How depressing to read that once again David Cameron and his Tories attempting to seize the progressive agenda by promising to allow some "all-women shortlists to help us boost the number of Conservative women MPs". I have long argued for all-women ...
At the top of my sidebar it says "syndicate" and I would like it to say "subscribe". Any ideas how I would go about this, because it doesn't appear to be an option in the customise style thingy? Yes, I am looking at you, [IMG: [info - personal] ] cesy. ;)
Last weekend Lib Dem shadow chancellor Vince Cable was up in the North East. Twice I listened to a call from him to separate banking into safe retail banking guaranteed by the UK government but closely regulated and Investment banks, free to pay large bonuses and take risks but not be bailed out by the government. He has been calling for this since well before I first heard this call at the Lib Dems spring conference and the launch of his acclaimed analysis of the financial crisis, The Storm. Like his call for nationalisation of Northern Rock, it's been derided ...
At tonight's ward surgery we had 3 young people, accompanied by a youth worker, who came to find out just what goes on. I'd warned them that sometimes we don't have anyone come to the surgery and then we use it as a time to catch up on information we need to share and decisions we need to take. Tonight started like that, and the young people sat with us while we debated how to move on after our
Earlier this evening the Clerk of the Parliaments, the senior official who was investigating the complaint made against the former Liberal Democrats Chief Executive and Peer, Lord Rennard. I liked the line in the ruling "...Lord Rennard's record over the period in question shows that he was far from inactive in the House ..." given the hours Chris Rennard worked over the road in our Cowley Street HQ, I bumped into Chris Rennard many of the weekends I was working there. The ruling by the Clerk of the Parliaments rejects the allegations made that Chris Rennard claimed overnight subsistence for ...
Bloggers and GentleTweeps, please give a warm welcome to this month's sponsor, the very lovely Mr Neil Fawcett ( [IMG: [info - syndicated] ] liberal_neil_feed). ((Andrew, I owe you a 20p refund, I was just so excited to have had an excuse to use the Metal Lord font...))
Today witnessed the appearance of Nick Clegg (as well as Gordon Brown and David Cameron) in front of the Speaker's Conference, chaired by the new Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow. The issue this special committee has been asked to look at is: "Consider, and make recommendations for rectifying, the disparity between the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons and their representation in the UK population at large". You can watch Nick give his views and answer questions on the Parliament website here (his part begins about 48 minutes, if you ...
Today, at the Speakers Commitee, there were some interesting points brought up by all three leaders. There were some good suggestions, such as Brown's announcement he would like to see civil partnerships take place in parts of Parliament. Whilst the recognition by all three leaders of how their parties are failing to represent society is ...
I've just come from a residents' meeting on Allcroft Road in Redlands. Kirsten, Glenn and I have got to know residents pretty well in this area over the years and I always enjoy catching up with them to talk about local issues. It's just a shame it usually happens when a flawed planning application has been submitted! I had called the meeting having picked up a number of concerns from constituents about a new planning application that has been submitted for the redevelopment of 46 Redlands Road. The plan is for 10 flats and associated parking on the site of Abadair House ...
No related posts.
The big news this week is that I have been successful in getting on the list of Approved Parliamentary Candidates for the Liberal Democrats. This means I can now apply to seats to run for parliament. Last week I was in Eastbourne for a day of evaluation sessions - it was hard going and I thought I had just run short - so was delighted to discover, while checking emails on a borrowed lap top in a pub in Bayeux (don't ask) that I was successful. So now to find a seat to contest and I am hoping to get ...
(Hat tip to Jennie Rigg) Sadly there is more sad news, not only have we lost Ludo but we have also lost Vic Mizzy who was slightly older at 93. As Jennie says who he? Well without him there'd be less finger snapping in the world, because he gave us this... Interesting aside is that one Addams adopted a Hobbit. Yeah when John Astin married Patty Duke he adopted her infant son who still bears his name and considers the star his real father.
There are currently vacancies for councillors on Dodington Parish Council. The Council covers the Shire Way / Rodford Way area, the Birds roads and the country areas of Wapley, Dodington and Codrington. The Parish Council, as the lowest level of local government, is responsible for lots of local services - playgrounds, parks, the Parish Hall and Wapley Nature Reserve to name just a few. You don't need to have any particular skills for this important voluntary role - the most important thing is to have a keen interest in the local area. If you think you might be interested, please ...
Fresh Squeezings From the veins of the InternetVia [IMG: [info - personal] ] shishmish comes the terrible news that Vic Mizzy has died aged 93. Who he? The guy who composed this: RIP Vic. :( [IMG: [info - livejournal.com] ] vgnwtch has written an open letter to Ursula Le Guin and it's beautiful. The dear old Graun has a handy Find how many fascists live near you map. This is one thing in which I'm actually glad that women don't have equal representation. Although, given the bastard Nazi Party's women's policies, it's a surprise that there are any. Turkeys voting ...
There's a new website showing crime statistics by area. You just put in your postcode and it reports the statistics for different types of crime. The information on the map is at beat area level, in our case the Yate beat or the Chipping Sodbury and Cotswold Edge beat. Both have average crime levels for the Avon and Somerset Police area.
As I start to sip my pint of heavily overpriced Fruili in the White Hart near by house in Crystal Palace, news comes through that Chris Rennard has been cleared of any wrong doings on expenses. He broke no rules. Rather puts the boot into all the stories of wrong doing that those on the right (possibly upset by his record of destroying the Tories in byelections) have spread. The right are wrong!
