Having seen the news of a transport partnership scheme between Admiral and Newport Bus set up by Ed Townsend (Parliamentary Candidate for Newport East), I was very impressed by the aims of the scheme and was given a brain wave by it. For those of you who have not seen the news, Ed has managed to agree a partnership between the City's bus service provider and Admiral Insurance, a major employer in Newport, to lay on a bus service to the workplace, where there was no previous bus service, to help young people get to work safely and to encourage ...
[IMG: Spring Hill Library - Barack Obama - Black History Month] [IMG: Spring Hill Library] Earlier this week I attended a meeting for the Cardinal Newman Heritage Project at Spring Hill Library, one of the stakeholders. Although I have passed it many times, I had never been inside. Just a few minutes walk from the Jewellery Quarter, Central Ladywood and Summerfield, the impressive building housing Spring Hill Library is well worth a visit. Inside you'll currently find a series of displays celebrating Black History Month, such as one on Barack Obama (pictured). The library also offers books in Urdu, Punjabi, ...
I have to confess I was more than a little shocked by the news that Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for this year. It's not that I don't like Obama or think him a worthy politician it's just that yes, I confess, even as an Obama supporter I do wonder what he ...
I was first lobbied by Chorlton LibDem Victor Chamberlain back in August to sign up for the 10:10 campaign. He convinced me to do so well before most politicians had heard of this revolutionary project. At Full Council on Wednesday, I challenged all Councillors in Manchester to not just sign up to a motion in a dusty chamber, but to push forward the carbon reduction agenda back in their wards and to work on the challenge that presents itself at Manchester Airport. There is a wonderful device in the hall of Brookburn Community School, which clearly tells children and teachers ...
Due to a head cold, an intolerance to light and an amazing ability to sneeze for prolonged periods for no apparent reason, blogging will be light. I may still Twitter from bed ! Have a good weekend.
I am not against the democratic right to strike and I am not some Thatcherite, but reading about the Royal Mail strikes has annoyed me. Yesterday, Amazon dropped their £25 million contract, and today, Argos and 30 online retailers are changing their posting service from Royal Mail to other providers. Post-Switch apparently also estimates that ...
Fri 9th
21:52
BT Community Connections scheme - laptops and braodband for community groups and charities
This scheme may be of interest to voluntary groups you are involved in or know of: BT Community Connections Community and charitable organisations, working in any field of community benefit, located throughout the UK or Republic of Ireland can apply for a laptop and a year's free broadband connection.
Over on his blog, Joe Nutt has deprecated some modern approaches to research: Something which completely bemused me when I first left the world of academic English teaching and the scholarship that goes with it, for the world of educational technology, was what that ICT world seemed happy to call "research." Over the years I've still never got used to it. The idea that someone can scribble a few inarticulate pages online, drag and drop a few minutes of video footage showing some exploited child enthusing about the latest gadget, and call it "research" just doesn't cut it for me ...
Today there was a memorial service to commemorate the end of the Iraq war and also the 179 lives of those servicemen and women who lost their lives, at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Unfortunately the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams decided he would use this service and his sermon to criticise both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and the decision to go to war. Now don't get me wrong, like thousands of Liberal Democrats and others in Britain I was against the war from the start, but I don't think Rowan Williams was right to politicise his sermon in ...
[IMG: Reclaim The Night] Birmingham Feminists are holding their first Reclaim The Night march on Saturday 17th October 2009 on the streets of Ladywood. From their website: "The march will take us from the top of the city to an area that we feel needs to be 'reclaimed' from its reputation as a 'no go' area for the women of Birmingham. This event will unite women across the Midlands with women from out of area, to march and take a stand against violence against women, and particularly against the myth that a victim of sexual violence is somehow responsible for ...
THERE was yet another protest outside my Westminster Parliamentary office window last Wednesday. One minute it was just the normal mix of tourists, joggers and bored-looking coppers. Next thing, hundreds of people were running on to Westminster Bridge and forming a human barrier. This week's demo was by the Tamils from the Elam region of Sri Lanka. For years they've been getting shirty about how badly the Sri Lankan government treats them. They even set up the 'Tamil Tigers', a rebel group fighting the Sri Lankan government. Recently, the military over there started a big push to destroy the Tigers ...
