It was good today to take time out from discusions about next years budget-not a year for the faint hearted-and what the future of the Library, Art Gallery and Arts Centre is -to join John Pugh our MP in talks with counci officals about allotments. There has been a great surge in applications for allotments. Clearly there needs to be more land made available. I am keen to support that move. There is land available; some on sites where there used to be plots e.g. Segars Lane in Ainsdale, some on site awaiting development and also some on playing fields ...
Wed 9th
23:13
Degrees Of Freedom - Mister Miracle, Darkseid, and Morrison Doing Kirby (or Why Kirby Matters) (Hype...
ome of you might have noticed that I occasionally talk about a comic writer called Grant Morrison – I may have mentioned him once or twice on here. The reason I talk about Morrison so much is that, more than any other writer I know of, he manages to deal with a whole ton of issues ...
This is not an exaggerated headline, it is the amount of money paid back to the Government from our COUNCIL TENANT'S RENT over the last 9 years. Money has been going back like this since 1989 and the whole amount is not known yet. The information is a result of a question I asked at Council tonight, and I ask just think how many improvements to our tenants homes could we have with that £88...
Not the Downing St cabinet, but the Stockton Council cabinet. The meeting of full council is one time when it's possible to question cabinet members in public about anything that falls into their remit. Tonight's meeting had a marathon lot of questions down for responses. Of course the question is submitted in advance and the cabinet member can ask officers of the council to prepare answers
Apologies for not updating the Blog for a while...I've been up to my eyes! The Council diary is back in full effect, although my casework (and campaigning) never really stopped over the Summer and August ended up being very busy. Unlike MPs, councillors don't get an official recess period. Unlike some councillors I don't feel the need to produce an 'activity report': I would have thought my activity in and outside the Council speaks for itself. It is interesting, however, that activity reports started appearing when the Council's 'Acolade' statistics for measuring casework logged by councillors were made public a couple of times . ...
I've been planning a post on the Beatles for awhile, but thought today would be a good day for it, partly because it's so well planned it can get past my writer's block, and partly because everyone in the world seems to be talking about them thanks to the new game (which I'm not getting) ...
Having blogged a while back about Jack Straw's disgraceful decision to deny a pardon for jailed Liverpool fan Michael Shields, I'm delighted that Straw has now reversed that stance and released Mr Shields. While this is a very welcome decision, we should not forget that Mr Shields spent four years in jail for a crime he didn't commit. And Straw unnecessarily prolonged that hell by first of all denying he had the right to issue a pardon and then refusing to accept the clear evidence that anyone with even the slightest awareness of this case could see: that Michael Shields ...
The battle's certainly lost, not won for George Burley's Scotland team tonight, as they crashed out of qualification for the 2010 World Cup. Now I'm no reverse Andy Murray; I'm quite happy to support Wales, Northern Ireland and, yes, Scotland. But the Netherlands have always been a good side to watch and after Scott Brown's appallingly unsportsmanlike ...
I knew when I posted earlier about Granny that I'd done one of the first posts on here about her. What I'd forgotten was that it was in fact the second post, and it was written exactly 3 years ago today. A good day, then to notice Jonathan's posting which shows that it has finally scrambled into the Wikio Top Ten Lib Dem blogs. It won't last, but I'm going to enjoy it while it does. I wasn't sure quite where I was going when I wrote the first post. To be truthful, 808 posts later, I still haven't quite ...
Yes it's that time of year again, when it is expected that the faithful multitudes of Liberal Democrat members from across the country will make the long pilgrimage to the South Coast for the Awful Conference, sorry, Autumn Conference. I imagine the thought of traveling to a five day Conference which in reality is financially prohibitive, leaves ...
Watching the England match. It's half time. Magnificent so far. Awful to see so many empty seats in the hospitality area. The FA should name and shame the culprits.
It's a reassuringly humble scene. The classic version goes like this... take a clutch of rosetted candidates, stand them around a grey-haired mayor - wearing his chain of office, ideally. In front of them all, a mic stand. Put them on a stage, probably in a leisure centre, and erect a big sign behind them emblazoned with the local council's latest logo and slogans. The mic crackles into life. "I, John Arthur Smith, being the Returning Officer for this election do hereby give notice..." The hairs on the back of your neck stand up. What's the scene? Well, it's an election ...
