Blackhall Mill is a wonderful small village in the constituency on the border with County Durham. I spotted a wonderful website today run by the community: http://www.blackhallmill.org.uk/ a great example of community spirit
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.Update: now 48.3% even shinier - see on the right
The visit to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) got off to a poor start when our host bounded past the two female members of the delegation to shake my hand. Now I would be the first to accept that there is a generational issue here, in that women are often overlooked in a formal setting. However, in a organisation that is focussed on human rights, I was somewhat taken aback. Alright, a bad first impression should not colour one's perception. So, second perception. The reception committee is wholly male, not a woman in sight. They're all middle-aged and beyond. ...
Sorry for my absence from the online world for the last few days. I have been extremely ill, and physically exhausted. However, I've got a couple of days off, so tomorrow you can expect my next Beatles review and also a post about Jack Kirby's original Darkseid (it's taking me a lot of time to ...
Welcome to the 135th of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (13-19th September 2009), together with a hand-picked quintet, partly courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. (And, yes, the Golden Dozen has kinda got a bit out-of-synch as a result of the party conference – #136 is here. Sorry about that.) 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 ...
As you will know, if you have read any of my blogs before – I tend to right substantially about the extent of sexualisation of women in our society today, and how this creates the view that women are mere sexual objects. Some women accept this, some are unaware of it, some even play up ...
I am delighted that the Irish have voted for the Lisbon Treaty. I am convinced that our national interest is significantly enhanced by sharing sovereignty with the other nations of Europe. The alternatives are frightening. Britain's influence would be diminished. The little englander mentality has undermined the advancement of our people..It is not new. The failure to the recognise Britain's new role in the world has led us into expensive and humiliating positions-from Suez onwards. Lets hope the Tories don't screw it up for the rest of us again. In the NW Lib Dem Euro MP, Chris Davis has sent ...
I am grateful to Richard Gladstone at the Hastings & St Leonard's Observer for covering the launch of the campaign against the proposed Academies for Hastings. I urge local people who have an interest in education to come on board with this campaign and give their virtual support at the campaign's Facebook page. I, along with others, have ...
I have done a lot of gay related Tory bashing this week - rightly bloody so though. David Cameron stands there on TV and talks about change and how his Party has changed, absolute crap (sorry, I meant to say bol**cks), his Party has not changed one tiny bit. His MEPs abstained when the vote took place on the Lithuanians bringing in their own version of Section 28 (although in reality much worse than the Tory version) but this is his group of MPs who sit in a new group in Brussels which contains homophobic right wing fascists and yet ...
That's the only reason I can see why there was such an onslaught of comments to Iain Roberts' blog. I always thought that although I disagreed with Nigel Farage he cut a sophisticated and intelligent figure in the political firmament. Not any more. The problem with his view of democracy is that democracy = anything UKIP wants ...
The SIndy's ComRes poll has the Tories on 40% (+2%), Labour on 28% (+5%) and LibDems on 19% (-4%) - pretty much where we were all at before the conference season began. Be interesting to see if there's a bounce for Cameron in the next few days - or if the Irish referendum causes him problems.
During today's fantastic win for Unsworth U14B Juniors at home to Whitworth in the NBJFL Main Cup; I was shocked to see a bill that had recently arrived from Bury Council to the tune of nearly £600. From 2008 it became a legal requirement for regular water safety checks to be carried out, to check for fatal conditions such as legionnaire's disease. Bury Council previously carried out these water safety checks free of charge, but have now introduced an annual charge of £585.52 As a club, we have been told that if we do not pay it within 21 days, ...
Sitting on a hilltop in the Turkish capital Ankara this evening İ can almost hear the collective sigh of relief emanating from Brussels and most other EU capitals following the İrish voters' ringing endorsement of the Lisbon Treaty. The European Union would not have collapsed if the İrish had given the Treaty the thumbs down ...
On tuesday night, Ocober 6th, I will be hosting my latest "MEET VIC" event. An opportunity to come and say hello, and tell me what you think about our Government and what the issues are that really matter to you. Feel free to raise any issues or ask me about Lib dem policies, or bring local problems to my attention. I will do my best to help in any way I can. And the added bonus (if you are so inclined) is you can have a drink as well if you like. It's from 6 to 7pm at the Frigate ...
