Today Sandra Gidley sent the following tweet to her followers: "young man told me he doesn't like the world so won't vote so it isn't his fault. How to encourage involvement and personal responsibility?"I came back with the standard "If he doesn't like the world, then he must want to see it changed, apathy changes nothing, voting changes everything". After seeing Sandra's reply to my tweet, I
I've been travelling back from my short break in North Yorkshire today but I have a headache. Tories have been blowing into dog whistles all day and the tinny noise has been reverberating from as far away as Whitby. For years now, this blog has been reminding readers that the problem with Cameron is not ...
THE big political story this week has been the aftermath of the release of Libyan bomber,Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi. In 2001 he was convicted of blowing up a Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. The Scottish courts sent him down for a minimum of 20 years. A couple of weeks ago he was released on "compassionate grounds", by the Scottish government, because he's dying of cancer —a move that caused all sorts of arguments. A lot of people think al-Megrahi should never be released, no matter how ill. And some folk in the media got very excited, because they suspected ...
So, Sky News launch a campaign to have a televised Leaders debate for the General Election. Absolutely fantastic and about bloody time. John Ryley, the head of Sky News, wrote to the Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Conservative leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg to invite them to take part telling them all that faith in politics and politicians has been shaken, and a debate during the forthcoming election campaign would offer a unique opportunity to re-engage disillusioned voters. Nick Clegg and David Cameron have already replied saying yes. I am completely for this and always have been. ...
What do we Liberal Democrats believe in? Jane Watkinson thinks it is equality, which is news to me. I would say it is personal liberty and after that it is the freedom of local communities to make decisions for themselves. Labour believes in central control, the Tories would leave it all to market forces and we believe in flourishing local communities. Simples. Which makes me sad to read Mick Bates, Lib Dem AM for Montgomeryshire, saying: "We need swift progress to harness the vast power of the Severn estuary and the removal of the planning barriers which hold up the ...
Putting aside the issues involved in the decision of the Assembly Commission to cease producing a fully bi-lingual record of proceedings, it seems that there is an on-going attempt to re-write history. In his blog, the BBC Welsh Affairs Editor, Vaughan Roderick reports: In the meantime Chris Franks, Plaid Cymru's representative on the Commission, claims that he opposed the plans from the beginning but that the Commission's records failed to note that. Mr Franks has met Claire Clancey today to declare his opinion that "this matter isn't over." In fact the decision was unanimous so there was nothing to note. ...
I know this is about 2 days too late but I have to confess my eye was caught by the comments from Caroline Lucas made at the Green Party Conference. Let's be honest; she isn't wrong that politics is a) costly and b) too costly for smaller parties to make an impact. We should all ...
The Guardian has got very excited by its story that the Tories claim to have seized control of Scotland Yard. This campaign strikes me as being in the ignoble tradition of its attempt on the eve of the last Mayoral election to persuade people not to vote for Boris Johnson because he is a racist. This proved wholly ineffective - and remarkable dull to those of us who don't live in London? But would it be such an outrage if Johnson and Kit Malthouse, the deputy mayor in charge of policing, had taken control of Scotland Yard? When I lived ...
How many times over the last year have you heard Aliastar Darling say a variation of this?: "Fundamentally I want a much more rigorous regulatory regime"Well he said this on the 23rd of September 2008: "It is clearer than ever that markets can't do this on their own. Nor can individual governments. In the past it was sufficient to ensure effective domestic regulation. That's not enough today. It's not a question of light-touch regulation against heavy-handed regulation. It's about effective regulation."How about this on the 8th of July 2008: "a regulatory solution at European level is now necessary"What is telling ...
Following my raising constituents' concerns about the extent of cars parking close to the junction of Ninewells Avenue and Kinloch Park, the City Council has promised me that it will take action to act on the road safety implications. It is often very difficult for the residents of Kinloch Park to be able to exit safely onto Ninewells Avenue and I asked the Council if the yellow lines near the junction could be slightly extended to keep cars away from the junction. I am pleased to say that the Council recognises the problem and has agreed to promote an order ...
Last night I boasted on Twitter that I am the number three result on Google for Russell Howard is not funny. There were a couple of bewildered tweets in return and today Alex Foster has written in Howard's defence. But I am not alone. Unenlightened Commentary has written a longer version of my opinions on Howard. After effectively skewering Andy Parsons - who "seems as though he ought to be funny until he opens his mouth" - he continues: The nicest thing that can be said about him is that he isn't Russell Howard. His jokes aren't always terrible (many ...
