Leicester's threatened Bowstring Bridge is on Twitter: @BowstringBridge. I was going to say this must be unique, but it turns out that it is being followed by two other bridges.
The story was bruited in the British Press today that if the Irish vote in favour of the Lisbon Treaty tomorrow, then Tony Blair's chances of becoming the first 'permanent' President of the European Council will be enhanced. Is this some fiendish rumour propagated by Declan Ganley and others who want to encourage the good ...
I have not seen a copy yet, but there is a website for a new Market Harborough Magazine: Every issue will be filled with LOCAL people, businesses, news and events. The magazine will look to give you pages filled of local fashion, beauty, health & fitness, interiors, entertainments, fine local dining and many incentives to use local businesses plus much more!As the town's most-read blogger - unless you know different - I wish them well. Later. Click on the graphic to read the first issue online.
Just received a text telling me that the liberal democrats gained the wroxham seat on broadland district council from an independent Tory with 6i% of the vote. The same ward is held by the tories at county level and also has another tory district councillor. So much for the Sun !
[IMG: Phone caninet with missing doors in Albany Road] My post last month 'what happens to all the missing doors?', on the amount of phone cabinets on our streets with missing doors, generated lots of comments. Councillors from as far away as Tottenham and Lewisham commented to say its also a problem in their area. According to the comments, the doors and cables inside are often stolen – and sometimes the doors are removed after they break and wont shut. Today I reported these further missing phone cabinet doors on Albany Road near the junction with Mount View Road. I ...
It's Thursday, it's 10.35 pm ... it's BBC1's Question Time. For the Liberal Democrats, perennial favourite former party leader Charles Kennedy will be responding to public questions Joining Charlie will be Ben Bradshaw, Theresa May, Dr David Starkey and Dambisa Moyo If you're tuning in, you can join the simultanous online Twitter debate here at #bbcqt, or the LDV debate in the thread below. Meanwhile Lib Dem blogger Mark Thompson will be liveblogging events via CoverItLive at his own blog.
Courtesy of the LibDems4Parliament website, here is the list of PPC selections closing this month: Christchurch – PPC (02 Oct 2009) Reading West – PPC (02 Oct 2009) Leeds Central – PPC (02 Oct 2009) Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber PSPC (08 Oct 2009) Gosport – PPC (09 Oct 2009) Wirral South – PPC (13 Oct 2009) Devizes – PPC (16 Oct 2009) Edmonton – PPC Enfield North – PPC Enfield Southgate – PPC (16 Oct 2009) For further details on how you could become the Liberal Democrat prospective candidate in any of these constituencies see http://libdems4parliament.org.uk/events.
I have just had an email from a local arts group that is considering excluding children and young people from their organisation because they are unable to cope with the Beaurcracy involved in the new Independant Safeguarding Authority. This is the new Government quango set up as a knee jerk reaction to child protection by assuming we are all Paedophiles unless we can prove otherwise. I have always felt that one of the great things about living in Warwick and Leamington are the wide range of activities and groups available to people of all ages. This helps build a cohesive ...
Today's Ephriam Hardcastle column in the Daily Mail made the sort of snide unpleasant comments about Iain Dale that you expect of homophobes. It's generated a lot of hostile comment around the internet, including this post from Stephen Glenn, people being encouraged by Kate Bevan via Twitter to complain to the Press Complaints Commission and Iain himself deciding to lodge a complaint. There's one curious little twist I noticed. You see, when you look at the story on the Daily Mail website, it has the usual comment features but no comments are published. Ah, you say, but perhaps no-one has ...
The Lib Dem blogosphere has a bit of a love-hate relationship with arch Tory blogger Iain Dale. Some regard him as little more than a self-promoting tribal propagandist who plays a clever game of appearing impartial when it suits him. Others believe him to be a nice fella for a Tory, who spreads round a lot of blogging link-love, and maintains a prolific, usually entertaining blog, which through hard work and determination has brought him mainstream celebrity. My view? As a Lib Dem I think there's a bit of truth in both verdicts (though, truthfully, I incline more towards the ...
In a pledge so carefully worded it already anticipates its own failure excuses, Labour's health secretary Andy Burnham yesterday pledged to abolish hospital parking fees: It's not right if some people don't get visitors every day because families can't afford the parking fees. ... We can't do it overnight, but over the next three years, as we can afford it, I want to phase out car parking charges for in-patients, giving each a permit for the length of their stay which family and friends can use" Using the phrases "over the next three years" and "as we can afford it" ...
