A report by the Care Quality Commission in July criticised West London Mental Health NHS Trust for 'failing to tackle a series of shortcomings'. Broadmoor high security hospital is home to 260 patients, which include the Yorkshire Ripper and Stockwell Strangler. Eight of its residents have killed themselves in the last eight years. One reason for Broadmoors high suicide rate is opportunities that patients have to hang themselves as Broadmore still has window bars. Broadmoor is a listed building which means that it currently can not remove curtain rails and hooks and window bars. The other reasons stated by the ...
As many of you may be aware, Sky News has sent an invitation to each of the leaders of the three main parties to have a live debate on national television. David Cameron has accepted, and both Clegg and Brown have not yet replied. Cameron says "The case for a televised debate is compelling: it would engage the public, help answer their questions, and bring a General Election alive.", and I have to say I agree with him, but having it on Sky may restrict the audience slightly. Gordon Brown has little to lose, so taking part in this debate ...
I really don't understand why a fall in consumer debt has been attributed as a bad thing. Well I do. It is because we live in a consumer driven society that believes success is managed by how much people spend. But we need to step back and really think what has happened. People are starting to get more control over their debt. At least ordinary people, if banks aren't going to, have realised that they need to be more careful with their budgets, and that the time of constant spending is well and truly over. McFall in response to the ...
Mostly shoes. Tuesday is, after all, shoesday. But also Ian's car. Know anyone who wants a car? Or some flip-flops or trainers or boots - some are Holly's and some are mine. Click here. Please tell all your friends also, for I am skint and need to pay for a room at conference. For those of you who have no money and can't face windowshopping, but still want something to click, here is an exciting Evolutionary Psychology Bingo Card, with a hat-tip to Ben Goldacre. This blog is proudly sponsored by
How wonderful to see Sir Nicholas on the news today looking as fit as a fiddle although he's a hundred years old. Seventy years ago he saved 669 children by organising their transfer from the then Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia to Britain. Before all that, he had to arrange official permits for their departure, secure their reception by British families, and to deposit bail. All this as a thirty-year-old, when asked why he did it he replied, "because no-one else was". I first came across his story at the cinema in Olomouc a decade back when I went ...
A great new campaign was launched today to persuade everyone in Britain to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 10% in 2010. It's called 10 in 10 and it's the brainchild of Franny Armstrong, the director of the climate change film, "The Age of Stupid". The launch was like a modern Noah's Ark with ten of everything signing up. I've been working on getting councils to sign up to 10:10. It hasn't been easy. August simply isn't a good month for asking local authorities to make such dramatic commitments! But I'm delighted to say that nine councils have now pledged ...
The Yehudi Menuhin room at the European Parliament in Brussels was packed to the gills this evening, for a reception hosted by the Parliament Magazine (the EU equivalent of the UK's House Magazine), to celebrate Sweden's six-month EU presidency. That presidency actually began on 1 July, but continental Europe has effectively been asleep for the ...
Tue 1st
22:23
Portsmouth Council rejoices at discovery staff only spending 11 seconds a day on Facebook
There has been widespread praise for Portsmouth Council after it was discovered that on average its staff only spend 11 seconds a day using Facebook. Despite the huge growth in the number of people using Facebook and the growing number of hours spent on the site by its users, Portsmouth Council staff are barely using the site. It may even be that much of this time is spent outside of work hours. [Ed.: Stop! That's not how these stories are meant to be written. Rewind. Add all the numbers up to make it sound as big as possible. Rewrite. And ...
Just a very quick one here – I had an insomniac night last night, and a long work day, so I can barely see the screen. Here's some links... For those of you who are reading my Hyperpost series, Pillock has a response, on Crisis On Infinite Earths, which you need to read... Tim at the Hurting ...
Over at the BBC their Welsh Affairs Editor, Vaughan Roderick speculates as to whether Rhodri Morgan plans to stand down as promised on his seventieth birthday (translation here): Now if Rhodri wanted to keep to his exact words then the leadership election would already be underway in order for him to stand down on the same day as his birthday. As that is not happening we can take it that it's more likely to be closer to Christmas before the new leader gets to put his feet under the table. That means the important decisions concerning the government's 2010-2011 budget ...
Anna Raccoon has written a thoughtful piece about the web, freedom and human behaviour. It is well worth a read.