Over all, the user interface is good. It's uncluttered, and navigation is easy, but some features are rather poorly implemented.Managing settings could be better organised. Apple provide a way for applications to drop their own "preference panes" into the global Settings application. Unfortunately, not all apps actually do this - some have it as a seperate screen inside the app - so unless you remember which app works which way, you have to guess which is which. I can see why Apple let apps stuff their preferences into the Settings app, but if that's what they want developers to do ...
No related posts.
Ted Kennedy's memoirs, True Compass, will be published posthumously soon. The New York Times has taken a "sneaky peeky" at its contents and they are enticing. Kennedy: -describes his actions around the Chappaquiddick accident as "inexcusable" -says that he always accepted the findings of the official Warren Commission on his brother JFK's assassination. -describes how his brother Bobbie came close to some sort of "tragedy" due to emotional problems following JFK's death. -talks frankly of his own "self-destructive drinking" -relates how John F Kennedy was close to embarking on a "non-military" solution to the Vietnam war when he died. -says ...
Here's the latest "Airbag" advert from Ing Direct, which I feature for no better reason than it features the excellent comedian, Richard Thomson. Richard has brightened up many a performance at Newbury's Corn Exchange and New Greenham Arts centre.
Just got the Liberal Youth freshers fair box through for Leeds. We 've got some really good stuff in there this year. Looking forward to signing up lots of new students during freshers week at Leeds Met and Leeds Uni! Let me know if you're in Leeds from the 18th to 25th of September and if you're free to lend a hand. We will be out signing people up to vote at Leeds Met Uni on the 20th too.
An effective campaign video from Cowley Street, taking on the Tories claim to be a progressive force in British politics,
The world's longest continuous running steam railway, the Tanfield, is in my council ward. Most of the line itself is now a footpath rather than a railway. The bit at Marley Hill that continues to run trains is a tourist attraction as well as a heritage centre.The whole length of the line from Pontop Pike to the Tyne at Dunston, Gateshead, is now featured in a book and dvd called "Like Taking
Darell Godliffe asks 'Why are We Not Standing Against Bercow?' stating that letting Nigel Farrage have a free run at Bercow would be wrong in his eyes. I disagree, if we wanted an interim speaker only until the end of this Parliament we should have voted for Ann Widdecombe who stood with that as her platform in the recent election. Of course up in Scotland we will soon have the writ moved for the election to replace former Speaker Martin. The gloating that the SNP are doing that they came second here last time is ridiculous especially where you consider ...
Archbishop Cranmer has the sneak preview. There are four Lib Dem blogs in the top 30. Lib Dem Voice stays at no. 5, Mark Reckons is up four places to no. 12, Charlotte Gore is up seven to no. 12 and Liberal England is up four to no. 29. The list of the top 40 blogs in all categories was posted here on Wednesday.
Today is a sad day for all of us who care about the English language, as Keith Waterhouse has died. Most of the tributes to him are likely to focus on Billy Liar and Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell, which is fair enough, as both are modern classics. But as someone who works as a journalist, I wish to highlight Waterhouse's contribution in that area. His book Waterhouse on Newspaper Style should be required reading for all journalists as it is a lively and thought-provoking look at the way we use language. I would also recommend it to non-journalists who have ...
Five hundred jobs are set to be lost by the closure of the Bausch & Lomb contact lens plant closes in Livingston. The phased closure of the factory over next year and into 2011 comes from strategic decision to focus production in just two of its three plants globally. The two other sites are the company's base in Rochester in up state New York and Waterford in Ireland which hosts the companies research facility. This is the same number of jobs that Diageo is planning to axe in Kilmarnock, and the same fate that affect the Motorola, NEC and other ...
Darrell Goodliffe was last night selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate to contest the Middleton Park council ward in the upcoming 2010 elections to Leeds City Council. He was delighted with the result; "I look forward to meeting the people of Middleton and talking to them about their concerns. I am under no illusions it will be ...
When the Bank of England's money figures come out, the media conveniently provide us with on-the-spot evidence that the numbers are impossible to interpret. [IMG: Cry] Lending has fallen by billions! Business lending fell by a record £8.4 billion in July as the credit squeeze tightened its grip on firms, official figures have shown. The 1.7% fall in lending to "private non-financial corporations" is far worse than June's 0.2% decline and the biggest since the Bank of England's records began in 1997. Lending is down 2.9% year on year. [IMG: Cool] Quantitative easing beginning to show in M4 The Bank ...
