A bit of cricket-related children's TV nostalgia from me over at The Corridor.
Three weeks since the operation, and slowly gaining strength. This morning I had a shower upstairs, and in the afternoon went downstairs and sat in the front room for a couple of hours. The Eritrean Ambassador kindly paid me a call in the late afternoon. Yesterday Victoria spent the day here helping with paperwork, and I had a Skype call with Maurice and Olivia. We're enormously looking forward to their visit and I hope by then I'll be fully mobile. A major disadvantage of having to use crutches is that you can't easily carry things such as books, papers and ...
The "green waste" scheme is to be extended, with a further 5,000 brown top bins to be provided in Derwentside. If like me you're one of those who don't yet have a green waste bin, but do have some garden, you'll no doubt be pleased by the news. Here are the details of the numbers of extra bins to be rolled out across the county. [IMG: green-waste-rollout.jpg]
London Liberal Democras gathered at City University in Islington today for the last autumn regional conference before next year's elections. Most pundits believe that the general and local polls will be held on the same day (first Thursday in May, 2010), which is something much of the rest of the country often has to cope ...
I think we should be going to town on this case. Otherwise the Tories will as like them we voted against the statutory instruments that made this a strict liability law. Chris Huhne asked a question that was published in Hansard. Furthermore Harry Cohen MP (the Labour 2nd home hanger on I mean `person to step down ...
Today's Times leads with a new Populus poll that shows a high level of public scepticism about human-made climate change. Only 41 per cent of respondents believe that climate change is happening and that human causation is an established fact. A third of the public believes in the fact of climate change but remains unpersuaded that it is caused by humans. Nearly one in ten people believes that climate change is a purely natural phenomenon and blaming humans is propaganda put about by environmentalists. Fifteen per cent of the country simply do not accept that climate change is happening at ...
According to people from Marske-by-Sea, where I was born, Biggles was written there. Seeing a mention of him on Nader's blog reminded me. When an older sister of mine heard Sir Winston Churchill's speech, "We shall fight them on the beaches," she thought he meant at Marske-by-Sea and that she'd be expected to do her duty and take part. After all there was a beach at Marske. She was only about six! Aah!
Further to my two recent updates on the smell problem in the roadway in parts of Thomson Street, the City Engineer has now advised : "The Road Maintenance Partnership has replaced 4 gullies in Thomson Street with new covers, frames and pots. The pots have a water trap design similar to a domestic lavatory and rely on a water seal to prevent sewer gases escaping from the gully grating. The gullies were inspected on 11 November and were found to all contain water as required for the seal. However it was also noted that the bungs within the gully pots ...
With the General Election only a matter of months away, there was a very useful and enjoyable planning meeting of North East Scotland Liberal Democrats in Cults, Aberdeen, today. Here's a picture of a few of us at the lunchtime break - from left - Mike Rumbles MSP, Malcolm Bruce MP, John Barnett - LibDem candidate for Dundee West, Sir Robert Smith MP, and yours truly.
Constantly Furious has a blogpost today which has drawn my attention to the case of Paul Clarke, an ex-soldier from Surrey who is likely to face five years in prison for taking a sawn-off shotgun with ammunition he had found in his garden to a police station. The police arrested him after he brought it in and he was found guilty by a court recently. The full story is here. It would seem that posession of a firearm is a "strict liability" offence which means the defendant is guilty regardless of intent. CF is very angry about this case as ...
The Press Gazette reports on the fall of circulation for all 'quality daily' newspapers; reflecting the changing face of the media. The Guardian and the Observer are reportedly the hardest-hit with a fall of 11.97% year-on-year and the Observer dropped 19.38%. The spectacular fall is attributed to the ending of distribution of 'bulks'; the free ...
How did I miss this story? Someone finds a sawn off shotgun in his garden and hands it into the police to be disposed of safely, at which point he's then arrested, charged and now convicted for possessing a firearm. He faces a minimum of 5 years. It's a clear miscarriage of justice. The man's life is ruined because he tried to do the right thing. What reasonable person would believe this is the correct outcome in this case? Apparently Stuart Sharpe's not bothered, causing Devil's Kitchen (and in fairness, myself) to stare open mouthed and incredulous, at his response. ...
I see that the Common's speaker John Bercow's wife is to stand as a Labour candidate for Westminster Council in the ward where they live. Malc asked the question via Twitter, will he vote for her? My response is it ain't necessarily so. As anyone who knows my dating history knows the hardest vote I always seem to have to win at any election is that of my other half, whoever they may be. Either if I am merely campaigning or especially if I am standing I have always had to fight for that one vote, it probably has something ...