I recently had complaints from residents about the extent of buddelia growing from the library. I am pleased to advise that the City Council's Leisure and Communities Department, on receipt of my request, asked Land Services Officers in the City Development Department to survey the building. The buddelia has now been removed and I am grateful to the City Council for its fast response.
Roger's letter about residents' parking problems at Skipton Road was featured as Letter of the Week in the Keighley News, headed "It's legal, but is it fair?" (I was going to put a link in but that page of the Keighley News isn't opening).
After four years in prison Michael Shields has been released. It seems that new evidence has come to light which means the decision to keep him in prison may be reversed. I know about the reports in the media. I know that Michael has always protested his innocence and said he was asleep when the attack on a Bulgarian barman took place. I have always thought that his conviction was questionable, but I cannot say anything for definite because I am not in posession of the full details of the case. What I can say is that a serious attack ...
[IMG: sven-ribbon] When I asked the other day for ideas for this year's locality fund, I mentioned some of the projects we've supported in the past. One of these came to fruition on Monday, when Sven unveiled the new local history board at the Lee Green crossroads. The board was the idea of the Lee Manor Society, who have done a great job producing it and choosing the right spot for it. The photo on the right shows Sven cutting the ribbon and one below shows the unveiled board. If you get the chance, do wander over and learn something ...
Bagehot, the pseudonym of The Economist's British politics columnist/blogger, has written a post sticking up for Nick Clegg following criticism aimed at him from both left (in the shape of The Observer's Andrew Rawnsley) and right (James Forsyth in The Spectator): Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, has been unfairly treated for saying in public what a large number of other people are confiding in private. ... the doubts Mr Clegg has expressed about the strategy, resources and prospects of the Afghan campaign are shared by many others. Military types continue to think the war is "winnable", though ...
Coming to the issue of Alan Duncan late due to my broadband router breaking on Monday (it had lasted five years being on 24/7 which must be some kind of record), I am slightly bemused as to the goings on around Alan Duncan. Presumably he had done something wrong, so I assumed wrongly he had been sacked. But no. He has still retained a job as a shadow minister. How odd. Is David Cameron saying Alan Duncan was only partly wrong ? Is he saying he wasn't really wrong at all or is it simply a case that friends of ...
I'm sitting in Millennium Square in Leeds city centre at the moment. You can see the rubbish that's the result of a two day strike starting to build up around the bins in town. The council simply can't afford to give in to the bullying tactics of the trade unions. Look North on the BBC had an excellent piece tonight on the intimidation that non-striking workers are facing from the unions. Typical bullying tactics from jumped up local union leaders who want to prove their worth to their political masters. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
In recent months - July and August are good examples - Charlotte Gore has got into the habit of extracting the Lib Dem blogs from Wikio's top 100 politics blogs and publishing the list. As she has come over all coy this time, it falls to me to give the rankings for September. The same 14 blogs feature as in August, but there has been quite a bit of movement even so: 1 (5) Liberal Democrat Voice Non Mover 2 (13) Mark Reckons Climbs 4 3 (14) Charlotte Gore Climbs 7 4 (29) Liberal England Climbs 4 5 (32) Liberal ...
Well it seemed like it was about time someone said it! Cardiff Liberal Youth are spot on with this post.
So, a little change in the bookies predictions this week: Carwyn Jones slips a little, down to 5/4 from evens Huw Lewis up slightly to 11/4 from 3/1 Edwina up as well, from 5/1 to 4/1 No change at the back with Jane Hutt still at 10/1 Odds courtesy of Ladbrokes, which still seems to be the only bookie taking bets on this. (Disclaimer: The Welsh Liberal Democrats in no way shape or form encourage gambling, drinking, casual racism, bear baiting or anything else that may be considered fun) (Further disclaimer: The previous disclaimer in no way insinuated that casual ...
Having been thwarted in my desire to walk last week thanks to the terrible weather, I didn't miss the chance to get out today. It's quite strange to be out walking again round here after a week in the North, especially when your body's just adapting to a slope, getting ready for a climb and then it tops out at 50m above sea level. While I was out, I was wondering if I should start detailing some of my walking routes here, perhaps as a first step on the route to becoming the Colcestrian Wainwright (further steps include developing legible ...