It's #bbcqt day again and as usual the Live Chat on this blog will start at 10:30pm. The panel will include Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Ben Bradshaw, shadow work and pensions secretary Theresa May, former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy, historian and presenter Dr David Starkey, and economist Dambisa Moyo. Liberal Democrat Voice also always have an open thread for BBC Question Time which is usually posted just before the start of the programme. Join us from 10:30pm below. BBC Question Time - 1st October 2009
There's an interesting article in the Gazette about NatWest - they and their predecessors have been in Chipping Sodbury for 175 years. A must-read article if you're interested in local history! The bank, on Broad Street, has an exhibition of old photos and there's a brochure about the history of the branch.
Welcome to the latest edition of our occasional LDV feature, YouTube 'cos we want to, featuring some of the most memorable political moments from the past week (or so). First up, in tribute to the triumph of this week's Labour party conference in Brighton, let's enjoy in all its 11 seconds of glory, Gordon's huff with Sky's Adam Boulton after a particularly feisty interview: Hat-tip: Paul Waugh. You can enjoy the full interview here. Second's up ... for many the highlight of Lib Dem conference was meeting Richard Dawkins, while for others it was hearing his declaration that, though not ...
As the weather is turning chilly, I decided to go for a warming beef stew tonight. This uses a cheap but delicious cut of beef, which needs plenty of cooking, but rewards you with a delicious, rich meal. This is a favourite cut of both Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who know a little about satisfying, ...
So there was this column on Newsmax, suggesting the strong possibility of an Officer-led military coup against USA President Obama ...
After reading across at Stephen's Linlithgow Journal where he mentions (again) about being the nearly blog - please don't encourage him. His blog is bloody awesome, hence why (a) so many of us link to it, (b) so many people visit it and (c) so many people read it and rate it. I like how Stephen laid out the stats on his monthly stats, so, I thought I like that, why not me have a go. These stats are from google analytics for the last month. So, my top 10 referring sites for the last month were; 1. Lib Dem ...
Is there's anyone, anywhere, still in any doubt about my fitness to escape from the cosy playpen of the blogosphere into the dirty, nasty world of real politics? Yesterday, a friend came round. He lives in Leeds. We got talking about the bins, as you do, and he forwarded me an email and told me the tale of what's going on. I said, "we should do something" and so, lo, a facebook group was created, and that was all there was too it until more time could be found for a properly researched post. But no, nothing's ever that simple. ...
Today's issue of the Neath and Port Talbot Guardian is the last. We may have criticised local media on occasions, but we feel this is a sad day for local democracy. An outlet for local news and opinions has been lost. For large areas of the county borough, there is now no newspaper with even nominal links to the area. The South Wales Guardian continues to serve the north-western towns and villages, it appears, but favours Carmarthenshire. The Evening Post is Swansea-orientated and printed in England. The Western Mail is edited in Cardiff.
Fresh Squeezings From the veins of the InternetCancer killed Natalie Morton - don't let it kill your daughter. A superlative post from Sara - and here's one from Caron along similar lines. This post by Malcolm Coles shows the importance of as many people as possible spreading accurate information about this, and not linking to the Daily Fail's hysterical scare stories. And speaking of Daily Fail Evil... Mind you, I think my views on the matter cleave more to [IMG: [info - livejournal.com] ] burkesworks's than those of Mark Reckons linked above. Why you should persuade your council to implement ...
Apparently the laughable Sir Liam Donaldson believes that there is a chance that flu numbers could "shoot up" in the winter. In further news he also believes that the Pope is Catholic, bears do defecate in the woods and that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Everytime this man opens his mouth it make you wonder why he is in his job. Three weeks ago he said we were "tantalisingly close to beating swine flu". At the start of the holidays he wondered why it was that flu numbers were falling, seemingly unaware of the schools breaking up). As ...
I'd like to add my voice to the others to condemn the Daily Mail for the disgusting little piece on Iain Dale in today's Ephraim Hardcastle column. What the heck do the Mail think they are doing publishing such bile in this day and age? Do they not want progressive people to read their paper at all? It drives me crazy to have this highlighting of Iain's sexuality in this way. It is much better for him to be judged on his skills, record and arguments. Quite frankly, as someone who works in Bracknell, the question "Why Bracknell" (?), on ...
This morning's Guardian reported: A display due to go on show to the public at Tate Modern tomorrow has been withdrawn after a warning from Scotland Yard that the naked image of actor Brooke Shields aged 10 and heavily made up could break obscenity laws.With a bit of Googling, no doubt, I could see the image for myself and decide what I think of it. But I am writing this in an internet cafe and don't want to create the wrong impression. As Heresy Corner's posting on Roman Polanski has brought home to me, artists are not above the law. ...
So, Gordon Brown makes a speech saying no compulsory ID cards which various Labour activists use in campaigning to imply its all been knocked on the head and shouldn't we all be jolly grateful. That's on Tuesday this week. Today the City Council gets a call from the implementation team wanting to discuss the plans the government has to roll out the cards in the north west. You really couldn't make it up. The fact is that Gordon's announcement means nothing. The Government has intended, for some time now, to work on soft targets to market the cards as some ...
