[IMG: street_light.gif] Ever wondered why the broken streetlight you reported months ago is still broken? Well, Surrey County Council have finally come clean on the 'minimal repair program' that they have been operating for some time now and have issued guidance regarding their handling of streetlight repairs. It's all down to the streetlighting PFI which comes into operation next year. This is a huge capital project which will replace 80% of the street lights in Surrey over a 5 year period. Pending replacement, only faults classified as 'high priority' will be fixed. These include damaged/uprooted bollards, damaged regulatory signs and ...
It isn't appearing on Lib Dem Blogs yet, but Qurban Hussain, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Luton South, has a new blog Qurban Hussain - Standing up for LutonAnd it is in the new Lib Dem web colours!
A humdinger of a speech by Barack Obama at the Fort Hood memorial service, which is already being tipped to go down as an example of great rhetoric for years to come. Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy We come together filled with sorrow for the thirteen Americans that we have lost; with gratitude for the lives that they led; and with a determination to honor them through the work we carry on. This is a time of war. And yet these Americans did not die on a foreign field of battle. They were ...
This is the second in a series of my own personal analyses of reports by the campaigning body, Object, into various lads mags and their implications in terms of the objectification of women (to see part 1, click here). The report looks into the comparisons between teen mags, that are magazines designed for girls, and ...
Three more members of the government's drugs advisory panel have resigned, bringing the total number of departures from this panel during the last week to six.....and counting. [IMG: arper aston office chairs + custom conference table] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: Incase Designs
I disagree with my policies pursued by Gordon Brown but the conduct of The Sun over the last couple of days has shown that beyond doubt 'lettergate' is a sting. It will never be proved and always strenuously denied but witness the swing of opinion on Politics Home's PH100 and a comment by one journalist; "The broadcast of ...
Did you miss me (yeah!) while I was away? Did you hang my picture on my wall? No? Suit yourselves then. Anyway, after a week of late nights at work, concern over hospitalised family members and friends, Doctor Who conventions, seeing off emigrating friends and general STUFF, I'm now back. Tomorrow I'm going to start a whole ...
Market Harborough, 8 November.
I have just posted something on the great man over at The Corridor. The content will be familiar to regular readers of this blog.
Today's meeting of Stockton Renaissance Partnership received a report on the Alcohol Abuse Reduction Strategy for the borough. It's frightening to think that Stockton has the worst problem in the Tees area and that the North East has the worst problem in England. Fortunately the team working on a strategy for improvement seems to hae a pretty good idea of what needs to be done.Of course they
Developers are about to submit a new planning application for the What!! site, on the corner of Whitefoot Lane and Bromley Road. The site first received planning permission in 2008. The new plans would reduce the number of homes on the site, but retain the 9-storey block. Developers want to get the proposal to planning committee as soon as possible, but we'll keep you informed of progress. Should it go ahead, you will be consulted on the plans before they go to planning committee, and you will have the chance to participate in the planning meeting at which a decision ...
At tonight's meeting of West End Community Council, Eric Guthrie, Director of TACTRAN, the regional transport partnership, gave a very interesting talk about the work of TACTRAN and the detail of its regional transport strategy. I know Eric well, as I was chair of TACTRAN until earlier this year. I asked questions about the funding of the various capital projects proposed in the regional transport strategy and the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) and also asked about the proposed Demand Responsive Transport project in Dundee and how quickly community transport could be rolled out across Dundee, which would be a ...
[IMG: [info - personal] ] amazing_holly has comprehensively beaten me at Top Trumps several times this evening, which somewhat put a crimper on an otherwise quite good day. I did better than my dad on the climbing wall, and sorted out some stuff in the garden, and did various other productive things. However, I know what you're all waiting for....Fresh Squeezings From the veins of the InternetThe House of Comments Podcast is up. *shamefaced* I am incredibly rude and talk over everybody and my voice is awful and I am louder than everybody else and... and... and WAH! *ahem* Hopefully ...
Given all that there is going on in the world at the moment, it is astonishing and depressing that the British media — including the BBC — have gone totally over the top on the story of Gordon Brown's handwritten note to Jacqui Janes, the mother of one of Britain's latest Afghanistan casualties. Let us ...
I support the campaign by the Open Rights Group and others against Peter Mandelson's proposed crackdown on illegal file-sharing. (You can support the campaign yourself here.) But in agreeing to call the proposals "three strikes and you're out", I think the campaign has ceded an important advantage to Peter Mandelson & co. That is because, taken on its own, that phrase actually sounds pretty reasonable. Imagine someone hearing of the proposals in a mainstream media story where the limitations of time and space often mean little is said about the detailed pros and cons of a policy. The very name ...