In a rather sad way, I take my old papers in plastic bags when I travel and catch up with them. Hence I saw in last Friday's Independent a letter from Westminster's own Cllr Danny Chalkley (Con) defending the use of CCTV that could have come straight from the Home Office. Cllr Chalkley makes a comment ...
... We'd say a big thank you to the 19,655 'absolute unique visitors'* who read Liberal Democrat Voice in August. This is our lowest readership figure of the year to date, down a notch on last month's 22,000 – not surprising in a holiday month and when genuinely exciting political news is scarce. For the record, August's 20k is still more than 50% up compared with the same month last year (13k). This brings our absolute unique visitor readership for the last year to date (1 Sept 2008 - 31 Aug 2009) to 299,315, more than double the equivalent figure ...
So said Bob Monkhouse of Simon Dee, long before the latter passed away. Well, I'll correct that. "Simon Dee" died about 39 years ago. It is perhaps more correct to record that Nicholas Henty-Dodd (known, apparently, as "Nicky" to his family and friends) recently, sadly, died. I understand that the media are reporting the man's demise accurately within the gambit of his achievements in public life. But, really, it is, in a sense, ridiculous to get all that Simon Dee "Icarus" nonsense all over again. The man lived for 77 years. For 8 per cent of that time - 6 ...
Walking away from nature discusses how technology may deal with many of the problems facing people but it asks, at what price? I should declare an interest, it is written by a friend of mine. My view is that what makes us what we are will always be there but it is adaptable. We will still like to walk in the countryside and look at animals, even if they are genetically modified.
Last week I posted a blog on 'progressive conservatism'. The post partly explored whether Conservatives was progressive by tracing the pary's history. This weekend saw the launch of this video by the party: And just for political balance, here is Go Fourth's response: Sadly, I couldn't find a Lib Dem one so not complete balance. Anyway, here are two versions of history and the viewer can decide.
Whilst many are celebrating their success in the published top 75 Lib Dem blogs list in 'Total Politics', I am struck by the evident transience of the blogosphere. Given that the list has been extended from last year's fifty, it comes as something of a surprise to see that nineteen blogs, i.e. 38% of the 2008 list, have dropped so far as to be outside the top 75 this time. Indeed, five of the top twenty are gone, so these were blogs with quite a lot of support. Here at 'Liberal Bureaucracy', we're not getting terribly excited at our thirty-fifth ...
Ruby Wax once said to someone who described one of her on-screen habits: "I think you are confusing me with my act". Sometimes I wonder whether we are hearing from Jeremy Clarkson the man, or "Jeremy Clarkson" the act. Why, for example, did he have to open his mouth about the concept of a female Top Gear presenter being a "disaster"? Wants a bit more publicity does he? Book coming out, maybe? He says: If a girl came in and we started taking the piss out of her it may look like bullying. What planet is he living on? He's ...
Just when you begin to think that this Government has reached rock bottom, they manage to find just that little bit extra. One might almost compare this administration to a beached squid, desperately thrashing the air with its tentacles in an attempt to find a purchase. This week, the tentacle marked 'tough on the poor' has attempted to find its mark, with a proposal to end the arrangement where claimants who negotiate a rent which is less than the level of housing benefit can keep the difference up to £15 per week. Yes, it does mean that £150 million of ...
While dear old Irfan seems to have disappeared up his own exhaust pipe on the issue, Caron's Musings continues to provide an excellent commentary on the Al Meghari episode. It is utter nonsense to suggest that Al Meghari was "set free for oil". The Prisoner Transfer Agreement was what it says on the tin. A Prisoner transfer agreement. Al Meghari would have been transferred to a Libyan jail under its terms. Not set free. And, in any case, as Caron points out, the application for transfer under that agreement was rejected by Kenny MacAskill. I really am sick of this ...
We tend not to be too poll-obsessed here at LDV - of course we look at them, as do all other politico-geeks, but viewed in isolation no one poll will tell you very much beyond what you want to read into it. Looked at over a reasonable time-span and, if there are enough polls, you can see some trends. Here, in chronological order, are the results of the six polls published in August: Tories 43%, Labour 26%, Lib Dems 19% - ICM/S. Mirror (16th August 2009) Tories 42%, Labour 28%, Lib Dems 18% - YouGov/S. Times (16th August) Tories 41%, ...
England have played 21 Twenty20 matches and used 47 players in the course of them. Thanks to this evening's Guardian over-by-over commentary.