I recently asked Iain Dale a few questions when I discovered that he had been selected to stand in the open primary for the new Tory PPC to replace Andrew Mackay MP. Details of the other candidates on the short list can be found here. 1. What can you offer the Bracknell constituency? Total dedication to the constituency, the knowledge of which doors to knock on and who to talk to to get things done and an ability to analyse a problem and get it fixed. Ann Widdecombe reckons I work harder than anyone else she knows. I'm a very ...
Good news from the Leicester Mercury: A small Leicestershire dairy has proved it really is the big cheese after scooping the top prize in a national competition. Quenby Hall Stilton picked up the Supreme Champion title at the British Cheese Awards, despite being the smallest and newest producer of the famous blue-veined cheese.Not only that: Long Clawson Dairy's aged Red Leicester won in the Best English Cheese category. And don't confuse a proper farmhouse Red Leicester with the orangey wax they sell you in supermarkets. At its best it is a wonderful cheese.
The impression given by 'Dispatches', which so lovingly covered the Parliamentary delegation to the South Pacific last week, is that most of these trips are just a bit of a jolly, with no real work involved and an opportunity to finish off their tan. And, sadly, sometimes it is true. Sometimes, it isn't. It is hard to imagine that a trip to Rwanda is going to offer much in the way of 'touristical activities', and even those aspects that look like tourism are often designed to expose a delegation to something new. You can, if you wish, ask 'difficult' questions ...
This morning's Guardian reports that the Schools secretary, Ed Balls has ordered a review of provisions to tackle racism in schools that will consider whether to ban BNP members from becoming teachers. In my view, for reasons I have explained before, this would be a retrograde step: Objectionable as they are the BNP are a legitimate party. We must fight them by exposing the bankruptcy of their ideas, by putting in place solutions to the problems they exploit and by campaigning hard on the issues in the communities they are targeting. Their creed has no place in the classroom but ...
I have been in Committee all afternoon but according to the BBC, Rhodri Morgan has made the long awaited announcement that he is stepping down as First Minister after the budget has been passed on 8th December. It is clear that there are three possible contenders for the top job but talking to some people today there appear to be some doubts as to whether Huw Lewis has enough people to nominate him. I was told that some pressure has been brought on a couple of AMs to abandon him and that at least one has switched sides. This may ...
Back in February I blogged about a motion to Council tabled calling for more openness and transparency in the way Reading Borough Council agrees funding for community and voluntary groups. The decision to approve capital spending is taken at cabinet level in the Council. When I looked into the process I was not at all happy that one councillor seemed to oversee the whole process. Given the sensitivity of these grants - concentrations of power over how they are dished out is not in my view healthy. Hence the motion. At the time, I was attacked by Cllr Bet Tickner (ironically ...
Following a post I put up last week concerning a certain ex-Tory councillor, due to popular demand, here are the edited highlights from Radio 5 Live's Victoria Derbyshire Show.
Well, I mean, look at it. I mean, I'll try and be gentle on the man because he doesn't know much about these things, but really. An elementary glance at some Lib Dem sites could have sorted out some of these basic no-nos. For a start there's only one main menu, the line of buttons across ...
[IMG: Lib Dem proposals would protect children] Lib Dem proposals would protect children Civil liberties have always been at the heart of Lib Dem philosophy. We defend civil liberties on principle, not shallow attempts to chase votes. From opposing the ID cards scheme and national identity register right from the outset to calling for an end to the retention of innocent people's DNA, the Liberal Democrats are the only party consistently and genuinely committed to protecting civil liberties and basic freedoms for all. And in the current context of concern about public spending, there is an often overlooked side-effect: defending ...
Welcome to a belated Daily View on this fine first day of the month. 1st October marks the 166th anniversary of the News of the World; the anniversary of the death of Ned Sherrin; and we say happy birthday to comedian Harry Hill. Two big news stories Earthquake hits stricken Sumatra (Guardian) A second powerful earthquake has hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra, a day after the first devastating quake left more than 500 dead, thousands of people buried in rubble and a major city cut off from the outside world. Today's quake, of magnitude 6.9, struck in the early ...
The new building for Chessington Community College was formally opened by Edward Davey MP on Monday. Of all the 100 Pathfinder new school projects in the country this was the only one to have been built on time and within budget. And it's not just a bog standard school building, but probably the best new school building in the country. Enjoy the photos...
What struck me most about Gordon Brown's speech to the Labour Party Conference was that with possibly just 7 months left of 13 years in government how little there was left to offer the British public. Ok, so he rattled off some notable achievements, fair enough, but after 12 years it would be expected that something will have been achieved, however he completely ignored many of this Governments failings. Labours trampling and abuse of civil liberties, the failure to control public debt, the banks encouraged to gamble with that public debt. Excessive government borrowing to fuel failed initiative after initiative. ...