It was, of course, too good to last. The three-game unbeaten streak for the Liberal Democrats in the Lords had to come to an end eventually, and last week saw the Empire strike back with a vengeance. Baroness Garden of Frognal attempted to improve the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill with Amendment 27; in clause 40, page 20, line 37, at end to insert: "( ) a documented discussion of training needs resulting in a decision on whether to extend such provision to the applicant took place within the previous 12 months". This amendment had been suggested by the ...
Have to say that Gordon Brown doesn't emerge that badly from the saga of the mis-spelled commiseration letter. He has terrible eyesight, and yet still struggles to handwrite a letter to the family of every serviceman who falls in the line of duty. Ok - so he probably mispelled a name, and should be more open to admitting to having made a mistake. He might even have got some sympathy. But he is now where Major was shortly before the end. Whatever he did turned to dust - remember the underpants outside the trousers story? Probably never happened but an ...
Batteries are one of the worst things to send to landfill as they contain highly polluting heavy metals. However as a nation we only recycle 1,000 tonnes of the 25,000 tonnes of batteries we use a year. This is mainly due to the lack of recycling facilities - the only the service the Council currently offers, is at its domestic waste centres, which in reality most residents only visit occasionally. The best thing is to use fewer batteries, either by connecting appliances to the mains or by using re-chargeable batteries where this isn't possible. However when you do have a ...
Just what you need to hear weeks before Christmas, "sorry you are being made redundant", but Lloyds Banking Group who have already laid off around 6,000 people this year are now laying off a further 5,000 and around 20% of those will be here in Scotland. These banking giants, which we now technically actually run, are charging more for overdrafts and loans, laying tens of thousands of staff off and yet still are not lending to small business around the UK, which in turn would stimulate the economy a little more. I will go as far as to say that ...
...because you already watch The Thick Of It, you political dawg you. But reviews of TV shows that have already been seen by everyone who could conceivably be reading must work, or how would we account for the continuing success of the great Charlie Brooker? So, three episodes in, we in the People's Republic are developing ...
This evening I took the family to the opening night of the Urban Evolution exhibition at Stockport Story, next to the covered market - and I can strongly recommend it. [IMG: Urban Evolution 1] The exhibition takes a look at our history over the last seventy years, from the perspective of what it was like to be a young person in each age, from the Second World War through the fifties' teenager's bedroom to transistor radios and what it means to be a young person today. [IMG: Urban Evolution 2] That's not all. Not only did young volunteers contribute much ...
Six of our servicemen arrive home and pass through the streets of Wootten Bassett. God bless them and their families.
This post was going to be a review of Public Property at the Trafalgar Studios - first preview tonight. But unfortunately had a call this afternoon to say that tonight's performance was cancelled, as the producer hadn't been able to get everything he needed into the studio in time. I presume here we are talking equipment rather than people. Maybe the hitch is to do with the on-screen appearances by Stephen Fry, Natasha Little and Elize Du Toit... Had really been looking forward to it, but not all is lost as we have been able to switch our tickets to ...
Some of these reviews can also be found on Amazon.In October 2009 I read the following books: 1. 2 B R 0 2 B, by Kurt Vonnegut This very short story is available for free download from Project Gutenberg. "Everything was perfectly swell. There were no prisons, no slums, no insane asylums, no cripples, no poverty, no wars. All diseases were conquered. So was old age." And yet the Utopia is utterly hideous. Once you read the two lines after those I quote, the ghastliness is obvious. And the line after that gives the rest away. Not worth reading. 2. ...
Today's Leicester Mercury reports: A woman braved freezing temperatures and spent 12 hours chained to Leicester's Bowstring Bridge in an effort to save it from demolition. The protester, who identified herself as a mother and grandmother called Karen, was escorted from the bridge by police at 6pm. Members of the public who had gathered at the site, in Duns Lane in Leicester's West End, cheered her as she was led away. The Mercury story goes on to say: Leicester Civic Society last month asked the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to review English Heritage's refusal to list the bridge. ...
Cameron gives the Hugo Young lecture. Shurely shome revolutions turned in the Young resting place? Financial incentives for couples "who stay together". A sort of state run Mr and Mrs with our Dave in the role of Derek Batty handing out sheaves of bank notes. That old single Tory policy trotted out again. The Daily Mail reader voting incentive. Of course, couples will stay together if you slip them a bribe. It's bound to work. Never mind the arguments, slamming doors and flying crockery – here's a tenner from a toff, so let's stay together. Oh, and the state should ...