[IMG: Yeshurun synagogue] A big thank you to everyone at Gatley's Yeshurun Synagogue for the warm welcome we were given this morning. As part of Stockport's inter-faith week, we local politicians were invited to a service at the synagogue, along with representatives from the police, fire brigade, Cheadle Muslim Association, local churches and faith groups and more. Fellow councillors Pam King and Paul Porgess, plus Mark Hunter MP, came along. Whilst some elements of the service at the synagogue will be familiar to church-goers, others might seem quite different. There are songs, prayers, readings from the Bible and a sermon. ...
I am delighted to report that the proposed new Selection Rules for Parliamentary candidates have been passed by ECC with only minor amendments. I don't want to go into too much detail for the time being, especially as they need to be ratified by English Council next year, but the principles that underpin them are: a two-tier approach, with a pared back set of rules for development seatsgreater potential freedom for candidates in the campaign phasethe opportunity for Local Parties to opt for a more rigorous process should they deem it necessary at any phase of the selection, but not ...
The Liberal Democrats don't rely on tough talk and gimmicks like the other parties. I would like to take this opportunity to inform you on some of the work that Mike Priestley, Liberal Democrat, has done as a volunteer, Town Councillor and County Councillor. I have had a number of emails asking about my role in the "Crack House Closure" on my ward and it is this that has prompted this post. 7 years ago I replied to an advert in the paper asking for volunteers to set up what is called a Local Action Partnership (LAPs). These partnerships were ...
According to the BBC Obama's decision to bomb the moon was not in vain after all. Apparently, scientists have found significant quantities of water up there. But what have they started? Could the monsoon-like weather we are now experiencing be a retaliatory strike by the Clangers?
Talking about the Cambridge selection reminds me that I haven't rattled on about candidates for a while. Let's remedy that... Career success is not just about talent and hard work, although without those key elements, you are unlikely to be successful. However, most successful people will acknowledge that being in the right place at the right time helps. It's knowing where the right place is and when the right time is that presents the challenge... David Howarth's rather unexpected decision to retire at the next General Election is, for some lucky soul, the right time. As a reasonably safe seat, ...
The latest issue of Fortean Times carries the news that an American tourist saw "a largish, dark creature moving slowly up the mound" of Silbury Hill back in July. The magazine also has pictures showing "the usual ambiguous black blob against the famous prehistoric hill". As we revealed a couple of years ago, Silbury Hill - a man-made earthwork - belongs to the Liberal Democrat peer Eric Avebury. This is a good opportunity to send our best wishes to Eric Avebury, who is recovering after breaking his hip last month. He has recently posted X-rays of his injury on his ...
I received an email the other day, to all on the DELGA maling list, with a suggestion that the name DELGA was perhaps in need of change. Whilst I concur that the organisation name sounds dated (not as dated as the website though lol), what effect would a change have? DELGA is a known name - ...
The front page of today's Times carries a poll which finds only 41% of those polled believe climate change is happening and that it is man-made. However, a third of those polled were not convinced that it is the result of human behaviour and further 15% don't accept it has been happening at all. I think 41% ...
I've been quiet all week, not able to keep an eye on t'internet. So I've only just checked on Tam Smith the SNP candidate for Linlithgow and East Falkirk's website. Since one of my last posts before the crash was looking at Tam's propensity to speak the talk of other SNP luminaries I'm pleased to see other's are now speaking on his blog. In the last week he appears to have learnt the lesson and is quoting Angus Robertson from this news story. I'm glad to see that honesty has finally come to the SNP candidates website about just who ...
My nephew Francis and Ros, on their honeymoon in Auckland, where they visited Maurice and Diana. She has four children and so does Francis. They each have a modest house, and their living arrangements will need a bit of planning.
What would you do if you found a sawn-off shotgun had been thrown over your garden wall? Possibly you would phone the police, tell them not to bother coming to get it, you'd take it in to your local police station? After all, it might be evidence. Someone could have used it in a robbery, and there might be important trace evidence on it. It's important that the police get to look at these things, right? So you'd take it to the police. That would be the action of a civic-minded person, right? Well, unfortunately, if you do that, you ...
For the purposes of this piece I am going to assume a narrow Conservative victory at the next election. In fact, I think the mood music is pointing to this being the outcome. Proponents of the hung-parliament thesis have a point and next to the above scenario this is the most likely I feel with ...
[IMG: The site of the planning application on Quernmore Road] Haringey Council have received a planning application to convert and extend the building on the corner of Quernmore and Stapleton Hall Roads opposite the Library (see picture). The owners propose to convert the shop and residence above into 5 flats. The building (38 Quermore Road) would be extended out sideways into the paved vacant area in the picture. The site is a complete eyesore at present, so its brilliant that someone wants to invest some money in improving the building. However, at the recent Stroud Green Residents Association (SGRA) meeting ...