OK chaps, now listen up. Do you get excited about political party conferences? In my never ending mission to reveal the wonderful world of politics, here's a quick round up of what went on when the lovely Lib Dems descended on Bournemouth Conference Centre to save the world. Team Opik was there... TRAINS DO you think our rail service is crap? I do. And it's expensive too. That's why I helped my chum, Linda "Wacko" Jack try to convince the 2,500 conference delegates to make renationalisation of the railways a Lib Dem party policy. Wacko Jacko reckons the trains and ...
No related posts.
Barry Letts has died. Those of you who are Doctor Who fans will know how terrible this is – those who aren't won't. But Letts was, as much as anyone, responsible for the programme as it is thought of by most people today. Letts was the show's second-longest serving producer, starting during Jon Pertwee's first series ...
Surely I have the same qualifications? I'm an American citizen, and - most importantly - I'm not George Bush. Oh, all right, I've not been elected President (a technicality), but President Obama hasn't had the chance to do much in international peacemaking yet, either. I suspect this is most accurately viewed as a prize for the American people for not electing another Republican warmonger who despises the rest of the world and is despised in return... Yet this won't do him any favours with those Americans who already think their President is too much other people's President, will it?
Next week the Health Minister and Labour leadership candidate, Edwina Hart will be going before committee to answer questions on her section of the budget. There are two immediate issues that stand out, the cut in the capital budget of £115.8 million and the £50 million put aside to pay for the reorganisation of the health service. On the capital budget there appears to be mixed messages coming from Ministers. At Plenary on Wednesday the Finance Minister denied categorically that there had been a cut in the health services' capital budget at all: Andrew Davies: You are factually incorrect to ...
In addition to meetings at the City Council and progressing West End Christmas Week, today I attended the second meeting of the Dundee Airport Consultative Committee. It was an extremely positive meeting. In addition to an update on passenger and aircraft movements, showing real and sustained growth for the airport - particularly impressive given the economic downturn - there were discussions about the security arrangements at the airport, a CCTV upgrade, air traffic control capital investment, the fire safety arrangements and possible new airport hub links for Dundee Airport once the economic outlook has improved. Highlands and Islands Airports Limited ...
There are hours of fun to be had at the Speechbreaker site, even if they have rather limited what you can do with Nick Clegg. People can be so unfair.
High drama in Market Harborough while I was at work in Leicester today. The Harborough Mail has the story: An explosion at an electrical sub-station in Harborough sent a fireball 75ft into the air, eyewitnesses have reported. The incident happened shortly before 10am this morning ... on the Riverside Industrial Estate next to distribution firm Weddell Swift. The Mail also has a video from the scene. And don't think the newspaper got off lightly itself: The Mail offices in Northampton Road also suffered a three-second power cut at the time of the explosion.
The silky prose ot "the Advertiser" has not always been music to my ears, but this week's edition certainly is. In particular we have concerns that local conditions and national circumstances could lead to the seat being at risk This is the comment of the "Labour activist" former deputy leader of the Labour-led Derwentside District Council. Circumstances which we feel could put in jeopardy a seat which has traditionally been strongly Labour ... are referred to as well. I don't imagine that Labour are worried about losing North West Durham to the Conservatives. Even the Conservatives couldn't believe that. Clearly ...
Yesterday, to Derby, to give a lecture on Freedom of Religion at the Multifaith Centre, which is part of the University but is managed by a separate Trust. The building is unusual and imaginative, and the Director, Dr Phil Henry, has evidently been successful in getting all the faith communities in the city involved. I do wonder, though, whether people who want to reach out to religions other than their own aren't the exception. As a general rule, I think most people's attachment to their religion is based on familiar cultural signals that go back to their childhood, rather than ...
I should have known Steve Bell would have been onto this...
I've not got much time right now although there are several things on the tip of my blogging tongue. However I do have time to post a link to Constantly Furious' post about the post office workers from yesterday. Sometimes I agree with CF and sometimes I don't but he always makes me laugh with his turns of phrase. In the linked post he spends some time berating the union's attitude but what made me laugh was his final line where he gives some advice as to what should be done: Just take the f**king letters out of the sack, ...