While generally admiring the man as an excellent LIbDem MP, I have long been rather perplexed by some statements by Nick Harvey. His role as spokesperson for the Commons Commission has often led to him defending rather uncomfortable positions. Defending what many see as House of Commons profligacy is a case in point. Now, Liberal Democrat Voice draws attention to Nick Harvey's statement, concerning MPs' second homes, to the Committee on Standards in Public Life. In summary, as the LDV headline puts it, Nick Harvey says that 'MPs should be able to profit from second homes'. This leads me to ...
Last month I predicted August would be a quiet month here on Freedom Central. Frankly I should know better than to make predictions because precisely the opposite has happened – traffic has gone up. For the first time this month we got more than 5000 hits, almost making it to 6000, we doubled the number of visitors from 1000 to 2000 with our most popular posts being around culture policy and credit unions. Although a large number of you today seem to be interested in Plaid supporters tipping pints over Labour ones at Mardi Gras. It's been great to have ...
Clicking the link below brings an interesting response! No one can now say that they don't know what people are saying in the House of Commons, because speeches back to 1935 are now available online. We Shall Fight Them on The Beaches
Interesting article in the Daily Telegraph; "Demand for power from homes and businesses will exceed supply from the national grid within eight years, according to official figures. The shortage of supplies will hit the equivalent of many as 16 million families for at least one hour during the year, it is forecast." Both Iain Dale and the Economist ...
I did intend to write a less controversial article after my previous contribution attracted far more attention and comments than I expected it to. Knowing that what I'm writing about now falls onto a similar strand of sensitivity, I expect I'll fail miserably. When I arrived at Surrey in 2002 to study, we were told it was the safest county in the country. Indeed, this was one of the attractions of studying there, as well as the very beautiful and leafy campus in one of the most unspoilt but bustling southern towns in the country. However, the A3 ran through ...
I was right about the Megrahi release, if you want evidence that the whole act was masterminded by Jack Straw and was a decision made in London, then head over to Guido's blog. I was right so the critics can go back to their little holes and find someone else to attack with low blows. I had a feeling that Megrahi was released on a decision made in London, and it has appeared to be true. Megrahi was part of an oil deal, and dying with pride had nothing to do with it...
"Seventy years ago today the German invasion of Poland opened up the most tragic chapter in European history". "The war unleashed by Germany resulted in immeasurable suffering to many peoples, years of deprivation of rights, of humiliation, and of ...
Thanks to what must have been barely one person who nominated me for the Total Politics Top Blogs – Lib Dem category. [IMG: Lib Dem Blogs Top 75] I have spent nearly five minutes trying to find the lists from previous years. Back in the day, I was very highly rated – I think when Mr Dale was still doing it personally, I was something like #2 on the list. So I was a little surprised to see that apparently I was not listed last year. Oh well. It is true that I have not written as much this year ...
We were all delighted that England won the Ashes back at The Oval. But Lambeth Labour have been 'caught out' over their claims that the council's parking policy is fair.Lib Dem Councillor Andrew Sawdon has revealed that the Labour council continued to enforce a parking ban around The Oval on the Monday - the day AFTER The Ashes had been won.Of course, had the Test continued for another day the parking ban would have been needed. But Labour run Lambeth should have lifted the parking suspension first thing on Monday morning once they had news of the England victory. It's ...
Earlier this afternoon, Jonathan Calder unearthed video footage from the first blog awards in 2006, which reminds me that I should plug the still-available recordings of our awards ceremonies in 2008. Tucked away in our "Podcasts" category are audio recordings of the full round of speeches for 2008 Blog of the Year in which Alix Mortimer was crowned. And still free-to-hear from this site is the taping of the apparently-one-and-only CGB Blogger Awards from March 2008. There's still three days remaining to nominate people for this year's round of Blog of the Year Awards so feel free to nominate away. ...
The Scottish Government and the UK Justice Ministry have been releasing documents relating to the release of Abdelbasset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, the Lockerbie Bomber. The Sunday Times this week suggested that the UK Government went back on a commitment to the Scottish Government that it would attempt to obtain an exclusion from the proposed Prisoner Transfer Agreement for Al Megrahi, so that there would be no obligation for him to be returned to serve his sentence in Libya. This they did in what they said was the national interest, ie lots of money for BP for oil exploration in ...