Well, as I knew all along. After Chris Rennard's wife retired, and given Chris's health, they had quite a marked change in lifestyle and headed off for a new flat on the Eastbourne coast.Stockwell became the "London home" for Chris's work. Stories circulated, but totally founded on their years their from when they moved in to 2007, not post 2007.Well, the House of Lords have cleared Chris and the
Delighted to hear that Lord Rennard, or Chris, as I know him, has been cleared by the Parliamentary authorities over his expenses. I didn't blog about the allegations much at the time because, as a friend, I knew I was biased. I did know, however, that he had moved his home base down to Eastbourne, and am delighted that the evidence backing this up has been properly taken into account. It was good to see Chris looking so well at conference, and to hear the rousing reception he got at the rally.
We've just realised that our previous post on this blog was number 500 since we started in January 2007. Please feel free to give us some feedback - post a comment below to let us know what you think of the Localfocus blog. In particular, what would you like us to cover that we don't at the moment?
I've received news that Blaydon has a new parliamentary candidate. The Tories have finally selected a candidate, Glenn Hall. The Conservatives have not yet put any information about him on their website but I welcome him to the race. I look forward to seeing him on the campaign trail. We don't see many Conservative politicians round here!
Since I got an award for writing about her expenses claims earlier this year, I feel it is incumbant on me to follow this up with a little tweet that Jo Swinson wrote earlier today: my "all clear" Legg letter has now arrived Let that be an end to it?
David Cameron's announcement today that he is going to impose all women shortlists in some seats for the next election has met with a mixed reaction, not least from Conservative bloggers, many of whom think that this is a profoundly unconservative move. I absolutely agree with Mr Cameron that we should have more women in parliament but I do not think women only shortlists are the answer. At risk of seeming a bit like a broken record, I think the answer is electoral reform. Bear with me here... If we had Single Transferable Vote in multi-member constituencies (with say 5 ...
It's often the first question people ask me: how is the allotment? I can add Nick Clegg to the list of people who have now asked! I was at the National Liberal Club tonight to do photos of Nick Clegg and candidates. Well, he did ask, so I told him! Allotment doing very well thank you. He wasn't the only one to ask. ---Sent via BlackBerry
I've complained twice to the PCC about the Jan Moir article, and complained to the Daily Mail editor. I also strongly believe that now is the time for the PCC to become much more independent. Imagine my shock when I discovered that the person I was complaining to at the Daily Mail - the editor in chief, Paul Dacre - is also chairman of the PCC's Code of Conduct committee! That can't be right. Surely it is not rocket science to have some independent press experts on PCC panels, is it? They don't have to be currently engaged with vested ...
This just in from the Clerk of the Parliaments, the official who has been investigating a complaint against the Liberal Democrat peer and former Chief Executive Lord Rennard. The ruling rejects allegations that Chris Rennard claimed overnight subsistence for days that he was not present and also rejects allegations that he made claims related to having a home outside London that he wasn't entitled to make: In these circumstances and after due consideration, I have decided not to uphold [the] complaint: I have concluded that Lord Rennard's claims for expenses were in accordance with the rules and guidance on Members' ...
One benefit of having been writing a blog for so long is that I can do this: go back and see what I was saying five years ago. On 20 October 2004 Conrad Russell had just died and I reported that Nick Clegg had written a good column about him for the Guardian. That column is still on the paper's website: He was a striking, slightly beguiling figure. He walked with an intellectual's stoop, invariably with a cigarette in hand. A shock of white hair was permanently standing to attention above an angular, slightly hawkish face. He talked in paragraphs.Helpfully, ...
Yesterday I was privileged to give a lift to a former Royal Marine called Dave from Leicestershire. It all happened in a strange way. Starting on a journey "oop nawth" I was seized with guilt as to when my next MOT is due. So I stopped in a parking lay-by on the A34 to get out the handbook to check on it (typically for me, I was being over-panicky - it's not due until next April). As I drew up to the lay-by I noticed what I thought was a tramp walking along the verge behind (who else walks along ...
That is the question asked today by a spokeswoman for Warwickshire Police, says the BBC website. It seems: An arsonist is believed to have left his trousers at the scene of a fire in Warwickshire. A pair of men's jeans were recovered from the fire at a sports court in Acre Close, Whitnash, Leamington Spa, on Monday evening According to Blogger this is the 5000th posting on Liberal England. So much for my plans for marking that landmark with an essay on the philosophical foundations of the Liberal Democrats.
I just sent this objection to an application for a 24 hours off-licence, you can also write in objection to licensing@lewisham.gov.uk. Dear officer, I here write in objection to the request of a 24 hour license to sell alcoholic beverages for the supermarket at 258-260 Hither Green Lane. The area is home to St Mungo, a very large ...
I had submitted this for the Highland Liberal Democrat News (or whatever it's called), but it's twice as long as it should be so I'll have to do some editing. You lucky bloggers get to read the full 700-odd words. My conference experience can be rather neatly summated by relating to you my maiden conference speech that I sadly didn't get to deliver in response to the motion "A Fresh Start for Britain: Choosing a Different, Better Future." Good morning conference. In 1997, when Labour were elected, I was skipping joyfully down the streeet arm in arm with friends in ...
Yesterday saw the annual Prospect Think Tank of the Year awards ceremony, an occasion the glittery red-carpetness of which those of us on the outside can only dare to dream. Congrats are due at the outset to the UK's only liberal think tank, Centre Forum, for winning Pamphlet of the Year for Giles Wilkes' report, A balancing act: fair solutions to a modern debt crisis, about which he wrote here on LDV. Awards are usually a moment to take stock, which is what I've done today. Because one of the points that has struck me over the years I've been ...
