Tonight's meeting of the Area Transport Strategy Group showed how much can be achieved by working together. This was the meeting when decisions had to be made about spending the balance of the budget. The traffic calming scheme near The Links school couldn't be considered because it's still not finalised. Consultation with the Parish council is ongoing. The scheme might be a contender for
The latest hatchet job on working mothers allegedly rearing unhealthy children is trotted out again. Apparently our children have unhealthy lifestyles: watching too much telly and eating junk food - utter rubbish!! Of course there's no mention of working fathers in this so called research. Where are they in the equation while all these children are stuffing themselves with junk food? Why aren't they taking their kids out to ensure they are getting the exercise they need? Women just can't win. If we all stayed at home and lived on benefits, we're accused of not setting the right example, expecting ...
Will Howells has just made a comment on twitter that reminded me of one of the things that struck me at conference. Cleggy is Captain Kirk. No, seriously, stay with me on this one. Kirk has a kind of gung-ho charm, and his heart's mostly in the right place, but he ain't all that as far as captaincy goes. What he has got, in Spock and McCoy and Sulu and Scotty and Uhura and Chekov and even Nurse Chapel, is a top notch team. He also has the management skills to deploy them where their talents are best suited, even ...
So the glory hunters are at it again. Mr Murdoch's weight has shift back to the Tories and "The Sun" is backing David Cameron. Is anybody shocked or surprised ? Like a seven year old wearing a Manchester United top, the Sun follows the winning team. Forget principles, forget standing for something or arguing your point, The Sun is used as a tool merely to curry favour with whoever is going to hold power. And what will the price be ? With Recent attacks by James Murdoch on the BBC, will the Murdoch "pay off" be a dismemberment of the ...
The letter came through the door – the Eyre Estate are back with their latest plans for the St John's Wood Barracks site. Third time lucky, they must be hoping. Let's see if this time the development is lower, greener and more in keeping with the surroundings. We can all have a look at their ...
Do you remember your first vote? Mine was in the 1983 General Election, when Labour and the Alliance got equal shares of the vote – but dramatically different results. That was so obviously unfair that I became an instant convert to fair votes, and I've supported electoral reform ever since. Over the years we've seen ...
Thursday 1 October 2009 is the national UK Older People's Day. The aim of the day is to help bring older people together in Birmingham and Birmingham City Council has coordinated over 50 events across Birmingham to help celebrate it.The events range from Coffee Mornings to a Movie and Fish'n'Chip Supper. You can visit www.birmingham.gov.uk/acevents2009 to download a list of the events taking
Tomorrow's full council meeting will present a series of sets of accounts for 2008-9 from four of the now defunct district councils, together with the county council's accounts. They are the end point of a lot of hard work by councils' employees. They are also pretty dry reading - but essential to efficient and effective spending of your taxes - so I bring you the highlights of the Audit Commissions reports. The best set of accounts, according to the Audit Commission, is Teesdale's which got a clean bill of health in all the areas which the Audit commission comments on. ...
Regular readers will know of my consternation at the delays that have affected the consultation into Chorlton District Centre. The consultation began yesterday. You can complete the survey online and I hope you do. It is important that Chorlton gets the future it deserves and wants. Local LibDems have sent our survey to 9,000 houses and the response has been phenomenal. Victor Chamberlain has been collating the responses, "We will report back on our findings, but there is clear opposition to a new supermarket." Early criticisms of the consultation suggest it is trying to get results that want a new ...
Two interviews today! First up was by Yoosk - a site where you can ask MPs questions - any questions you like. Usually I answer by email - but this time they came to film the answers to six new questions. Yoosk does more than just post questions and answers - people get to rate your answers for things like honesty, clarity and so on Second interview was with Victoria Hollingsworth - both to for her thesis but probably also for Woman's Hour or such - about the provision of mental health services for young people. There is much to ...
[IMG: Council notice on condemned Denton Road trees] I was suprised to discover that all the street trees in Denton Road have been condemned by Haringey Council - as they are apparently damaging the pavements. The Council hadn't informed me that this was happening – and I wonder if there was any consultation with residents? Its obvious that this wasn't a good tree species to plant on a road: The pavement by some of the trees has been badly damaged by the roots. However, the pavement by other trees seems unharmed and I can't help thinking a less drastic solution ...
The BBC reports: Ofsted inspectors in England have been told by ministers to show "common sense" in interpreting laws on friends helping each other with childcare. Two mothers had been told it was illegal to look after each others' children without being registered. The reciprocal arrangement had been seen as providing a "reward". Fair enough. But who are the ministers telling Ofsted this? Go over to the Daily Telegraph and you find that the chief among them is schools minister Vernon Coaker. That is a familiar name to anyone who has followed Labour's nationalisation of childhood over the past 12 ...
Today is a bit of a pisser of a day to be a feminist. The number of people defending Roman Polanski for drugging, raping, and anally raping a 13 year old is making me feel sick. You know, I think he's a bloody good director too. But that does not mean he shouldn't be subject to the law, and I don't care how old he is now, or how fucking long ago it was that he did it. HE RAPED SOMEBODY, and he's got away with it for over thirty fucking years. This is NOT ON. Still, I shouldn't be ...
With just three days to go before Irish voters give their second verdict on the Lisbon Treaty in a national referendum, the polls are predicting a comfortable, if not landslide, victory for the Yes campaign. To the dismay of most of the political parties in Eire (though to the undisguised glee of UKIP and the ...