Barack Obama is a great guy. And after eight years of George W Bush, he has arrived in Washington and on the world stage not so much as a breath of fresh air as a strong, balmy breeze of change. Yet I am not alone among commentators in feeling that the decision to award him the ...
Crikey. Even as an Obama cheerleader, I must confess to utter bafflement (at first) at his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. "What for?" I asked myself. Well he's set old Georgie Mitchell off to the Middle East to try to start talks. He announced the scrapping of the planned Polish missiles. And he's made conciliatory noises to the Muslim world, not least with his visit to Turkey and his video broadcast to Iran. But perhaps this bold move by those crazy Norwegians is mostly motivated by the simple fact that Barack Obama, someone with a bit of knowledge of ...
Ben Storrs, Press & Publicity Officer Gordon Brown may have won the statesman of the year award in New York last month but opinion polls still record all time lows in his domestic popularity. On an international level he is much more popular after leading the G20 to deliver a global plan for recovery at the London summit. But he is especially liked in America for his decisive action after congress rejected the trillion dollar Federal Reserve plan to buy up toxic assets in US banks. Gordon Brown swept in to use British money to buy hefty stakes in banks. ...
The agenda for the Council meeting at 2pm on Tuesday 13 October 2009 in the Council House includes the following items:the Scrutiny report on Protecting Children and Improving Social Care (pdf, 990KB) (a summary of the report (pdf, 53KB) is also available), which is likely to be the main item at the meeting and will considered immediately after Question Time;the annual report of the Cabinet
Via Liberal England we have: Golders Green Tory Christopher Harris has been travelling Down Under since July on an "extended holiday" but has still managed to hang on to his job. Despite being 10,000 miles away in a country with a 10-hour time difference, Cllr Harris is still claiming more than £800 a month in a council allowance to serve residents. And then via Pits'n'Pots: Mike Barnes's future as Labour Group Leader [in Stoke-on-Trent] hangs in the balance as the party's National Executive have placed him under 'administrative suspension' with immediate effect. Yesterday, Mike Barnes admitted to impersonating someone from ...
Letter to East Kent Gazette I was surprised to see that the local Labour party are excluding all men from consideration as candidates in defence of Derek Wyatt's parliamentary seat. This is simply discrimination - and insulting to both men and women. We all want to see more women in politics but the way to do this is to encourage more people overall to get involved and to join whichever political party is closest to their own views. In the Liberal Democrats we have many talented and able women both at national and local level, who got there through their ...
It's ironic really that the President of the United States receiving a Nobel Peace Prize is potentially quite politically difficult. If not handled in the right way it could clearly have made POTUS look arrogant and self absorbed. But the statement that Obama made this afternoon, which I happened to read while watching an episode ...
David Cameron left the stage yesterday to the sound of the Monkee's hit 'I'm a believer' though one wag suggested that 'Daydream Believer' might be more appropriate. Now, according to one tweet I have seen Huw Lewis has just launched his campaign to succeed Rhodri Morgan as leader of the Welsh Labour Party to the sound of Bruce Springstein's 'Born to Run'. Nobody appears to have adopted Alice Cooper's 'I want to be elected' yet. It can only be a matter of time.
Young people across the Borough of Redcar and Cleveland are being urged to bring their cheerleaders to auditions that offer them the chance to show off their talents when Redcar's Christmas lights are switched on next month. The Council's Mayor Councillor Brian Briggs will be chairman of the judging panel in the church hall at Christ Church, Coatham on Friday, October 16, Saturday October 17 and Friday, October 23, in X-Factor style auditions. The shows start at 7pm, each with different age group auditions. On Friday,October 16, there will be performances for Key Stage 3 (11-14 year olds, on Saturday, ...
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. And when I tried to high-five Stephen Tall by way of celebration, he thought I was putting up my hand and asking to write the Friday Five. Ah, why not - 5 most-read stories on LDV this week 1. YouGov marginals poll: what it means for the Lib Dems (35) by Stephen Tall 2. Iain Dale for Home Secretary? (10) by Richard Huzzey 3. Would slavery have been abolished under Farage? (32) by Iain Roberts 4. Because homophobia is gay when it's against Tories, too (21) by Stephen Tall 5. Opinion: A frightening party of ...