Last night I watched Panorama 'Undercover: Hate on the doorstep' which was looking into the abuse that ethnic minorities encounter in some areas of Britain and the hook / contrast was with the Equality Commission having said that Britain was pretty good in terms of tolerance and issues of race. The program set out to disprove that statement - pretty successfully. Two undercover reporters, one male and one female and both Muslim, moved into a house on an estate near Bristol. For the eight weeks they were there they were abused, both verbally and physically, by local youths and children. ...
Yes, I've been playing with iMovie.
Over at The Times, the Lib Dems' shadow chancellor Vince Cable argues that the Financial Services Authority's review on mortgages doesn't go far enough to prevent a return to banks' wild excesses. Here's an excerpt: Some of the more aggressive banks, seeking to expand their market share, are relaxing their offerings in terms of loan-to-value ratios. Any eagerness to return to former lending practices should be a source of concern. The housing market has not adjusted, at least yet, to realistic levels. Historical trends show a cyclical pattern of boom and bust, lasting roughly 15 to 20 years, going back ...
At teatime, up to my arms in cooking and looking after my song, a salesman knocked on the door trying to get me to switch electricity suppliers. The typical three loud knocks signalled his arrival. ( I open the door) Salesman : Don't worry, I'm not a salesman (lie) and I am not one of those awful politicians who knock on doors to annoy people. Me : Errm, I am one of the politicians who knock on doors. I don't do it to annoy people. Possibly not the greatest start. Salesman : No. I don't suppose you are interested in ...
As reported in the Courier over the weekend, I have expressed concern about the safety of Blackness Primary School pupils crossing the extremely busy Hawkhill by-pass, where there is currently no school crossing patroller. Parents have expressed concern to me that, with the schools coming back after the autumn holiday earlier this week, there is still no replacement crossing patroller at this extremely busy road. Hawkhill is a main route into the City Centre, is a busy bus route and many heavy goods vehicles use the road. Furthermore the crossing is adjacent to the corner with Peddie Street, a very ...
There's been a story doing the rounds too inane even for me to want to read anything about it – the 'controversy' over Gordon Brown declining to name his favourite type of biscuit. This is, according to some of the more desperate right-wing blogs, evidence of the Prime Minister's tendency to dither. Or perhaps it's because he has more important things to worry about – just as the media has more important things to report, or so you'd have thought. Anyway, as a result of this over-literal storm in a teacup, Nick Clegg has also been asked about his biscuit ...
'We' meaning "we mortgage borrowers, we mortgage lenders, we people in general who now can't be trusted to get involved in finance without ruining EVERYTHING. Well, do we need protection from ourselves?
[IMG: tory-poster] The total failure of the mainstream establishment to tackle the BNP seriously has again been in the headlines with a bunch of military worthies bemoaning the party's use of a spitfire on campaign posters. General Sir "Mike" Jackson says, "How dare they use the image of the Army, in particular, to promote their policies. These people are beyond the pale." Where were Sir Mike and the rest of the top brass when the Tories used the imagery shown here as a central plank of Thatcher's re-election campaign in 1987.? I don't remember any of them expressing disgust and ...
Health watchdog the independent Care Quality Commission has reported South Central Ambulance Service as "weak". Care Quality Commission have this year also produced a damning report on Boardmoor Hospital in Crowthorne details of which can be found here on Bracknell Blog. In the 2008/09 report the ambulance service is shown to be one of the 3 worst in England. Last years report had our ambulance service as being good. It should be point out that no ambulance service scored "excellent" in the report, two scored good, six fair and three weak. The main failing on the report was the response ...
County Fire Officer of Greater Manchester Steve McGuirk says, "With daylight hours now getting shorter and people spending more time in the home, what better time than now to check those small items in your home which could save you or your family's lives?" "Smoke alarms were responsible for detecting many of the 2421 accidental house fires we attended last year in Greater Manchester and have saved many lives in these fires. But to save lives smoke alarms must be checked regularly to ensure they are working". Smoke alarms are inexpensive, from less than £5, and available in DIY stores ...
Had a walk around Colwyn Bay today with the Head of Street Scene and an Officer from our Enforcement Team. We have two independent audits each year by Keep Wales Tidy and the problem of smoke related litter is always highlighted in their reports. The problem has got worse since the smoking ban and I think that this needs the attention of all departments across the Authority and the Police. I have particular concerns about cigarette butts outside some public houses and cafes and feel we need to all work together to eliminate this. The Environment Department has and is ...
Following on from the council failing to reply to my concern about the play areas on the Ridgegrove Estate, I am reminded about another failure by the Council to respond to councillors and residents. About three months ago, my colleagues Nathan Bale and Dan Rogerson MP presented a petition to the Council about a local issue in Bude. They received a bare acknowledgement but not proper reply and so, last month, I asked a question at full council about the administration's policy on replying to letters and petitions. I specifically mentioned Nathan and Dan's petition as a case in point. ...
You'd think it would be a simple question. Do the Greens support the fiscal stimulus to get the economy growing again, or do they, like the Tories, consider it more important to balance the budget sooner? Logically, as the Greens are not supposed to be that keen on economic growth anyway, you would expect the latter answer. But that has to be weighed against visceral knee-jerk opposition to the Tories. So I've been intrepidly commenting on Green blogs trying to get to the bottom of this. Natalie Bennett at Philobiblon was cheering the return of Keynes but wouldn't explain whether ...