I've just read in Nader's blog that it was Richard Hoggart's 91st birthday on 24 September. Nader said how he met Richard Hoggart a couple of times. Well, what do you know, so did I! When I was a little girl Richard Hoggart and his family lived very near us for about a year, in a bungalow just the other side of Aunty Greta's garden from our house at Marske-by-Sea. I used to go and play with his little boy, Simon. There was a baby girl too, I seem to remember. I think she was born whilst they lived at ...
A long long time ago (ok, not that long ago), our party was accused of making promises that didn't add up, but that it didn't matter as we'd never see power anyway. Today, Gordon Brown decided this was the political territory that he wants the Labour party to inhabit. As MORI put Labour in third place, for the first time since 1982, Gordon Brown firmly positioned himself in the spot of the third party. I've always thought that the accusation levelled at us of 'not costing our promises' was at times harsh, although, at least at that time, the 'not ...
Living in London and (attempting) to use the Tube most days, it's deeply ironic the legacy of Gordon Brown's political career which I am reminded of most often – his insistence on forcing through the botched part-privatisation of the Tube – is something quite at odds with his overall record. For his overall record is not of dogged determination to bring in as quickly as possible a radical policy come what may, but instead it is one of ducking the big tough choices and looking to attempt to play clever with the details instead. Not so much a case of ...
And so today, in the midst of events that are transforming our world, we meet united (apart from those idiots Purnell and Blears, obviously) and determined to fight for the future. Our country confronts the biggest choice for a generation. It's a choice between two parties, yes. But more importantly a choice between two directions for our country. (You can tell I was a crap Chancellor, as I can't count beyond two). In the last eighteen months we have had to confront the biggest economic choices the world has faced since the 1930s, as a result of my stunning incompetence ...
A MORI poll today has put Lib Dems ahead of Labour. I wonder whether Labour would like to support the Lib Dems or the Conservatives in the event of the forecast hung parliament at the next ...
Polly Toynbee had a column in the Guardian yesterday extolling Labour's bright new generation and the party's achievements in Lambeth: all around us are good Labour legacies of money well spent: the new school sports hall, the new primary school on Brixton Hill, nine new children's centres, health clinics, squads of neighbourhood police, and a spectacular sixth-form college next door to my home.I was struck by her celebration of buildings rather than the life that goes on in them. The sixth-form college may be "spectacular", but does it provide its students with a good education? And It has always seemed ...
Last night's local assembly was our 5th since we started back in June 2008. Time really has flown. Once again, a good turn-out and plenty of discussion. A quick report back from the Chair's eye view: Manor Park The assembly heard from Sam Kirk of the Council's environment team, who explained about the new dog control orders that will be coming in soon. Dog fighting in our parks, and poor management of animals by a minority of dog owners was a real concern at the last assembly. The assembly thanked Sam for her report and agreed to consider this again ...
Following Gordon Brown's speech Charlotte Gore has a wonderful post, about him returning us to Victorian Dickensian Britain, not that he'll call it that of course. Also after what will be 13 years of Labour promising to reform the Lords and the Commons, we're going to have to wait for a fourth Labour term for them to fulill those promises of the spring of 1997. So I was insired about what is a poor single teenage mum called Olive, ends up being led to one of his poorhouses by the queen dodger Woeful Monica. [WOEFUL MONICA] So, Olive and wean, ...
Shocking new statistics uncovered by the LibDems show just how Labour are failing when it comes to crime. The figures show the scale of over-crowding in our gaols, and the way they breed further crime. LibDem MP Jenny Willott has got the facts that show the average number of prisoners "doubling up" - two prisoners ...
As reported in tonight's "Evening Telegraph" I have sought clarity about the extent of funding and timescales with regard to improvements to Harris Academy's buildings. See : http://tiny.cc/harristele or click on the headline above to view. At the Education Committee last night, I greatly welcomed the commitment by Scottish Government to fund a substantial proportion of the works at Harris Academy, but we do need clarity in terms of the actual amount of funding coming from government and the timescale in which funding will come forward and work on the school can commence. The Council's new Chief Executive, David Doward, ...
Regular users of Manor House Gardens will know there was an outbreak of botulism in the pond in late July, which sadly killed much of the wildlife there. At last week's Full Council meeting, I asked the relevant cabinet member for an update, and I've posted her reply below: "During July this year a number of ponds and lakes in south east London, including the Tarn at Eltham, were affected by Avian Botulism, a bacteria that can kill wildfowl. Although the source of the outbreak was not Lewisham the lake at Manor House Gardens was affected. The disease can be ...
I'm just back from Liberal Democrat Conference in Bournemouth, refreshed and motivated. Contrary to many media reports (Andrew Neil in particular), the atmosphere was overwhelmingly positive. What the media always neglect to mention is our members decide on policy at Conference, by debating and voting. This debate can often come across, or be reported as, negative feeling or even as splits within the party. This is healthy debate - and it's about time the media woke up to this and gave us a fair hearing. I ran several training sessions so didn't get to as many debates as possible, but ...
She looks so harmless, doesn't she, with her friendly woman-I-always-see-in-the-greengrocers smile, her twitter account and her unmistakeable air of Bodenity*. Even her name is pleasantly, inoffensively commonplace. But Sarah Brown has a plan. I know this because the Guardian Media Group have spent the last week marching through my nightmares shouting "SARAH BROWN WANTS TO BE ...
[IMG: Some of the Jewellery Quarter apartments] I'm very disappointed at Conservative City Cabinet member for Housing John Lines' comments that Jewellery Quarter apartments are the "slums of tomorrow". I think it's clear to all that some developers are struggling to sell all their units, while some are struggling to even finish building them. Some have apparently approached the Council hoping to do a deal to make them available to Council tenants - but Councillor Lines has said no. I strongly disagree with his view that these apartments are "not good enough for our people". Whilst I agree they are ...