A rare success for the Daily Express: DOG 'HEALS' HEART ATTACK VICTIM WITH ITS BOTTOM
Those are the paraphrased words of Falklands war veteran Simon Weston in response to the Gordon Brown letter saga, the sentiment of which I couldn't agree with more. So the situation is this: Gordon Brown pens a letter to the mother of a soldier recently killed in Afghanistan. This isn't a letter that one of his ...
Jon Mason, 38, has A-Levels, O-Levels and a formal teaching qualification. He also has a BTEC qualification in computer programming and is more than capable of building his own computer. Many of his colleagues can actually build their own PC's Jon informs me; alot of them are "ex-army, qualified carpenters and engineers", some are young and unskilled but ...
I don't do Christmas. I don't like Christmas. However, I am aware that some of you do. I am therefore willing to offer a compromise for those of you who deem it necessary to spend money for Yuletide, and I am aware that it's coming up to the time of year when people start planning what they are going to spend. Please do not buy anything for me. Hopefully I have got that early enough, and nobody has actually spent anything yet. I'm aware that buying presents for people is fun - I like doing it myself - but I ...
There is an excellent post by Mark Valladares on Liberal Bureaucracy today where he rips into the "Open Up" campaign which is trying to force all parties at have open primaries. Mark nails the campaign for the distraction from real reform it is: I'm afraid that this looks like a plot to remove smaller political parties, neuter the Liberal Democrats, and return British politics to the two-party red/blue politics of the 1950's. No, if they are serious about opening up the political process, why not campaign for multi-member open list constituencies elected using STV? That way, anyone can run, political ...
My first entry since the Thursday before last, I think, a whole 19 days, spent in King's College Hospital, and then in 'King's at Lewisham', two wards rented by King's for patients being rehabilitated after an operation, or being held between operations. I'm still fairly immobile, getting round with the help of crutches, and having to do exercises that will bring the leg muscles back into full use. The doctors say that will take 4-6 weeks. Lindsay has been absolutely marvellous, trundling all the way to Lewisham every day, fetching me home yesterday and looking after me now I'm confined ...
As a player of console games I am really surprised at the complaints a computer game such as Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and Grand Theft Auto 4 receive. No other media is subject to so much scrutiny, Films comics, Books etc have many example of violence. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 was released today and many shops across the country including Bracknell opened at Midnight for the release. These games are already 18 rated. Labour MP Keith Vaz raised the issue in Parliament and criticised the game. Is this not a total waste of time parliamentary time ...
After our most successful Freshers on record, with nearly 900 new people recruited to the party, Liberal Youth this weekend took a group of our new recruits and branch chairs to Malvern for Bootcamp. The event was designed to make sure that our activists were given the skills they'll need to get through the General Election. We covered everything from time management to direct mail to the basics of campaigning. It was an intense weekend with delegates from Portsmouth to Glasgow and everywhere in between! Alex Royden, Chair of Liverpool Liberal Youth and General Executive Member for national Liberal Youth, ...
The idea of involving more people in our democracy is always a laudable one. Increasing turnout, encouraging a wider spread of candidates and thus voter choice, making people feel better connected to those who purport to represent them, all of these are concepts which I whole-heartedly support. As a member of the Council and Management Board of 'Unlock Democracy', I don't just think about it, I play a small role in helping to campaign for real change. And yet I look upon 'Open Up' with a degree of horror. The idea that all applicants should go through an open primary ...
Tue 10th
16:35
The Revolt of the Rightful Property Owners - Or why Capitalism does not equal the free market
The equating of the free market with capitalism is one of, if not the, biggest failings of contemporary political and economic thought. It leads to the left frequently happily rejecting the free market in favour of some other managed system of distribution and to the right claiming the economy as their domain and using a (false) idea of the free market to prop up currently dominant power and ownership structures. A fuller understanding of the free market and its ideological unshackling for capitalism is crucial in uniting Western society's two traditional forms of opposition to the prevailing order, which now ...
Today in committee I learned of a simple step that local authorities (and private gyms!) can take to save money and energy in leisure centres. Two simple words: pool covers. If you don't cover your swimming pools at night, then chemicals leak out of the pool via evaporation. So too does heat from the pool. Leisure centres pay a small fortune in heating swimming pools (and indeed one major thing you can do to reduce leisure centre bills is drop the temperature of the water by just one degree C). In Nottingham, apparently most of the pools aren't covered, and ...