Tue 20th
17:02
Tim Farron MP puts down Early Day Motion in the House of Commons to protect our fishermen
When I met up with Tim at Lib Dem Party Conference in Bournemouth in September, he was appalled to hear of the current situation for our fishermen in Hastings & Rye. He promised to act. And as the BBC has reported today, he has made good this promise by bringing the issue to the attention of ...
I wrote a little while back about the delay in Brian Millard's traffic survey on the South Park Road Estate. Good news - a registration plate survey was conducted today, slighter sooner than planned (moved forwards because of the imminent SEMMMS surveys). I went down to take a look and they have people stationed on the entrances and exits to the estate, taking down registration numbers . That means they can put the information together and be pretty certain about how many vehicles were coming on the estate illegally. I'll look forward to getting the results.
Yesterday evening I watched a horrific TV programme chronicling rampant racism in present day Britain. Panorama's "Undercover - Hate on the Doorstep" showed how anti-social characters behave when racism is given a covert go-ahead by some national level politicians. It was absolutely sickening, but thank goodness that even in the midst of it there were other residents who were decent, non-racist citizens.
Here's another fresh example of why "no platform" is the wrong policy for dealing with fascists. Even if Labour, the Lib Dems, and the Tories were to have dug up their most dunderheaded spokespeople for Question Time on Thursday, one feels they'd still be able to demolish Griffin. Take a look at this latest idiocy from the one-eyed blackshirt and his party, on the subject of senior army officers. Their words, verbatim; "Those Tory generals who today attacked the British National Party should remember that at the Nuremburg [sic] Trials, the politicians and generals accused of waging illegal aggressive wars ...
Then again, sometimes something happens which completely cheers you up. Like, for example, checking your google analytics stats (so far today Lib Dem Voice has sent me SIX WHOLE READERS! - nearly half as many as the 14 I got from my dear sponsor) and discovering that, along with my name and various other search terms, people have got to my blog today by searching for "coyote warlady" and "elephant botties" * cackle *
When you blog as infrequently as I do, it's important to ensure that anything you write gets put down for digital posterity. To that end, here are the two speeches I gave at Welsh Conference last weekend in Wrexham (of which more anon...) First, in the transport consultation debate; Never has a government rested quite so luxuriously on its laurels than the Labour/Plaid coalition has on transport. In the early days of devolution there were real achievements; the Vale of Glamorgan Line, the Ebbw Vale Line, concessionary fares... But while our new Minister has delivered quite nicely for his own ...
Tomorrow refuse collection workers in Leeds will vote on a new proposed deal aimed at ending the stand-off between workers represented by Unison and the GMB. Hopefully, a swift resolution to the ongoing dispute will be found though it is clear that in order to do so, the council has to address the legitimate grievance expressed by the striking workers. Given ...
I wish I had the money to buy and the space to fit one of these. Sometimes Wii boxing just doesn't cut it. That is all. ((ETA: just thought I ought to add, in case anyone was worrying, the source of my frustration is that an eminently qualified and intelligent man would rather believe that a self-selecting technorati survey is more authoritative than the office for national frigging statistics than believe that he might possibly be perpetuating some unconscious sexism. First step to solving a problem is recognising that THERE'S A FRIGGING PROBLEM. Ahem. But I'm not going to shout ...
I am very sad to have heard of people having been killed or made homeless by Taliban in ...
Labour-led Scottish Council has tried to evict Santa Claus from his proposed grotto near Kilmarnock, and before you ask, no it's not North of the Arctic Circle! A local farmer, who impersonates the well-known Christmas personality, has been refused planning permission for a sign advertising his coming to the area. Leaving Santa and his real reindeer, ...
As the end of 2009 approaches, the southern neighbourhood extension is beginning to move forward. This is a major project for West Lindsey and as such, the developers are carrying out extensive public consultation. They now have a website gainsborough-sne.co.uk where you can comment on the proposals. I would urge anyone from the Gainsborough East Ward to view the website and take part in the
Lewisham Station, c. 1900, passengers were already unable to use Oyster Cards! If you want to get lost looking at old pictures of the area you can't do much better than visit the wonderfully named IDEAL HOMES: SUBURBIA IN FOCUS.
Dear Clare Short MP, I am writing to urge you to support the Liberal Democrat opposition day motion this Wednesday to ensure all government departments achieve 10% emission reductions by the end of 2010. The latest IPCC Assessment Report (2007) predicts huge changes in the world's climate over the coming decades if atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions are not stabilised. Without adaptation, the world's poorest will be hit by a lethal combination of reduced agricultural output, increased risk of extreme weather conditions and increased exposure to disease. We need action on climate change today. The more time we spend debating different ...
According to her website, Jan Moir has a partner referred to only as 'S'. Our old friends at Christian Voice have a press release echoing her comments that Stephen Gateley's death was linked to his being gay. Christian Voice is run by (and possibly composed entirely of) Stephen Green. Just a coincidence, I'm sure.
Trinity Mirror has today announced sweeping changes to their Birmingham newspaper empire. As had already been discussed, the Birmingham Post is to become a weekly publication from next month. But in addition to this, the Birmingham Mail will become an overnight/morning title. The editors of both papers are leaving and there will be at least 40 redundancies across the group. It comes as a massive blow to journalists across the city but was surely inevitable with the changes to the way people consume news nowadays? I enjoy the Birmingham Post with its business and political coverage, but I nearly always ...