Vale of Clwyd Conservative PPC Matt Wright's sudden concerns about run-down schools in Denbighshire is somewhat hypocritical given that the mess our schools are in stem from the Thatcher and Major governments under which state education had a very low priority. These Tory governments slashed budgets and tried to introduce major structural changes to the education system in England and Wales that was driven solely by ideology and not what was best for schools and our children. I, like many others I'm sure, remember being taught in an under-funded crumbling Rhyl high school that led to the introduction of portacabins ...
In Addition to the July report on Broadmoor detailed in Bracknell Blog here, Yesterday a new report was published my NHS London into the death of a patient at Broadmoor Hospital. The report concluded that "a collective failure at all levels" the report was investigating the killing of a patient by Peter Bryan sent there for murdering his friend Richard Loudwell and eating parts of his brain. The report accused Broadmoors management of a lack of leadership at most levels and little common purpose within to deliver a first class service to patients and the public'. The report also highlights ...
Seems that the Mayor of London has a talent for picking the "wonderful", "brilliant" and scandal-prone when it comes to expenses. The BBC reports that Boris Johnson claimed on his MP expenses for a website which promoted his mayoral campaign and the sale of his books: Mr Johnson claimed the £500 from his MP's communications allowance for redesigning his website homepage in December 2007. In a letter obtained by BBC London under the Freedom of Information Act, a parliamentary official told Mr Johnson that his claim was rejected because his website fell "significantly outside" the allowance guidelines. The House of ...
I'm just back from a few days away running a conference in Crieff (with the day job!) It was a tremendous success, but I'll not deny that Janet & I have come back exhausted. I've managed to keep up with constituent matters via e-mail and phone when away, but given the fact I wasn't able to update www.dundeewestend.com since Monday, there will be quite a few blog updates in the next few days! Here's a few photos from the conference : Above : Janet and me at the registration desk Above : At the charity penalty challenge (NB : I ...
Thanks to local blogsites Tradescant Road and South Lambeth and Stockwell News for putting up the information that Henry Allingham, who was the world's oldest man, once lived in Oval ward at No. 21 Heyford Avenue. More information on the respective blogsites.
Hmm, Liberal Vision asks 'what should Liberals do in Buckingham' against Mr Speaker Toad as daft, failed pseudo-Tory Nigel 'Weasel' Farage threatens to stand there? Dunno what Liberals should do but Liberal Democrats wanting to be taken seriously should give the Speaker a clear run at the next election as is the convention - and as others have noted. I'm still waiting to see evidence of a vision from Liberal Vision. Surely it will come any day now.
I have to confess my first reaction was that we were right not to follow Nigel Farage's lead and challenge John Bercow. However, a snippet of Farage on BBC News turned my stomach and changed my mind; we should defy the convention and stand against Bercow and indeed Farage who is anything but the 'reform' candidate ...
Last week the Conservatives produced a video about their history and "greatest achievements." Now the Liberal Democrats have rebutted their "progressive" claims with: "Don't let the Tories airbrush history" – pointing out a few things they missed.
"The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity."The quote that forms the focus of our Liberal Democrat cards resonated when I heard someone ask what the differences are between Lib Dem and Labour values. I would have answered equality. Equality is central to our party's principles, whilst Labour claim to promote equality, we all know that many of the social divisions in society have become extensively worse. 'Libby' ...
A little vignette from yesterdays cabinet meeting of Sefton Council. Firstly by way of background I should let you know that our Tory leader sees herself as a no nonsense commander of her troops. She doesn't like people doing things she disapproves of and feels free to say so. A few weeks ago she was up at a council meeting demanding to know which of our councillors had failed to attend a particular visit or meeting. At the time I thought it was a bit rich coming from her as of the various Tories who have been designated (and paid) ...
[IMG: Lorraine Roberts Rance with Chippenham PPC Duncan Hames] Lorraine Roberts Rance with Chippenham PPC Duncan Hames Two new Liberal Democrat Councillors were elected yesterday in the new Chippenham constituency: Lorraine Roberts-Rance was elected in Chippenham Park with 66.4% of the vote. Lorraine was formerly the Green Party PPC for Chippenham before joining the Liberal Democrats this year. From ALDC: LD Lorraine Roberts-Rance 427 (66.4) Con 216 (33.6) Majority 211 Turnout 30.03% LD hold In Melksham Spa, Peter Dauncey gained a seat from the Conservatives, which means the Conservatives have now lost overall control of Melksham Town Council. From ALDC: ...