DemocracyClub is a website that matches volunteers to parliamentary constituencie, and sends them requests for help doing small simple jobs for groups like mysociety and The Straight Choice, such as scanning election leaflets and providing informa... Read and post comments | Send to a friend
I've blogged before about how few local councils in Britain provide RSS feeds from their main website. Adrian Short has got a good recent post listing some of the ways that such RSS feeds could be used - and so what those councils are missing out on. Do go and take a read. Related posts:New figures show over a third of councils are failing in the fight against electoral fraud New figures published today by the Electoral Commission show that...Why do so many council websites get some basics wrong? A survey of local council websites I have carried out...Finding journalists ...
[IMG: ming] North East Fife's MP Sir Menzies Campbell is keeping up the pressure on the NHS to reject plans for a new pharmacy in Leuchars that will put the medical practices in Balmullo and Leuchars at risk. In a letter to NHS Fife Chairman Professor James McGoldrick, Sir Menzies voiced the "serious concerns in the local community about the inadequacies of the proposed new pharmacy" and the strength of feeling in the area which was displayed at the "standing room only" meetings in Leuchars and Balmullo. In his letter Sir Menzies said: "My colleague Iain Smith MSP and I ...
[IMG: Ming Campbell] Sir Menzies Campbell has welcomed the news from the Ministry of Defence that RAF Leuchars is to be the home of the new RAF Regiment Field Squadron. The move, which was confirmed in a letter to Sir Menzies from the Minister for the Armed Force Bill Rammell MP, will see 172 personnel deployed at Leuchars when the new unit is formed later this month. Sir Menzies said: "This is yet another illustration of the continuing importance of RAF Leuchars as part of the fabric of the United Kingdom's defence. "The RAF at Leuchars are good neighbours to ...
I think everyone is full of sympathy for the family of Natalie Morton, the 14 year old who died very suddenly the other day, just a few hours after being given the HPV vaccination. Today we've had the news that, unknown to everybody, she had a large malignant tumour in her chest which led to her death. I can only imagine the torment and trauma they are going through. Unfortunately, Natalie's death has led to a flurry of sensationalist and inaccurate reporting about the safety of the jab. A hat tip to The Lovely Chocaholic for drawing our attention to ...
Bracknell Conservative primary candidate Iain Dale is the subject of a horrible, homophobic slur in the Daily Mail today. I am not going to link to the Mail or reproduce it here. You can read the details in a post that Iain has done today if you wish. The thing I wanted to comment on though is Iain's fear that he expresses in his post a couple of times that by highlighting this he is damaging his chances in Bracknell. I really, really hope he is wrong about that. I should make it clear that I am not supporting any ...
Those who have been reading my blog a long time know that I don't subscribe to the theory that Iain Dale is the "leading" political blogger in the country, much less to his politics, but the homophobic attack on him by Peter McKay of the Daily Heil yesterday in his "Ephraim Hardcastle" column was utterly contemptible. The use of the phrase "overtly gay" smacked of the way that the Mail used to use "cosmopolitan" as a synecdoche back in the Mosley-supporting 1930s when it meant to say "Jewish". McLie, of course, has form as long as your arm when it ...
It is the end of Labour conference. I'm watching it now as the socialist brethren attempt to sing their way through the "Red Flag". After a decade under Blair in which the singing of this anthem of the left was likely to result in a knock on the hotel door in the early hours of the morning with delegates hauled off to visit the Labour Stasi, the result is obvious: very few of the "brothers and
As you can tell from my stats I am the nearly blog of Political Blogging. Having come 11th in both the Lib Dem and Scottish lists in the Total Politics Guide and 101st overall. How can one blog come so close, so often, so what does a nearly blog do? I noticed that Iain Dale cried out for all of us to use our google analytics to report back on each month. So I've decided to start keeping track. Last month I had 2,380 absolute unique visitors up from 1,479 in August. They made 3,495 visits and 4,126 page views. ...
I don't know about you but I think this is really interesting - and long overdue! Add credit card companies to it or increase their regulation and people will really notice that we a serious alternative to "red blue, red blue"!
There might be a few of you wondering where I've been, the silence having been unusually deafening. The answer is India, where I am attached to a Liberal Democrat delegation hosted by the Government. Before anyone gets terribly excited, or considers a report to the 'Friends of Iain Dale' (*** irony alert ***), or the Daily Vile as I prefer to call it, I am paying my own way here, including the internal flight that the delegation made yesterday. And, equally importantly, the cost to the United Kingdom taxpayer is... zero, as this is part of an effort by the ...