"Polish immigrant accused of strangling and burying woman"... so ran a headline in the Western Mail today. For those of you who don't need to colour all incidents with racial prejudice, this translates roughly as "Man accused of strangling and burying woman", though granted that is a little bit dry as a headline, so to take it a little more tabloid, and to give a feeling for what is contained in the article, how about "Man accused of strangling and burying lover". In any case, the fact that the man is a Polish immigrant is, I'm sure you'll agree, irrelevant. ...
Full council meetings are always a chance for political knockabout. Today was no exception. The incoming Conservative led administration commissioned a report when it was elected to look at the council's finances. My guess is that they wanted to find a big black hole and be able to blame everything on the previous (Lib Dem) administration. The report was published today and says: "The Council currently has a healthy balance of reserves... The new Council has made significant savings upon the transition to the new council with £15m or so expected in year one... These ongoing savings and savings strategies ...
Oh no! Two Liberal Democrats may have said slightly different things on the party's possible future position on Afghanistan! Now, I know asking for everything to put into absolute context might be asking too much, but surely if you're writing a blog post about British politics and Afghanistan, you might want to mention that the free ...
At September's Council meeting I proposed that the council should join the 10-10 campaign to cut CO2 emissions by 10% by the end of next year. The administration voted this down saying that they needed to look further at the issues before they could sign up. So today I asked Julian German, the Cabinet Member for the Environment, to tell me what action he had taken since the last meeting to find out more about the 10-10 campaign. He couldn't provide me with any details at all and invited me to look at his online diary to find out what ...
Today saw an eventful council meeting. The good news was that the rumoured singing of Trelawney will not be taking place until the December meeting (if ever). The major problem was the non-attendance of three of the Cabinet members. Full Council is the main opportunity for ordinary councillors to hold the Cabinet to account. If Cabinet members are not present then question after question is responded to with the Leader saying that someone will get back to us. I know that at least one, if not two, of the absentees were on other council business, but I would argue that ...
According to Kerry McCarthy MP, Dr Evan Harris has a 90 minute debate on libel laws and the reporting of parliament tomorrow. As she says, undoubtedly this will touch on trafigura and Carter Ruck, but I suspect it will also be mentioning Simon Singh. I am a HUGE fan of Evan, my views coincide with his on pretty much everything, and I could not be more pleased about this.
For those of you who don't know, and that is probably most of you, Angela Stephenson the Conservative Candidate in Linlithgow and Falkirk East (pictured right) has a day job as Operations Co-ordinator for the Scottish Conservative Party. You would expect in such a role that she would have been privy to the Party Chairman Eric Pickles edict about front benchers and PPCs not to be seen drinking champagne at the recent Party Conference in Manchester. After all it is an operational procedure to keep an eye on that and their limit of one unit a night of less upper ...
When? Tomorrow Wednesday 21st October 2009 at 7:30. Where? Hither Green Baptist Church. On the corner between Theodore and Radford road SE13 6HT (map) Who? The Hither Green Community Association. What? Public meeting. Why? To make this place better and make us a functioning community rather than the inhabitants of what's around a non description railway station in commuter belt, ...
I wanted to share with you all a letter I wrote yesterday about the Young Mayor of Lewisham. I also did a quick video when the result was announced that you might want to see! You can watch it here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cllrjc/4029412336/ "I want to express my heartfelt congratulation to Jacob Sakil winner of this years Lewisham Young Mayor election and Lola Mustapha the new Deputy Young Mayor. It was a fantastic experience to watch from the public gallery as a packed council chamber waited nervously to hear the results. Anything that gets young people as animated as they were last ...
Please find details of half term activities for next week in Prestwich for details of other events outside Prestwich during half term and all year round you can visit Bury Council's What's On guide at http://www.bury.gov.uk/Events/default.htm May I take this opportunity to ask if you are the parents/guardians responsible for children who may Trick or Treat to ask them to take proper care when they knock on a door, if it is not answered, to walk away. Many residents are vulnerable and do not wish to answer doors in the evening. BUTTERSTILE SCHOOL Dance Talent — Free October Half Term ...
Fresh from Dave Hodgson's triumph in the Bedford Mayoral election, Bedfordshire on Sunday carries the thoughts of the losing candidates. Both 'independent' candidates attempt to make the point that the electorate really wanted another independent mayor to follow Frank Branston, but has somehow been prevented from having one by the electoral system. One of the independent candidates Apu ...
The Evening Standard has a piece about London's most haunted places – and one of them is in Islington. According to the Standard, Charterhouse Square, on the southern fringe of the borough, is haunted by ghostly screams from the site of a plague pit dating back to 1348, where some 50,000 victims were buried. And ...
It's a clever move. Just as the prime ministers start to hunt around for someone to be the first president of their European Council so the current president of the European Commission raises his game and his profile. Jose Manuel Barroso now faces the scrutiny of a regular question time session in the European Parliament. It sets a precedent that his successors will have no choice but to follow. He shouldn't have too much difficulty himself. As a former prime minister with 5 years' experience of leading the Commission he will be near the top of his game. The innovation ...
I'm not impressed with the response from the Government and the Financial Services Authority to the Dunfermline Building Society Inquiry. Neither addressed the fundamental question: "If the management and board of the Society were so reckless why didn't the FSA identify this and act?" Instead they duck and dodge, providing lots of noise and detail but no clarity. I think the Scottish Affairs Select Committee should send the Government's response back and tell them to try again.
The debates and disputes around the Liberal Democrats' Bournemouth conference give a taste of what is likely to be a tricky process of drawing up the party's manifesto for the next general election. Formally, there is a three part process to that manifesto: the manifesto working group chaired by Danny Alexander will present work to the Shadow Cabinet which will then in turn (quite possibly amended) go to the Federal Policy Committee (FPC). How will this process work and who will the key people be in drawing up the manifesto? In practice, the manifesto drafting process is highly iterative, with ...