I have to admit that this story kind of passed me by yesterday. I heard about it on the radio, was surprised that the BBC led their bulletins on this for most of the day, but essentially dismissed it as more biased tabloid nonsense from Murdoch. When I woke up this morning to find that ...
There was one principal council by-election held on the 5th November. The Tories held the seat. There were no Parish and Town council election results reported to ALDC. The Lower Sheering Ward of Epping Forest District council in Essex is a one member rural ward that has a polling station in Hertfordshire and lies in the highly marginal Harlow parliamentary constituency. Despite this Labour failed to nominate a candidate and the Tories increased their vote by less than 1%. We ran a paperless campaign yet got more than four times the vote we received in a by-election in the ward ...
This morning's Western Mail reports on a row between Newport City Council and the Welsh Government over how many deprived children can be helped by the flagship flying start scheme. The Council has been told by the Welsh Government that instead of helping 1,607 children from the poorer parts of Newport it must spend more per child and help only 1,122 of them. The Education Minister has ordered the Council to spend £2,100 on each child in the scheme rather than following its current policy of reducing the amount to £1,600 so as to spread the benefit to more children. ...
Not that many people accept the idea of reincarnation. But as a descriptor of what British politics needs, it's absolutely spot-on: a very old and decrepit man needs to die, and turn into a new-born being. Even the terms we use to describe political division are ancient. 'Left' harks back to mass labour and command economies, while 'Right' conjures up pictures of bosses in grimy towns, Mosleyites in England and Falangists in Spain. In that context, contemporary politicians too often remind me of George III's doctors wondering why the King is hallucinating and peeing blue: they're no better than quacks ...
The Shopping Centre manager replied to my query about the leaflet's rack (read previous post), here's the reply in full. The reason he gives for removing the leaflets' rack is that: The information point within the shopping centre over time became overwhelmed with information which was not directly connected to the shopping centre. The information point ...
Chris White has today slammed the current consultation over housing numbers which could see an ADDITIONAL 9,500 homes built in the St Albans area - over and above the already excessive targets previously set by the East of England Regional Assembly. Chris, speaking at the County Council's Environment and Planning Panel, said: 'The original figures were already based on inflated demand - fuelled by the tendency of irresponsible bankers to lend to home buyers who can't afford it. It beggars belief that this situation will be allowed to continue unchecked even if the bankers' friends - the Tories - were ...
County council officials have today accepted that the council needs to respond to Liberal Democrat demands to join the 10:10 environmental campaign. Chris White commented: 'We raised a question about this at the last council meeting and I guess we should be pleased that we got any reaction at all. But all we are getting at this stage is a promise of a report at the January meeting of the Environment and Planning Panel. The council frankly needs to get a move on. After all this is supposed to be a commitment to cut emissions by 10% in 2010.' For ...
Speaking to the House of Commons Public Administration Committee, Sir John said: "Our system throws up freakish government majorities that bear very little relationship to the voting pattern of the electorate at large. To address these over-mighty governments, Parliament needs more ability to challenge the executive." Sir John also called for select committees to be given more power ...
I was up early today. Rare for me, I'll admit, but I've been reading stacks about the benefits of being an early riser. The reason for my early start today, though, was that my wife is back in Poland and this morning had the final exam for her Masters in Economics. So, as I'm a good ...
At the start of the Wigan by-election a lot of fellow Liberal Democrat campaigners were feeling very sorry for me, as I had been appointed as agent. Polling day was planned for the same day as Charles Kennedy's maiden speech as leader of the Liberal Democrats, at the party conference, due to Paddy Ashdown's retirement. So, our team was ...
Responding to the Welsh Government's publication of its latest fuel poverty strategy, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have called on Ministers to admit the scale of the problem in Wales. Kirsty Williams, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats said: "We welcome this new strategy as we must urgently tackle fuel poverty and protect our most vulnerable households, particularly during winter months. However, Government is still underplaying the scale of fuel poverty. This strategy says that around 240,000 households were in fuel poverty in 20061 but the figure today is closer to 320,000. We need assurances that everybody living in fuel poverty, ...
Philip Collins is a must-read today. "None of that means that a Tory Government is fated to fail the test that Mr Cameron has repeatedly set it — to make the country fairer and more equal. But there is a serious doubt as to whether his right-wing means are up to his left-wing ends. Decentralising power and responsibility and strengthening society are very good things — who wants the opposite — but they are not enough."