... We'd say a big thank you to the 27,708 'absolute unique visitors'* who read Liberal Democrat Voice in September. This takes us back closer to our pre-summer trend readership of c.30,000 – and is up some 43% on the equivalent figure for September '08 of 19,435. This brings our absolute unique visitor readership for the last year to date (1 Oct 2008 - 30 Sept 2009) to 306,418, almost double the equivalent figure for 2007-08 of 158,046. The 5 top-read stories during the month were: 1. Gavin Webb quits Lib Dems, joins Libertarian Party (138) by Stephen Tall 2. ...
Mark Cole Malcolm Coles (sorry!) has done a great job chronicling the spread online of misinformation about the cervical cancer jab (aka HPV vaccination), which newspapers have got the story wrong and how quickly or not they've moved to update and correct their information. As today's post shows, inaccurate information still comes out very highly in the search results. So here's a reminder that you can get authoritative information about the cervical cancer jab from the NHS. UPDATE: There's a comment on Mark's blog post from someone in the NHS (online) marketing team - good work reaching out in this ...
Research from Cardiff University 'found' that "10-year-olds who ate confectionery daily were significantly more likely to have been convicted for violence between the ages of 29 and 34." (as reported on ITN).I'm rather concerned at this kind of research, it seems to misunderstand violence, its complexity and multi-dimensionality, completely. I'll have to read the journal article now. Yet, didn't
[IMG: nozick] The American philosopher Robert Nozick is the most influential advocate of nightwatchman, or minimum state, liberalism in academic political theory, and is often taken as the definitive representative of libertarianism in academic debates. Nozick's position is that the state exists purely to protect property and life, through laws and a criminal justice system. He argues both against anarchism and against more expansive views of the role of the state; and particularly against redistribution of income, or any intrusion into individual property rights. Nozick was introduced to libertarian ideas by the anarcho-capitalist/individualist anarchist Murray Rothbard, so Anarchy, State, and ...
Apologies, readers, I appear to be on a bit of poll roll over the last 24 hours, what with this, this and now this ... Yesterday's 'big news' – or, more accurately, the story which garnered most column inches – was the announcement that The Sun has jilted Labour, and is shacking up once again with the Tory party. There was no real surprise there: The Sun backs winners, and follows (and doubtless re-inforces) its readers' opinions. Ipsos-Mori was quick off-the-mark to press release its figures showing the voting intentions of Sun readers in 2009 compared with 2005, general election ...
An interesting little stat from YouGov's latest tracker poll (with a hat-tip to Anthony Wells' UK Polling Report blog). The internet polling company asked the question: Gordon Brown was asked on TV to respond to media rumours that he had been prescribed pills to help him cope with the stress of his job. Do you think it was right or wrong to ask him about this? And here's how those polled replied: >> 22% – Right: the public have a right to know full medical details >> 73% – Wrong: everyone, including the Prime Minister, has a right to privacy ...
Over on another post; myself and Oranjepan are having a debate about the Liberal Democrats narrative (or what I feel is a lack of one). One of the poorer aspects of our conference was I believe the lack of a coherent narrative and while I agree that open debate is totally a good thing and ...
On the Digital Engagement blog they're pushing open data and trying to encourage people to use the data provided already, and hopefully they'll make more available in more standard formats. I'm quite interested in the data provided by the homeoffi... Read and post comments | Send to a friend
During one of our recent visits, residents commented that often people dump garbage at the top of Berkley Grove next to the green bin. As a result the area always doesn't look as nice as it could do. One resident even said that the place is used for fly-tipping old furniture and appliances. We'll be on ...
Is it me? Was the Labour conference disturbing? I think we all knew already that the Labour party would be approaching the next election as the underdog (we are now 2nd in the polls after all!) but to use "underdog"as a conference buzzword seems bizarre. The British people are generally kind and will support an underdog in some contests but, at a time when people are struggling to make ends meet, will they support a cringeing, whining creature begging for affection and offering its' belly for a scratch? I think not!I do think however that Lord Mandelson's much vaunted phrase ...
The BBC has a magnificent story about a young man in Malawi who built windmills from scrap to provide electricity and fresh water to his village. He has now been picked up by the international green hype industry but his story remains truly impressive even without the hype. This is brilliant and the true answer to current energy issues - not government conferences or more books telling us all to be afraid but positive, practical action to do something. He deserves all the success he can get.
With More 4 soon to broadcast "When Boris Met Dave" (subtitled "The Bullingdon Years" by the Guardian), shouldn't they boys and girls at Dragon's Eye, CF99 or Sharp End look at a Welsh revisioning and dig for the stories behind our cuddly Welsh Conservative cousins? We could have "When Mr Bourne goes to Wash(ington)", the story of one man's shower in Croatia, "RTD2", A Star Wars spin off based in a farm far, far away - near Cowbridge, or "Johnny English (well I'm proud to be Welsh now actually)" the story of one Kairdiff boy's secret service mission to ban ...