[IMG: nigel-farage] Nigel Farage's decision to contest the seat of Buckingham at the next election poses a tactical problem for Liberal Democrats. Firstly, should the party continue to observe the established orthodoxy of standing aside for the Speaker? Secondly, if we do, how would we want liberal-minded voters in Buckingham to cast their ballot? There's no doubt that Farage has pulled off something of a coup. The bookies already have him at 4/1 to win the seat and he has a number of measurable advantages. Firstly, the seat is very true blue and if Farage can present himself as a ...
Sometimes it feels like the name of our party is just a name, as meaningless or even misleading as when East Germany was called "German Democratic Republic"! If only Chris Huhne and Nick Clegg had the guts to break the westminster taboo and maki... Read and post comments | Send to a friend
---after E. J. Thribb (17½) So. Farewell.Then.Irfan Ahmed.-YouWere aLibDemBlogger.-NowYouAre an "Independent" blogger.-"I apologise,It's my culture"- ThatWasYourCatchphrase.-NowYou happened to Bob Shaw? - Ed)
Nugent Care -the Catholic Church's Social Care Charity-have their Children's Home on Liverpool Rd., Birkdale up for sale. It has been boarded up for a while and local people have been anxious to know what its fate will be. Firstly we ought to say that we fully understand that there is no call for the large scale Children's Home today, so that it entirely understandable that the Charity wishes to sell the asset and use the money for its activities. The estate agents blurb suggests that it could become Old People's village or some such. The Southport Visiter carried the ...
There were four principal council by-elections held on 3rd September. Labour held one seat and lost one to the Tories. The Tories lost a seat to an Independent and one to the Liberal Democrats. In the six Parish and Town council elections reported to ALDC the Lib Dems held one seat and gained two seats from the Tories. The Tories held two seats and Independents one. In the Hallow Ward of Malvern Hills council we scored a spectacular gain from the Tories in the key West Worcestershire parliamentary seat. Crucial was the Regional Spatial Strategy advocating 3500 extra houses for ...
I have just found out that my blog came in at 43 on the LD top 75. For someone who generally writes irregular, short spleen-venting diatribes this is no mean achievement. I am grateful to anyone who tipped their cap in my direction. However, I have some concern that the Dear Leader himself, Nickers, came in beneath me at 45. He really should be beating me but then he does have an unruly party to cope with, whereas I simply have my big box of unfocused opinions to play with. I shall have to spend this year getting my thoughts ...
Someone please tell me which is worse: Hamas complaining that the UN is teaching kids about the Holocaust, or the UN reassuring Hamas that it isn't teaching kids about the Holocaust after all?
Ian Clement, one of Boris Johnson's former Deputy Mayors, has been charged with five counts of fraud "in connection with alleged misuse of expenses." Clement was forced to resign in June over allegations that he used his City Hall corporate credit card to pay for private meals and groceries. Adam Bienkov at Tory Troll has the full story, including the statement issued by the Metropolitan Police, and a statement from Clement's lawyer in the Bexley Times who accuses the Crown Prosecution Service of "political expediency" for deciding to prosecute. However, Conservative London Assembly Member James Cleverly has blogged this saying ...
Well it has to be seen to believed so here it is, a man who is upside down with his head in a bucket on Princes Street in Edinburgh. ------------------
A feast of depressing 'D' words in the Evening Standard. You probably know CentreForum's considered views on spending plans during the downturn. Claims that Britain 'can't afford to keep on spending' ignore (a) the message from the markets, that the current levels of borrowing are just fine (b) the relatively high returns from deficit spending when there is considerable spare capacity (c) the low starting levels of debt in this country. Oh, and (d): the fact that redundancy pay etc means that the cashflow gain of cutting jobs etc does not come about for a few years (though the hit ...
The Guardian reports that Boris Johnson's former Deputy Mayor Ian Clement has been charged with fraud. Clement's resignation came after he was revealed to have used a credit card billed to City Hall for meals with his girlfriend. He had then claimed that the meals were with councillors who spoke up and undermined his story. That is what ...