Those lovely people at Wikio have emailed The Voice with their list^ of the top blogs in the UK in June 2009. (Lib Dem blogger Jennie Rigg has already published the list of top 30 politics blogs: below is the full list for all blogs, though there's considerable overlap between the two owing to the dominance of politics blogs in Wikio's weightings.) 1 Iain Dale's Diary (=) 2 Guy Fawkes' blog (=) 3 Liberal Conspiracy (=) 4 Liberal Democrat Voice (+1) 5 Labourlist (-1) 6 And another thing... (=) 7 Harry's Place (=) 8 Tory Bear (+2) 9 Dizzy Thinks ...
Today I have been to Oakham, the capital of Rutland, today. More of that presently. I don't know if this cat is attached to the railway in an official capacity, but it crossed the line three times while I was waiting for the train home. And that despite signs warning of a £1000 fine for trespassing on the railway.
Posted by Chris: As predicted in my previous posting Leeds United Chairman Ken Bates has misused his column in today's match programme to smear Harrogate and Knaresborough's hard working Lib Dem MP Phil Willis. Chairman Ken never learns. His vendetta against Melvyn Levi, in his scurrilous programme notes, cost him an estimated £1.5m in libel fees. When I read the match programme I want to read about Leeds United not Ken's vindictive remarks about anyone who dares to ask questions he does not want to answer. I will not repeat here what Ken has written. It does not answer the ...
While being somewhat dubious about "second stab" referendums, I am delighted by the result of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. 67% yes! Wooh-hoo! Well done Ireland! Iain Dale, presaging this result, said this would be a "Sad Day for Democracy", mumbling about "vested interests" issuing "dire warnings". What total cobblers! How can the majority of those who bother to vote, making up their minds to vote a certain way be a "Sad Day for Democracy"? As the BBC correspondent in Dublin said the change of heart is mostly down to the dramatic change in the economic fortunes of ...
Reading the CNJ letters page last week I might be forgiven for thinking I actually control recycling policy at Camden Council! I don't - more's the pity - the Tory Executive Member for the "Environment", Cllr Chris Knight, does. My role, as Camden Eco Champion, is to suggest ways to cut the carbon out of Camden and to highlight the environmental mistakes the council is making. Eamon O'Sullivan writes in to say that he only recycles paper and glass because he doesn't trust the end destination of our recycling. I know how he feels having spent the last four years ...
There's been a quite extraordinary episode regarding David Letterman in the US, summarised beautifully by the Guardian today on page 11 of their print edition (but I am danged if I can find it on the internet, so here is an earlier summary they published). There's footage of Letterman's stunning confession and revelation on air below. Once again, for my money, Letterman demonstrates why is the Master of the Talkshow. One slight worry though, Ed Pilkington in the Guardian suggests that Letterman's future now lies in the hands of, amongst others, (oh dear) Sarah Palin. Peter Kaplan, a former editor ...
Screams the headline across pages 4 and 5 in today's Scotsman. It did bring a wry smile to my face given the arrogance of John Lamont wanting to be a part time MP because now it looks like his Westminster career hopes could be in tatters. The Scotsman goes on to predict Edinburgh South will fall to Fred Mackintosh from the Liberal Democrats and says "Their high hopes for ....... Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk ....would be dashed." Given the news then that there will only be two Conservative MPs in Scotland and assuming Cameron wins the General Election (I know, ...
Congratulations to Frank Riley of Hexham for this fantastic letter in the Guardian today: Compare and contrast: "The Labour party has finally learned to love Peter Mandelson. It took a long time but we finally got there" (Chris Mullin MP, How deep is your love, 29 September). "Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache ... But it was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother" (George Orwell, 1984).
I don't like writing these sorts of admin posts but I ought to do this one. (So far, in over 3 years of blogging, I have managed to avoid the dreaded "Blogging ** l***t" post, so be thankful for small mercies). It's been a whirlwind couple of days. For reasons which will eventually become apparent, I have been shifting around domains. Suffice it to say, I am now more familiar with terms like "CNET" and "DNS" than I ever wanted to be. I am now the proud owner of a new domain called www.liberalburblings.org and that is what I am ...
Many thanks to LibDem Voice for publishing an article I submitted to them on the Tory party: "A frightening party of selfishness and reactionism".
It would be nice to think that the 18th century British parliament saw the light and abolished slavery when the matter was first put to them. But we all know that isn't what happened. William Wilberforce and his colleagues lost the vote on their first attempt. And their second. And their third. So Nigel Farage's suggestion, made on RTE, that the Irish referendum score on the Lisbon Treaty is now 1-1 and we should have a decider is very strange. Would we ever have abolished slavery if Farage had been in charge of the voting? How many times would Wilberforce ...