Last night was another meeting of the Council's Licensing and Safety panel. This is the committee charged with dealing with matters to do with the taxi trade. It's not as glamorous as, say, a post-Oscar Hollywood Studio party, but it's important and the only thing between the Great Bury Public and any old maniac giving them lifts. So we make sure that any drivers who want licences but who have criminal records are only given their license if we consider them fit and proper people, and we decide if license-holders who've been naughty should keep their licenses. We also have ...
Under the house has been a bit congested with DIY recently so the bike has been shoved behind all sorts of detrius like chicken wire and insulation materials. So with trepidation I unearthed my bike, proverbiallygot up off my behind and cycled to town. It seemed a bit easier than a few months ago since I last did it. Perhaps I am fitter? Ho ho. Or maybe the daylight and midday traffic levels just made it a little more pleasant. Best bits of the journey were going through queen square and out to the waterfront. It's great with the tree ...
Maybe it's me not knowing where to tweak the blog settings but my blogging platform WordPress doesn't display incoming links from Blogger based blogs so here's a quick note about two links to my previous post, the one about the public meeting on the town centre developments, that are worth reading. Transpontine makes a fascinating consideration ...
I would like to know your opinions about the Local Government Review. For those of you who haven't really taken this on board - Central Government have been consulting for months on the abolition of District and County Councils and merging their responsibilities in either one single Unitary authority, or various different layouts - essentially with "Greater Norwich" as one unitary body at the centre but with several different ideas for another unitary body to cover the rest of the County. If one of these plans succeeds, there will be far fewer Councillors. At the moment, each District has its' ...
Portsmouth FC have banned a local newspaper journalist from their ground after taking dislike to a piece that he wrote. Although the club has neither suggested the article broke any law nor is libellous, it has decided to ban Neil Allen for an "indefinite period" from home matches, press conferences, speaking to the players and coaching staff or visiting the club's training ground. As Hold The Front Page reports, News sports editor Howard Frost told HTFP: "It seems a bit petty. If (manager) Paul Hart wants to take exception, that's his prerogative. "It's generally normal for managers and journalists to ...
The Telegraph reports on yesterday's Government announcement that it was pressing ahead with privately-held "Big Brother" databases which opposition leaders said amount to "state-spying" and a form of "covert surveillance" on the public: All telecoms companies and internet service providers will be required by law to keep a record of every customer's personal communications, showing who they are contacting, when, where and which websites they are visiting. Despite widespread opposition over Britain's growing surveillance society, 653 public bodies will be given access to the confidential information, including police, local councils, the Financial Services Authority, the Ambulance Service, fire authorities and ...
[IMG: poppies] Last week was a horrendous week for Afghanistan and saw me cross a personal Rubicon as I became convinced that the British mission is futile there. As the news rolled on last week no-one could underestimate the scale of what was going on The final acceptance of the result of a rigged election, where in some areas it seemed the body count of British servicemen was greater than the number of ballots cast The murder of British troops by a member a policeman who it appears was a member of the Taliban Head of the Armed Forces Sir ...
Good news: the Council's investigations into the flooding problems on Gatley Green will start later this week. We know that just cleaning the grids won't work - it's been tried more than once. The problem is that there are quite a few other things that could be causing a problem. Until the drains people take a good look at what's happening underground, they won't know how to fix it. Once that's been done, we'll be looking to get the problem sorted as soon as we can - though exactly how long will depend on what's found.
Thank you to Matt Davies (a Lib Dem Councillor in Haringey and a friend of mine from our days on the Liberal Democrat Youth and Students executive back in the 1990s) for what must be one of the most boring names for a council committee in the country. This is in contrast with what appears to ...
The last week of October saw more Government defeats in the Lords. On 26 October, Baroness Fookes moved Amendment 44; in Schedule 8, page 139, line 30, at end to insert "( ) One Deputy Chief Coroner shall be appointed with specific responsibilities for the oversight of military inquests and for the specialist training of all coroners undertaking military inquests." Whilst it would be nice to see more Conservative Peers, there were more than enough present, combined with the Liberal Democrats and crossbenchers, to inflict a 153-127 defeat on the increasingly battered Labour front bench. Emboldened by that, Lord Lloyd ...
That's two unsolicited calls in three days from an illegal cold-calling agency calling itself the "Accident Investigation Bureau" which claims to be from the UK government despite the operative being a very thickly-accented Indian or Pakistani with a false English name who has absolutely no idea about who I am - it's news to me about having a car crash 12 years ago - and who cannot answer basic questions about his supposed employers. Withheld number of course, so TPS is useless here; does anyone know who they really are and how to get these monkeys off my back? Come ...
