I thought this was an interesting near-midnight question to knock around. Much earlier we had the intimation if not explicit comment that may/may not of happened when Barack Obama called Cameron a 'lightweight'. Labour List brings us this story: Respected US diplomat and foreign policy expert, David Rothkopf, has described David Cameron as, "someone about whom [...]
Fresh Squeezings from the veins of the internet!The Governator thinks that building an extra wing on Death Row is more important than Domestic Violence shelters and schoolbooks for kids. I despair. Charlie Brooker wonders what there is left to believe in any more. This is how I have felt for some time. The great publishing whitewash. Seriously, how long is this shit going to go on before humanity gets some humanity? More cheerfully: Den of Geek have the trailer for the new Stargate series! It looks to me like somewhere between Voyager and BSG with bonus Robert Carlyle. This can ...
With the news that the Liberal Democrats are initiating a review chaired by Menzies Campbell into Trident, it is important to ask whether the Lib Dems are missing a chance to show further their true commitment to change so that the world becomes a safer and more harmonious place. Instead of starting a review that will look into the alternatives to Trident, why not state a moral objection to Trident - which the party has advocated in the past. This is our chance to help show to the public that our views on important issues such as nuclear weapons are ...
Things have gone quiet lately at this blog's favourite local authority. But Ludlow Town Council returned to the Shropshire Star today with the news that six current and former members have been cleared of breaching their code of conduct: Their possible suspension was reported earlier this year, after a complaint that they had released confidential information to the press.The tribunal heard all six had signed a statement condemning the "inappropriate management of public money by a member of staff at Ludlow Town Council". They had also called for a police investigation.
As usual, this blog is taking a break over the summer holiday period. I have been writing it now for over four and a half years, and I've learnt that a time away from it is not only good for the soul but also sends me back with new enthusiasm. This time I'm planning to return in a new guise, so watch out for a bright new www.maryreid.org.uk.
Having a passport - and particularly a British passport - used to mean something: Her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of State Requests and requires in the Name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance, and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.It said, in other words, "Don't mess with me. I've got the British government behind me." These days it is hard to resist the impression that governments have more in common with each other than they do with their own people. Hence ...
On Wednesday of this week, the first ever meeting of Dundee City Council's Scrutiny Committee took place. The Scrutiny Committee was established following criticism by the council's external auditors (Audit Scotland) of the council's arrangements for policy scrutiny, but there was considerable concern raised by opposition members at the committee, not so much about what was on the committee agenda, but what was missing. Various reports by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) were discussed - reports on schools across the city - and largely very positive reports and where issues were raised in the reports, we were given detailed ...
The Economist has a relatively gloomy editorial from a Liberal Democrat perspective which praises 'the outrider' Nick Clegg's impact on politics but essentially says we are condemned to hover around 15-20% in the polls. This follows on news that membership dropped by 8.5% last year although the comments section to that story suggest the news might [...]
With the news that Gary McKinnon has lost his extradition appeal, this just further confirms that the UK has now become the fifty-first USA state. How is it right for someone who is a UK national to be trialed and imprisoned in a different country? If this is not a breach of our human rights, i do not know what else is. As McKinnon's lawyer pointed out, the law was introduced in response to terrorism, not to arrest someone who was simply trying to find out about UFOs. It is extreme, especially given his medical condition. When things like this ...
New power for residents to assess services Published by Hannah Wooderson for 24dash.com in Housing Friday 31st July 2009 – 4:37pm New power for residents to assess services A group of residents in Salford have been appointed to assess housing services on behalf of tenants. The residents have been brought in by Salix Homes, Salford City Council's housing [...]
Promise of 800 new jobs for young people <!–Last Updated – 31st July 2009 at 06:35 PM –> At least 800 new jobs will be created in Salford over the next two years as the whole of Greater Manchester shares in the government's Future Jobs Fund. More than £5 million will be pumped into Salford's economy, creating [...]
Today has been my second 21st birthday. We're spreading the celebrations over several days because I just don't have the energy to do them all at once, but today has been good. A leisurely lie-in reading lovely messages from friends on Twitter and Facebook, and a book about Michael Schumacher. It was particularly fabulous to see that Bob and Anna had stayed up until midnight to specially write on my Facebook wall. I eventually got up and opened my pressies - some books and the Torchwood Children of Earth DVD, but the best one was the voucher for unlimited hugs ...