The new date for the appeal hearing for the above application has been notified as 7th October 2009 10am at The Trinity Centre, Maldon Road, Wallington. I will be there speaking on behalf of residents opposing the appeal. The hearing is open to members of the public and it would be a useful indication of ...
This is me at Climate Camp on Blackheath where I was roped in to feeding hundreds of hungry eco activists. I've been to the last three Climate Camps - at Heathrow, at Kingsnorth coal-fired power station and now on Blackheath, within sight of the City of London, which has done so much to unbalance our economy and damage our environment. This year's camp was a peaceful affair - because the police took a softer approach than usual. Around 5,000 people went to the educational workshops on offer and a new generation was trained in direct action. I suspect some of ...
Food growing is, as I guess most people in Camden know, one of my big passions. It's the key to many things. In a recession it's cheaper to grow your own. Food from your balcony or your garden or your housing estate hasn't come thousands of miles by plane wrapped in plastic. Gardening has been shown to be good for mental health. Growing food helps us all to stay in touch with where food comes from, and how important it is to respect nature. I'm delighted that Camden Council is now actively encouraging food growing, even if we've had to ...
One of my friends posted this website: http://probablybadnews.com/ My favourite is the one on the CNN ticker: "Experts agree Osama Bin Laden is alive or dead". Classic.
If you wondered why you didn't get your copy of the Redcar and Cleveland Council's magazine, well, it's here dumped in the NEDL compound in the cut between Sandsend Road and Kirkleatham Lane. Attempts to get NEDL to clean up the place takes for ever but we will persevere.
David Cameron has proposed a number of reforms that he plans to implement if the Conservatives are elected. I am not going to go over all these reforms here as they have been well reported on. However one of the proposals is reducing the number of MP's by 10 percent from 650 to 585. This on the face of it appears to be a good idea however; This would result in ever more people not being represented unless we change the voting system to a proportional one. This is because at the moment under the first past the post system ...
While I was away I got an excited email from Sue Frett, who organises the Surrey Special Olympics team. (For this purpose, Surrey includes Kingston). 13 Golds, 12 Silver, 8 Bronze! That was the result obtained by the Surrey ten pin bowling team at the Special Olympics Great Britain National Summer Games 2009 in Leicester. Wow! Congratulations to everyone. I was particularly pleased because my charity, Young Kingston, had sponsored some of the younger, Kingston based competitors, and some of these won medals. Last February, Kingston's Jonathan Frett came fifth in skiing in the Special Olympics Winter Games, and this ...
My limited tour of health facilities in North Wales continued today with a visit to the North Wales Cancer Centre, which was very impressive. I had an interesting discussion about some of the more controversial cancer drugs that have not been approved by NICE and also looked at some of the preparation work that needs to be put in before undertaking radiotherapy to the head and neck. The one constant in all of these visits has been the utter and total dedication of the staff who deliver health services at the front line, however I have also heard wherever I ...
Seedpods of love-in-a-mist, hops twining round arch, Blue Moon rose, teasel
Conference these days includes slots that are left blank when the agenda is published, and that can be filled later by topics that become evident at a later date. The deadline for – well pretty much everything, actually, including emergency motions, amendments, appeals, questions and so on – was yesterday. LDV is aware of two emergency motions that have been doing the rounds asking for support. Firstly there's one insisting that social services remain accountable to local people through local councils. A government paper launched on the 14th July suggested the creation of a national care body to take some ...
I have to firstly apologise about past posts if I did not make clear my stance on porn magazines. When I said there are no male ones, I knew some existed (did not know their names), but I meant that there are not any mainstream male porn magazines you could find in places such as your local newsagents. However, Paul Walter's comments regarding my Sexualisation of our world blog, lead to me discovering a quite interesting male porn magazine, Playgirl, which started in 1973, and was quite a popular magazine. Before people start saying, see there are porn magazines for ...