Bury's dole queues have lengthened by over three quarters this year to over 4,000. The Government must act fast to halt the rise in job losses and home repossessions in the borough. There are now 4,230 people claiming Job Seekers' Allowance in Bury, an increase of 78.9% compared to this time last year, and an increase of 41.7% in the last three months. Unemployment in the borough is now at a higher level than before Labour came to power in 1997, after the ravages of 18 years of Tory government. Despite some sterling work by local businesses, these figures show ...
The Council's recycling facilities at the Prestwich Tesco store have been closed due to persistent fly-tipping. The recycling point for paper, card, clothes and general waste was popular with residents and shoppers, but that popularity led to overflowing bins and dumping. Negotiations between the Council and Tesco over increased surveillance to catch the fly-tippers stalled, and the Council has decided to close the site. It is very disappointing that we can't reach an agreement on this, not least because that's where I do my recycling and t's a right pain to have to go elsewhere! Tesco and the Council should ...
Gordon Brown delivered his speech to the Labour Party's conference in Brighton today – you can read it in full here, or watch it here. For the Lib Dems, Nick Clegg's chief-of-staff Danny Alexander has issued the following response: Gordon Brown's speech showed just how tired and bereft of new thinking the Labour Party is. His new announcements were a hotchpotch of the ineffective and the ill-thought through, rehashed press releases, copied ideas and humiliating U-turns. "The fact is Gordon Brown has presided over a huge and widening gap between the richest and the poorest, he has failed a generation ...
I really am sorry for the continuing lack of Actual Content here, but I'm physically and mentally drained at the moment – not just exhausted but ill enough from overwork that I actually had to go and have my heart checked out at the cardiac unit of the hospital last week (it's fine, nothing at ...
So Gordon Brown has pledged to have a referendum on voting reform if* Labour wins the next election.But hold your horses. The voting system up for grabs would be Alternative Vote. AV is not proportional, and is not really any better than the current FPTP system.No independent body is suggesting a change to AV, so for Brown to choose this system for a referendum is simply trying to distract the
So, after some reflection, this really was a 'catch-up' speech which stole much of what we have been banging on about in previous years. Some thoughts. * Scrapping ID cards, or 'not making them compulsory' as his weasel words put it. My guess is that this is not the LD policy of properly scrapping the useless scheme and instead devoting this money to more police but a way of deflecting negative publicity whilst ensuring that ID cards will still happen, just through the proverbial 'back door', i.e. making some things easier to achieve with an ID card. (A 'pasje', any ...
Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats hosted a number of successful fringe meetings in Bournemouth this year. One of the highlights was 'Turkey and the EU', jointly hosted with Liberal Democrats Friends of Turkey, which I was pleased to chair, where the keynote speaker was Nursuna Memecan MP for Istanbul and a member of the ruling AK Party. Nursuna is also a Member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly. Lord Wallace of Saltaire was also on the panel, speaking with great insight and authority on Turkey, along with Bridget Fox, PPC for Islington South, ...
The Labour Party manifesto 1997: We are committed to a referendum on the voting system for the House of Commons. An independent commission on voting systems will be appointed early to recommend a proportional alternative to the first-past-the-post system. Gordon Brown's speech to the Labour Party conference 2009: There is now a stronger case than ever that MPs should be elected with the support of more than half their voters - as they would be under the Alternative Voting system. And so I can announce today that in Labour's next manifesto there will be a commitment for a referendum to ...
Welcome to the 136th of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (20-26th September 2009), together with a hand-picked quintet, partly courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget, by the way, you can now sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox – just click here – ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. Thank you, and goodbye on Costigan ...
The Euro Health Consumer Index has ranked the NHS a respectable 14th out of 33 it is revealed today. However, in terms of value for money the NHS only tops the bottom ten in Europe: Dr. Arne Björnberg, Director of the Euro Health Consumer Index, said: "The UK in 2009 has showed surprisingly negative feedback from patient organisations on the waiting time situation, particularly after government spending on the NHS has been increasing heavily. "It seems that management of the behemoth NHS organisation is difficult to do under a centralised paradigm." The report ranked the NHS 23rd out of the ...
Tue 29th
18:00
Day 3194: Flash Gordon, I love you, but you've only got 14 hours to save the world... again!
Tuesday: Mr Frown the Prime Monster has addressed the Hard Labour conference, brought to you from the DEATH STAR... Ladies, gentlemen, Lord Emperor Mandletine, we're here to short change the world all over again. WE broke it! YOU bought it! I'm here to tell you we can break it one more time. As Mrs Bucket told the Newsnight Show only last night, it's always at least ten years before any changes you can make start to have an effect on the economy so only now are we reaping the rewards of my masterful handling of... hang on, who wrote this? ...
An interesting article from Benjamin Cohen, reflecting on being a gay Orthodox Jew at Yom Kippur, got me thinking again about the Old Testament rules held up by some Christians and Jews as legitimising a ban on gay marriage. The oft-quoted verse from Leviticus 18:22 states, 'You shall not lie with a man as with a ...
I've just got back from a meeting of the Environment Scrutiny Committee at County Hall. One item on the agenda was a discussion about the new Maritime Division of the Council. Residents around the county will know that the RNLI has been providing lifeguard services at many beaches in Cornwall. They are a fabulous organisation and this is a great service. The total cost is around £3 million a year and Cornwall Council pays about £1 million of this. The National Trust pays nothing. So why should they contribute? Simple - many of the beaches in Cornwall are owned by ...