Well just to remove any suspense I think the answer is a resounding NO. Nevertheless that was the intriguing suggestion that Tory blogger, (TV pundit, columnist for the Telegraph, Eastern Daily Press and GQ magazine-not to mention Total politic publisher etc etc) Iain Dale made to a local government conference last week. I was in London for work and found time to attend some of the session at the LGiU conference which was looking at local councils and social media'. John Ball-formerly of this parish and now a Lib Dem councillor in Ealing-was one of the speakers. Anyway back to ...
[IMG: nuclear-power-generation.jpg] Yesterdays announcement by the Government for proposals that will fast-track a new generation of nuclear power stations is nothing short of a "cop out" according to Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Bury South, Vic D'Albert. "This Labour Government have gone grey on sustainable energy and renewable power and are now on the verge of a devastating mistake if they plough ahead with plans to build a new generation of nuclear power stations.It's nothing short of a cop out" "There is a massive cost to the taxpayer involved in building Nuclear plants and they are seemingly determined to build ...
... Click here (hat-tip Cath Elliot). Yes, that is a link to the original article in the Daily Fail. Sorry about that. But I link to the evil website of doom because, unusually for the Fail, the comments actually give me hope.
I only saw this awareness test for the first time recently. I know it's been around for a while (the original one), but have a look and see how good your own observation skills are. The original is the basketball one, but if you've already done that test there's also a new "whodunnit?" one. A bit of fun but with a serious message - trying to make the roads safer for cyclists. No doubt a campaign that my old uni friend Mike will be quite keen on, with the number of miles he racks up on his bikes.
from Lib Dem Voice about Ashcroft. It sounds fishy to me.........................
The trade figures add weight to the evidence stacked against George Osborne's recipe for growth.
Tue 10th
11:54
The Bullingdon Club: Boris, Dave and Gideon, yes, but an aspiring Liberal MP and a former Party Pres...
By now everyone knows of the antics of the Bullingdon Club, and whether it is trashing pubs or throwing other students 'in the Mercury' nothing comes as a shock any more. Even being members of the Tory front bench comes as no shock. However, there are a number of surprise members that tell you a lot about ...
It's 2003. Parliament is debating foreign surveillance. The then Home Secretary, David Blunkett, is debating a point with Liberal Democrat MP David Heath. Blunket makes a one word interjection. The word? Chocolate. Obvious, really. It sets off a whole debate about how a hypothetical case of Belgians smuggling chocolate into the UK might be handled as you can read here. Liked this story? Find other gems from Hansard on my archive page for this series of posts.
I find myself feeling an unexpected pang of sympathy for Gordon Brown at the moment. It is never easy writing to the loved ones of somebody who has died. Writing as the person who is to a large part responsible for the deceased having been in the place and situation which brought about their death must be particularly difficult (I have absolutely no idea what I personally would say in such circumstances, where does one even start?). Actually, it reflects well on him that he does take the effort to write personally, it would be far easier not to do ...
Here is a link to a report about Bradford Lib Dem Councillor Howard Middleton. He has joined the Lib Dem call for members of the armed forces to be able to vote at the next General Election. Howard (who was last year's Lord Mayor of Bradford) is calling for them to be enabled to vote. Councillor Howard Middleton's campaign for troops to be able to vote* about Votes for Troops
In 1999, Tory leader William Hague proposed billionaire Michael Ashcroft for a life peerage, along with a promise that Ashcroft would take up permanent UK residence. The millions Ashcroft has pumped into the Conservative Party has prompted political opponents to question his legal status – whether he lives and pays taxes in the UK. That's never been clear; but in Sunday's Andrew Marr Programme on the BBC, William Hague was asked about Lord Ashcroft and some think Hague has settled the issue. Here's the exchange: Marr "You've been out and about with Lord Ashcroft. Do you know whether he pays ...
Its now a year since I first launched my website! I'm really pleased with how successful its been – particularly as I've never had any involvement in a running a website before. In my website's first year I've: received over 4,000 visits to the website written over 60 posts had around 40 comments posted by visitors sparked several local news stories on issues I've raised The numbers of visits have grown steadily since I first launched the site in November 2008. But I wont be satisfied until every resident of Stroud Green has it bookmarked. Please do tell friends and ...
This is a guest post by Matt Wardman of the Wardman Wire. It follows on quite nicely from what I said yesterday about the link between the way parties run themselves and what we can learn about what their Government might be like. The Undemocratic Nature of the BNP By Matt Wardman This article is an introduction to a paper I have published showing that the BNP is dangerously focused on, and controlled by, the single person who happens to be the National Chairman, and is therefore unstable as a political party. You can download the PDF here, or read ...