Posted by Chris; The news that Leeds United have banned the Guardian from Elland Road because of stories written by journalist David Conn comes as no surprise. Serious questions have been asked about the ownership of the club and Ken Bates has resorted to his usual tactic of shooting the messenger. The Guardian joins a long list of people and media organisations that Chairman Ken has locked out of his football grounds. These include members of Chelsea's successful 1970's side, The Daily and Sunday Mirror banned from Stamford Bridge, former Chelsea Vice-Chairman Matthew Harding, who was tragically killed in a ...
The first Reclaim The Night march held in Birmingham for over 20 years was a great success, organisers have said. Around 100 women marched through the streets of Ladywood this weekend to protest against rape, male violence and perceived no-go areas of the city. The march began at Five Ways and ended with a rally at the Ladywood Community Centre. Ladywood was chosen deliberately because it's perceived as a "no-go" area for women after dark. I have written to the local police team to ask what they are doing to tackle the problem.
I have looked through the annals of literary history, and discovered that Percy Bysshe Shelley didn't write any poems about double-yellow lines. And yet the Council are proposing to put some on Shelley Road. Regular watchers of ITV1 will also be shocked to learn that there is no connection between parking restrictions and the late, great Coronation Street mainstay Vera Duckworth, after whom I presume Duckworth Road was named. And yet the Council are sticking some double yellows there too. The problem is that people keep parking on the corners of these two roads and St Ann's Road (St Ann ...
Everyone has their own reason for being completely pissed off with the postal "service". Is it missed birthdays, post simply dumped, your business suffering (I've lost count of the apologetic calls I've made asking for undelivered subscriptions when I know it's not the companies' fault) or simply lying posties stealthily delivering 'Sorry you were outs' while you're in because they can't be arsed actually bringing your parcels, so you have to wait extra days and go extra miles instead of them doing their jobs (yup, I've also had to complain about that recently)? Well, they're bad for your health, too ...
Thursday: At the risk of incurring Auntie Jenny's FANGIRL-ENVY, I've been to see Mr Dr Vince "the Power" Cable. He was here in Tower Hamlets to boost the local party and particularly our excellent candidate, Mr Ajmal Masroor. Bethnal Green, currently fiefdom of Mr Gorgeous Pussycat George, leader of the Respect-the-Leotard Party, is one of the most deprived Boroughs in the country and yet it lies directly between the glittering riches of the twin towers (of wealth) that are the City and Canary Wharf or, as Mr Professor Tolkien might probably not have put it, Minus Morals and Minus Money. ...
On Saturday I attended the West Midlands Regional Conference in Solihull. I ran two training sessions for local party officers and also heard speeches from Baroness Ros Scott and Simon Hughes. Ros spoke on her recent travels, Dave Hodgson's stunning win in the Bedford Mayoral by-election and our chances in the upcoming general election, particularly where we are up against the Conservatives. Not everyone in the room agreed with Simon's rather utopian view of energy policy but his speech in general was well received. I'd like to see a wider variety of training and policy discussions at future regional conferences ...
The district council's Licensing sub-Committee will discuss Club 195 at its meeting tomorrow (starting at 10am). You can read the agenda (including all the representations which people have been willing to make public) on the district council website here. Be warned - some of the files are very large! It looks likely that the actual discussion will take place in private.
The Government was yesterday forced to drop plans that would have given ministers sweeping powers to decide on the retention of innocents' DNA. Despite the Government suggesting elsewhere that there would be a time limit of up to twelve years, the Bill itself did not specify any such limits and instead would simply have empowered ministers to make the decision at a later date. The proposals were included in the Policing and Crime Bill currently before the House of Lords, and met with overwhelming opposition from all sides. Liberal Democrats who have always been at the forefront of campaigns to ...
Last night was a meeting of the Resource and Performance Scrutiny commission, which I needed after my 13 hour flight from Hong Kong about as much as a man trapped in a lion enclosure needs a suit of beef. What is normally a fairly tepid affair was last night though transformed into an angry frenzy when a combination of jet-lag and bureaucracy made me very nearly lose my temper. Even in the harsh light of the morning (and after an apologetic email to anyone I may have offended), I have come to the conclusion that scrutiny is still utterly knackered ...
Wallington South Safer Neighbourhood Team Ward Panel Meeting I arrived late to this meeting as I had a personal engagement earlier the same evening. I was still able to provide our usual update from the councillors on issues in the area. Sergeant Peter LeShirley reported back on progress on the previous three month's priorities and promised good ...
I struggled to believe what I was reading when Heather McGregor,in the Observer of 18th October,wrote under the headline 'No they [Bankers] didn't cause the crash.Bankers deserve to be rewarded' Observer 18th October). The people who really deserve high pay & Knighthoods/Peerages & all the rest are the likes of Ross Brawn who picked up a dead Formula 1 racing team & in less than a year took it to a World Championship, in the process preserving a large number of highly skilled manufacturing jobs in Northampton. Or the Indian eye surgeon who so skilfully removed a cataract from my ...
Once again today, we see that some of the membership of the BNP has been published online. The Guardian broke the story, but didn't actually mention that wikileaks was the website with the list. Last year, when the full membership list was published, there was a major media storm regarding it. However, I don't think it's right that phone numbers and full addresses should be published. Names
Political onlookers will be wondering why the SNP appears to have decided not to seriously contest the by-election in Glasgow North East. Despite the impressive victory the party achieved in Glasgow East the party appears to be still licking its wounds after the Glenrothes contest, which Labour hung on to comfortably. The margin of victory for Labour ...