There has been so much news about the open primary for the Conservative PPC its worth reminding the good people of the Bracknell Forest ward of Hanworth (which includes Hanworth and Birch Hill ) that they will have an election for a local Borough Councillor following the sad death of Councillor Alan Browne. The candidates are; Mark Phillips of the Conservative Larraine de Laune of the Liberal Democrats Janet Keene of the Labour Party Steven Martin Gabb of the Green Party Jeff Newbold of the of the UK Independence David Anthony Penson British National Party The election will be held ...
In his final conference speech as Labour leader, Gordon Brown has announced that teenage parents are to no longer be given council houses, but to be placed into supervised homes instead.Greg Stone, Lib Dem PPC for Newcastle East, made an excellent spot: this sounds just like the policy of a rival political party... the BNP....there be no council flats and no welfare benefits available to
How else can you view Gordon Brown's pledge to hold a referendum on voting reform than as a pretty naked attempt to woo the Lib Dems and Lib Dem minded voters? For sure, there are a lot of Labour supporters who also favour electoral reform, but I would argue that they aren't the people this bit of the speech was aiming at. Brown's theme was 'change you can believe in' and this is change - so you must believe in it! But the pledge will fall short in two respects. Whilst there are some in the Lib Dems who favour ...
No related posts.
The Liverpool Daily Post reports today on plans by Old Sarum, sorry Wirral Borough Council (WBC) to privatise parks, countryside and open spaces, see here. Cabinet member for culture (or in Wirral's case a lack of it) Cllr Bob Moon said the aim was to improve maintenance standards, gain a closer working relationship with park ...
The Cheadle Area Committee meets next Tuesday (6th October). It covers Gatley, Cheadle, Heald Green and the northern part of Cheadle Hulme and can make planning decisions, spent money and all sorts of other things. The Area Committee is open to all to attend, and to speak. You can download the agenda here. It includes lots of extra information, including where the committee meets and how to get there, but be warned - it's a 2.5MB PDF document.
MEDIA STATEMENT Bury's dole queues have lengthened by over three quarters this year to over 4,000. Now Bury South Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate Vic D'Albert says the Government must act fast to halt the rise in job losses and home repossessions in the borough. There are now 4,230 people claiming Job Seekers' Allowance in Bury, an increase of 78.9% compared to this time last year, and an increase of 41.7% in the last three months. Unemployment in the borough is now at a higher level than before Labour came to power in 1997, after the ravages of 18 years of ...
Well, well, well. The electoral genius has struck gold this time, hasn't he? Not satisfied with demonstrating his toughness on immigrants, he's turning his attention to those other menaces to society: Teen Mums. Oh yes. It's been decreed that should you find yourself with child you've got four choices. Make sure you, your boyfriend or your parents are financially able to deal with a baby, have an abortion, give the baby up for adoption or if none of those three options suit you can now go into supervised communal housing for other menaces to society. They're not Poorhouses, though. They're ...
I'll confess I am not actually listening to the Prime Minister's speech to Labour conference, as I have far more important things to do, including biting my nails and feeding the cats. However, a quick refresh of Twitter shows that quite a lot of my friends are. And some of them have even been a little taken in by Brown's ID card commitment. If Twitter is right – and I can't be bothered to check – he said, "there will be no compulsory ID cards for British citizens in the next parliament" My goodness, but you can drive a double ...
Businesslink are spending money advertising the new ID Cards campaign on their website and with google ads, shows that they exist to serve the governing party rather than businesses. Read and post comments | Send to a friend
Strange music chosen for Gordon Brown to leave the stage at the end of his speech today. I'm sure that a song with the title 'Moving on Up' sounded good in principle, but as Gordon meandered through the hall, we heard the following: You've done me wrong, your time is up You took a sip from the ...
As Prime Minister Gordon Brown sits down at the end of the last speech he is likely to make to a Labour Party conference as Prime Minister, it seems fair to consider the legacy of dismal failure that he leaves behind, and how that legacy can be corrected. The supposed sop to Liberal Democrat supporters of a referendum on an AV electoral system is a deeply cynical raspberry from a Labour Party that has had 12 years to change things... and failed to do so. Yet apart from these hackneyed gimmicks, there was nothing. Labour is finished as a force ...
I'm going to leave others to rip to shreds Gordon Brown's claims on the economy and his new found belief in local Post Offices he made in his speech today. There's plenty of scope for an awful lot of shreds. Others can also comment on the number of Lib Dem policies he stole. I want to concentrate on one truly horrific aspect of what he said. Over an hour on, I'm still actually shaking with shock at this sentence: "From now on all 16 and 17 year old parents who get support from the taxpayer will be placed in a ...
Redcar and Cleveland's Children and Young People's Trust is offering advice on how to manage the family Christmas budget in the credit crunch. A host of experts will be on hand to give financial advice, particularly for anyone who has been made redundant or whose job may be at risk at three sessions next week. There will be representatives from the Redcar & Cleveland Moneytree Credit Union, Job Centre Plus, Routes to Employment, Funding for training, Coast and Country Housing, Citizens Advice Bureau, Welfare Rights, Redcar and Cleveland Financial Inclusion Team, Redcar and Cleveland Energy Management Team, Redcar and Cleveland ...
Well here's controversy. I watched Brown's speech and I was impressed. I was reassured that my first impression was correct when the Times and Tory spokesman Danny Finkelstein said it 'wasn't a game changer'. Well yes it was, Danny. God knows Gordon Brown remains the dullest speaker in politics, with the honourable exception of the dreadful and imperious Margaret Beckett, and the first half of the speech was dull beyond words. He started as if he had got the pages of the speech mixed up and he was on page 94 but he eventually got into his stride after what ...