What a disaster the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester turned out to be for the "government-in-waiting". Prior to David Cameron's yawn-fest speech, where he told the country nothing new and mentioned in passing a few half-baked ideas, that Vince Cable dubbed "Lib Dem lite" – I came across this gem of a video on the BBC News website. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8294010.stm It's definitely worth the two and a half minutes. Laugh along as various party conference visitors attempt to answer the question "What are David Cameron's top 5 priorities?" – the question assumes he will become the country's next prime minister of ...
One up, one down There were five principal council by-elections held on 8th October. The Tories held three seats. The Lib Dems took one seat off Independents but lost one to an Independent Liberal. There was one Parish and Town council election reported to ALDC which was won by the Tories. According to the agent in the Penrith West Ward by-election for Eden District Council in Cumbria we ran a "classic ALDC campaign", "by the book". I could write a whole column – in fact a book – about that but what was clear was that it was considerably better ...
This weeks Standard report on the move to shrink and consolidate the sites at both Heatherwood and Wrexham Park. This could result in loss of services. This also comes on the back of 157 staff jobs being put at risk as top level negotiations have begun between union representatives and managers. The trust's council of governors was informed of this move by chief executive Julie Burgess. The plan is to reduce the site to a smaller footprint which should save money. While the layout of Heatherwood is properly not efficient the big concern is the removal of services from Heatherwood ...
So, despite all of the rhetoric and other nonsense from the Tory party the gay community are finally realising that under the lights, suits and slogans the awful Tory record on gay rights stands. The Pink News poll closed today at 2pm, only twenty four hours after David Cameron started speaking and the Tories were in third place with 22% behind the Liberal Democrats who had 25%, while Labour led with 36%. Pink News ran a voting intention poll back in June this year, the Tories were on 39% and Labour 29%, so although Labour increased by 7% the Tories ...
[IMG: The Penrith Victors] There were five principal council by-elections held on 8th October. The Tories held three seats. The Lib Dems took one seat off Independents but lost one to an Independent Liberal. There was one Parish and Town council election reported to ALDC which was won by the Tories. According to the agent in the Penrith West Ward by-election for Eden District Council in Cumbria we ran a "classic ALDC campaign", "by the book". I could write a whole column - in fact a book - about that but what was clear was that it was considerably better ...
I know the argument that he has radically changed the political landscape of the United States, but surely it is far too early to bestow tis honour so soon in to his presidency. How about this for a radical solution, refuse to accept and instead offer it to former hostage Ingrid Betancourt and Colombian peace-broker Piedad Cordoba.
I think it's high time I promoted something positive. So please people of Bracknell check out the Bracknell Forest Society, it started in 2007 and is 1 of 750 Civic Societies in the UK. The aims of the Bracknell Forest Society (taken direct from the website) are: To celebrate all aspects of Bracknell Forest and to promote a positive interest in the locality To improve the image of Bracknell Forest and instil civic pride To act as a consultant regarding future planning and independently support its development To ensure information regarding history and events is easily accessible to all To ...
On Monday evening Cllr Kirsten Bayes and I attended a meeting of local residents who had gathererd to express their concerns about the possible impact the proposed redevelopment of 22 Alexandra Road could have on their area.The plans are for a family house to be turned into four flats - with two off-street parking spaces. We were already aware of the high level of concern that existed in Alexandra Road about this application. Many letters of objection had been sent into the Council by residents from Alexandra Road and adjacent streets. Parking was one of the biggest concerns raised. People joked that there was no point banning ...
I had a really good morning today viaiting the Youthworks project in Tondu in Bridgend. They are attached to environmental group Groundworks but are chiefly concerned with social inclusion. They have been doing valuable work with disconnected yougsters in some of the County Borough's most deprived communities for some time now, working with young people who have dropped out of school or have lost their way to help them fulfil their potential. They also provide an alternative curriculum provision for pupils who have dropped out of school, utilising their energy in landscaping work and building projects and teaching them skills ...
It is a mark of just how bad George W. Bush was that Barrack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize just for doing the job of President of the United States of America properly. It was terrible timing on his part though to choose this day to bomb the moon. Let us hope that the Clangers survived the attack.