Many families who help terminally ill loved ones to die will now more than likely be free of prosecution after the Lords' ruling today in the case of Debbie Purdy. In much of the press it is being presented as a landmark ruling, but we should be clear what the exact issue at the heart of the case was and why even an anti-euthanasia Kantian would support the decision. Ms Purdy's case was not that she wanted her husband, Omar, to be granted immunity to help her die. If that had been her case then it would have rightly been ...
He's barely been back in the game 48 hours but already Michael Schumacher has caused controversy in the Formula One World. To be fair, there's not much sign of it in the actual Formula One World, but there's been a huge amount of debate on Twitter today. The reason is that Ferrari, having given Schumacher a run in a 2007 Ferrari, have asked the FIA, with the backing of FOTA, the teams' organisation, to let him have a day's testing in this year's car. This would be an exception to the rules which prohibit in season testing. I'm pretty relaxed ...
Yes, the silly season has started right on cue, with 'mounting speculation' (newspaper code for: 2+ journalists writing the same thing) that the next Labour leader might be none other than Baron Mandelson, of Foy in the County of Herefordshire and of Hartlepool in the County of Durham. This is, of course, utter rubbish, as everyone who's written up the notion has been forced to concede. But IF the impossible were to occur, and Peter Mandelson were to ascend to Number 10, he would do so thanks to one man, Liberal Democrat peer, Lord (Andrew) Phillips of Sudbury. Wikipedia takes ...
Fri 31st
18:37
Cycle hire bays - 'No' to Windmill Row, 'Yes' to Kennington Park Road and Kennington Lane
We have just had confirmation through from Lambeth Council that one of the proposed sites in Oval Ward for a cycle hire docking station, Windmill Row, has been refused planning permission. But the council has said "yes" to two other proposed cycle hire docking stations in the local area - on the public pavements opposite 98-125 Alverstone House and 275 Kennington Lane. We were concerned that Windmill Row just didn't have enough space for the docking station so feel the planners have made the right decision, but we support the other proposed sites as the scheme itself is a good ...
David Cameron's European difficulties have, mercifully for him, rather been buried by the poorly state of the government. Had Cameron's Conservatives been in power I can't help but feel things would have been rather different and they would have received more media attention. However, they aren't and broadly speaking the Conservatives have got away with [...]
I was very disappointed to hear today's news that Gary McKinnon has lost his latest court bid to avoid extradition to the US. I completely agree with Chris Huhne's comments that Mr McKinnon should be tried in a UK court. The BBC News story linked to above has something very interesting in its synopsis of the UK-US extradition treaty that was agreed in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks: US courts have granted about 70% of UK extradition requests, while nearly 90% of US requests have been granted Why is there such an imbalance between the extradition traffic? It feels ...
I landed in Dubai this evening, to find the whole city shrouded in a murky, yellowish mist. It reminds me a bit of the Lancashire fogs in my childhood, only the temperature outside is 40 degrees centigrade, not 40 degrees fahrenheit,and the reduced visibility is not from smoke pollution but from sandstorms which have been afflicting [...]
Over at The Independent, Nick Clegg (under a slightly unfortunately whiny headline not of his creating) puts the case for a televised debate between the leaders of the main political parties. Here's an excerpt: A debate wouldn't advantage a party; it would advantage the people. It would be the voters' opportunity to see the leaders competing to be Prime Minister promoting their policies and answering difficult questions about how they'd change the country. It would bring in a wider audience than leaders could reach otherwise, giving more people the opportunity to make up their own minds based on the facts. ...
Alot of column inches have rightly been occupied by the success of Debbie Purdy in the Law Lords and the implications this now has for the legal status of euthanasia. I think that whichever side of the debate you actually are on there should be agreement that legal clarity on the matter is desirable indeed. The [...]
John Barrett has been a great parliamentarian. He's been the very model of a Lib Dem constituency MP, and he's been justly rewarded with one of the largest majorities in the country. I've served with John on the Scottish Party's Executive for the last year (and a bit), and the thing that struck me about him [...]
Fri 31st
17:15
I'm a scouser who went to Salford university many years ago. I lived on langworthy road. And I have ...