Well just having heard Gordon Brown's conference speech and having live tweeted it my head is still spinning a bit. However one proposal leapt out at me and that was his commitment to hold a referendum on changing to the "Alternative Vote" system for Westminster. As I have covered on here before, AV is not proportional. In fact it can be less proportional than our current First Past the Post system, especially in a good year for a particular party it can exaggerate the swing. I have already seen a few comments from people that it is "better than nothing" ...
RWFTW - RWFTWs September Survey Shared via AddThis
I was actually less impressed by Sarah doing the warm up act than by Gordon Brown himself, he actually looked like he was enjoying himself for a change and relishing the election about to hit us, whereas Sarah sounded a little flat today. I also enjoyed his speech because it did feel like spot the Lib Dem policy, there were enough to choose from, here are just some of them; Recalling MPs guilty of fraudfree personal care Cracking down on bankers bonuses House of Lords reform (again)Voting reform referendum (again)And you are abolishing compulsory ID cards (in the next Parliament) ...
I've received this and thought I'd pass it on. The Stockport West Neighbourhood Policing Team has been finding out what issues are affecting resident's lives and how they want them resolved. Officers have visited more than 250 homes in Cheadle, asking the community how they would like their area policed and what priorities they want officers to focus on. The main issues that people want targeting are anti-social behaviour and youths causing annoyance. Stockport Homes Limited West Area Housing joined in with this initiative with a walkabout which was led by the Neighbourhood Housing Officer Ken Higgins with local residents ...
I was intrigued by the masthead photo on the Labour Party web site. Are these conference delegates or Brighton residents leaping into the sea?
This is a belated comment, but due to University commitments I have only just had the time to write a blog. University will mean my blogging will not really be as frequent as it has been, but I will try to get the odd one here and there. Anyway, I wanted to comment about the Andrew ...
A few weeks ago, talking about BNP proposals for teenage mothers, I wrote: given that it's an insane plan based on a kneejerk reaction to create a non-solution to a perceived problem, there's every chance it might already be being considered at some level of the Government. God, I hate being right: Mr Brown says he will create ...
Before Brown's speech this afternoon, in which he promised to change the world, again, the Liberal Democrats drew ahead of him in the polls. That is probably enough world-changing for a lot of our readers . . . Now LibDemVoice thinks that Bournemouth was a hit. It will certainly be more of a hit if Vince continues to defend the Mansion tax in this robust way: Council tax was introduced in the early Nineties as an alternative to Mrs Thatcher's hated poll tax. It has always been unpopular with pensioners who have modest incomes and who are often reluctant or ...
Well, I suppose because I am actually at university now I probably should blow the dust off this thing and get back to blogging about stuff again. University is a weird place. It's especially weird for folks like me who are quite closed and not what you'd call fond of drinking, but there is something irrepressibly likeable about looking out a window and seeing academia. And alcohol. Boy is there a lot of alcohol. Aberystwyth has more pubs and clubs per square mile than anywhere else in the UK, and so far I've found that people tend to enjoy trying ...
Three blogs have recently joined Ryan's Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator: Iain Roberts http://iainroberts.mycouncillor.org.uk (Good to see another councillor take up the ALDC MyCouncillor system and run a blog aimed at local residents.) Alan Window http://aussienightmare.blogspot.com (Back blogging after break of nearly three years.) Susan Ashton http://conjugatingpossum.blogspot.com (A "militant commuter" – so watch out for acerbic posts about transport I suspect...) Good luck to all three, and why not take a moment to pop over to their blogs, take a read and post a comment?
I find this a hard question to answer on one level; everything logical screams no, this government and the Labour Party in government are finished; there can be little doubt that there is a sense of finality about the government which, like it or not, is personified so well in Gordon Brown. However, Peter Mandelson thinks differently and part ...
Open publication – Free publishing – More welsh lib dems Welsh Liberal Democrats have today launched a radical consultation document on how Wales can develop a new, green economy ahead of the party's Autumn Conference in October. The document will be sent to members and stakeholders in the next few days in order to make sure that people from across Wales have the opportunity to contribute to developing the radical ideas needed to ensure that Wales has an economy fit for the future. The paper outlines areas where political will could help develop an economy that is both financially and ...
Ooooooooooooh dear. I've pawed away at the keyboard producing publications with phone numbers in them often enough to know how easy it can be to get a number a wrong. Even once had to ring someone to warn them we'd just produced a leaflet with their phone number in it by mistake. Lucky me though that this has never happened to me, so far...: Last week the Canadian government announced a financial stimulus program for the country's lobster fishery, which is ailing because of low demand. But callers to a toll-free telephone number the government published online and in a ...
The Abbey Hey Hotel saga is ongoing. The "new" owners have now put in a planning application to turn the property into 5 self-contained flats. Not only are there too many flats in the area already (the need is for houses), but the building is dilapidated to the point where it would have to be entirely rebuilt. The Council assures me that they are still working towards a new demolition notice. In the meantime, however, anybody who does have a view on is application (ref 091144/FO/2009/N2) should contact the Planning Officer, Ian Jarvis (i.jarvis@manchester.gov.uk) with their views before 6th October. ...
Angela Merkel is undoubtedly a big winner from the German federal election results - she gets to stay as Chancellor, and in a new coalition with her preferred partner, the FDP. But it's a a slightly odd sort of triumph, for her party's vote share fell slightly (by 0.6% or 0.5% depending on whether you look at the constituency or party list vote). The combined CDU/CSU vote share was their worst in any election since 1945. That's an odd sort of triumph really, even if they made a small net gain in seats. Those lost votes didn't go to the ...
Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats has launched this message for anyone who's ever voted for the Green Party, or is thinking about doing so at the next general election. He's asking you to lend your vote to the Liberal Democrats in 2010, to stop climate change. Nick says: "This election is our best chance - it's probably our last chance - to get a government that acts to cut carbon emissions and protect our planet for our children. This is not a time for people who care about the environment to quarrel between ourselves. This is a time ...