I was told to put this on my blog by may colleague Roger, which shows my blog ranking for September. He says it's pretty good and I believe him. Thanks Roger.
So, Boris Johnson will be handing the Olympic flag to Rio de Janeiro following the successful 2012 London Olympics. The 2016 Olympic Games will be the very first to be held in South America and it is estimated that Brazil's economy will benefit by around £25 billion bounds between now and 2027 - not sure how we know these things but somewhere, someone and their calculator have been doing the sums. Apparently before yesterday's announcement Chicago had been the favourite and USA President, Barack Obama had travelled to Copenhagen to address the Olympic Committee. Chicago was eliminated in the first ...
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As the Tory party conference kicks off tomorrow it is truly sickening that they have invited Michal Kaminski and Roberts Zile to address them. The former is the Polish leader of the Conservatives' caucus in the European parliament, who has an ...
Sad to hear of the death of Marek Edelman leader of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. "The Ghetto Fights", his account of how in April 1943 a few hundred young Jews decided to take up arms against the occupying Nazis, choosing to fight rather than face ...
As the Tories gather for their conference, it is very tempting to suspect that, despite the Cameron makeover of the party, they are still unreconstructed hateful fire-breathers underneath. Just look at a couple straws in the wind which have re-emerged in the last few days. It is tempting to think that the old "posh" Tories still exist. That basically the Conservative party is the party of the rich. Does the bumbling Eric Pickles flat-cap schmooze-over mean anything? No, it would seem if you look at what the Tory party regards as a "typical family". Extrapolations on Liberal Conspiracy reveal that ...
Ireland's yes to the Lisbon Treaty was emphatic (albeit at the second time of asking): 67% voted to approve it, with just two of the 43 constituencies rejecting it, on an icnreased turnout of 58%. Nick Clegg was quick to welcome the result – and to note the awkward situation David Cameron now finds himself in: This result finally puts to rest years of wrangling over Europe's future and paves the way for a stronger and more democratic European Union. "The worst thing would be to re-open this self-indulgent debate. David Cameron should now finally accept the treaty as a ...
First he says on RTE `We've had one `no` vote, one `yes` vote let's make it best of three`! What utter hypocrisy – first you say there can't be a second referendum accusing those that want it of trying to overturn an answer they didn't like. Then when you disagree with a result you say ...
This is just the second year we have held a food festival in the town, but trust Darlington's Labour Council to cause considerable anger amongst the stall-holders and traders, who themselves paid very high prices for their stalls, by adding a £3 entry fee at the gate. Many people have simply turned away. Why pay £3 to just look at food stalls? And with cookery programmes on every channel every
At lunchtime today, I had the honour of undertaking the official opening of West End Boys Amateur Boxing Club at its new centre in the newly refurbished community facilities at Dundee West Church. West End Boys Amateur Boxing Club uses facilities with a newly decorated sports hall and a 16ft boxing ring and equipment at the church. This project is not for profit, the principal aim being to help all interested in boxing to have a local club they can join and to find new boxing talent for Scottish amateur boxing. Emilio Places-Rey and his team deserve great credit for ...
The Daily Mail's ridiculous scaremongering about the HPV vaccine is one of many things that has angered me beyond coherence this week. NewsArse has the best possible response. I'd quote, but I'd only end up reprinting the whole thing. Go and read it for yourself and give them your clicks, they deserve it. (I also like these headline stories: "It's just a toy for Christ's sake" Everyone Tells James May and Nick Clegg announces plan to be England's first centre-forward astronaught)
Malcolm Coles has been running an excellent series of posts highlighting how inaccurate and fear-mongering information about the cervical cancer jab (the vaccine against HPV) has been spreading online. As he points out, the official NHS page about the cervical cancer jab does not come out as well in search results as it might. So he's made an excellent suggestion: Please, if you have any way to publish a web page (you have a blog, say, or you work somewhere that publishes online), then link to these URLs: http://www.immunisation.nhs.uk/Vaccines/HPV Ideally, use some link text like cervical cancer jab ...
Saturday is an interesting day for me; [IMG: [info - personal] ] amazing_holly is at her dad's, and I don't have to be at work till 4, so I can lie in bed and listen to the radio. This generally involves dozing through Saturday Live and Excess Baggage, waking up for the Beyond Westminster, dozing a bit more until Sandi, and then listening to the repeat of Any Questions from Friday night, which I generally miss due to not leaving work on time - or, more accurately, catch the end of in the car on the way home. So I'm ...