Medway UA, Luton & WayfieldCon 1042 (36.9; +10.8)Lab 1038 (36.7; -12.3)LD Gary Allanach 223 (7.9; +7.9)UKIP 200 (7.1; +7.1)BNP 186 (6.6; +6.6)Ind 87 (3.1; -21.9)Green 51 (1.8; +1.8)Majority 4Turnout 29.78%Con gain from LabPercentage change is since May 2007Wiltshire UA, Southwick Ind 385 (37.2; +37.2)LD Gordon King 315 (30.5; -8.8)Con 273 (26.4; -34.3)UKIP 61 (5.9; +5.9)Majority 70Turnout 30.66%
IntroductionThis week's report from NHS West Midlands shows that the rate of new cases of swine flu continues to slow across the region. Information provided indicates current impact on the local services.Key MessagesPatients presenting at primary care centres with influenza-like symptoms has decreased within the health economy over the last week. The number of people with swine flu admitted to
There has been a flurry of excitement in the Lib Dem blogosphere and beyond about this year's Total Politics listing of the top Lib Dem blogs. Last year I was just in the top 50. This year they've listed the top 75 and I'm not (except as part of the collective Lib Dem Blogs). This ...
Here's a little something for my fellow northerners, though I'm pretty sure there are plenty of you in the soft south that this will also appeal to, given you know what my tastes run to regarding architecture and poetry. It isn't often that a spot of otherwise random internet surfing throws up a real gem from the archives that's guaranteed to press all the right buttons for me, so full marks to Binny Baker of the Yorkshire Film Archive for unearthing this piece of pure gold[1] from the inimitable John Betjeman, produced for the BBC in 1968, left to moulder ...
Peter Mandelson's desire to introduce stringent penalties for internet piracy look to be heading for deep trouble, with heavy criticism coming from senior businessmen, internet service providers and key parts of the music industry. First there's this from paidContent:UK: The government's revised, tougher plans to tackle online piracy have been dismissed as "grossly unfair" and "misconceived" by the leaders of ISPs and consumer groups, who warn against creating an "extrajudicial kangaroo court" to cut off persistent P2P offenders. The CEOs of BT and TalkTalk (the UK's two biggest ISPs) as well as Orange UK, the Open Rights Group, Which? and ...
Islington Police have sent me an update on the Glass Works pub. The Glass Works is not a typical Islington pub, but a Lloyds/Wetherspoons venue, located upstairs in the N1 shopping centre. Nowhere in Islington is far from someone's home, but the Glass Works is about as non-residential a location as it gets. And although ...
Earlier this week the guardian launched it's 10:10 campaign for everyone to take personal responsibility to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 10percent in 2010.
Tonight Channel 4 has a programme about the notorious Ted Evans, THE YORKSHIRE CLAMPER at 7:35 p.m. If you ever drive to Haworth don't park in his car park at the top of Rawdon Road as it sweeps to the left, opposite the Edinburgh Woollen Mill. There are other car parks. He or his son wait like spiders for the unwary. If you are a minute late back there you will be clamped and charged an extortionate amount to get your car back.
Medway UA, Luton & Wayfield Wiltshire UA, Southwick Plymouth City UA, Ham Stamford TC, St Georges Oswestry TC, Castle Malvern Hills DC, Hallow Melksham TC, Melksham Spa Chippenham TC, Chippenham Park Wootton Bassett TC, North Calne TC, Quemerford
Yesterday as I was reading my council minutes I had TV programme Flog It! on in the background; yes I know it's naughty of me. The edition was from St George's Hall in Liverpool. My attention was caught by the sound of the organ. It was my ...
The BBC reports today that the Welsh Language Board could investigate the Assembly as a result of its plans to stop translating plenary proceedings from English into Welsh. The Board argues that this is in breach of the Assembly's Welsh language scheme, and as such is in breach of the Welsh Language Act. But interestingly, according to the Chief Executive of the Assembly, the National Assembly is not covered by the Welsh Language Act, which, if true, is ludicrous given that this is the body that will ultimately pass the next Welsh Language law. One of the biggest issues with ...
I read with interest Shane Greer's recent piece in the Yorkshire Post about the benefits he perceives in open primaries. His basic argument is that they give voters in a constituency more power by enabling the local electorate to select the party candidates for elections to the House of Commons prior to that election. The recent MPs expenses scandal has thrown up lots of issues about MPs and reform of the system is desperately needed to at the very least eliminate the safe seats that give too many MPs secure tenure irrespective of what they do or how good they ...