Keech Cottage Children's Hospice is a thoroughly worthy cause. I have seen in my own family the comfort hospices bring to the dying and the bereaved. They depend so much on volunteer fundraising. Wendy Berriman in Bricket Wood has for several years organised an annual garden party to raise money for Keech Cottage. This year's event raised over £2,000, the sunshine was glorious, and at its peak over 100 lunches were being consumed round Wendy's Oakwood Road house and garden. But this year's entertaining twist was that Wendy had seen The Calendar Girls about members of the WI stripping off ...
I have climbing chalk under my fingernails, and my arms ache like buggery, and I smell like a yak has been nesting in my armpits. Yup, daddy and I went climbing for the first time since [IMG: [info - personal] ] matgb moved in with me, and it was fab. I am a very happy bunny right now. Will definitely be going again next week. Secondly, those of you who have been wanting a proper logo to link to your position in the Total Bollocks Botties can feel free to use this one, what I made: Simply copy this code:<a ...
So Nick Harvey thinks that MPs should benefit from their taxpayer-funded second homes going against the party line set out by Nick Clegg. Yet again a politician appears to see being a MP as a way to earn a quick buck.I have no problem with the tax payer providing the second homes allowance to MPs who are unable to commute daily from their home. However, I do disagree with Nick Harvey that MPs
In many ways the Second World War lasted longer than our standard -UK-centred dating suggests. From 1937 to perhaps 1952. Or maybe the 'World War' was actually shorter than the European phase? If you count continuous conflict involving core belligerents, the war stared in July 1937 when Japan attacked China. The slide to European participation came with the annexation of part of Lithuania by Nazi Germany in January 1939 and the Hitler-Stalin pact which regulated the partition of middle Europe between the major dictatorships. Britain conventionally dates the Second World War from 3 September, when Our Empire declared war on ...
Congratulations to Liberal Vision for entering the Liberal Democrat Blog Charts at 6. I've really enjoyed them for the last month, despite agreeing only 50% of the time. This letter is part of a fightback for the finance industry: To begin with, the crisis confirms the importance of the financial sector to the overall economy, and the need for capable practitioners. In addition, more efficient capital mobilisation and price discovery, and more liquid financial markets, confer enormous benefits to the economy. These benefits, which are spread out over time among millions of consumers, are less directly observable than the financial ...
Good to hear a European Commissioner hitting back hard against those in Germany, the UK and elsewhere who have discovered a great love for the incandescent light bulb, the sale of which is now being phased out. "Romantic nonsense," Gunther Verheugen told the Parliament's environment committee on Tuesday (1 Sept). Mindful of how much energy the old bulbs waste, the Enterprise Commissioner and friend of industry told MEPs: "we cannot keep saying that we need change if we then resist all change." "I am not going to be swayed by 'bulb hysteria'." Good stuff. Let's hear the same from the ...
Why are only the women wearing pants? Source
Caron Lindsay has posted a breakdown of the Total Politics top 75 Lib Dem blogs by gender: I'm really impressed with both the quality and number of our women bloggers too. We have 3 in the top 10, 5 in the top 20, 7 in the top 30. We have women out there writing excellent, thought provoking blogs.That's a lot better than the Tories can manage - according to Caron only three of their top 100 blogs are written by women - but my impression was that we were now closer to gender equality than that. All of which raises ...
Cross-posted from Dave Press, where I did a guest slot last week: It is pretty rare these days to find a councillor who doesn't use the internet, at least occasionally. However, in part because the average age of councillors means that the vast majority are not 'internet natives', that often does not amount to much more than frequent use of email, a familiarity with the basics of searching on Google and not that much else. So in an attempt to help close the gap, here are my top ten tips for councillors. Any list like this is bound to exclude ...
Another shot of the swing bridge over the Nene at Sutton Bridge. As ever, click to expand it.
As this is a new month I've been very busy getting month ending stats complied the day after doing all the week ending one. So I only got to glance at the Total Politics Top 75 Lib Dem Blogs at 10:46, despite knowing they would be appearing at 9 a.m. As people usually tend to have a habit of only listing the top 10 if they bother doing a list I have yet again found myself in the position of maid of honour, chief bridesmaid at number Eleven. What I do find surprising in that Caron is also in the ...