The press seem to have had an attack of the vapours about Manchester's guide for sex for the over 50s. Reading the press reports, it's hard to see what they find the most objectionable, the idea of the over 50s getting useful, targeted advice, or the thought that they might be doing it at all. The reporters haven't quite said "My parents never did anything like that", but they're not far off implying it. Of course, this isn't about the Council suddenly deciding that the over 50s aren't getting enough and trying to do something about it. Certainly there's been ...
On 1 October 1949, the People's Republic of China was declared. I wasn't yet born, but I remember vividly at my primary school in Eccles in the late 1950s the headmaster standing in front of a world map (the British Empire still reassuring coloured pink) explaining how 'we' (the Western world) were going to liberate ...
I couldn't let this go by without comment. Earlier this month I moved a motion at Gateshead Council about rail services. It was in response to a proposal by Network Rail that a high speed rail network be built that bypasses the North East. I say "moved" - the reality was that I was shouted down and constantly interrupted by Labour. And I was accused of "scare-mongering" for raising the issue.
A pathologist has just announced at Coventry Magistrates' Court that 14 year old Natalie Morton was killed by a huge malignant tumour in her heart and left lung. The coroner stated that the tumour was so developed that it could have killed her at any time and that it did not appear that the HPV immunisation was a ...
[IMG: IMG00118] [IMG: IMG00117] [IMG: IMG00116] [IMG: IMG00115] These pictures, taken by a local resident early this morning, show digging works in the top corner of Heaton Park (the St Margaret's corner). According to the Heaton Park Wardens some sort of work around the proposed Soccer Centre - funny I thought we lived in a democracy, and no decision has been made yet?
October sees the East Manchester Food and Drink Festival, with lots going on. This Sunday, there's an open day at Ackroyd Avenue Allotments, whilst on Saturday 10th, it is "Savoury Saturday" at Gorton Market, 11 - 3. All welcome.
Right, it's been a crazy month, worthy of a stat p0rn post, I think... I seem to have gone a bit mainstream this month, hence the upgrade from C list to the lower end of the B list, although I suspect I will struggle to maintain this particular pace: Absolute Unique Visitors (bums on seats) were 35,969. That's about triple what I usually get, and is a bit like me giving a speech at a premiership football match for a couple of minutes. I didn't win Lib Dem Blog of the Year, but that's fine: I did score #1 in ...
From today Camden's recycling service will include mixed plastics such as yoghurt pots, margerine tubs, plastic bags and waxed cartons. This is the first time that these "mixed plastic" items can be recycled in the doorstep collection, meaning recycling is made simpler and Camden residents can recycle more. People in Camden already recycle 28% of their waste, putting Camden in the top 10 in London for overall recycling, and in the top 5 for 'dry' (i.e. non-food) recycling. [IMG: Mixed plastics can now be recycled in your doorstep collection] This is a good step forward, but we need to do ...
I am a Liberal Democrat, through and through not a Tory, never have been and never will be. I have never met with Iain Dale but I do have some respect for him as a blogger, footie fan and a political campaigner. I am gay though (and bloody proud of it), and when I see sheer open homophobic comments like this by Ephraim Hardcastle in the Daily Mail I get angry."Overtly gay Tory blogger Iain Dale has reached the final stage of parliamentary selection for Bracknell, telling PinkNews: 'I hope any PinkNews readers who live in Bracknell will come to ...
With a hat tip to Next Generation Front Left, Alan Grayson deserves every minute of airtime he can get.
Bury Council's trading standards team is warning residents to be on their guard after a council tax scam was uncovered. The scam involves fraudsters posing as council staff, who are telephoning residents to say they have paid too much council tax and then asking for their bank account details so that a refund can be processed. The fraudsters have operated in a number of Greater Manchester boroughs, and Bury Council is eager to make sure they don't start in this borough. Peter Jagger, head of Bury's trading standards, said: "Residents giving out their bank details risk having money taken from ...
So far the news is that Keighley Area Committee passed all the sites that had applied for variations to Traffic Regulation Orders at their meeting last week, including the Skipton Road site. The variations in question allow specific "sites", that is particular stretches of road, to be an area where residents can apply for parking permits. If such a variation to a TRO is allowed and then the residents apply for permits (costing £10 per year, I've been told), they would be able to park outside their homes without being fined. However I don't think that's necessarily the end of ...
If you could rely on anyone to out-moralise Gordon Brown and his 'We'll lock up your daughters' speech, the odds would be very short on it being Nadine Dorries. And she didn't disappoint with today's entry on her blog. First she goes for a good slagging off for single mothers (not parents): "the majority [of single mothers amongst ...
This post is an absolute gem: I have no specific credentials to write about social media, but I did some Google searches 30 minutes ago and now I'm calling myself an expert. Since social media is new, you'll have a hard time refuting that claim. Do go read the full piece here. Related posts:What's the next next big thing in social media? First social media was the next big thing. And we've...Timing is key to your social media activities Cross-posted from the Mandate blog: Nine out of ten 25-34...Good use of social media goes with financial success Cross-posted from the ...