No... the other one! It is apparently quite rare for a Liberal Democrat to profess not a grudging acceptance of the monarchy, but an outright love. Before it became a political issue, I used to joke with my friends that I was a Gurkha in a previous life. I almost do approach good ol' Liz with that same reverence. That attitude is a source of deep embarrassment for some of my family. It also leads me to be rather conflicted. I have some sympathy with Irish nationalism (of the non-sectarian kind), a political belief which does not allow for love ...
Lib Dem peer Shirley Williams has a letter in today's Times looking at the role of Democratic senator Edward Kennedy – and herself – in promoting a national minimum wage in the UK: I knew Ted Kennedy well as the chairman of the Senior Advisory Committee of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government ... In 1989 and 1990 I was acting director of the institute. ... The Senator and his staff had done a good deal of research into the minimum wage, research that showed conclusively that in the US it had not damaged employment ...
Norway has refused to invest any of the $400 billion in the 'wealth fund' managed by its central bank in an Israeli company, Elbit Systems, that has supplied surveillance equipment for the Separation Wall built in part on Palestinian territory. The Norwegian finance minister is unequivocal in saying that this is because of the direct violations of humanitarian law involved. But Norway is a semi-detached European; a member of the economic area but with no voice at the EU table in Brussels. Pity. I wish the EU's full members would display similar courage. Where were the French when Alstom won ...
I was reminded by this post from Chris and Glynis Abbott that like most other Councils, we have to make the decision soon as to what structure Colchester Borough Council should take in the future. Of course, while we have a choice, to me it appears to be akin to being asked whether you want to be thrown out of a plane or a helicopter. Either option is basically surrendering all of the Council's powers to a single, extremely-hard-to-remove, individual with the only choice being whether that person gets their powers from a parliamentary or a presidential system. That's not ...
This coming Sunday, it's the Angel Canal Festival, which always takes place at the start of September. It's the nearest thing Islington has to a village fete, with a fun fair on Graham Street park, and boat rides along the canal. The eclectic mix of stalls, and the lovely setting, on the canal towpath and ...
Was just looking at the Number 10 petition website and read the following rather startling message: Notice: Submission of new petitions will be closed until 7th September while the Prime Minister is away from Number 10. Does this mean that the PM personally approves every new petition before it goes on the website?? I think we should be told....
Nigel Farage is to stand against John Bercow in the next General Election, and he'll stand down as UKIP leader to do it. But he's still an MEP for South East England, representing several million people. And he still leads the UKIP MEPs in the European parliament. Being an MEP, of course, brings in a lot of money with salary and allowances - unlike leading UKIP. Anyone who knows anything at all about fighting parliamentary seats seriously will realise that the time and effort it takes is huge. There's simply no way someone could do the job of MEP, lead ...
[IMG: Birmingham protests August 2009] The "anti Islamic extremism" protest from the English Defence League will go ahead as planned on Saturday on our city's streets, despite calls from Deputy Leader, Lib Dem Councillor Paul Tilsley to ban it. But plans for a "Birmingham United" concert backed by John Hemming MP amongst others have been cancelled after a lack of support from the Police and City Council. Exact plans for the EDL march are unclear, although Police have been successful in restricting gatherings in the Bullring shopping area. Suggestions of a protest march around the Broad Street area have been ...
The Leader's debate? Grumble grumble. Having seen a lot of US presidential debates, and seen how utterly vacuous they are, I am not climbing the walls with excitement over this one. I'm with Jonathan Calder in this in thinking this might not be a good idea for Clegg - I fear a repeat of the Ken/BoJo/Brian debate Brown, yesterday, when asked directly if he'd take part said, "We're not in a General Election period" which, translated into parent code, is the same as, "I don't know. We'll have to see," which every kid knows means no. The obvious solution is ...
Alright, so I've been critical about the ability of some company directors to grasp the nature of their obligations. Of course, the fact that they aren't accountants means that they are redeemable, so here's a basic guide to company accounts for small companies. The first thing to be borne in mind is what exactly you need to produce. Most small companies make the mistake of assuming that their accounting software will produce an acceptable set of accounts. Yes, they'll produce you a profit and loss account and a balance sheet for the year. They won't provide you with comparables (always ...