Thanks to all of you who completely ignored my blog in Mrs Dale's annual raffiawork contest; bad scran to the lot of you. While I'm at a disadvantage here, having only gone (sort-of) public again four months ago, not being particularly Tory-friendly/economic-libertarian and using a platform that's been somewhat derided by more "serious" bloggers, I at least feel I'm putting together something a damned sight more readable than some on that list no matter whether you agree with my politics or not. If nothing else the amount of comments I receive shows my readership is at least loyal. But there ...
Jono and Aaron very kindly contributed their shared view that activities likely to attract an ASBO didn't actually have to be illegal, a concept that genuinely troubles me. So I thought that I ought to do some research. The Law and Parents website has this to say about ASBOs. Now it appears to me that this list, whilst not complete, includes actions which are criminal, and I find it bizarre in the extreme that an administration so keen to pursue the 'War on Drugs' is, at the same time, saying to people that dealing in drugs may attract an ASBO. ...
The Gravelly-Voiced Sex Pot asked me today if my bottom's official internet fanclub had a proper website. Of course, it hasn't, since the club is just a loose and liberal coalition of people who appreciate my butt. However, in deference to the need for a point of congregation I have created a DW community. Please feel free to apply to join [IMG: [info - community] ] a_r_s_e if you with to ogle my (clothed) behind. This blog is proudly sponsored by
Thought that'd get your attention! I'm actually talking Clarissa Dickson-Wright who along with racehorse trainer Sir Mark Prescott has pleaded guilty to attending hare coursing events. I remember a few years back hearing the news on the radio that she had defected from the LibDems to the Tories to which my instant reaction was: "She was in the LibDems?!?!?!?!" I hardly thought it was a great blow to the cause at the time. Seriously, did anyone know she was a member before she left? I do wonder about some people and the parties they join, I mean how does one ...
While we wait for the shortlists for this year's Awards to be announced, let's look back to the innocent days of 2006 and the first ceremony. This is the speech Alex Wilcock gave at the reception. I thought it was good at the time - and not just because he was nice about this this blog - and I have just found it on Youtube.
The south-west's Western Morning News has the report: A WESTCOUNTRY MP has told an official inquiry into the Parliamentary expenses scandal that politicians should be able to profit from their taxpayer-funded second homes. North Devon Lib-Dem MP Nick Harvey made the case in a six-page letter to the Committee on Standards in Public Life which has received more than 700 submissions. Mr Harvey, who claimed up to £1,250 a month mortgage interest for his house in London, argued: "If making a capital gain is seen by some as a 'crime', then it is a 'victimless crime' because it does not ...
I was blissfully unaware that that Total Politics were doing a poll of Lib Dem blogs and therefore was a little gobsmacked to see that the Birkdale Focus came in at No. 39 after 1500 people voted. Congratulations to Charlotte Gore who topped the poll, also in the top ten were the excellent Liberal England and Mark Reckons who was no doubt boosted by his Radio 4 appearance to discuss his statistical analysis of the MPs expenses debacle. In the Top 75 were The Disgruntled Radical up from 45 last year to 42, Nick Clegg's blog was at 45 and ...
I'll (might) be posting something more about this later (I lost a bet), but in the meantime here's the list of Top 50 Lib Dem blogs, as voted for by 1500 crazy people (crazy people with good taste!). The full list is on The Voice. Congratulations to the many varied, wonderful and interesting blogs that made this list, especially Mr Quist and Mr Thompson who, I've absolutely no doubt, will thrash me next year - although considering how these things seem to work, there's going to be a few brand new blogs that are going to make us look like ...
Just a small note of smug self-satisfaction over the issue, raised by the Lib Dems and pursued by Frank Field, that housing benefit claimants will no longer be able to find cheap property and pocket the difference. Well, it was reported first here, on 23rd April, when I wrote: Next a change to the Local Housing Allowance. Introduced last year, the aim was to help poorer people pay rent to private landlords. The big deal, as I understand it, was that everyone who claimed it got the same amount of money. If you chose to rent a cheap room, you ...
In his book Reality Check, published last October, American entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki wrote about the ingredients for Silicon Valley's success in nurturing new firms: If your companies have to compete with conglomerates or banks like Goldman Sachs throwing money at people, it's going to be hard to get anyone for a startup. Pity the startups in New York, London and Singapore. Come to think of it, how many tech success stories have come from these cities? Although he doesn't directly address the impact of the credit crunch, the implication is that there is a silver lining to the City's current ...