I've had a number of comments made to me regarding the article in last weeks press and generally positive feedback regarding concerns over solvent and alcohol abuse. Clive Wolfendale, Chief Exec of CAIS drug and alcohol agency has also commented on the problem in this weeks North Wales Weekly News, regarding the effects of solvent abuse and said that he had encountered "kids" who were " Completely out of it", Vomiting heavily, disorientated, doubled up in pain with headaches and stomach cramps. He also states the effects are akin to extreme drunkenness, but can be far more serious. I believe ...
Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me! I know today is the anniversary of my first blog - but I'm damned if I can remember how many years I've been writing - maybe six or seven? Memory's going obviously ... will have to go look at the archives!
Yesterday I had the pleasure of discussing politics and the challenges of the world with a vibrant and intelligent group of young people. Primary Six and Seven at North Queensferry Primary School refreshingly engaged. The pupils had been learning about how Westminster works and had ran their own election with imaginative policies and eye catching election gimmicks. Teachers Cara Biseker and Isla Gaze had successfully inspired their pupils and had cunningly influenced their pupils to promote a pay rise for teachers in their manifestos. I'm looking forward to Primary Seven visiting Westminster in November. I'm sure they'll love it.
The handover between the existing 29 Local Health Boards and NHS Trusts to the seven new larger Welsh Local Health Boards takes place today, removing the last vestiges of the internal market from Wales' health service. Commenting the Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Minister, Peter Black said: "The new Health boards face a huge challenge in delivering a first class health service for Wales in the face of an accumulated structural deficit across the country of £200 million. There is a danger that the first few years of their existence will be dominated by cuts and closures instead of investment ...
[IMG: The Rendezvous] Figures obtained by Andover's Lib Dem councillors indicate the decision to close the lower Guildhall and open a new community facility in Union Street has cost Test Valley over £200,000 and could cost even more. I asked for a breakdown of costs at a recent council Scrutiny committee meeting. I also requested details of usage of both the Rendezvous and Guildhall and comparison of these figures with those previously seen before the closure of the lower Guildhall. Running costs for the Rendezvous and Guildhall over the past year totalled £85,000 and a further £4,000 has been spent ...
Colleges week is upon us, so says an email which popped into my inbox this week. Actually it's from 9th - 15th November but now's the time to get ready to enter a competition with lots of amazing prizes. If you're a student of any age, 16 - 116, you can put your creative talents to work and be in with a chance to shadow Sven-Goran Ericsson or chat with an astronaut or visit the set of
Once again Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP unleashes her one woman tirade about the trams in Edinburgh.Yes, there is disruption, but that's because it is the UKs biggest transport infrastructure currently being built.Skeletons are being dug up, that has to be investigated. There doesn't appear to be a 100% understanding of where every single utility pipe is ans then where they lead to - there is now.Yet that's not the issue, the issue is having an MSP who doesn't see forward enough (certainly not past the election date) to see the benefits the trams will eventually bring to Edinburgh.Look at Manchester, local ...
Martin Wolf takes issue with John Kay's prescription for Narrow Banking. I thought that Kay said far too little about assets. In his world, how will, um, Finance get to the people who want finance? Wolf asks: A more profound issue is whether a financial system based on narrow banking could allocate capital efficiently. . . .Here there are two opposing risks. The first is that the supply of funds to riskier, long-term activities would be greatly reduced if we did adopt narrow banking. Against this, one might argue that, with public sector debt used to back the liabilities of ...
Shame on you Ephraim Hardcastle in the Daily Fail for this: "Overtly gay Tory blogger Iain Dale has reached the final stage of parliamentary selection for Bracknell, telling PinkNews: 'I hope any PinkNews readers who live in Bracknell will come to the open primary on October 17 to select their new candidate. "You don't even have to be a Conservative to attend.' "Isn't it charming how homosexuals rally like-minded chaps to their cause?" For starters what has the man's sexuality got to do with anything, especially his ability to apply for or do a job. In fact isn't discrimination on ...
A great deal of fuss was made when Brown used the C word at the TUC conference a fortnight ago. Finally, the man stops obscuring the issue about public spending cuts when the truth is staring us all in the face, and in his own Budget to boot (see angry posts from June, onwards). That was meant to be a warm up. But in his main speech all we got was . . . another long list of Brown "I will delivers". If you had stepped into a time machine in 2007 and stepped out here, you would be utterly ...
I enjoy indulging in political tittle-tattle as much as the next person, especially if it involves members of opposition parties. But, at the same time, I know I shouldn't – primarily because us Lib Dems are no saints either. But sometimes, a line is crossed... and this particular one has caused me to re-evaluate my position. In ...