As I'm enjoying my Saturday morning cup of coffee, an email arrives from David Dave Cameron. He likes to email me every few days just to update me on the policies he doesn't have. Today he's very excited about his upcoming conference in Manchester. (I'm not entirely sure I share his enthusiasm. I've got to make ...
Well, finally, Gordon Brown has agreed that he will participate in a TV debate ahead of the next general election. Back in July I suggested that one of the broadcasters should announce there will be a debate and threaten to empty chair any of the 3 main leaders who refused to turn up. Then in early September, Sky News did just that (I wonder if Adam Boulton reads this blog!). Nick Clegg and David Cameron straight away agreed to it in principle. Look what we have had from Gordon Brown though: Firstly he refused to say if he would participate.Some ...
I have included my objection to the potential Hardy Farm development for anyone who wants to see it. Mostly my own words although there are one or two bits from excellent objections by others that have been included. Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry.
The YES campaign is heading for a landslide victory in the Lisbon referendum - much, much higher than the 10% I was predicting. Nigel Farage has just been on RTE calling for a third referendum, on the grounds that it's now Yes 1 No 1. Guido Fawkes makes a similar point. But - as we all know - over two legs, you measure goal difference in the event of a tie. The Yes side win decisively on that score. UPDATE 5.30pm - The final tally is 67.1% for the YES side - a landslide majority of more than 2:1
Today's huge poll from Politics Home points to Cameron securing a majority of 70 (down from the 146 majority predicted by a similar poll last year). LibDems would lose a number of seats to the Tories in the south and south west, but hold our own in the rest of the country.
If you think I'm in the market to buy your memoirs - dream on. But if you have any memories of how you, your family or the community have used Belle Vue as open space at any time, but especially over the last 20 years, please send them to me, or to consettgsg@yahoo.co.uk or Consett Green Spaces Group, c/o Allison Gardens Community Centre, Consett, DH8 5JB. They are vital in building up the picture of what Consett will lose if the County Council's peverse and unjustified decision to build on Belle Vue is not stopped. Pictures, press cuttings and simply ...
PoliticsHome has today published its YouGov survey of some 240 marginal seats, with a sample of around 35,000 voters, providing the most complete picture of regional polling trends, and likely constituency results. The results are fascinating - but, as with any polls, it comes with health warnings. The most important is that, even with the large sample size, the number of people in each individual seat is not high enough to give reliable voting intention figures for individual constituencies. This is an especially relevant consideration when looking at Lib Dem MPs and target seats, as the ability of a local ...
YouGov's now annual mammoth marginals poll is out. It's heavily talked about elsewhere, so here are a few extracts that are likely to be of particular interest to The Voice's readers: As was the case last year, there is still no sign of Liberal Democrat supporters tactically voting Conservative to oust Labour though neither is there any sign of them voting tactically against the Tories... Sitting Liberal Democrat MPs continue to benefit from both anti-Conservative tactical voting and a personal vote... [In Conservative vs Lib Dem seats] respondents are far more likely to recall having received literature or seen adverts ...
The poll of marginal seat published today seems to miss the point and be something of a throwback to the old two party swingometer last seen to be effective in 1979. Virtually all the seats show a swing between Tory and labour (interestingly with a lower swing to the Tories in 2009 than in 2008). But in Lib Dem target seats, in particular those seats where the Lib Dems are in a clear second place and the Tories a distant third, they are still working out Tory - Labour swings. If this poll is to be believed, they think there ...
Conservative Home are publishing the results of a wide-ranging survey of Conservative membership on a variety of issues today with the second part tomorrow. Tim Montgomerie also has an article in today's Independent which summarises the headline findings. One that leapt out at me was: 84 per cent support environmental measures I found this figure very interesting because if you read many of the leading Conservative and right-wing blogs and many of the comments after the posts they often do not reflect this view. There seems to be a vein of suspicion running through references to the environment and climate ...
I was out in Deganwy again in the week and very worthwhile it was, again some interesting comments regarding local and national issues. What is very clear to me at this very early stage is that Labour are going to suffer a major defeat in Aberconwy. Plaid Cymru again being criticised for jumping into bed with Labour in the Assembly and their inability to influence in Westminster. I was also interested in the views of Adam Price, Plaid Cymru MP for Carmarthon East and Dinefwr regarding Westminster. He is standing down at the next election and is quoted in the ...