The battle against rogue car clampers in Birmingham took a step forward last week. Four men were arrested following a fraud investigation into Car Clamping Securities (CCS) by the city's Trading Standards and West Midlands Police. Trading standards had received over 56 complaints from residents, mainly that their cars had been towed away despite them paying to park. A tow truck owned by the firm was also seized in the operation, from Eyre Street in Ladywood. Earlier this year the Liberal Democrats called for an end to clamping on private land and launched the website Ban Rogue Clampers.
I return to writing this newsletter with some trepidation. I started writing upon my election as Leader of the European Union's Liberal Democrat MEPs in 2002 and it benefited hugely from the privileged access to people and information which that position gifted to me. Having resigned the leadership in July I am now what could be termed an expired politician, without these advantages. Should my writings decline in quality or interest I hope my readers will let me know. Should I feel unable to continue providing interesting insights I shall draw my own conclusions. Parliament started back in earnest this ...
Thanks to Fitaloon at MicroShaft for pointing us to this BBC News report from December 1998. It makes amusing reading now: A suspended major who is still on the army payroll is being protected by government ministers for party political reasons, say the Tories. Major Eric Joyce was suspended 18 months ago for a series of articles and interviews in which he accused the army of snobbery and public school bias. No further disciplinary action has yet been taken. He is now on a shortlist of approved Labour candidates for the Scottish Parliament to be established in 1999. Shadow Defence ...
Alex pointed out yesterday the Taxpayers' Alliance opposition to the public sector using Web 2.o technologies: Taxpayers don't want more Web2.0. They want an end to wasteful spending. Now, if you think that spending money on Web 2.0 is necessarily wasteful (and that was the full depth of the Taxpayers' Alliance – no nuanced point about some Web 2.0 technologies, or some projects – it was just this blanket opposition), you'd have thought the Taxpayers' Alliance would apply the same standards to themselves? In which case, they really had better shop themselves to their funders for wasting money as, er..., ...
What with the witch trials, the Graziers Arms and the canal tunnel, I thought I had exhausted the blogging potential of Husbands Bosworth. But I was wrong. On 25 June the Harborough Mail reported: Hollywood star David Hasselhoff and Radio One DJ Scott Mills spent Father's Day at a paintballing activities centre near Husbands Bosworth. The 56-year-old actor, famous for starring roles in the Baywatch and Knight Rider television series, went with his daughters Hayley (16) and Taylor-Ann (19), along with his 35-old-year DJ friend, to Armourgeddon, based at Southfields Farm on Sunday. The Mail has a photo of him. ...
Today I went to Wikipedia to see what happened today in history, and saw that it's the birthday of the composer Edvard Grieg. Quick as a flash, the Kit and the Widow song "hundreds of Norwegians on the London Underground" to the tune of the Hall of the Mountain King rises unbidden in my mind – and with it, memories of the Brent East by-election, and Ed Fordham's uncanny rendition of "Can you tell me please – where can Dollis Hill be found?" For many of you, this will mean nothing, but I'm hoping a significant number of you will ...
There's been so much in my head over the past few months I've wanted to blog about. Facebook and twitter have taken care of much of the personal stuff, that I've ground to a halt. Do I blog philosophically about the gap between expectations of school leavers and cultural expectations of knowledge of science, maths and technology in adults? Do I talk about attitudes to environmental issues? Do I blog about the worrying trend for rational, evidence based argument to be treated with suspision? And then... Nigel Farage announces he's stepping down as UKIP leader to symbolically stand against John ...
Whilst filling out my application to go on the Leadership Academy course, I have had to reflect on my time as a councillor. I was elected to West Lindsey in 2003, during my time as a councillor I have tried to serve the electorate to the best of my ability. Fighting for funding for the local adventure playground and better play provision for children across the whole district took most of my
PhilW, commenting on my piece about company accounts, points out quite reasonably that, when accountants charge as much as £1500 to produce a set of statutory accounts, it is no wonder that many company directors choose to try and do it themselves. Of course, without training and experience, this is not necessarily easy, or wise. However, there is little in the way of simple guidance, and given that new companies are be founded at the rate of a thousand a day, some of my readers are likely to be directors of their own companies. So, over the next few days, ...
Spoof website links Lib Dems with the Nazis: http://bit.ly/oYZkb < Good comments from/on behalf of Lib Dem MPs #libdem # Temptation, Heathrow variety http://flic.kr/p/6TqNjP # #mylondonis Hot chocolate, cookie and a view across the beautiful parks # Still amazed that the Thatchter govt gave us so many rights under Sales of Goods and Services Act 1982 # @ljwaks What did you think of the book? My views are mixed: http://bit.ly/5rowr in reply to ljwaks # @JeffreyPeel Other way to view it is honesty: MPs know won't have time to follow everyone back and actually read their tweets, so they don't ...