Happy 40th birthday, Internet :D Here is your present: Fresh Squeezings from the veins of the internet!I haven't commented on the release of the Lockerbie bomber, and I'm not going to. Why would I, when my artist friend Paul Mudie has said everything that I would like to have said, but in far more measured and enlightened tones than I could have managed. Go and read his post on the matter. It's very good. Everybody point and laugh at the clueless EvPsych idiot! Scientific method motherfucker, let me show you it. LOL. See also this post on feminist SF. Hardcore ...
The BBC is running a choose your favourite poet since Shakespeare event and the deadline is noon today. How can I possibly choose my favourite poet? It's like being asked to choose my favourite child. Impossible! I've been reminding myself by looking along my bookshelves and that's just made it all the more difficult. I've whittled it down to these, omitting any before Shakespeare: Metaphysical poets George Herbert, Andrew Marvell and John Donne Wordsworth (supposedly the first poet to write in the cadences of the spoken word, especially those of the Cumbrian dialects) Gerared Manley Hopkins (Victorian, but very modern ...
I think Lesbian and Gay rights are pretty mainstream in this country now though of course there's still some way to go witness the petition on the DELGA stall (requesting CPs for opposite sex relationships as well as marriages for same sex ones AND asking for the same rules across the EU). Great to see ...
Iain Dale has posted the list of the Top 75 Lib Dem Blogs and as ever this blog is featured on the list, although I didn't get the top spot that Charlotte Gore took at least I improved by my last year ranking. The last time Iain Dale ran the list this blog got 39th spot now this blog has got the 20th spot which isn't bad. I personally am surprised as I beat some big names including Willie Ronnie MP, Chris Davies MEP, Jonathan Fryer, John Hemming MP and not to forget the leader of the Lib Dems Nick ...
This article in today's Western Mail makes two key points that need to be noted. Firstly, the lack of affordable housing in rural areas has wider implications than forcing young couples and others to seek accomodation elsewhere. It can lead to the loss of important facilities such as the village primary school as well. Secondly, those who say that England have more effective policies on closing rural schools should take note. According to the figures in this article rural schools are just as likely to close over the border as they are here. Government rules to take account of the ...
Total Politics have released their results for the UK's top LD blogs, with newcomers Liberal Vision (that'll be us) in at number 6. Hip. Hip. Hoooray! Many thanks to all our voters, and congratulations to Charlotte Gore who has achieved the remarkable feat of ousting Lib Dem Voice as the top LD blog in the land. Other (more successful) newcomers in the top 10 include Costigan Quist and Mark Reckons. Very well done to both.
A couple of weeks ago, Matt Staggs suggested a new SF movement which he dubbed Greenpunk (it was also discussed on IO9) which would be: a technophilic spec-fic movement centered on characters using and being affected by the use of DIY renewable resources, recycling and repurposing. GreenPunk would emphasize the ability of the individual - and his or her responsibility - for positive ecological and social change. It's an interesting idea, though one I doubt will achieve much success beyond a niche, partly because genres tend not to be very successful when someone defines them, then waits for the stories ...
I was delighted to hear this weekend that the recession is over. As someone who launched a new company at the peak of the global economic meltdown, I am looking forward to seeing what business will be like as the world gets back to normal. I thought now might be a good time to reflect on a first few months trading through a downturn. As I suspected when I set up Gauge Opinion Ltd., the public sector has kept on spending and I been fortunate enough to have work from a handful of local authority and quango type clients. I ...
So, the moment we narcissistic Lib Dem bloggers have been waiting for has arrived - the Total Politics Top 75 Lib Dem Blogs list has been published. Many congratulations to Charlotte Gore who may or may not have witchery in her DNA and, rumour has it, a singing style that makes her like a female Liam Gallagher. Charlotte and I might well be at opposite ends of the Liberal Democrat spectrum, but I appreciate her sharp originality. I may not always agree with what she writes, but I like her style and it's great to see her top the poll. ...
We are entering the period when the events surrounding the outbreak of WW2 are back in the public domain. The Imperial War Museum have just opened a new exhibition on the topic and last week Radio 4 Today programme carried an item on appeasement. I was working in London last week so I took the opportunity of going to the Imperial War Museum (I.W.M). (I should say at this point that the temptation to continue the posting on Kropotkin and food policy is strong. The I.W.M. has some excellent posters and books on the Dig for Victory Campaign-or as the ...