Associated Press reports: As Internet use expands worldwide, the United States said Wednesday it will give other governments and the private sector a greater oversight role in an organization whose decisions affect how computers relay traffic such as e-mail and Twitter posts. The move comes after European regulators and other critics have said the U.S. government could wield too much influence over a system used by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Those critics have complained, among other things, about the slow rollout of Internet addresses in languages other than English. However, the U.S. government stopped short Wednesday of cutting ...
Earlier this week I did a guest post on Political Betting - Channel 2: At the start of September, Mike Smithson drew attention to the improving figures on economic optimism - and how they haven't been accompanied by a revival in Labour's political fortunes: Like in 1997 the fact the index is "in the black" seems to be having no impact on the incumbent government. The Tories had positive numbers but were thrown out by Blair's landslide - now Labour is still struggling in the polls ... At a conference of political academics at the weekend I had a long ...
The news that Welsh councils will have removed sunbeds from their leisure centres by April 2010 is welcome, though I think it is worth pointing out that both the BMA and much of the media has gone way over-the-top on this issue in recent weeks. The evidence seems to be that over-exposure to UV radiation on sunbeds is bad for you and can lead to skin cancers. Doctors rightly ask that the public is protected from such dangers and believe that public authorities should not encourage their use. However, nobody, even the BMA is proposing to ban sunbeds completely. They ...
The release of the Conservative Home poll on the eve of their party conference creates a real headache for David Cameron. Even as it was, the Irish Yes vote on the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon would have put Europe higher up the agenda for the conference that the leadership would have probably preferred. The problem is that in the details of the poll: only 16% suggesting that the treaty of Lisbon should be accepted and nearly three quarters want a complete renegotiation of British membership. Perhaps even more extraordinary, about 40% of Conservative activists actually want to withdraw ...
A poll of over 34,000 people in over 238 marginal constituencies predicts that Mark Hunter and the Lib Dems will not only hold Cheadle constituency, but that the Lib Dems will hold off the Tory challenge pretty much everywhere outside the South West. The neighbouring constituencies of Withington and Hazel Grove are also predicted to be held by the Lib Dems.
In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon explored what it was to become an adult: taking responsibility, dealing with bad decisions and continuing with life after traumatic damaging events. In Angel he took the adults away from Sunnydale and placed them in a big city where corporate power is unchecked and malign. But even here, there is no clear dividing line between the good and bad actions of the individuals fighting their corners. In Firefly, Whedon took us on a space romp, re-imagining the American Civil War without the morality of slavery getting in the way. Instead we had a ...
Here are the Tories, set out in bold, plain print: they will give free care to elderly people if they pay £8000 upfront on their 65th birthday. Or, put more plainly, if you can pay for it you will get the help. The simple, reasonable idea is that more people will pay into the scheme that will claim for it. On its own this is not a bad idea. Everything needs to be paid for and this echoes the original principle behind national insurance, which every government after 1950 bastardized to add to the general taxation coffers. It is reasonably ...
That name was ineffectually coined by David Blunkett once as a put-down. I can' t be the only one that is fed up of seeing two Tory talking heads on QT or to have them presented on AQ – ie always Fraser Nelson, David Starkey etc. Labour seem to have their own people – ie Toynbee ...
According to the Independent, which itself is quoting 'Conservative Home, Dave faces a revolt from his part, the great majority are against the Lisbon Treaty whatever the outcome of the Irish referendum is today. If the Irish vote no, the 'democratic' Commission will simply ask them to try again so the idea of hiding behind the Irish referendum is a false one anyway. Dave faces a stark choice: call for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, thus upsetting all the other countries and making himself look like an amateur if he wins next year, or betray the majority of his ...
Good news! The Government has intervened to stop the 'rain tax', charges to charities and other organisations for draining away water. The Scout press release is below:We're delighted The Government has announced today it is going to intervene to stop Ofwat's rain tax and introduce a sensible social water charging regime.This announcement today will be welcomed by all community groups across
Leaving aside the extremely hard-line nature of Peter Mandelson's proposals for a crackdown on illegal file sharing, there is a more fundamental question about what the impact of illegal file sharing really is on the music industry. To what extent does the distribution of songs this way take money away from sales and to what extent does it act as a free form of publicity, which triggers purchases and income from other streams such as concerts and merchandise? Take this recent report from The Times: Lily Allen condemned artists who have spoken out against the[Government's] proposals. Allen, in a lengthy ...
So the Tories have announced their plan to provide free care for the elderly. Right after Labour have announced theirs to cover only those who most need it, the Conservatives announce theirs for those who can afford it, or at least an £8,000 insurance premium paid when you retire. The idea so they say is to prevent people having to sell their home to go into residential care. I have an issue with that, many of the poorest members of our society don't have savings of £8,000 pounds. If they are lucky that money is tied up in their work ...