Bad:Langworthy Pub1) Once I was in it and it was blocaded and then set on fire by the local kids2) 'once I was in there and a guy came in and shot the back of the bar with a shot gun (but got a free pint when he ran out) Indian guy from motor spares shot [...]
{boxed-life} I go into a shop. It's brightly lit with smiley, happy staff working behind the tills. I see rows upon rows of what look like cereal boxes, but they're not full of breakfasty goodness. They're full of boxed lives, ready to be picked out and lived. On the left hand side of the shop I can see a lot of red boxes. Some have 'Human Male Life' written on them, others have 'Human Female Life.' You can, apparently, trade in one for the other if you're so inclined, which is nice. Labour brand lives seem fairly comprehensive. Everything you ...
MPs urge action on pensioner poverty The government should ensure the same commitment to eradicating pensioner poverty as to ending child poverty, MPs have said. The Commons work and pensions committee found it "unacceptable" that two million pensioners remain in poverty, 1.1 million of them living on under half of average income. Despite the overall figure [...]
Healey: Councils to be given more control over social housing allocations Published by Jon Land for 24dash.com in Housing Friday 31st July 2009 – 1:46pm Healey: Councils to be given more control over social housing allocations Housing Minister John Healey has today taken steps to give people confidence that councils allocate housing in their area fairly. It forms part [...]
I promise not to go on about trains too often, but I think this photo used on the Traveline Cymru website says all you need to know about how public transport is viewed in Wales. The week after the announcement that Wales is to get its first electrified railway line, it's good to see Traveline Cymru working under the assumption that public transport in Wales means empty, narrow-gauge steam trains, rather than, say, broadband-enabled TGVs. Obviously this is how the public sees it, but you would think that the people charged with getting the public to use the damn things ...
Motorists who drive to work face having to pay a £250 'parking tax' under a scheme to be announced by ministers today. The country's first 'workplace parking levy' will come into force in Nottingham in 2012 and is likely to be adopted by other councils. Councils in Milton Keynes, Exeter, Cambridge and Oxford have expressed [...]
Esther: Blears right not to go Dean Kirby July 30, 2009 PROSPECTIVE MP Esther Rantzen has backed Hazel Blears' decision not to quit Parliament in the wake of the expenses scandal. The TV presenter, who has announced plans to stand on an anti-sleaze ticket at the next general election, backed the under-fire Salford MP on a visit to [...]
Winning candidate Charlie Stewart (third from left) celebrates winning the All Saints by-election with some of his team. In the three principle by-elections held on Thursday 30th July 2009 the Conservatives took a seat off the BNP, Labour and the Lib Dems held a seat each. The Lib Dems held a seat on Cheltenham BC 'All Saints' ward after the sad death of long-serving Liberal Democrat Councillor Tina Franklin in May. After a hard fought campaign in which they delivered a constant flow of leaflets and letters, they canvassed over 50% of the ward with the valuable help from outside ...
UPDATE ON COUNCIL WASTE DISPUTE - 31 July 2009 I am pleased to report that that talks yesterday (30 July 2009) with the trade unions, regarding the waste dispute, were very comprehensive and amicable. The Trade Unions have agreed to further talks with senior officials on Monday. esidents, businesses and visitors should not have to put up with unacceptable cleanliness standards. That is why we have put in place a range of contingency arrangements to tackle the backlog in refuse collection and street cleaning. Summary of contingency measures On Wednesday 29th July, more than 20 private contract staff began night ...
Dear friend, With Parliament now in recess for the rest of the summer, the Social Liberal Forum is gearing up for the conference season. We are also looking to growing our network, especially outside London. But to do that, we need your help. Would you like a speaker for your local party or student group? Would you like to know if there are any other social liberals living near you? Now is the ideal time to get involved. A Fresh Start - what do you think? The Lib Dems' pre-manifesto A Fresh Start for Britain: Choosing A Different, Better Future ...
The linked story is an important one in respect of SBS both in the Family Courts and also the criminal courts.
I've been asked by someone creating a new website to give some advice on what legal and other text they should have on the site. Imprint – obviously. Reference to data protection and, it being a Lib Dem site, being covered by the party's data protection registration for petition data and so on. Also a good idea to write down the moderation policy (note to self: remember to add one to my own blog). But exactly what words to use for the moderation policy? And what else to say? Perhaps in the interests of financial transparency any affiliate links (e.g. ...