It has been a common critcism of New Labour that they have too often made decisions on the basis of what the next day's tabloid headlines might say. It is not the way to run the country, but the last couple of days demonstrate why they thought it necessary. The Sun is the biggest-selling newspaper in ...
I'm no fan of Gordon Brown. To me, his only advantage over Tony Blair, a man I loathe, is that he's not Tony Blair. He may have more heart than Blair, but he's certainly less competent. Incompetence. That's what we should be throwing at Gordon Brown. According to The Sun, that would be a good word ...
One of the victims of the floods of September 2008 in Gateshead was the Butterfly Bridge, a historic crossing over the Derwent River. The bridge was built in the nineteenth century but is on a much older, medieval road which crossed right through my ward. Hundreds of years ago it was part of the main north/south route between Northumberland and Durham.Last year the floods swept the bridge down
Tue 10th
10:24David Howarth, MP for Cambridge, Happy Birthday, I wonder how many others will be wishing you unsoli...
I am always very happy to wish people greetings for their birthday, my family will tell you I nearly always forget, which is why it is such a great boon to have Facebook to remind one when someone's birthday is pending. David Howarth is a particularly popular chap with 997 of his closest friends signed up on ...
I'm sure there will be a lot of comment about the phone call between Gordon Brown and Mrs Janes which has been published today. Having listened to the call, an uncomfortable experience, I actually think Gordon Brown handled the call about as well as could be expected in the circumstances. He apologised, took a lot of flak from a very distraught Mrs Janes, but remained calm throughout. Whether the Sun should have published a private phone call is open to debate. I can see arguments both ways. However they should be thoroughly ashamed that they deem it appropriate to precede ...
I've now had my new laptop - a Lenovo Thinkpad X301 - for nearly three months and it's turning out to be a happy purchase. [IMG: Lenovo ThinkPad X301] It's a top end laptop with a price to match, but in return you get strong performance, small size even with a 13.3" screen, light weight and a very robust build. Lenovo seems to be slightly undecided about just how robust it is, for when I unpacked mine I had (a) a leaflet telling me how it can withstand liquid spills on the keyboard and (b) a leaflet telling me how ...
I didn't want to do it but I have listened to the phone call between Gordon Brown and Jacqui Janes, bereaved mother of British soldier Jamie Janes who died in Afghanistan. I listened to it because I was planning to blog about it and thought it was only fair to listen first. Before I listened I thought it was wrong for The Sun to have released this phone call which was supposed to have been private between the PM and a grieving mother. After listening to it it has only strengthened my view. Jacqui is wholly understandably very distraught both ...
If you are not sure what realpolitik is, you're not alone. Let Wikipedia help: Realpolitik is a theory of politics that focuses on considerations of power, not ideals, morals, or principles. Now apply the test to the following bits of text from this Wednesday's report to Durham County Council's "cabinet" which will see the closure of Moorside and Consett Community Sports College in July 2011, to re-open as a split site Academy in September that year. Here's the text: In recent months there have been discussions with Government Ministers on the inclusion of three Academies in Durham's BSF programme and ...
Weirdness is in the eye of the beholder of course. But I think I'm on safe ground on this one. Cast your mind over the many things Gordon Brown has and hasn't done. Plenty to criticise. Plenty of criticisms made. But what did The Sun wheel out yesterday? In amongst the story about his letter-with-spelling-mistakes to a dead soldier's mother was this: He also wrote the letter "i" incorrectly 18 times – mostly by leaving the dots off them. Yes, verily – The Sun decided to criticise Gordon Brown for not dotting all his i's. Let's hope he crosses his ...
I would have written about this yesterday, but wanted today something about the Berlin Wall. I have been incredibly angry about the coverage of Gordon Brown's letter of condolence.
So Sky News is keen on having a televised political showdown between party leaders at general election time. Sky News also is pushing heavily the story about the Prime Minister spelling some words wrong in a letter of condolence to the mother of a dead soldier. The logical conclusion? Why of course it's to have Adam Boulton present a nationally broadcast TV spelling test between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg (with a special Welsh/Gaelic opt out after the first advert break). Have this idea free on me Sky.