Eden DC, Penrith WestLD Elissa Robinson 387 (51.7; +51.7)Con 157 (21.0; -17.6)BNP 102 (13.6; +13.6)Ind 58 (7.8; -37.5)Lab 26 (3.5; -12.7)Green 18 (2.4; +2.4)Majority 230Turnout 31%LD gain from IndPercentage change is since May 2007Epping Forest DC, Grange HillCon 453 (52.4; -31.1)LD Gavin Chambers 411 (47.6; +31.1)Majority 42Turnout 17.17%Con holdPercentage change is since May 2008.Fenland DC,
This report from NHS West Midlands shows that the number of people with flu-like illness is increasing across the region.Key MessagesAcross the West Midlands there has been an increase in patients presenting at primary care centres with influenza-like symptoms, this is not impacting on normal service delivery. The number of people with swine flu admitted to hospitals in West Midlands has
Good news first - the failed green light I reported two days ago has been fixed. Some other issues I took a look at this morning: There's a section of the wall on the Gatley Hill side of Styal Road where a few bricks are missing, opposite 22 Styal Road. Although the trees growing in the woods and overhanging Styal Road near Church Road have been cut back - so you don't hit your head as you walk along - there are still some that obscure the traffic lights, making it a very dark walk at this time of year. ...
...you can win the Nobel Peace prize preemptively now. Which means... That I'd just like to say: Thank you. Thank all of you. I'd also like to thank the Norwegian Nobel Committee, my mother, my sister, my brothers. And of course Jesus. Thank you, Jesus - I love you, JESUS. Only a matter of time...
Commenting on David Cameron's speech to the Tory party conference, Nick Clegg's Chief of Staff, Danny Alexander MP said: "This speech demonstrates the huge gulf between the sunny rhetoric of David Cameron and the grim reality of Tory policy. "The Tories claim to be honest on spending, but their proposals barely scratch the surface. "They claim they can fix the country's finances, but their plans are economically illiterate. Cutting spending now would plunge us back into recession. "They claim to care about the poorest, but will only slash taxes for millionaires. "They expect to have the keys to Downing Street ...
This will be the last blog entry for a while. I am going to be offline until 19th October. Whilst I'm incommunicado, my ward colleagues are available for any queries. Please contact Donal O'Hanlon or Mary D'Albert. Rick
Now, when I say parcel deliveries, you might think that this story involves parcels or indeed deliveries. If only. I was already familiar with the problem in many areas of people getting "Sorry you were out" cards through the letterbox, saying the Royal Mail had tried to deliver a parcel, even though they were firmly sat at home at the time. I'd always thought this was a case of rushed staff wanting to cut corners near the end of their rounds by sticking a few cards through letterboxes without knocking on the door. The truth though is far stranger. For ...
Gary McKinnon, the computer hacker with Asperger's syndrome facing extradition to the USA, today lost the chance to stand trial in the UK. His fate now lies in the hands of the European Court, as our government adamantly refuses to intervene to protect a vulnerable man from facing a grossly disproportionate punishment in a foreign country. Mr McKinnon admits to hacking into US Government computer systems, but claims that he was doing so to search for UFOs. He is foolish, but he's no terrorist. And if found guilty in a US court he faces the rest of his life in ...
It's all go on the PR Week coverage this week: in addition to their print story quoting me on the launch of MyConservatives.com, I've also done their weekly podcast:
How can one gain a large twitter following? Are there certain 'methods' one can use? I recently engaged in a race with a number of colleagues to see who would become the first to gain a following of 500 on Twitter. Within 3 days, I had gone from approx. 130 followers to over 600, beating off the opposition with a fairly minimal amount of effort. Now, we could debate the value and morals of such an exercise, but that won't be the focus of this post. This post is purely about the top methods of gaining followers quick! The main ...
Gatley Station is one of several stations (including Heald Green and Cheadle Hulme) getting some improvements before the end of March 2010. The stations will get: A Customer Information System - the boards that tell you when the next few trains are due to arrive. Public Address system CCTV monitoring Passenger help points
We had to move on, and our next stop was the Rajya Sabha, where we were to meet with the Deputy Chairman, K Rahman Khan. There was a pleasant talk about differences and similarities in procedure, and I took the opportunity to ask whether there was a problem with a comparative lack of coverage of events in the Rajya Sabha (upper house) as opposed to the Lok Sabha. His impression was that this wasn't a particular issue and, given that the Prime Minister sits there, this makes sense. Interaction over, we were taken for a tour of the parliament building ...