The "hacking case" involving Gary McKinnon is taking over the print media and the online media by storm, and rightly bloody so. Unfortunately for all of the wrong reasons because Gary McKinnon has lost his case. If the boot was on the other foot, or the hacker in the other country how different it would be. Can you imagine Barack Obama allowing a US citizen to be dealt with in this manner? No, me neither. Today's decision is a major blow both to Gary McKinnon, his long suffering family and supporters. There has been a succession of Government Ministers over ...
{Mechu Summer Row} Mechu on Summer Row has had its license restricted by the Council following a license review brought about by a resident of Islington Gates. The venue will now only be able to serve alcohol until 1am (Sun-Thurs) or 2am (Fri & Sat), with the venue able to stay open for an additional hour. The license had previously allowed Mechu to stay open until 4am. From the minutes of the meeting: "The Sub-Committee's reasons for imposing these conditions are due to concerns by local residents in relation to noise nuisance and antisocial behaviour." I wrote some time ago ...
You might expect the Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority and the Chair of Transport for London to be a law-abiding, safety-conscious example to the rest of us. Not when it's London Mayor, Boris Johnson. At the recent "People's Question Time" in Croydon, this was his answer to the decline of the traditional English pub: "I have just one idea, if more people rode bicycles and fewer people drove cars you would not have to worry about the drink driving laws and I sincerely believe that. I have absolutely no prohibition about drinking a pint of two of beer and ...
Lib Dem Treasury Spokesman Vince Cable praised the Treasury select committee report into banking regulation reform and said the row between the Conservatives and Labour on the issue was like a "playground punch-up". He said that the row between the Conservatives and Labour over how best to reform regulation was like a "playground punch up", and warned that the Tory plans...
Does anyone still support ID cards? Alan Johnson has managed to unite even more parties against the scheme. The Democratic Unionists are objecting to the pilot version because it doesn't include the Union Jack. Liberal Democrats have always opposed ID cards and in recent years the Conservatives have joined us. So have many Labour rebels. [...]
"You know my name. You people gave me the fucking number." Whether it's John McVicar's prison number, an army number, a tattoo on your forearm or a piece of plastic, there is a tendency of authority to assign some "unique ID" to their "subjects". Sometimes "unique IDs" can be useful - they make database management more efficient - all our students have unique IDs, so do all our staff. Often times people will not know they even have a unique ID on any particular database as it may only be used internally. For example, I have several different account with ...
Following yesterdays court ruling the law on Assisted Suicides is to be reviewed. Wherever you stand on this debate it is crucial the law be clarified.
{gordo_back_then} Debuting on our blog, Matthew Sinclair of the Taxpayers' Alliance highlights new research predicting Labour's legacy of enormous debt, vast unemployment, and general misery... Everyone knows that the public finances are in a mess. Unfortunately, it looks like the Government still aren't facing up to the scale of the crisis. At the time of the Budget, many senior economists criticised their forecasts for being decidedly optimistic. Now new research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research for the TaxPayers' Alliance shows what could happen if things don't work out that well: £2.1-£2.3 trillion in debt by 2017/18 and ...
Results Thursday 30th July 2009Cheltenham BC, All SaintsLD Charlie Stewart 680 (58.2; -0.9) Con 395 (33.8; +0.2) Green 57 (4.9;+0.4) Lab 37 (3.2; +0.3) Majority 285 Turnout 27.1% LD holdPercentage change is since May 2008Broxtowe BC, Brinsley Con 416 (40.9; +40.9) BNP 288 (28.3; -15.7) LD Stuart William Hosker 224(22.0; +22.0) Lab 68 (6.7; -22.9) UKIP 21 (2.1; +2.1) [Others (0.0; -26.5)]Majority
Just downloaded a tune onto my iPhone – at 79p thank you very much – to find I've downloaded the intro only, rather than the whole thing. It's American Dream by Jakatta, by the way. The cost works out at more than a penny per second of music. Grrr . I'll have to find an [...]
Yesterday I noticed that our Mailing List signup page had some issues. It turns out that any details enter on the site were lost in to the ether. Having spent the night ironing out the bugs it looks like everything is now working. So if you wish to get our daily roundup, or the Golden Dozen to your inbox please signup again.