All the people who deny they would ever dream of running for the Labour leadership are moving into place for the eventuality that the 'changed circumstance' of a Brown resignation will leave them open to a sudden change of heart. The government continues to limp on in name only; caught in a curious state of ...
One of the killer fallacies of the modern age is the belief that new is superior to old. It's a fallacy powerful enough to have won the unelectable Labour Party three terms in office because they added, "New" to their name, and it has driven their entire policy agenda - 'modernising' this, modernising that. It literally means nothing more than "changing things" yet the power of "modernising", or replacing the old with the new is seen as an inherently good and worthy pursuit. But it's a fallacy. Another one of those things that people instinctively feel to be true, but ...
Youth justice has risen, zombie-like, from the place unloved political issues go to die. In July, the Government published an interim report on The Youth Crime Action Plan, its "comprehensive, cross-government analysis of what the government is going to do to tackle youth crime." This prompted vigorous activity from the think-tanks and NGOs, and a predictable silence from the dead who may live again, aka the Conservative Party. Last week, the Liberal Democrats published data showing that the number of 10 to 12 year olds convicted of a criminal offence rose by 87.2% between 1997 and 2007. Nick Clegg, remarking ...
It finally looks like there will be a BBQ area established on Woodhouse Moor/Hyde Park (at least for the short term anyway). Hopefully this new area will go some way towards tackling the problem of anti-social behaviour on the Moor and will protect the grass on the park. The new area was subject to a huge council consultation exercise during which most of the participants were in favour of the designated area. It's great that the council and local councillors are listening to their constituents.
Wed 9th
14:12
When silence is not golden - reasons why you still don't know what Party committees are up to (part ...
More than three months ago, in the midst of the expenses crisis, I took a self-denying ordnance not to comment on matters pertaining to the Party President or to internal Party committees. At the time, I was seriously irritated and, having taken some flak, decided that I saw no reason why I should continue to do so. The summer has passed, and I have for the most part kept to my word, and I am minded to continue doing so. However, I have been giving the question of how the various Federal and State committees report back some thought... Oh ...
Vaughan Roderick has a piece on his blog that can politely be described as nonsense. In it he argues that Kirsty Williams, who is leader of the Welsh Lib Dems, should not spend anytime outside of her constituency. This is because she is engaging with people in Carmarthen and Pontypridd on political issues as part of a series of town hall meetings. Vaughan, who has previously criticised the Welsh Lib Dems for concentrating too much on local issues, appears to believe that we should not be looking at the wider, national picture and listening to the views of Welsh citizens ...
On Sunday London Midland, who unfortunately run my local train service into London Euston, decided not to run any trains. This was apparently because no drivers had volunteered to work. Luckily for those drivers, emergency services, health workers, leisure staff and other transport workers across the country did work, otherwise the country would have ground ...
Half of Westminster seats have not changed hands since 1970. That's right HALF of all the seats at the Mother of Parliaments have not changed hands for 40 years. So if you first voted on your eighteenth birthday in June 1970, the chances are that as you approach retirement by the time of the next general election your voice has only ever had a fifty-fifty chance of getting heard. One of the cornerstones of politics is the ability for the electorate to dismiss their representatives. However, if the seats do not change their political colour then you might as well ...
Over the Summer, several local young people have helped out in my constituency office and have had the opportunity to learn more about how politics works. Here, Emily Ashford, 18, from Thornbury, describes her experiences and reflections on her time in the constituency office - uncensored!: "This week I have had the great opportunity to become part of Steve Webb's fantastic and very lovely office team. I've been drafting letters, researching individual cases and just generally sticking my nose in; broadening my knowledge of government departments and organisations. I'm also aware that depending on when young people have done work ...
This is the second in a short series of top tips for conference-goers. Our first, yesterday, told you that you don't have to register as a delegate to attend fringe and training events at conference. Today's tip is for those planning to attend conference, who are not voting members of conference. Many local parties have not elected as many conference representatives as they are entitled to. Even those local parties that have both a full complement of reps and reserve reps may find themselves in the situation that not all of their representatives are able to make it to conference. ...