This morning's Western Mail reports that Health minister Edwina Hart has been accused of wasting more than £2m by rejecting advice from the Wales Audit Office and insisting on reorganising the NHS in the middle of a financial year. They say that an NHS audit source has revealed that because the recent reorganisation occurred six months into the current financial year, full audits for 2009-10 will have to be undertaken of the old bodies, which have now been scrapped, as well as of the new LHBs. The source told us: "My understanding is that the minister's insistence on a mid-financial ...
Simon Hughes MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary and Martin Horwood, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Minister will be opening and winding up the debate for the Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons tomorrow. Liberal Democrats understand that the next few weeks and months are of vital importance in our efforts to tackle climate change. In December world leaders will meet in Copenhagen to seek a global agreement to address the worsening climate crisis. To secure a deal, Britain and the developed world need to accept their historic responsibility for the industrial emissions which are causing runaway ...
School meals will be healthier and more tightly regulated under a new measure introduced by the National Assembly for Wales today. The Healthy Eating in Schools (Wales) Measure 2009 has received Royal Approval and becomes the first measure proposed by a back-bench Assembly Member to be written into Welsh law since devolution ten years ago. It requires all local authorities and schools in Wales to promote healthy eating and drinking and will mean the introduction of maximum limits in the amounts of fat, salt and sugar allowed in school meals and drinks. The measure is designed to help tackle the ...
Liverpool John Lennon airport is running a consultation about its noise action plan. The deadline is tomorrow (21st October). Here is the link to the consultation page on the airport's website. I have e mailed in my points which relate to sections in the document we are being asked about. I have posted my e mail below. *********************************************** Thank you for asking for my response to your noise action plan consultation. As a resident of Garston Under the Bridge and a Councillor for the nearby ward of Cressington, this is of great interest to me. The points I would like ...
Cross-posted from The Wardman Wire: Good news, though you'd be hard press to spot it from the media reports. On a like-for-like basis turnout was up significantly in the Bedford Mayor election this week. In the first Mayor election, in October 2002, turnout was just 25% whilst this Thursday it was up to 31%. Six percentage points is a big increase, particularly from a base of only 25%. Ah, you might be saying – but wasn't turnout higher in the Mayor election in between those two? Yes, in the May 2007 Mayoral election in Bedford turnout was 41%. However, that ...
[IMG: mc01] Local MP Sir Menzies Campbell has expressed his disappointment after the recent announcement that the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland is suspending its grant application process. Since its establishment in 1985, the Lloyds TSB Foundation has made over 12,000 awards to charities across Scotland, at a total cost of almost £85 million. North East Fife charities that have received funding from Lloyds in the recent past include the Heat of Fife RDA and both Families First and Homestart East Fife are currently supported. The decision to suspend grants was made after the Foundation and the Lloyds Banking Group ...
The Welsh Conservatives are in the Western Mail this morning with the startling news that more than a quarter of the average council tax bill goes on paying council workers' pensions. They say that the cost of these pensions in Wales was £354.8m in 2007-8 and that this accounts for around £272 for every household in Wales - some 27% of the average band D council tax bill. Now the first thing to note is that the revenue from Council Tax actually amounts to a small part of the total income of a local authority. So although £354.8m is a ...
The sentiments of this quote may sound familiar: The young people have no reverence for their parents; they are impatient of all restraint, they talk as if they alone know everything and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness for them. The author? Peter the Hermit. The time? The eleventh century.
Is money lending suddenly growing like it is meant to, and are its effects well distributed
During the Conservative Party conference David Cameron and Eric Pickles banned the drinking of champagne as they didn't want to make out they were nothing more than rich toffs supping champers and nibbling smoked salmon darling. Well, courtesy of the London Evening Standard, as you can see in this picture, (scroll down) it's the one under David Cameron and it appears that John Lamont MSP has chosen to ignore his leaders request, in fact all of those in the picture ignoring their boss, guzzling the champers are Scots - they are (from left to right) Andrea Stephenson, Operations Co-ordinator of ...
As a child I was fascinated by treasure and discovery, frequently undertaking quests in the countryside. Well recently I had the opportunity to hand out some treasure to nursery children in the form of book chests. Fife Council's Bookstart scheme aims to entice young children into the habit of reading. Entertained by Aiken Drum at Inverkeithing's Civic Centre children from Inverkeithing, Aberdour and Beanstalk nurseries the children each received a selection of books in their own special treasure chest.
Technorati's latest "state of the blogosphere" report is out and has some interesting findings. It's a reasonably global bloggers survey with 48% of the survey results from the US. This is probably on the high side overall but much better than 100%. Findings include: 67% of bloggers are male (which may help answer Jennie's point) 28% are aged 50+ (this is the answer that most caught my eye) 14% have been blogging for a year or less; 13% for more than six years 35% of bloggers have previously worked in the media in some form (this is the answer that ...
One week on and I am recognised in Brussels as the only self-declared candidate for the Presidency of the European Council. It's true that the recognition may not be extensive but I know of at least one window bill backing my candidature and it's not even in my own window. Who knows? Before long a stakeboard may go up in someone's garden. My campaign launch was reported in the Dutch and the French press rather better than at home. Journalists emphasised the negative ("anti-Blair") rather than the positive ("widen the selection") but it was ever thus. My letter of application ...