Residents have reported to me that grating at the junction of Ryehill Lane and Perth Road is missing. Having reported this to the City Development Department, I have been updated today as follows : " ... the area inspector has confirmed that an order has been raised for the replacement of some grating at the junction of Ryehill Lane and Perth Road."
A constituent in Tait's Lane contacted me recently about an anomaly in terms of the provision of cable TV in the area. The whole of the lane is cabled for Virgin Media services, except one block of 18 flats. I can only think that at the time the former Telewest cabled the area, this set of flats was undergoing refurbishment as the flats were upgraded some years ago. My constituent - who had contacted Virgin to subscribe to their services - was told there were no plans to extent the services to these flats. I must say - all credit, ...
I see that in his Daily Mail column Vince has gone on the offensive over is 'mansion tax'. I also note that in the poll on Lib Dem voice approval for the policy is racing ahead of those loud -but unrepresentative -voices that have attacked it. There are two issues here; firstly the principle of how such policy initiative should emerge and secondly the policy itself. Let us begin with how ideas like this should emerge. Now I am a veteran of the policy committee in the days of the Alliance and before when as the standing committee many a ...
Tue 29th
12:00
The LibDem response to Tory "love bombing" should be to "love bomb" Cameron right back
[IMG: david-cameron-and-cute-puppy] An interesting subtext of the conference season is how Labour and the LibDems intend to attack the Tories and eat into Cameron's opinion poll lead. The Labour approach is to claim that the Conservatives will slash frontline services, occasionally peppered with attempts to portray Cameron and Osbourne as detached, aloof, well-heeled toffs (by, for example, having Labour campaigners prance around Crewe and Nantwich in bowler hats). The "official" LibDem line (i.e. Clegg's) is to assert that Cameron is a phoney. The LibDems are "the real thing", while the Tories are an insipid "fake change" alternative. Chris Huhne toyed ...
Primrose Hill Community Association, Hopkinson's Place, off Fitzroy Road at 6.30pm, 12th November Did you know that every few months we now have an open meeting run by ward councillors to discuss local issues? A Lib Dem idea, we've now held nearly 10 locally, on subjects ranging from crime to conservation, and a total of nearly ...
A couple of months ago, I updated www.dundeewestend.com about Dundee Accessible Transport Action Group (DATAG)'s "Hannah's Highway" campaign - to make getting down Perth Road to be accessible to all by providing dropped kerbing right up to Sinderins on the north side. Click on the headline above to read the earlier story - or go to http://tinyurl.com/hannahhighway. At the time, the Head of Transportation at Dundee City Council advised me that : "The 'Hannah's Highway' project has identified a route from Sinderins to Duncan of Jordanstone Buildings - these will have dropped kerbs allowing an accessible route along the north ...
The Iron men on Crosby beach have been a great hit. Like the Angel of the North-by the same artist-they have been recognised as some of the better bits of public art. As Ronnie was heard to remark; 'who would have thought that lots of naked men on a beach would arouse such interest'. Locally the Tories initially opposed them and their PPC even went on the BBC World at One championing Health and Safety as the reason for their opposition. Birkdale Focus roving report Cllr Connell has sent me another good example from East Anglia; the Sea Shell is ...
In roughly a month's time (4th November 2009 to be exact), our local TV transmitter which serves Salford and the North West, will begin the digital switchover. What does this mean for you? Well, it depends how you currently receive your television. If you are a cable or satellite tv customer (and don't receive your channels via any other method throughout your house) then you do not need to do anything, your cable or satellite company will ensure you receive all your existing free and subscription channels. If you already own a FREEVIEW box, or your TV has FREEVIEW built-in ...
A planning application for a residential building on the site of the Timber Yard on Spring Bank Road, just a few meters from the entrance to platform 1 of Hither Green Station, has been submitted. The designs are not available yet but what details there are of this outline planning application can be seen here. ...
"What's the name of your leader?" a constituent asked me the day after the Lib Dem conference closed. Luckily, it was a question I could answer with some confidence. "Nick Clegg". "Oh yes, that's right. Saw him on the news last night. Good speech." That seemed a perfectly reasonable, and probably typical, comment from someone with no particular interest in politics who'll still most likely be casting their vote in the General Election; not to mention the sort of person every political party is looking to engage with. So how does that fit with William Le Breton's claim that Bournemouth ...
To make explicit what I wrote in my tweet about this excellent post by Nadine Dorries MP, here's the post put through the Colin Powell translator: And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Gordon Brown is taking pills for depression/stress/random scary-sounding condition." Well, the correct answer is, he is not taking pills for any of those. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with taking medication for something in this country? Do we believe that, as three out of five people suffer with mental health problems/depression ...
Ken MacLeod explains how SFnal ideas are germinated: taking the usual SF approach to such humane, beneficial developments (how could this advance be grossly misused, and what are the military applications?) (Note: with minor tweaks, such as the addition of the phrase 'and won't someone think of the children?' this also works as a Labour Party policy ...
My first reaction to the Andrew Marr/Gordon Brown health question debate was "well I am sure a journalist like that wouldn't post a question unless he had pretty much confirmed the source of his information". Now it seems the source was an internet rumour - not smart journalism at all. But putting the journalistic issues aside, what depths are we sinking to if we think it's OK for this sort of questioning to go on. I have no idea whether Gordon Brown does or doesn't use prescription painkillers or anti depressants. But if he does, so what? Huge numbers of ...