Tonight we have another attempt to change Sefton Council's policy on phone masts. We have found that masts land up in residential areas despite better unpopulated sites being available because the council bans all masts on its own land. Surely it is better for a mast to be situated in a cemetery rather than yards from someones bedroom window? Richard Hands explains in this video:
UKIP have been causing a flurry of activity in Bootle. The Labour Party have always seen it as a no go area for other parties. Already this year they have suffered a defection to us on the council which offended their sense of what was divinely ordained. Now UKIP are rattling their cage as well. In last May's election Paul Nuttal came close to winning a seat from them. He was then elected as an MEP and plans to set up his office in Bootle I am told. He is the national Chair of UKIP and made the news today ...
There was a flat fire just down the road from me yesterday. Apparently the flat was rented by students but luckily there was no one home. Bit too close to home! The number of times I must have delivered Focus to that flat must number in the 20s!
Good news: this time, it is a change in election law that is a jolly good thing. In the past, although the electoral register is updated each month, there was a pause over the summer and early autumn whilst councils carry out their big annual update. That means that for elections held during the pause, there was no way for people who had recently moved in to the area to get on the register. They therefore lost their right to vote in the election. But now new rules, which came into force on 4 September, mean that such people who ...
Well Unision are definitely targeting their Google Ads well! Whenever I get an email from anyone about the bin strike a Unison Ad pops up in the sidebar on Googlemail!
The papers today all report on the high 'cost of dying'. Of course what they mean is the high cost of funerals and other associated costs. What else would you expect from a survey commissioned by a life insurance company that wants to sell policies to pay for funerals. But the sloppy headlines raise an interesting ...
What's easier: give people your web address or ask them to Google a phrase such as "Where can I find the UK's cheapest cars?" I've blogged before about the trend in some advertising towards giving people phrases to Google rather than asking them to remember a web address to visit. Martin Belam has spotted another example, this time a newspaper advert for CarGiant.co.uk which pushes people towards Googling that phrase. In some circumstances asking people to remember a phrase to Google, rather than a web address, is a good idea. But in this case, as he says: I just can't ...
[IMG: guinness-advert1] I feel a rant coming on. The BMA has announced that we should "become the first country in the world to introduce a comprehensive ban on alcohol advertising, sponsorship and promotions in an attempt to curb the binge drinking culture". Where do i start ? We have had a binge drinking culture since Mead was the drink of choice and good Saxon girls were told on their mothers knee to avoid marauding Scandinavians. I do not believe that was because there were huge advertising boards on the beaches of East Anglia recommending the local Saxon ale. And Lets ...
Oh, God. I promised myself, I really did. I told myself I wouldn't get involved with the politics of Liberal Youth forums, websites or any of the "divisions" revealed by that trustworthy Lib Dem, Tory Bear. ...wait a minute! He's not a Lib Dem! In the words of internetspeak, "OMG!" I wonder, wonder, wonder why he keeps picking holes in Liberal Youth? Could it be, that Liberal Youth seem to be moving forward in leaps and bounds again and that he's jealous? Lets not forget people, that Conservative Future (indeed, most other political youth organisations) do not do the half ...
Saw this story on Pink News yesterday about Iris Robinson calling the police on one of her constituents. In my mind this shows how pathetic she is. She can't defend her ideas so she resorts to using the police to enforce them for her! Politicians need to remember that they work for us. Not the other way round!
A few weeks ago, I blogged about the threats posed by the new Independent Safeguarding Authority and how a number of children's authors were to give up visiting schools because of the bureaucracy and civil liberties implications. Now as more detail emerges about the ISA before its launch next month, the threats to out liberties ...
Lib Dem Voice at Conference As ever the LDV team will be providing as full coverage as we can from the conference, including reportage, podcasts and as much as possible to make conference accessible and participatory for those not able to join us in Bournemouth. We will also be hosting four fringe events, all of which will be recorded and podcast as mini-radio shows here on LDV. The rooms are booked and topics selected, and we can now give you full information on our confirmed speakers. The details are as follows: Campaigning after Rennard Saturday 19th September, 8pm Premier Inn, ...