2 Big Stories Widely questioned as being rather premature, and merited more by vision than achievements so far, President Obama's award is making the headlines this morning: Barack Obama wins 2009 Nobel peace prize (Telegraph) Less than a year after taking office, Mr Obama won the prestigious award after calling for worldwide disarmament. He had also worked to restart the stalled Middle East peace process since taking office in January. In an announcement in Oslo, he was honoured "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Thorbjoern Jagland said. ...
Fri 9th
11:49
Maybe friendship doesn't have to be regulated after all - Government clashes with Ofsted
Last week I wrote about the case of two police officers who were both job sharing and caring for each other's children. Ofsted had apparently told them that they should register as child minders in order to do that. I urged you to sign the petition and today I've received a response from No 10: The Childcare Act 2006 requires anyone providing 'childcare for reward' to register with Ofsted, with the aim of ensuring every child in a commercial childcare service is safe and well cared for. Parents would expect no less. However, our intention has always been that friends ...
[IMG: Lynne and Robert launching our tax freeze campaign in November 2008] Its taken 11 months, but Haringey Labour have eventually caved in to our Lib Dem campaign to give local residents a break and freeze Haringey's Council Tax. The campaign was launched in November 2008 by Lynne Featherstone MP and our Council Group leader Robert Gorrie (see campaign photo left), and has attracted huge support from residents who are feeling the pinch during the recession. Over the last decade Council tax has increased by around 60% – with millions wasted on bungled IT projects and failed attempts to flog ...
As the county councillor representing the area in which Kenilworth Fire Station is situated, I have studied the Improvement Plan proposals very carefully and have asked a lot of searching questions. I am not persuaded by the Plan. I think it is wrong for the Fire & Rescue Service, and wrong for the people of Kenilworth. I strongly support our retained firefighters, who provide a wonderful service to the community in a cost-effective way. I cannot accept that fire appliances coming from Leamington can guarantee a 10 minute response standard for the whole of Kenilworth in all traffic conditions. This ...
There was a great debating article in the conference edition of Total Politics, Should Prime Minister's Questions be scrapped? In my opinion, no. Firstly I think it should go back to being twice a week, but not two fifteen minute slots but replaced with a twenty minute session which is dedicated to the Leaders of the Opposition parties and a forty five minute session dedicated to back bench MPs of all parties, decided by the current ballot system. Then if the Leaders insist on a punch and judy style session, well that is up to them although Nick Clegg has ...
I am going to be Prime Minister. This is certain and it will happen soon. That's because I regularly rail about what drives me, what I believe in and why I am the right person to change things. Sure, I tend to do this in the pub but it seems that the fact that I have strong views and that I believe in something qualifies me to be Prime Minister. Or at least that is what you might think if you read the papers today. For example, Bruce 'chewing a wasp' Anderson in the Independent said Dave's speech yesterday was ...
Even after ruminating on the speech overnight, I'm still unsure of what to make of it. Let's get the obvious out the way: it was a dignified, restrained speech. Perhaps a bit low-key for a man who is very likely to be the next Prime Minister of this country. That must have been intentional; it has, ...
Clearly Cameron's speech to the Conservative conference yesterday was full of fine , warm, words for those suffering at the front line of the worst depression for decades. However if you have lost your job , struggling to feed a family, maintain your dignity and confidence in the future and keep a roof over your head , would those words make a difference to you? The thing is we're not talking about some wonderful economic theory, or building aircraft carriers, or policies to address endangered species. We're talking about peoples lives, here, now, and how they can be helped to ...
Yes please come to the Bedford mayor by-election if you can, but be aware that there are a massive series of roadworks along the A421 between Junction 13 of the M1 and Bedford. And a separate and really snarly roadworks in Bedford at Cowbridge roundabout, where the A6 crosses the A5134. If coming up the A421 Bedford by-pass from the J3 direction it may be better to ignore the A6 exit and go on to the next one, getting on to the A600 towards Bedford town centre (Harrowdean Road, and your first navigation target London Road). If coming down the ...