Merseyside police have a new website which should make it easier for people to find local information. Here is the link.
The planning committee meeting about this application is definitely 15th September. It's at the Town Hall. The report the councillors will be discussing will be available on line on Monday and as soon as I can I will add a link from this site to the report. More updates to follow later.
Charlotte Gore wrote on Wednesday: "Our constitution, too, represents this appeal to the centre between the two extremes - a masterpiece of equivocation that can mean anything to anyone who wants to read it. Balance liberty and equality? Great! Treating everyone equally is a feature of free trade societies, so I'm in favour of that.... wait, what? Sorry? You think it means treating people differently to get equal outcomes, which obviously means scuppering many people's liberty? Crikey! Yes George, what's that? Ah you think it means finding a balance between the two of our positions because we're both extremists?" I ...
When I first read about the "plan" to slash health spending on frontline staff yesterday I didn't really think all that much about it. It was just another contribution to the debate. But with hindsight, I was wrong. It's all so convenient. Government department asks management consultants (evil, evil people!) to come up with ways of saving ...
Every Friday at work is Doughnut day (fruit alternatives were campaigned for and are available) so therefore this cartoon from Peter Brookes in today's Times, brought a timely smile to my face. Although just when will the UK be last to pull ourselves out of the economic hole?
The article by Huw Irranca Davies in yesterday's Western Mail calling for a referendum on changing Britain's voting system within the next few months is a strange one. Mr. Davies has been around long enough to know that you cannot just launch into a referendum. For a start you need an Act of Parliament to authorise it, you need a clear position to be voted on and the approval of the Electoral Commission for the question and you need a campaign to try and win it. He has none of those things. The only conclusion that can be drawn then ...
The Liberal Democrats have launched a consultation on how we can improve people's quality of life. The Chair of the working group, Jeremy Hargreaves writes: The financial and economic challenges of the last few months are surely the best possible reminder that the pursuit of 'economic growth' is not the only thing that matters. In recent years, a new strand of thinking has focussed on whether what we do - both through government and in the private sector – for all its impressive performance against targets, actually improves our quality of life. We might on average earn more now than ...
I was shocked to read that Alex Foster of all people seems to fear paperless committees. In essence I'm quite disappointed how little has changed since I worked on the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment's 'Leapfrog to the Information Age Initiative' (1999). Has it really been 10 years since we published that? One of the reasons that Alex gives is that 'many of the councillors are not very happy with IT' which I honestly cannot believe is still an issue. Ten years ago when we were looking at the issue we were aware that there was a great lack ...
I've been reading Alex Fosters blog post over at his niles website. During the post he raises some pertinent points."There are many reasons why there are problems with this, not least that many of the councillors are not very happy with IT, the email system isn't too good, and that laptops for everyone will cost a small fortune."When I was the member champion for E-Government at WLDC, I tried to
Okay so the title is a bit mean to the TUC. After all, they've only had £1.2 million of an epic splurge that'll hit £1 billion by 2011 on 'winning hearts and minds' by the Department for International Development. See, this department is theoretically untouchable - they're helping starving Africans right? They're pure altruism, the best and purest thing that Labour does. You can't have a go at International Development, right? The Tories, it's worth remembering, have promised to maintain spending on International Development - that's how untouchable the DfID is. Let's have a quick quote: We will retain the ...
When I went to school in the 1970s I used to take a briefcase and very often I would have a PE bag. I could leave them in a corridor in the morning and pick them up at any time during the day. Today pupils all have lockers. We are a security conscious society and there seems to be an ever increasing need for greater security. We are also a wealthier society. In the early 70s nobody had a video and it was common to have just one television and maybe one car per household. go back a few more ...
I spent the past couple of days at Sherborne School in Dorset, briefing teachers who are going out to Qatar tomorrow to open a branch of Sherborne in Doha. As the Headmaster was showing us round the (English) school, I was delighted to hear him pay tribute to old boy Alan Turing, who was a ...
The Jewellery Quarter Farmers' Market will be on from 9.00am to 3.00pm on Saturday 19th September 2009, at Big Peg on Warstone Lane in Birmingham.