I could harp on about the latest opinion polls putting us ahead of Labour in percentage terms, but seeing as opinion polls are strewn with errors and count for little, I won't. Likewise I could talk about how "liberals" in Germany are forming part of Frau Merkel's new government, but as they're the wrong sort of liberals (think "economic" rather than "social" along the lines of the former PD's in Ireland, no matter what ALDE says to the contrary), I won't. Nor am I going to pontificate about the arrest of Roman Polanski in Zürich; he may have directed great ...
Outside of the current industrial action on post - I have recently been raising issues around delivery problems with the Royal Mail, following a piece of casework from a resident of Crouch End. This issue is about receiving notification of a parcel delivery - i.e. a card through the door saying 'you were out when we called' - when in fact the resident was inside the house. The Royal Mail response to me on this is that these cards are a last resort in the delivery process and that my constituent should in turn appreciate that the incentive is to ...
Two findings caught my eye from the latest MORI polling into how much people and MPs trust different professions and groups of people. First, MPs trust the public more than the public trusts the public (!). Second, there is only one category of people that is trusted less by MPs than it is by the general public. Step forward and take a bow: journalists. [IMG: MPs are more likely to trust others than the public: MORI] Source: MORI. Click on image for larger sized graphic. Related posts:Journalists: who works where and what do they do? Journalisted.com is a very handy ...
Most of these could do with an injection of new members; preferably ones who like to post! Some are moderated membership, and some are open. [IMG: [info - community] ] ashes_to_ashes - for fans of the follow-up to Life on Mars. [IMG: [info - community] ] being_human - for fans of the supernatural flatshare drama. [IMG: [info - community] ] bpal - for fans of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab perfumes. Reviews/swaps/sales welcome. [IMG: [info - community] ] brian_blessed - for people who like big beardy shouty Yorkshiremen in their films :D [IMG: [info - community] ] brit_horror - for fans ...
I made clear my view on Sunday that the BBC's Andrew Marr was bang out-of-order to ask Gordon Brown whether he uses prescription drugs seemingly on the basis of nothing more than Internet rumour: ... in making it an issue on the basis of no evidence, Andrew Marr and the BBC have done a real disservice to serious political reporting. I stand by my assessment. However, I also pointed out that, at the time of writing, no-one from the right-wing blogosphere had taken Mr Marr to task. It's only fair, therefore, to note that Tory MP Nadine Dorries yesterday broke ...
[IMG: labour2] It seems Nu-Labour are just desperate to remind us of all their 'good' policies. Probably because there is an election coming up and they've destroyed the economy, public finances, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Education system... Anyway, one of the 'good' policies they wish to remind us of is the minimum wage. Which was recently promoted by Jack Scott on Labour List... Next week, the minimum wage will rise to £5.80. Since it was first introduced in the teeth of Conservative opposition, the minimum wage has risen by 81.25%, far outstripping a decade of low inflation. Does anyone believe the ...
... says Dave Osler as he signs off his latest blog post. He's just witnessed young people screaming, "Labour Labour Labour, Out Out Out!" outside their conference hall and had, it seems, a startling moment of clarity. Labour returned to power in 1997 based on a promise not to be typical old Tax and Spend Labour (fail), that they would remain firmly in control of the trade unions (fail) and they'd keep the support of the Working Classes by taking a tough new stance on Law and Order (fail). They reasoned, correctly, that so long as they didn't do anything ...
Bulky Bobs are the people who collect bulky waste items (like furniture). They recycle or reuse it when they can. They sell what they have made at prices lower income people can afford. And they provide work and training. All in all a very good thing. Even better ... they are coming to the Village Hall on Banks Road in Garston this Saturday (3rd) to display and sell some of their furniture and things like fridges.
The latest poll from Ipsos Mori puts the Lib Dems on 25% (+8) the Tories on 36% (-7) and Labour on 24% (-2). So for the first time since 1982 Labour are in 3rd place in the polls. I don't want to get carried away here. I am well aware that this is a post-conference poll which traditionally gives us a bit of a boost. However I am pleased to see that in a week when Nick Clegg and our other leading politicians get lots of coverage we see a bounce like this because the next time that is likely ...
The presentation that Kingston Liberal Democrats made at Conference is now ready for your viewing pleasure.
The article in today's Indie is actually entitled Can One Woman save Africa? but the principle extends to the world. It's an amazing inspirational story so read it then do something, however small.It reminded me of cramming for my O level Geography exam, for which we needed to know the growing conditions of various crops - honestly. I can't remember which crop needs 70 days at 70 degrees under
I promised you a review of Girl in the Headlines. Turns out that Cop Show has already written one for me. So watch the trailer and then go and read it. I wonder what LoveFilm will send me next?
The Finchley Road is much maligned and massively under-estimated. Hidden away are gems and insights into the Eyre Estate (more to follow), the development of metro-land and the growth of traffic in a way that is captured in few other places. Now of course it's role as a main arterary road in and out of London and leading down to Swiss Cottage it has what i think is a strong sense of speed and movement about it... The effect now is slightly odd and I would suggest it is under-appreciated. So this is just one little building, tucked away with ...
Following on from yesterday's thoughts about why we Lib Dems have to be brave in the face of a media that, let's face it, just doesn't like us, my mind turned to what we ought to be doing about it instead. To aid me in my quest, I turned my memories back to several hazy middle-of-the-night ...
So, the strike by Royal Mail employees in London, now in it's 14th week is continue to spread like a rash. Today postal workers in Ayrshire have joined in, the strike has already affected other parts of Scotland - Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, Bathgate, Dunfermline and Cumbernauld. This action taken by workers in the Communication Workers Union (CWU) comes ahead of the ballot for a nationwide strike due next week. Who actually benefits with these unofficial and official strikes though? According to the CWU website they acknowledge that Royal Mail needs to modernise but that they need to do it with ...