Yes yes, you know the score. Total Politics are running this poll and you must, to enter, submit your top 10 blogs by MIDNIGHT TONIGHT Go on, vote for us, you know you want to. For your vote to be valid you must list a full ten blogs, in numerical order. Send entries to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com Rumours that Ziggy has voted Liberal Vision as Number 1 have yet to be confirmed.
Face big lie of war and withdraw our soldiers By Paul Routledge 24/07/2009 IT was the biggest story of the week, yet it rated only a couple of paragraphs in most newspapers and none at all in some. No, not swine flu, but the downgrading of the terror threat to Britain from "severe" to [...]
Fri 31st
12:36£215m for ID card no one wants more new labour follies, LABOURS data base state or orwells vis...
By Bob Roberts 31/07/2009 National Identity Card (Pic:PA) Britain's new ID card was unveiled yesterday – and branded a total waste of money. A poll showed just 10% of people want one, despite an estimated £215million already being spent on the voluntary scheme. The total cost, including biometric passports and database, is predicted to soar to £5billion [...]
Mum stood by as junkie thug battered defenceless Joshua, 2, to death By matt Blake 31/07/2009 A thug was yesterday found guilty of beating his lover's two-year-old son to death – while she was convicted of turning a blind eye. Joshua Jones died at the home of Nicola Bowman and drug user Wayne Davenport in November [...]
Those of you who follow Caroline Pidgeon's radio spots may have heard her on LBC 97.3 the other evening (around 715PM) discussing transport in London - if you did, you may have heard me as the 2nd contributor to the show after her spot, defending the LibDem response to Boris's transport policy document (you have [...]
Earlier this month, LDV took a road trip to Bristol to see Banksy – which, if you can stand the two hour queue, is definitely worth seeing. While we were there we met up with Stephen Williams MP and councillors and campaigners working for Bristol. Yesterday we brought you the interview with Stephen Williams; today's podcast is a discussion with three councillors from the authority: Cllr Jon Rogers, transport and sustainability supremo with a twitter and e-campaigning twist; Cllr Anthony Negus, now enjoying his second month as a councillor, but many more years as a Lib Dem campaigner, and Cllr ...
As the tawdry goings on in Westminster begin to recede into the distance, it is nice to know that we are not the only country afflicted with corrupt politicians. According to CNBC news, "Germany's Social Democrat health minister [Ulla Schmidt] came under pressure on Sunday to explain why she took her official limousine, complete with chauffeur, on holiday to Spain where the vehicle was stolen." That's going to take some explaining! It would be easy at this point to make some easy philosophical point about the fact that the political system lends itself to corruption, and how taxpayers' money being ...
From the London Assembly Liberal Democrats news pages Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson at City Hall and Chair of the Assembly's Transport Committee today published a response to the Mayor's Statement of Intent on transport. Commenting Caroline said: "Londoners are looking for cleaner, greener and cheaper solutions on transport in London. The key transport challenges for [...]
Is it only me, or has anyone else had problems with accessing http://www.libdemvoice.org/ today? Trying to get an article from the site, and the site is off-line........
When swine flu first struck the British government proudly told people we were the second best prepared country in the world (France is the best) to cope with a pandemic. I listed HERE how much the government got wrong with swine flu, but it seems they are continuing to cock up time and time again. We read this week that the flu hotline is only staffed at 25% of the levels that will be required for the second bigger wave of infection, with the government having no plans in place to provide for extra staffing. Then we read that the ...
As someone who works for, and us a user of the public transport in London, it frustrates me that every weekend we are faced with a myriad of line closures and part-suspensions for essential repairs, upgrades and maintenance - the net result is travel chaos and confusion, which is bad enough for those of use [...]
It's Milton Friedman 's birthday today!! Happy Birthday - from the Liberal Vision team!! ^_^
Lib Dem Voice has covered before the growing embarrassment to the Tories of David Cameron's decision to withdraw his party from the centre-right grouping in the European Parliament, the EPP, and to establish a new right-wing grouping with an eccentric, ragbag group of Euro MPs. This came to a head last month, when Edward McMillan-Scott, a former leader of the Tory party in the European Parliament, was expelled for standing against a Polish MEP, Michal Kaminski, for the post of Vice-President of the European Parliament – Mr Kaminski was subsequently elected leader of the Tories' new Euro grouping. And now ...