Later. It is easier to find the full list at Lib Dem Voice. This morning Iain Dale has posted the top 75 Lib Dem blogs in the recent Total Politics poll. The top 10 runs as follows with last year's position in brackets: 1 (-) Charlotte Gore 2 (1) LibDem Voice 3 (-) Himmelgarten Cafe 4 (3) Norfolk Blogger 5 (-) Mark Reckons 6 (-) Liberal Vision 7 (44) Caron's Musings 8 (5) Liberal England 9 (2) People's Republic of Mortimer 10 (4) Quaequam Blog Congratulations to Charlotte Gore in particular. This blog has more than held its place amongst ...
The Government's energy strategy, like most Government strategies on absolutely everything, is going to fail... Spad: Slight problem - You remember you agreed to let the EU shut down those 9 smelly old Oil and Coal fired power stations? Minister: Oh yes. Very Green, wasn't it? Spad: Very brave, yes. Minister: Brave? No! Surely not? Spad: Possibly the most courageous thing you've ever done, Minister. Minister: Oh no! This is a disaster.... is it a disaster? Spad: Well obviously electricity rationing will be a bit of a vote loser... Minister: Rationing?! Spad: ... and you're going to need to build... ...
Partly to say well done, and partly to share the "link love" around, here, shamelessly cribbed from LDV are the top 75 blogs from the Total Politics 2009 poll: 1. (-) Charlotte Gore 2. (1) LibDem Voice 3. (-) Himmelgarten Cafe 4. (3) Norfolk Blogger 5. (-) Mark Reckons 6. (-) Liberal Vision 7. (44) Caron's Musings 8. (5) Liberal England 9. (2) People's Republic of Mortimer 10. (4) Quaequam Blog 11. (15) Stephen's Linlithgow Journal 12. (18) Jennie Rigg 13. (11) Cicero's Songs 14. (7) Millennium Dome Elephant 15. (6) Lynne Featherstone MP 16. (-) Dude the Dog 17. ...
I watched Ed Balls this morning on GMTV. He was there to launch the Government's new campaign to recruit more social workers. The campaign uses actors to give a voice to those in society who are in trouble and need the support of social workers. And I really welcome the move as we are having some trouble attracting social workers to Haringey (not surprisingly) - but also generally throughout the country it is a job that people are reluctant to take on. And I thought the GMTV interviewer was spot on when she said to Ed Balls - who was ...
Okay, I had a little gloat there, and why not, you voted for me and for that I will be eternally grateful - thank you so much. Again the Lib Dems in Scotland have done well with 10 of us making the top 75, that's a good 13% of the top 75. For the full list of 75, visit the list on Lib Dem Voice here. A fantastic well done to Caron Lindsay who's musings came in at 7th this year up 37 places from last years 44th. Stephen Glenn's Linlithgow Journal moves up to 11th place from 15th, just ...
It's six weeks since Total Politics asked blog-readers to vote for their Top 10 favourite blogs in their annual survey promoted here on LDV, as well as at LabourList and Iain Dale's Diary. More than 1,500 people voted, and here is the full list of the Top 75 Lib Dem blogs in the Total Politics list: 1. (-) Charlotte Gore 2. (1) LibDem Voice 3. (-) Himmelgarten Cafe 4. (3) Norfolk Blogger 5. (-) Mark Reckons 6. (-) Liberal Vision 7. (44) Caron's Musings 8. (5) Liberal England 9. (2) People's Republic of Mortimer 10. (4) Quaequam Blog 11. (15) ...
As I expected, probably due to my 2 week holiday my stats are down again on July's figures. I had 5,440 Pageviews from 4,482 Visits and a total of 3,022 Absolute Unique Visitors. My top 5 blog posts were: 1) Daniel Hannan's opponents are using playground tactics2) Why are the Taxpayers' Alliance quoted so often?3) Sarah Palin scandal?4) NHS debate - Daniel Hannan has not been clear enough5) The London Paper (thelondonpaper) to close Top 5 referring sites were: 1) Iain Dale's Diary2) Order Order3) Lib Dem Blogs4) Twitter.com5) TalkCarswell.com 780 visits came from search engines and the top 5 ...
One corner of Paradise is looking distinctly less heavenly at present. The innovative green wall on the Children's Centre at Islington's Paradise Park is now brown, although I for one hope that it is not dead, only sleeping. Certainly the wide coverage of the wall's woes – in comment if not greenery – should shame ...