One last fruit of my summer obsession with Gumley is the discovery of Lucy Evelyn Cheeman. Her entry in Ray Desmond's Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturists: Including Plant Collectors, Flower Painter and Garden Designer reads: CHEESMAN, Lucy Evelyn (1881-1969) b. Westwell, Kent 1881 d. 15 April 1969 FRES. Governess with Murray-Smith family, Gumley Hall, Leics. Botanised in Leics. Entomologist. Made a number of insect collecting expeditions on which she also collected plants. Pacific, 1924-25; New Hebrides, 1929-31; 1954-55; Papua, 1933-34; New Guinea, 1936, 1938-39; New Caledonia, 1949-50. Things Worth While 1957. Fl. Malesiana v.1, 1950, 106. Times ...
With the announcement that David Howarth is standing down, there will doubtless be some urgency to select his replacement. So, how will this work? The first task is, technically, for the Local Party to approach the Regional Candidates Chair (RCC) to appoint a Returning Officer. This shouldn't be a lengthy process, as Catherine Smart, East of England's RCC, is a Cambridge City councillor. She will be responsible for the appointment, and might well be the first RCC to have to appoint a Returning Officer in such circumstances - held seat, own constituency. She'll be looking for an experienced Returning Officer ...
This has been a hard blog post to write and this one has been in my draft folder a while now, with me adding to it every few days but I am finishing it today. Cancer in any form is a shit disease and affects almost every family in the UK somehow, I have lost friends and family members, but this year was the worst when my Mum was diagnosed and within 5 weeks had lost her battle with pancreatic cancer. A hard thing to write let alone deal with and for my Sister, I cannot even begin to understand ...
The announcement by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband that the government has approved ten sites in England and Wales for new nuclear power stations will lead to some heated debate in the months ahead. That is especially so in Wales where the official view of the Welsh Government is that there should be a public consultation on the replacement nuclear power station at Wylfa B and that if possible an alternative form of energy generation should be put in place instead. That is also the official view of Plaid Cymru, though the Deputy First Minister and Nationalist Leader, Ieuan Wyn Jones ...
This week I was the guest editor for the great website Scottish Round Up, this was my second time so not only was I more relaxed I had planned better and had been reading more Scottish blogs during the week. It was politically a busy week to review but actually that made it much harder to write. I also wanted to make sure I wasn't reviewing the usual suspects, although after I read through my write up again I have also realised there were a couple of newer Scottish blogs I had missed off, but next time eh? If you ...
Sorry we've been quiet for the last few weeks – for reasons that will become apparent below. We had a tremendously successful conference season and would like to welcome everyone who signed up to this newsletter at one or other of our fringe meetings. CONTINUITY AND CHANGE The Social Liberal Forum executive has undergone some significant changes over the past couple of months. Sadly, Richard Grayson and Alison Goldsworthy have resigned from the executive. Alison has had to leave due to other work commitments while Richard is working hard on the party's Federal Policy Committee and Manifesto Working Group. We ...
2 Big Stories Every phone call, email and internet click stored by 'state spying' databases – The Telegraph Key oil figures were distorted by US pressure, says whistleblower – The Guardian 2 Must-read Posts It's a think tank reaction special... Jonathan Calder compared the Taxpayer's Alliance to a dead duck: They are obviously very bright over at the TaxPayers' Alliance. Because they are absolutely right. Animal rescue is not the central job of the fire service. James Schneider praised a Tory plan for social housing, and noted its origin in a more radical scheme: Tim Leunig's original paper for Policy ...
As the Liberal Democrats move towards finalizing the party's manifesto, The Social Liberal Forum sets out the key principles that we believe should be the basis for formulating tax policy and spending commitments: The party should commit itself to the goal of reducing income inequality over the next parliament. Proposals to reduce public spending should be assessed in terms of whether they further that objective. Tax increases for the richest members of society should take the greater part of the strain in reducing the budget deficit in order to protect vulnerable users of public services, like housing, health services and ...
Chris Dillow has found some interesting research about whether children make you happy. But the act of having kids changes the subject of the question.
... thanks to lovely lovely [IMG: [info - personal] ] trav28. Am I the only person who had a huge crush on Gus? * tumbleweed rolls past * * bell tolls in the distance * Ah. I see I am. Carry on then.
The national TV news has shown us a video from The Sun in which a mother whose son has died, calls Gordon Brown's letter of sympathy a "hastily scrawled insult". Gordon's spelling did let him down and he apologised for that. Now I don't know our PM personally but I am fairly sure that he didn't deliberately set out to insult anyone. In fact I think that he thinks it is his duty to console the families of our fallen soldiers. It also looks to me like he takes this role extremely seriously and handwritten notes are part of his ...