The Telegraph has been doing some good work for all those people who find one of those 'sorry you were out when I tried to delivery your letter/parcel' but who were actually in! Is it the case that we are all deaf - which is the line most commonly used to explain why a card was left - or are lots of postmen and women terminally lazy? Maybe there's another explanation. Maybe the time assessment for parcel or signed for delivery is not right. I have no idea - but it seems to me that the powers that be need ...
I attended the ceremony of "Topping out " at the Llandudno Junction Welsh Assembly building yesterday which is a tradition of placing the last beam at the top of a building. This was conducted by the First Minister Rhodri Morgan, he was accompanied by Ieuan Wyn Jones Deputy First Minister. This building project is being delivered by Pochin Construction for the Welsh Assembly Government and the value of the contract is around £20m, so far £13m has been spent, £9m locally. I was told that the project was on time and budget. On site working were around 100 sub-Contractors or ...
It's not often that The Voice invites MPs from other parties to do a guest post, but in this case we've asked Tom Watson as the postcode issue is one he took a close interest in as a minister and it is an issue that cuts across parties. The recent decision by Royal Mail to close down the Ernestmarples.com web site shows us how our public institutions are woefully unprepared to seize the new opportunities created by the internet. Ermenmarples.com is a web site that enables other sites to provide postcode driven, citizen focused web services on a not-for-profit basis. ...
Parliament was in plenary session in Brussels for two days this week, but with very little legislative business. We heard reports from Council and Commission about the implications of the Irish referendum result (positive) and debated the implications for media freedom in Italy of Prime Minister Berlusconi's huge media empire (negative). We voted to approve proposals for visa liberalisation for the countries of the western Balkans. I spent Monday in Monaco, trying to raise funds for a global 'climate parliament' which I want to set up to concentrate legislators' minds on how to implement whatever agreement comes out of the ...
Wow, I said blogging would be light... I didn't think it'd be this bad. Needless to say the crisis at work continues, demanding all of my attention. How was the Tory conference? Any good?
As is always the case apart from at budget time, Cabinet is where all the interesting and important stuff is decided: though, of course, nothing is really decided there, it's just a run-through in public of decisions already made. It does, though, give the opposition parties the chance to air their views and hopefully get some publicity for ourselves and also for members of the public to address
A couple of months ago, Mark Hunter and I met with a Council officer to look at the issue of parking restrictions on Coniston Road, on Gatley's South Park Road Estate. We were concerned that the parking restrictions down Coniston Road and the roads off are, to be honest, a bit of a mess. There are two totally different sets of parking restrictions (some parts have no parking on Saturday mornings, others weekday daytime restrictions). Other lines seem to have been overpainted so it's not clear whether they're single or double and the junction of Coniston with Kingsway isn't clearly ...
A short video version of the "Thought for the day" breakfast event hosted by Editorial Intelligence that I spoke at last week is now up. The event lasted about an hour and the edited version is around 7 minutes but it does give you a flavour of how it all went. I think they may also have done an audio podcast of the whole thing which I will link to as/when it becomes available. I spoke about the future of newspapers (a topic close to my heart). The other speaker turned was Zac Goldsmith, Conservative PPC for Richmond and committed ...
Am I the only one struck by what was absent from the Cameron speech? Why was there no substantial mention of the environment-is saving the planet no longer a priority? And what about all the issues that caused David Davis to fight his by election? At the time many thought these were only clothes that Cameron tried on for an evening, a Primark buy, soon abandoned.
Calling Open Data Developers: Government needs you - Digigov http://bit.ly/pKKSN # Even bad product reviews boost sales - CNN Money http://bit.ly/gKVNl # RT @libdemvoice: New post: Electoral Commssion heavily criticise report into plans for 2012 London elections http://ldv.org.uk/16369 # @alansm Agree. Laptops are good example: if you want one cheap you know it'll be poor on something. Honest review telling you what is good in reply to alansm # @timesjoanna Geek in me wants to know what uses more electricity: printing presses or server farm for the website? in reply to timesjoanna # @prchief Thanks for the RT in reply ...