Cars and vans like all consumer products have built in obsolescence, in other words there is a time frame at which they are expected to run down. I don't know about many of the rest of you but I have successfully driven, looked after and nurtured cars that are over 10 years old. The fact that Peter Mandelson announced government plans to extend the car scrappage scheme to an additional 100,000 cars and vans, may be good news to the car manufacturers, but not to environmentalists or young, poor, first-time motorists. The thing is seen as a greening up of ...
Those who say the Liberal Democrats had a bad conference must be pretty stunned by a series of polls that show us challenging and, in one case overtaking Labour for second place. These polls are only snapshots of course and no doubt will balance out over the Conference season however the latest is worth noting for its historical significance. It was 1982 when an opinion poll showed the Liberal Democrats (or our predecessor parties) ahead of Labour: Tory 36% Lib Dem 25% Labour 24% It is also worth noting what happens when this is fed into Electoral Calculus. That site ...
Mother always said, "If you've got nothing nice to say, shut it." Bosses have repeatedly said, "If you've got nothing constructive to contribute, perhaps you should focus your organisational efforts on a step-change to the coffee machine moving forward, releasing the locked synergies of potential for everyone else" And, as the local Lib Dems say, "Blogging? What sort of southern woofter rubbish is that? Writing? Oh, la de dar! Hark at you! Now, I don't care about your blogganing, or your fancy schmansy writing or whatever it is you do to waste your time: Here's 100 Focus leaflets - make ...
Two big stories Flood crisis worstens in Philippines From the BBC: The Philippines government says 240 people are now known to have died in severe flooding caused by Tropical Storm Ketsana. The country has appealed for foreign aid to deal with the disaster, which has displaced more than 450,000 people. A rare moment of hope for Gordon Brown For the first time in... a very long time, Gordon Brown may be relieved by some polling news from Sky and YouGov: Support for Labour has climbed five points since the start of the party conference, according to a brand new Sky/YouGov ...
Two of these don't count as drabbles, as I went over 100 words. Sorry. I hope Ponygirl and Finmagik can forgive me. :/ Some of these were a lot easier to write than others... For Vert: ( Rocky Horror/Who crossover with Ten ) (for extra bonus here's my first Rocky/Who crossover drabble) For Ozzy: ( Six/Peri, Victorian era, featuring a Vincent Price character ) For Ponygirl: ( New!Trek, Kirk/Spock/McCoy, Tarsus IV: <q>I never wanted to see this place again</q>. ) For Tez: ( Sam Tyler/Servalan ) For Finmagik: ( Six/Peri <q>I can be cruel but let me be gentle with ...
When Shakespeare's Prospero taught the monster Caliban how to speak in "The Tempest", he was no doubt hoping that Caliban would sing his praises. Caliban's response was direct and angry: "You taught me language; and my profit on't Is, I know how to curse." When Durham County Council set up its Area Action Partnerships it was probably hoping to collect plaudits. No doubt it was therefore as disappointed as Prospero when a very well attended meeting of the Derwent Valley Partnership voiced its dissatisfaction with the decision to build the new Academy at Belle Vue, and then watched as the ...
In a fortnight's time, after appearing at Ilkley Literature festival on Monday 12 October, Paddy Ashdown will be having dinner at the Craiglands Hotel with members of the Lib Dems in Ilkley and the surrounding district. We expect to sit down at ...
The BBC is reporting a new Ipsos-Mori poll which shows the Tories down below the magic 40% and sees us Lib Dems in second place, with Labour sinking into third place. The stated figures for Britain are: Con: 36% (-7) 318 seats (+120) Lab: 24% (-2) ...
[IMG: logo-shipston-town-crest-colour-2.jpg] All, Brief Town Council meeting tonight, to discuss the Italian Market. Some traders were unhappy that the Market was taking place on a Friday - although from the two surveys carried out, one in the past week, the majority were in favour. The Council voted 6-4 to carry on as planned, following a discussion of the surveys and Councillors' reports on the positive feedback from local people. Councillors I spoke to were keen that any markets held in the future take place on a Sunday. Hope to see you there, but, as ever, let me know your views. ...
A piece of graffiti thought to be the work of renowned guerrilla artist Banksy has appeared in Sutton - and the council is asking residents what should be done about it. The graffiti (or is 'art'?) depicts a punk trying to assemble a flat pack from a fictitious shop called 'IEAK' apparently reading instructions on how to put together a graffiti slogan. The IKEA chimney's can be seen behind the graffiti. The graffiti does look like a Banksy piece and many people have commented online to that effect. We have dedicated teams in Sutton that remove graffiti on a daily ...
The latest Ipsos Mori opinion poll shows a 7% cut in Tory support, a 2% cut in Labour support and a huge 8% increase in Liberal Democrat support. Detail is: Conservatives - 36% (-7) Lib Dems - 25% (+8) Labour - 24% (-2) This compares with last month's results which had the Tories 43%, Labour 26% and the Liberal Democrats 17%. It is the first time Labour have been in third place since February 1982, when they were on 33% compared to 34% for the Liberal-SDP Alliance. A great bounce for the LibDems, but perhaps more significantly, a measure of ...
There are so many stories about expert lawyers winning cases for their clients and if a lesser lawyer had taken the case then the same verdict may not have been achieved. These lawyers tend to charge a lot for their services so only the very rich are in a position to receive their help. There is one expert who works for the rich and famous when they have been driving too fast. This may seem like a minor offence and not worthy of spending a great deal, but it may be the difference between keeping or losing a driving licence. ...