Report here on Government's own predictions for power shortages by 2017. Another tax on the poorest sectors of society. Rural communities are still not being addressed by Labour's centralised government. 10:10 a small green change for good.
John Pardoe once said that the first rule of politics was to be polite to postmen and shopkeepers. I can add something to that: always be nice to the wardens of sheltered accommodation. During my district council by-election of 1986 we heard that the Tory candidate and agent had gone into a sheltered housing block in the town without asking and been thrown out by the warden. A few days later I knocked on the warden's door and asked if she would mind if I canvassed the residents. The result was that she took me round and introduced me to ...
New research may have good news for the next parliament. Of the people likely to make up the next intake of MPs, only a quarter could be described as "career politicians", and that includes people who simply volunteered for senior politicians in addition to taking other jobs. Beating the career politicians are people with business experience: fully one third of the new intake will have had business experience (though it's not clear what that means: is that simply having worked in the private sector or is it having a senior business role?). I merely mention this because the story being ...
Liberal England is currently running a quiz with two copies of Graham Rinaldi's biography of Will Hay has prizes. To win one of them just email me the answers to these three questions: What is the name of the 1942 film in which Will Hay satirised Nazi Germany?Which two actors regularly appeared in films as Will Hay's sidekicks?Who played "Will Silly" (an affectionate parody of Will Hay) in Harry Enfield's television special Norbert Smith - A Life?The competition closes at 2359 on Monday 7 September. While you are working out the answers, here is Neil Clark's review from the Sunday ...
I started this blog three years ago today ! Thanks to all my readers who keep me going.
This blog has posted before about the Steele's pub, but just around the corner (almost behind) are the two mews named after Richard Steele. Mews are quite common in this part of north London, but boy are these two charming and pretty. Dated to 1875 they are just lovely. The cottage that preceeded the mews was demolished in the mid 1860's - it's quite possible that the arch that is dated 1875 is the last part of the construction over the previous couple of years. This is just a gratuitous appreciation of them. :-)
I know there is still a week to go of the International Festival but yesterday for me marked the end of Festival season here in Edinburgh. No longer will I have to hear a comedian mentioning trams and bin collection, at least I hope my next August these two issues will have less impact on the Fringe. Also in a weeks time I'll no longer have that worry of having to battle the flow from the Royal Mile to the the loads of coaches parked on Chambers Street. So what did may Fringe consist of? Eleven shows, one complimentary in ...
The MPs expenses debacle has led to the newspapers discussing something that has been mostly of only academic interest for some time. This morning the Telegraph is leading on a whinge-piece created by a think tank about how many of our future MPs are likely to be "career politicians". We use such a phrase as if ...
A few days ago we heard the good news that the additional waiting restrictions proposed for Small Lane, Stapleton will go to public advertisement on September 10th. For a long time there have been problems with this narrow lane being blocked by parked cars. Residents have been concerned about access for emergency vehicles, and First Bus have even considered re-routing the no. 5 bus service due to the problems of getting through the lane. If accepted the parking restrictions would bring the 'Small Lane chicane' to an end at long last. (Photo: Muriel Cole and Steve Comer in Small Lane, ...
I don't normally read Lembit Opik's column in the Daily Sport - it's not really my preferred sort of reading. But when someone (in this case Jane Watkinson - hello again Jane!) uses one of his articles to make a call for him to be chucked out the party, I'll make it my business to have a look at what he's written to decide if he deserves the suggested punishment. And in this case, not in a million years. I'm not Lembit's biggest fan - I didn't vote for him in either party presidential election - but there is nothing ...
There is an advert on TV for dog food and this company can trace all the meat in their products back to the farm where it came from. I am not sure how useful this information is. You see I don't know anything about farms so I don't want this information. Are they trying to tell us that when things go wrong they are going to do something about it? Well that's nice to know, but don't all the other companies have to follow health and safety procedures? I don't expect the quality of dog food to be such that ...
Sunday: Now here is an interesting and maybe worrying question. Mr Jonathan Bonkers of Liberal England writes that he won't be replying to Decline of the Logos because "...I am not going to get into an argument with an anonymous blogger". He puts this down to two things: first, he cannot take someone who does not reveal their name seriously and, second, he thinks that it is rude. Now surely a point is TRUE or FALSE whether you know the person who made it or not. But the thing is, Decline of the Logos is NOT anonymous; they are PSEUDONYMOUS. ...
