculus User-defined prediciton where you put in the voting percentages and it gives you the number of seats (based on a complex algorithm). I put in the following scenario: Have a look at what happens here. The Tories get 36% of the vote and Labour is 1% lower on 35%. I have put the Lib Dems in at a very low 17% (in order to make my point). Look at the number of seats. Labour would have 326 which is a small majority of ...
I hope I don't have swine flu but I really don't feel to good, I think I might just have to find an out of hours GP and go see him because I don't want to get caught out with the swine flu. So read something else to amuse yourselves as I don't think I can bring myself to writing a blog post at the moment!
Today's Sunday Times illustrates a story headlined 'David Cameron in bid to seduce Holby City woman' with a picture of Patsy Kensit. Apparently, it is a reference to a new marketing group that the Tories wish to target their message at. Anybody under the impression that this group consists of high profile actresses who have previously been married to pop stars would be wrong. The new target voter is a woman in her thirties or early forties, who is likely to do a responsible clinical or clerical job in the NHS. Even so, my advice to Patsy Kensit is to ...
Below is the letter I received from Sainsbury's in reply to my letter on their self service tills (which you can read here.)) Recently Sainsbury's Bagshot Road does appear to have more staff on the tills and with competition just up the road from Aldi I expect Sainsbury's will monitor their manned till levels, as will I. The letter does include a comment that staff will not be reduced "I can Assure you that we don't have any plans to reduce the number of colleagues in store". I really hope this will remain the case but I am also very ...
It is 40 years since Neil Armstrong took his giant leap for mankind after landing on the Moon on the 20th July 1969. Unfortunately, mankind has stood rather still since then as manned exploration of the unknown has significantly dwindled. It is not hard to see why; the capitulation of the Soviet Union in the race to the Moon eliminated the biggest incentive for going there, competition for national prestige. On top of that, spending cuts and high profile disasters such as the tragic loss of the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, and their respective crews, also took their toll, ...
I got the time today to watch back some of the Sky News and BBC coverage of the count of the Norwich North by-election on Sky+. What astonished me was that when Chloe Smith turned up to the count, they commented very precisely on the colour of her top. Would they have dreamt about doing so in such detail if she were a man ? Of course not. it is bad enough that it is suggested that she is too young to be an MP, but with the press seeking to make comments about what she is wearing it surely ...
If you live within the boundaries of the new Totnes constituency and you received a ballot paper to choose a Conservative Party candidate for the next election, read on...........My Lib Dem colleagues...
Should you find yourself over in New York over the next few weeks, you may be interested in the Brit Noir season at Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street. Maybe it's stretching a bit to call all these noir (why Tiger Bay and not Hunted?) but the stills on the webpage are great and a gratifyingly high proportion of these films star Eric Portman.
Other bloggers have talked at length about the failure by the Green Party to do any better than fifth place in the Norwich North by-election. The Party went into the poll on the back of a great performance in the Euro elections and as the second party on the Council. Unlike the Lib Dems, no one could yet accuse them of being a party of the establishment (I dispute that the Lib Dems are, but many voters disagree) and the Norwich election was absolutely crucial to their future chances. At a conference last month I talked for some time to ...
Over on Lib Dem Voice, Stephen Tall asks about the state of the Liberal Democrat blogosphere. Answers so far have come from James, Darrell on Moments of Clarity, Paul on Liberal Burblings and Stephen Glenn plus some comments to the LDV post (anyone I've missed?). I haven't read their responses yet, in a poor attempt to marshall my own thoughts (will do that later and see just how daft my comments seem in comparison). Down to business. Stephen asks: What are the greatest successes of the Lib Dem blogosphere? What are we, collectively as bloggers, failing to achieve? How does ...
Imagine getting a letter like this from your boss: Dear Employee, Please be transparent about how you're planning to spend your time away from work this summer by filling in this survey. I hope you'll be using the break to focus on other parts of your job. I am concerned though that some people may use the time to take excessively long holidays and work on extremely well paid second jobs. Please fill in this survey to reassure me. I'm asking you to complete the survey because I think we have a right to know what you are doing in ...
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 Twitter sing-along. Oh yes. 2 Big Stories Let's skip past the latest round of "No really, this time we mean it, we're going to do something really very soon, honest guv" talk of Labour MPs plotting to oust Gordon Brown (see most previous Sundays for the last 18 months) and move on to, er..., a story of a beleaguered leader surrounded by resignations but promising to stay on. Equality chief urged to quit post Equalities and Human Rights ...
Hello everyone!! And welcome to "Scarlett's Seven on Sunday" - because bloggers like lists, apparently - and I like alliteration. So here is where I shall muse over noticeable story from the past week or so. Hopefully Scarlett's Seven is something you will enjoy waking up to in the morning, however, if you prefer to wake up to a warm mug of Joe then here's another reason to shun socialism: 1. According to the Adam Smith Institute: "It really takes a certain amount of cunning, if not good sense, to turn a coffee exporter, one acknowledged to produce some of ...
I find myself in danger of ending up on the wrong side of an important debate. I've written before about how Chris Rennard's departure as Chief Executive of the Liberal Democrats is a chance for the party to rethink how it campaigns and last week speculated whether our heavy dependence on "ground" campaigning makes it harder for us to find a more diverse selection of candidates. I hope however people don't think that I agree with the more crass analyses out there suggesting that the party's problem is that it delivers leaflets. Irfan Ahmed suggests we can just switch to ...
If what Jonathan Calder points out from today's Mail on Sunday is true what does that mean for Jim Devine and Livingston. The Mail on Sunday tells us: "Rebel Labour MPs are threatening to force a series of parliamentary by-elections in a new attempt to oust Gordon Brown from Downing Street. Well-placed sources say that a number of Labour MPs are prepared to sacrifice themselves as part of a 'guerrilla campaign' against the Prime Minister. They include some older MPs who are prepared to bring forward their decision to retire at the next Election and others who believe they have ...
Off to keighley the Church of Our Lady of Victories for Cllr Ward's Civic Service, later today, am really looking forward to it. The great thing about this country is that civic life is out in the public and not behind closed doors, so that all who may have concerns can address them to their representatives.
ON July 21st, two important events occurred in the Parliamentary calendar. Firstly,my jocular office jester, Basil, turned 21. Secondly - and not because of this—MPs left Westminster to spend the next few months in their constituencies. Unfortunately, many journalists haven't a clue what a "Parliamentary recess" is. Some reported that 647 MPs were "going on holiday!" I got quite excited and thought they knew something I didn't - like a big MP trip to Ibiza... but then I realised that these ill-informed scribblers thought that summer recess was a holiday. In fact, summer recess is all about MPs spending time ...