Cheltenham BC, All Saints Broxtowe BC, Brinsley Tameside MBC, Denton North East
As we approach the political blog awards season, with most notably the Total Politics blog awards but also the Liberal Democrat blog of the year awards, there is often criticism from some that the same old (Tory) faces dominate lists of "top" blogs. The Liberal Democrat blog of the year awards (which came from an idea I originally had and which I've helped run in previous years) deliberately attempt to deal with this by (a) being LibDem (though there is one category for non-LibDems) and (b) adding the previous year's blog of the year winner to the judging panel, so ...
Steve Richards comments brilliantly on the prospects of a televised leaders' debate in the General Election campaign here. His conclusion is that it would be froth and anti-climax and it would completely distort the election campaign. My only criticism of this article is that he rather foolishly assumes that the next election campaign will be fought on policies, rather than photocalls, killer quotes and what Peter Mandelson is up to. A tad naïve there, Steve, but otherwise an excellent piece.
A review, published in the journal Conservation Biology, shows that human activity in one way shape or form is driving species to extinction in the Southern Hemisphere. Richard Kingsford, at the University of New South Wales says, "Much of it [natural ...
He was the last of his generation and in my opinion a truly great man. May he rest in peace.
I've heard a rumour from a usually reliable source that Ealing Council's Chief Executive, Darra Singh, is resigning to take up a new post running Job Centre Plus. Darra has been a very effective Chief Executive. Everyone agrees that he represented a vast improvement on his predecessor. It makes sense that a high flyer like Darra would get a high profile national job like this. This will be a blow for Ealing's Tory administration as they will find it difficult to find someone else with Darra's skills.
Welcome to this, the final summer edition of LDV's Daily View – the feature will return again at the beginning of September, as will the various members of the LDV editorial collective. 2 Big Stories Treasury select committee slams Government's "largely cosmetic" banking reform plans Here's what the BBC has to say: The government's plans for reforming the regulation of banks are "largely cosmetic" and "lack clarity", MPs in the Treasury Select Committee say. In its report on the banking crisis, the committee says that responsibility for strategic decisions and action remains "a muddle". The report also says that the ...
Very sad news that former England Manager, Sir Bobby Robson has died. The Times reports that it is believed that Sir Bobby passed away in his sleep. He has been battling cancer for some time. This was his fifth diagnosis. As well as taking England to the World Cup semi-final in 1990 Robson also managed Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven, PC Porto and Newcastle United. He was voted European manager of the year in 1997. He was a giant in the world of football and will be greatly missed.
It seems the Prime Minister is the only person left in the country who thinks there shouldn't be a televised debate between party leaders at the next general election. It would be an opportunity for transparency, to reinvigorate political debate, and to put party manifestos and leaders up against one another in a fair competition. Gordon Brown says there's no need for...
Home Office Minister David Hanson came to South Wales yesterday and claimed that South Wales Police was properly funded. This is contrary to the view of the Police Authority and the Chief Constable, who have instigated drastic measures to balance their budget. Chief Constable, Barbara Wilding wanted a 9.89% rise in direct cash from taxpayers. Earlier this year she blasted the Home Office, claiming her force faced a funding crisis. She then scrapped routine M4 police patrols, blaming a lack of money. Last week, Welsh Liberal Democrat MP Jenny Willott pointed out that South Wales Police officer numbers fell by ...
Frankly, the row over the fact that ID cards will not feature the Union Jack leaves me cold. We are told that the decision has been taken because of fears that it may upset members of the nationalist community in Northern Ireland. The cards will instead carry the Royal coat of arms along with images of a shamrock, a thistle, a rose and a daffodil to represent the four countries that make up the UK. In many ways it is an irrelevant storm in a teacup. What is most worrying about these ID cards is not what symbols will be ...
Two Labour Councillors resigned from their group on Swansea Council last night and have announced their intention to sit as non-aligned members. At the same time tensions within the Labour Group surfaced during the Council meeting with the opposition leader at one point interrupting his speech to bellow the words 'shut up' at his own backbenchers. The South Wales Evening Post points out that thirteen years ago 57 of the 72 Councillors on the newly formed City and County of Swansea represented the Labour Party. Today that number has fallen to 28. They say that 'Labour have often poked fun ...