We have seen the exterior of Oakham Castle: this is its remarkable interior. As the Rutland County Council website explains:240 horseshoes hang on the walls of the Great Hall. These represent the unique custom that every peer of the realm must give a horseshoe to the lord of the manor on their first visit to Oakham. The custom has been followed for at least 500 years and probably dates back to the 12th century. The oldest surviving horseshoe is said to have been given by Edward IV in about 1470. The most recent were given by HRH The Princess Royal ...
I don't know how often lcoal residents wander up to Hampstead Heath to enjoy the natural beauty or indeed the constructed natural beauty. This - The Hill Garden - is one of the finest pieces of constructed natural beauty around. Completely unknown to many locals it is overlooked by the even more stunning and amazing Pergola and is just a great location of quiet charm and solitude. The views out across North West London are truly amazing - over to Harrow. http://www.opensquares.org/detail/Hill.html This was orginally/constructed to be the back garden of Lord Leverhulme's Inverforth House - the Pergola, as ...
On a chess board the two Bishops are dressed in the same colour, start from roughly the same place, seem to have the same focus, but they never meet. The reason is of course that one uses the white square and the other's the black. The King and Queen, between them have the same basic move but the King can only move one square in any direction and the Queen can go as far as she pleases. The Church of England is planning to legislate so that female bishops will be more like a hamstrung King that a fully fledged ...
In many ways the continuing financial crisis is quite literally all about money. The repeated bubbles of the Greenspan years at the US Fed created a long term credit environment that was so relaxed that it was essentially uncontrolled. The US created credit conditions that promoted massive borrowing which increased the wealth held in possessions but reduced the wealth held in cash- indeed created a negative net cash position. Yet the side effect was also to reduce the value of saving so that the holders of cash were not able to gain sufficient reward for them to even want to ...
Ian Swales & Nick Clegg promote Save our Steel Campaign Liberal Democrat prospective MP for Redcar, Ian Swales took the Save Our Steel campaign to the recent Liberal Democrat conference. He is pictured with Lib Dem leader and Sheffield MP Nick Clegg. Nick said " I am very concerned that our Government is not working with other European Governments to ensure a level playing field for our steel industry." Ian Swales said "we have to get as many people as possible behind the campaign to save the local steel industry. I was fortunate to be able to state the case ...
Today is the anniversary of the murder of Che Guevara by the Bolivian Army in 1967. Contrary to the official line at the time, he had not been killed in battle but captured and executed the following day. His body was buried in an unmarked grave and ...
How presumptuous of David Cameron to compare himself to Dr Martin Luther King and Moses. The former went up Mount Sinai but never entered the Promised Land, and Dr King famously said, "And He[God]'s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've ...
Just heard that Elissa Robertson has won the Penrith West by-election. I could tell from the work I did that she is a hard worker on local issues and well done to the team up there in Cumbria. Result last time: Ind 324 = 45.25% Con 276 = 38.55% Lab 116 = 16.20% October 8th result LD 387 = 51.74% Con 157 ...
I couldn't let today go past without a mention of my favourite poem, Ozymandias by Shelley. The final lines are: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of ...
Almost 19 months ago, the Liberal Democrats in West Lindsey voted through a brand new swimming pool in Market Rasen. Following that vote, the build was scheduled to be finished in September 2009. The Conservative party said that this was a 'pool in a shed' and criticised the £4.1 million that we had put in place as too low. When they took control in May 2008, the new Leader of the Council put
For various reasons, this week has been pretty shitty. Financial woes are continuing and worsening - Conference didn't help with that; even though we lived very cheaply in Bournemouth, the loss of a week's wage has made a big hit. Depression has also been pretty bad, which buggers up my motivation to do anything other than get drunk and sleep, and I can't afford to get drunk unless other people buy the drink, and then I feel like a freeloading shit. Mat has had a bad back and has needed my support rather than being able to give me his. ...
Gen Sir Richard Dannatt is to become a defence adviser to the Tories. It is good to have professional advice but is it right that a serving army officer should be making political statements? I remember well that he was asking for more troops and equipment, but others were saying that they didn't need more. If he has a political axe to grind then his judgement is impaired. I particularly enjoyed the comment from the shadow home secretary Chris Grayling who misheard a question about General Dannatt and replied that he hoped it was not a political gimmick and it's ...