A little less than a year ago, Lib Dem Voice welcomed Stoke-on-Trent city councillor and Burton parliamentary candidate Gavin Webb back to the party after a protracted and controversial internal party inquiry suspended then un-suspended him. Now it's time to bid him farewell again, with news today that Gavin has quit the Lib Dems and joined the Libertarian Party (LPUK). Gavin's full statement follows: I have made a good many friends in my fourteen years of activism in the Liberal Democrats and I hope that those friendships will continue, but regretfully I have decided to resign from the Liberal Democrats. ...
So, the Conservative County Council has decided to go ahead and plonk an incinerator in the fields of Ardley. I have said before that I oppose the way the Tories have chosen incineration as an option. It seems to me that they have looked at the price-tag and not appreciated the hidden costs. And we can't ...
So the Royal Bank of Scotland/Natwest group have decided to reduce their bank charges for various items, now I welcome this and wish my bank, Lloyds TSB, also partly state owned will not only follow suit, but also then refund me for everything they've overcharged me. Has this decision been made before the House of Lords and Office of Fair Trading ruling that dictates these charges are unlawful or at the very least well over the top and force the banks to drop the charges and force them to refund all those previous charges highlighted. I saw the story yesterday ...
Oh, so it's one of them funny dates today, 09/09/09 and this posting should by magic reach you at 09:09, just to show you that I've noticed. It's also, apparently the 10th birthday of Bob the Builder. I'm really quite grateful that my days of having to sit through interminable adventures of Bob, Wendy, Scoop, Dizzy, Lofty and Pilchard are over, but I bear them no ill will. I remember Anna as a toddler going up to her daddy with a broken toy and saying "Daddy fix it." Bob looked woefully at the stricken toy and said that he didn't ...
Right at the end of this year (29th December to be exact) we celebrate teh 200th aniversary of the birth in Liverpool of William Ewart Gladstone. Quite a few events will be taking place. I've just heard about one of the earliest which sounds well like attending. It's one of the Roscoe Lectures on 27th October at 5pm. Lord Alton will be deliverign a lecture called Gladstone - Son of Liverpool: Scourge of Tyrants. The Roscoe lectures are great. And they are free. If you are interested the contact person is Barbara Mace at The Liverpool John Moores University Roscoe ...
When I blogged on the petition on the Downing Street website which calls for those who advocate independence for Wales and Scotland to be jailed for treason one of the comments gave some very good reasons why it might be a hoax. Now, according to the Western Mail its lack of authenticity has been confirmed. A spokeswoman for True Wales Rachel Banner is quoted as saying: "This is a mickey-take. We believe in freedom of speech." Downing Street have been alerted but they have left it up for now along with the its eleven signatories, who include Henry VIII, William ...
The Leicestershire County Council website reports: Harborough Museum is celebrating its reopening on Saturday 19 September 2009 with a town-wide event for all of the family. Get your family history questions answered by Dr. Barratt from TV's 'Who do you think you are?' or pick up a coin made by our Celtic craftsman. In the square Roman and WW1 soldiers will be looking for new recruits and under the old Grammar School you can discover a medieval market, while falcons will be flying in the memorial gardens. Visit Harborough Museum and see the Hallaton Treasure for the first time. The ...
There has been a lot of discussion in the last few years about the future of newspapers. The advent of the internet with online news (via services like Google news), Twitter and the rise of citizen journalism through blogging has thrown into question the long term viability of our current model. The truth is that none of us can really know what is going to happen and how the media landscape will look in 5 or 10 years time, let alone 20 or 50 years. However we can look at the current trends and try to discern from them what ...
Good morning – what an auspicious date today, eh? 9/9/9. Today would be a good day to start War and Peace, because it's Leo Tolstoy's birthday. It's also the anniversary of the admission of California to the union of United States in 1850. 2 big stories An end to recession The Guardian and the Telegraph both lead with a declaration of an end of recession. So that's OK then. From the Telegraph: The National Institute for Economic and Social Research, one of the foremost independent economic forecasters, estimated that Britain had seen economic growth in the three months to August. ...
I LOVE this story, because it provides almost instant backing to the blindlingly obvious: the necessary regulatory changes that will increase the cost of capital WILL CUT BANK PROFITS and therefore BONUSES. A report from JP Morgan: "calculates that investment banks' return on equity will fall from 15 per cent to just under 11 per cent in 2011. JPMorgan says the drop in profitability is likely to lead to lower pay and bonuses at the investment banks. Its report forecasts that banks will be unwilling to operate at reduced profitability levels and will respond with massive restructuring, including further headcount ...