The Hockley Street premises formerly occupied by the TRMNL nightclub is now available for lease from commercial property agency Fleurets. It's interesting to note the board advertises the premises as a "bar/restaurant", not as a building suitable for a nightclub! I'll keep a close eye on what happens with this building and if any planning or licensing applications are submitted, I'll do my best to keep all local residents that were affected by TRMNL updated. The previous tenants did restore much of the inside of this building and I'm keen to see it put to good use. Any budding entrepreneurs ...
Commenting on Sir John Chilcot's announcement on the terms of reference for the Iraq war inquiry, Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats said: "It is essential that this inquiry has the teeth it needs to get the job done. The Government must not be able to interfere to keep Blair and Brown out of the spotlight for the sake of political convenience in the run-up to an...
The Guardian has published probably the least well informed op-ed that I have ever read in a British broadsheet newspaper. Writing via my phone, I can't put a neat link in but you'll find it here: Mark Lawson contends that the UK Supreme Court, candidate debates and primaries are "a craven nod" to America by British politicians [...]
Cross-posted from the Mandate blog: Yesterday I went to the Contertainment debate, chaired by Campaign's Colin Marrs, about the future of 30 second TV adverts. The general theme of most of the presenters was that technology allows all sorts of exciting interactivity, which makes 30 second TV adverts seem stale and boring by comparison. Although they demonstrated some very impressive ideas and technology, there is a lot of merit in the view however, as I pointed out in a question, that there are lots of examples of the public preferring non-interactive options. For example, it is decades now since books ...
As today is the last day of voting, just a quick reminder that if you haven't already done so it's time to vote for your top ten favourite blogs of 2009. Oh and if you see fit to include my blog in your top ten that would be splendid! Rules: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 ...
RT @libdemvoice: New blog post: Is this the cheekiest piece of newspaper reporting this week? http://libdemvoice.org/15727 # @krishgm In case you don't know - hitting T takes you to the top (ie most recent tweet) in reply to krishgm # EngagementDB: "When you walk into any Starbucks location, you enter the ultimate of social spaces". "Ultimate"? Really? http://bit.ly/5PFTp # Amused that Google only coming out third in this search result http://bit.ly/ZS3sP # @CamdenJo If you have any surplus which needs safely disposinh of... in reply to CamdenJo # @andyreeves If you have any surplus which needs safely disposing of... in ...
It's taken a while but we are now in the second year of having the donkeys back at Whitestone Pond - and to considerable acclaim from local children. I'm pictured here with Cllr Flick Rea (Culture and Tourism at Camden) and it's the repeat of last year. The festival on Whitestone Pond is a nice little collaboration between Camden and the City of London and part of a programme that will see the area round the pond get a whole refurbishment later this yeat (and not before time!). Until then - it's me, Josh, Chalie and Flick :-)
Today may well be a happy day for me following last night's joyous news of the salvation of Livingston football club. But at the same time my heart is going out to the Hearts fans who find themselves next in the crosshairs of a creditor, in their case the HM Revenue and Customs. Hearts fans have been concerned during the current financial and banking crisis as their owner Vladimir Romanov's fortune is based primarily on the fortunes of Lithuanian bank Ūkio Bankas. From as long ago as the Iceland banking crisis fans of the Gorgie club have looking anxiously at ...
At Midnight tonight the voting will finally be over and we'll all (with a few noticeable exceptions) be waiting in suspense for the results. Yes the voting phase of the Total Politics Best Blogs Poll is drawing to a close. One of my own original draft top ten gave their reasons for why thy pulled out of the voting here. Personally having known that in the first year when I did feature that Iain Dale drew the conclusions himself and in the second year when experts in each field did much the same thing that the current system for an ...
I note that the Tory PPC has a `magazine` out in Edinburgh South – probably with Ashcroft money – who knows? He's hoping to leapfrog us to oust out Nigel Griffiths. It's time we stopped shilly-shallying around and started to smartly attack the Tories asking `where's the meat?` Anyone can walk around pointing at things without saying [...]
... and the planning of gardening (my seed potatoes came today! And also I have planted some of these, because what more appropriate flower could there be for our garden?) and work... today, I are bin mostly making these. They should be just about ready for my birthday. :D Hope you are all well. I should be back to normal soon; I actually have some days off coming up! Imagine the luxury! Also, lots of unread emails and unreplied-to comments to sort out, but I will get to them, I swear. This blog is proudly sponsored by