This morning on the school run I saw two separate school outings in Watford. The first was from a school in Nascot Park. The children were walking down towards Cassiobury Park and really did not stand out. The other school was a local one to me in Vicarage Holywell and they really stood out as all the adults were wearing high viz jackets? Now what is best, high viz and get noticed or just to walk along the street?
I've nothing special to add to the many obituaries published about Ludovic Kennedy, the best I've read this morning is in the Independent. The big thing I remember about was his campaigns against injustice. I recall the impact of the book 10 Rillington Place when my elder brother read it and the discussions in the family. His thirst for justice, to right wrong was never slated. There was commission at a Liberal Assembly where he relentlessly argued that it was the adversarial nature of our legal system that made miscarriages of justice more likely. He argued in favour of the ...
As part of my work on getting grids, gullies and flooding sorted, I've been working with Pam King and Council officers to identify the ones in need of sorting out. Although every grid is checked at least once a year, they may not be cleaned. If, for example, a vehicle is parked over it when the cleaning machine comes past, it can't be done and separate arrangements need to be made. What I'm aiming to do is identify priorities to be revisited. These ones are all on the west side of Gatley and affect main roads. I'm compiling a similar ...
After Leaving Bedford on Saturday I headed to Solihull for the West Midlands Liberal Democrat Regional Conference and left very disappointed.
The news that Channel 4 is going to use YouTube as the mechanism for providing catch-up and archive content, starting in November, is of obvious direct interest to the TV industry. [IMG: Channel 4 offices. Photo credit: istorija on Flickr] But Channel 4's decision to go with YouTube also has wider lessons which apply across other sectors. First, even Channel 4 - an organisation that does significant marketing activity, has its products (schedules) listed in numerous newspapers, magazines and other outlets each day and has a national TV channel on which it can plug its own products - has decided ...
It seems the most anticipated political event of the moment has got to be the BNP's presence on the BBC's flagship political programme Question Time. It's also the one that's generated the most hot air. To me, it's pretty simple. They are a political party. They are not illegal. OK, there's a little hooha with their constitution, ...
The government has announced that it is dropping its current proposals to retain the DNA profiles of innocent people on the national database. The Guardian says that the Home Office has announced that its plan to keep the DNA profiles of those arrested - but never convicted of a crime - for between six and 12 years depending on the seriousness of the offence has been dropped from the policing and crime bill that is going through parliament. A European court ruling in December found it was unlawful to keep the DNA details of 850,000 innocent people indefinitely on the ...
This morning's Guardian reports that details of the BNP's rank and file UK membership are expected to be posted on the internet today. It will be the third time that this has happened to the party in recent years: The apparent disclosure of a membership list will add to the controversy surrounding the party. The Guardian has seen the list, but could not verify its authenticity. It appears to show that: • The BNP had 11,560 members as of April this year, including one peer. • The party appears to have benefited from a surge in female recruits - one ...
I spotted this ages ago and love the simplicity and anonymity/personality of it. It has that air of affection, naivety and charm. The plaque is in South End Green, just by the gates of Maryon Mews and is just tuced away at the bottom of the pedestrian gate. Who was Gertrude and what happened in November 1897 - is this the start of a novel? Other than 1897 is of course the Jubilee of Victoria's accession to the throne... Perhaps Getrude was a local cat who always patrolled these parts, maybe Gertrude was the oldest resident when this block was ...
The Edinburgh born writer, broadcaster and campaigner Sir Ludovic Kennedy died yesterday at the age of 89. He spent four decades fighting miscarriages of justice, including that of Timothy Evans who was hanged for a crime that was almost certainly carried out by the serial killer John Christie. He also thought that Stephen Ward who hung himself during the Profumo affair was another victim of injustice and that the man hanged for the abduction of Charles Lindbergh the aviator's baby was framed. But in fighting these causes he was also became a great force behind the abolition of the death ...
2 Big stories Afghanistan set for run-off ballot: Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, will bow to international pressure today and concede that he did not win a clear majority in Afghanistan's bitterly contested election, and also accept there should be a second round of voting. Top brass take on BNP: The Armed Forces are in danger of being hijacked by far-right extremists "for their own dubious ends", a group of former generals warn today. The British National Party is tarnishing the Forces' reputation by associating itself with the sacrifices of servicemen, they write. They highlight fears within military circles that ...
[IMG: [info - personal] ] amazing_holly has been playing deBlob today. It's a pretty cool game, and the character/world design is a lot of fun, but it has had one deleterious effect. I now have this in my head. AGAIN. Arse.
Hearing government minister Margaret Becket on the radio the other day reminded me of the time when I broke into a youth hostel with Margaret's sister. Her sister and my sister were friends because they taught at the same school. They and I were ...
What does it take to bring respect back to football referees? Commonly football crowds will chant abuse at referees. Commentators will take a close look at replays from several camera angles and then say the referee was definitely wrong. Managers often feel justified in saying that the referee's decisions were awful, and now Alex Ferguson is in the news for criticising Alan Wiley's fitness. What Alex really means is that he doesn't like decisions going against his team. You just don't hear about managers complaining when they have won. If you only hear complaints from the losers then you have ...
Tuesday: Yes, it's a week late - Daddy was kidnapped by the Village but I was able to disguise myself as a weather balloon and rescue him. Unless it was all a terribly bad-taste hoax to promote a new reality show: I'm a Former Secret Agent... Get Me Out of Here! information Trust, escape, deceit, betrayal. Business as usual in the Village. The Prisoner observes the arrival by helicopter of the new Number Eight, and later Number Two invites him to watch from the Green Dome as she goes through the same disconcerting awaking that he went though in "Arrival", ...