I don't know about you, but for a Labour MP, Jon Cruddas seems to enjoy taking every opportunity possible to knock his party. Last night he did it again, telling the Compass think tank that Labour had, "no compelling case for re-election". Having said that, the man does have excellent judgement. He refused a job in Gordon ...
The Times carries an article today looking back over the 40 years since the Troubles, which was the phase Northern Ireland entered in this week in 1969. The battle of the Bogside had occurred in the area just below the City walls in August, so the Times is looking at a tale of a city (and of course a nation) divided. The tale of the divides of Northern Ireland's northern city is often visually displayed more easily than Belfast because if the course of the River Foyle, but from my personal experience of the last 40 years that is only ...
In my discussion with GPs yesterday I was told that although the French do not go in for binge drinking their alcohol consumption was significant and that it lead to more health problems than in the UK. I was told that a health study comparing Belfast with Toulouse confirmed this. As a result I went onto the web but could only find this: The PRIME Study was begun in 1991 and recruited 10,600 men aged 50 to 59 years in the WHO MONICA Project centers of Belfast, Lille, Strasbourg and Toulouse. Although drinkers in France and Northern Ireland consumed almost ...
The assertion by the Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Hain that he will boycott the BBC's flagship political debate programme Question Time over proposals to invite the British National Party to take part is a bit of a mixed blessing. On the one hand we will be spared having to watch him for some time to come, on the other hand and more seriously, we find ourselves back in the realm of gesture politics. The question is whether Peter Hain's announcement also presages a similar one from Labour HQ on their future involvement in the programme. The fact is ...
Wed 9th
05:31
I wish Gavin Webb well in the Libertarian Party, but here's why I won't be joining him...
[IMG: gavin-webb] Gavin Webb's defection to the Libertarian Party will come as little surprise to those who know him. Having been on the receiving end of a spectacularly botched -and totally pointless - membership suspension from the LibDems, he probably feels he's been spending more time watching his own back than publicly advocating his own views. No campaigner wants to be in that position. In so far as the Libertarian Party has any ranks, you can expect Gavin to rise through them rapidly. He will presumably contest their (only) "target" seat at the next election and will probably poll rather ...
The scary thing: if you're under 40 and live in the UK, it's odds on your MP has always been of the same party. The cool thing: you can tell that people with tiny gardens (like me) are really getting into growing their own when Thompson & Morgan start offering container-suitable apple trees which grow three different types of apple on one tree. The silly thing: one more reason not to trust David Cameron: he's a lager drinker (hat-tip to Sara). Eurgh. This blog is proudly sponsored by
According to a ComRes poll published yesterday in the Independent, the public wants Britain to scrap the Trident nuclear missile system but believes spending on health and education should rise each year. By a healthy margin of 23%, folk believe that ...
When popping onto the BBC Politics page in bed on the blackberry, I found the main headline to be the following.. 'Cameron would axe MPs cheap food' The opposition "leader", in his first (weak) major speech of what is pretty much now the general election campaign, stated that he would end subsidised alcohol and food, reduce the number of MPs, reduce the number of ministerial cars and reduce their salaries. He then moved to call such measures "taking the lead in bearing the burden of debt". LOL First of all, cutting ministerial, MP or Downing Street salaries is ridiculous. All ...
Yay another film review! Because that's obviously why you come to read a politics blog, isn't it? So, District 9 is an odd, difficult and courageous film. Shot as a fly on the wall documentary, it tells the story of aliens who arrived on earth 20 years ago helplessly crammed into a floating tanker. If you're not immediately drawing parallels with immigrants arriving in shipping containers - starved and helpless - then the not so subtle subtext of this film is going to be lost on you. We, the humans, ship them down to the earth's surface and stick them ...
I am becoming increasingly aware that there is a minority of Gay men who have an authoritarian streak in them that is unwavering as a fire and brimstone preacher's rantings. This is on the OUTeverywhere website. 1. A person asked what any party has done about the BNP. I correctly piointe dout our efforts and successes ...
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