I was down in London yesterday. I met Helen Duffett (also of Lib Dem Voice fame) for tea at Selfridge's yesterday and then we walked up to All Saints Margaret Street. As I said in that earlier post: "It is so High that it makes the Pope look like a Strict Baptist." This year sees the church's 150th anniversary and, to mark it, the interior is being restored. It certainly looks a lot fresher after a century and a half's worth of incense has been cleaned from the murals. On Sunday 1 November, as part of the All Saints Festival, ...
It's only appropriate that my 100th post to this blog returns to one of my favourite topics: my overall scepticism about the general state of politics... The next election will be an extraordinary battle between three parties fighting over the same territory. The same tired old centre ground of British politics that has been the same ...
As I blogged earlier this week, I was interviewed by Yoosk - answering a series of questions posted by visitors to their website. Here's a selection of the answers I gave: On the death of Baby Peter (Also on YouTube here.) On the Equality and Human Rights Commission (Also on YouTube here.) On similarities between the Liberal Democrats and West Ham (Also on YouTube here.)
There's no prize at stake – just the opportunity to prove you're wittier than any other LDV reader ... [IMG: jo swinson] Here's Lib Dem MP Jo Swinson putting across her point – but what might she be thinking / saying? Image: Alex Folkes/ Fishnik Photography
Come to the Mayor's Halloween Night at the Town Hall ballroom, Friday 30th October, 7pm. Tickets: £8 adults, £4 children, ,£20 family (2 adults, 2 children). Entertainment! Family Fun! Raffle! Supper menu = Hot Pot and Apple Pie & Custard. Tickets from Town Hall Box Office 0161 474 3256 or Tourist Information Centre 0161 474 4444. The event is in aid of the Mayor of Stockport Charity Fund (for the benefit of the people of Stockport).
I have said before that I do not take much notice of opinion polls but actual votes in the ballot box are a different thing. It is not that local council elections prove much in relation to voting intentions at a General Election but it does show that when that contest comes, it will be by no means a two horse race. In Council by-elections on Thursday there was no sign of a post-conference "Brown bounce", whilst the Tories were hit by a huge surge to the Liberal Democrats. An analysis of the five wards fought both times by all ...
The Tories are holding their party conference in Manchester this year. LGBTory were even boasting about holding a Conference Pride event in the heart of the City's gay village, although there is a rival Tory Shame event being organised for the week in another venue. But that is not the thrust of this blog post, no. Both Michal Kamiński of the Tories Polish Law and Justice Party EU allies and Roberts Zīle of the Latvian For Fatherland and Freedom Party will be attending a fringe event on the future of Europe. One wonders what sort of future that will be. ...
Of course the Conservatives will not see it like that and the impact on the electorate will be minimal but nevertheless the presence of two prominent east European allies of the Tories, who are at the centre of a bitter row over their far-right links, at their annual conference in Manchester next week was bound to cause a row. Whether that row will overshadow their conference is doubtful but it will still prove an irritant for party chiefs. David Miliband, the foreign secretary, has accused Michal Kaminski, the rightwing Polish leader of the Conservatives' caucus in the European parliament, of ...
Andrew Lansley's latest welfare pledge suggests the answer is "no" This is not an auspicious start to slicing £150bn or more a year from Whitehall expenditure. Let's hope the "efficiency" savings will more than make up for it. But that does seem to rely on the civil service having over-spent by several tens of billions on paper clips in the last few years.
So, I'm told. Mind you, they also thought they'd won without the need for a replay....
This morning's Daily Telegraph had an obituary for Francis Noel Baker, who was Labour MP for Brentford and Chiswick 1945-50 and for Swindon 1955-69. By my calculation, his death and that of Ernest Millington earlier this year mean that there are only two MPs from the 1945 parliament now left alive: Michael Foot and John Freeman. What makes me feel really old is that I remember Francis's father. Philip Noel-Baker was a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, a former Olympic athlete and himself a Labour MP. I remember him addressing a Labour Conference in the days when the BBC ...
How do you devise an integrated transport system? Well the easiest answer is to watch Yes Minister and follow the dialogue. A longer answer is to think about how you want people to move around the country. If you think it is best to get people to buy and maintain their own vehicles, travel into the city centres, clog up the streets and then find a parking space then that is basically the system we have now. It has the advantage of giving freedom to individuals and this view will be supported by all car owners. On the other hand, ...