The report on the Whitehall leak inquiry that led to the arrest of Tory MP Damian Green is due to be released shortly. However, just what will it reveal? Apparently according to sources objections from senior civil servants and police officers involved mean it is so heavily redacted it 'makes MP's expenses look like a model of transparency'. The senior policeman who led the enquiry former Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick objected to publication of any part of the report. Sir David Normington, Permanent Secretary to the Home Office first raised concerns that leaks of sensitive material could damage national security, ...
It is understood that Rhodri Morgan will tell a joint meeting of the Welsh Labour Executive and Labour AMs today that he is to stand down as First Minister in December, once the Assembly budget has been passed and his successor elected. The formal announcement will come at 2pm after which the timetable for the election to succeed him will be revealed. I suspect that the new First Minister will be elected by the whole Assembly in the last week of term, just before we break for Christmas. Update: This morning is the first meeting this Assembly of the First ...
Fest 'n' Furious 2009 is taking place from 2nd to 4th October. It is Dundee's annual festival of traditional music featuring talks, workshops films and ceilidhs. It was very kind of Sheena Wellington to invite me to the opening tomorrow - unfortunately, due to a long-standing commitment out of town, I am unable to attend - but wish Fest 'n' Furious 2009 every success. Read more about Fest 'n' Furious 2009 at www.festnfurious.co.uk and www.dundee.com
Following the Chinese Civil War and the victory of Communist forces under Mao Zedong's over the Guomindang forces of General Jiang Jieshi, who fled to Taiwan, Mao declared the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
I attended a briefing on the latest developments on Metrolink to Chorlton. The main points were: A bridge will close on Kings Rd in Stretford, due to take place in March 2010. However, this will have a big impact on Chorlton traffic flows. The need for proper clear diversions was stressed. There will be some disruption to Morrisons car park in the early new year. About 14 parking bays should be affected as work to the platform is completed. There will be some work before Christmas, but it shouldn't be noticeable to shoppers. A traffic survey has been undertaken to ...
[IMG: diary.JPG] 1st - Prestwich Area Partnership, from 6.30pm Butterstile Primary School 6th - MEET VIC - Public Forum, 6 - 7pm, The Frigate Public House, Thatch Leach Lane, Whitefield. Informal opportunity to meet me as Parliamentary candidate for Bury South, and to raise the issues that matter to you, find out a bit more about me and what I stand for. 12th - Heaton Park Primary School Governors Meeting 14th - Prestwich Town Centre Regeneration Working Group, 6pm Prestwich Library 14th - Prestwich Festival meeting, 7pm Prestwich Library 15th - Area Partnership Chairs Meeting, 6.30pm Bury Town Hall 16th ...
I blogged earlier about the big spending pledges made by Gordon Brown at the Labour conference yesterday. Well, here's a list of all of them. Just read through the list and think about how much each will cost. Again, I'm not saying I oppose the idea of these policies, but money doesn't grow on trees... when Lib Dems announce a new policy we spell out how it will be funded - Labour cannot just list a whole raft of costly new policies without explaining how it will be paid for. "We will ensure school-leavers training, guarantee the young unemployed work ...
I made a shiny thing! It can plot arbitrary functions of the form x=f(y) or y=f(x). Under the skin, it just massages its arguments and passes them through to Gnuplot. Here's the source code.
Right, there'll be more on this subject soon - if you're a Leeds resident you already know the problem - The bin men are on indefinite strike because they don't like the idea of having their pay equalised with other council workers of equivalent skill. Things are getting nasty: the bin men getting more militant and emboldened (threatening phone calls, hate campaigns, rubbish being dumped on people's doorsteps) and the taxpayers, who pay money to the council to have their bins taken away are getting shafted. Strike breakers are having their windows smashed, too. It's all gone a bit 70s. ...
Mainly because I am rubbish at birthdays; both my own and other people's. However, I am going to bend that rule today to wish a very happy birthday to [IMG: [info - personal] ] djm4, who is one of the most thoughtful, most considerate people I know. He's someone I wish I could be more like, a lot of the time. Have a great day, David. This blog is proudly sponsored by
I'm hardly a natural defender of Iain Dale, whose blog, in my view, often suspends all critical reason in promoting a superficial pro-conservative or pro-professional-politics viewpoint, but the Daily Mail's blatant homophobia towards him is low even by that newspaper's standards. There were also some very weird things in this recent Top 50 Liberal Democrats, but I'll take that ...
I write blogs each day and I publish them in the early hours of the following morning. So there has been 24 hours since I wrote yesterday's blog and I have had time to think about it. I cannot believe how gentle I was with Gordon's announcements about care homes. Alright I have a vested interest in that I am a deputy manager in a care home, but I am also in the privileged position to recognise the need for these homes. I also recognise that in the future we will have an increasing need for these homes. I am ...