Labour MP Tom Harris tweeted earlier that he hopes there is no commitment in the upcoming Queen's Speech to hold a referendum on introducing the Alternative Vote voting system. Unusually I agree with Tom, albeit most likely for different reasons. He, of course, thinks FPTP is the best voting system ever invented, and is the reason ...
Transition Belsize have started a regular Green Drinks on the first Wednesday of the month, and an Eco Film Night on the second Wednesday of the month, upstairs at the Sir Richard Steele's pub on Haverstock Hill. The first few have been well attended, fun and interesting. The next Eco Film Night will be a screening of Leonardo DiCaprio's eco documentary "The Eleventh Hour" on Wed 11 Dec starting at 7.30pm. There's more about what Transition Belsize are up to on their website.
The Labour party have now announced their candidate to defend our parliamentary seat in Sittingbourne and Sheppey. It is Angela Harrison, the leader of the Labour group at Swale Council. This is good in one way, that we have some local candidates in the picture, but not so good in that she would be a more formidable opponent than someone imported from outside. It also shows how pointless it was to have a woman's only shortlist. As a senior local member, Ms Harrison may well have defeated all other Labour candidates, male and female. Our MP, Derek Wyatt, will be ...
Bill Thomas, Labour leader of Sandwell Council until his arrest in October, has admitted stealing £1,300 from Nat West bank in a cheque fraud: The court heard how a close friend, Gareth Hall, had cashed three of Thomas's cheques totalling £1,300 – which was then reimbursed by the bank after Thomas claimed he did not know Hall. As a result, Bill Thomas has been ordered to repay £1,300 and given a 12-month conditional discharge after pleading guilty to theft. (Local Government Chronicle)
If you didn't laugh you'd cry... A COUNCILLOR has been told he will not be re-selected for next year's elections after posting a 'How Sexy Am I' quiz on Facebook. Councillor Geoff Courtenay, 64, (Con) who represents the Brunel ward in Uxbridge was informed that his postings constituted 'inappropriate material'. Posting on Facebook, councillor Courtenay filled out a 'How Sexy Am I' quiz, which told him he was '93 per cent sexy'. Posting below it, Courtenay wrote: "Why are they saying 93 per cent? I demand a recount, I want 100 per cent." It continues... In a letter from Christopher ...
Councils across Greater Manchester are asking for residents and businesses views on the preferred sites for waste facilities and the preferred approach to dealing with future development of sites as part of a Preferred Option report. The consultation on the Waste Plan Preferred Option Report (a catchy title if ever there was one) is being held from 13 November to 8 January 2010. The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) is working to develop a Joint Waste Development Plan detailing planning policies for managing waste, identifying potential sites for waste facilities, including residual waste disposal, and providing policies to determine ...
Something of a debate has started on Liberal Democrat Voice regarding the status of MP's interns and whether or not they should be paid. It follows a report on the BBC's Radio 5 Live suggesting that MP's may well be breaking the law by not properly paying interns. I have to declare a vested interest ...
Getting ready for work this morning with the tv tuned in to BBC news, who should I see appear on my screen: none other than Fearless Francis Jones, patrolling the streets of Darlington in his "Street Safe" hi-vis jacket.The BBC has picked up the Darlington private police force story and made it their second lead in the morning's news bulletins, as a number of current and former senior police
Sat 14th
13:03
URGENT: If you're not an approved Parliamentary candidate and want to run for Parliament next year
English Candidates Committee has just decided that the deadline for applications for approval as a potential Parliamentary candidate for the next General Election will be 1 December. Given that there are nearly one hundred applicants for approval (virtually all of them recent) awaiting an assessment day, and that there are already more than twice as many approved candidates without seats (excluding those on the inactive list) as there are vacancies, applications received after that date will not be offered an assessment day until after the General Election.
OK, provocative headline, I know. But don't worry, I'm not going to attempt to disprove global warming theories by pretending I know more than the world's scientists. I just wanted to highlight a fallacy that has been doing the rounds today. A poll in the times has found that 32% of respondents believe the link between ...
Is it possible to somehow apply for some sort of release from, or rider attached to, being a member of the human race if it means being somehow, even loosely, associated with a newspaper which would print such utter and appalling rubbish as this assasination job on the family of Professor David Nutt? Hat-tip to @MarkReckons and @Glinner.
Last night I accompanied Dad to the Mayor of Southwark's quiz night. We were on a table with a couple of past Mayors of Southwark, Cllr Columba Blango and Cllr Eliza Mann. Sadly, we did not win but fortunately we did not lose either.It was a fun evening with loads of teams, too many in fact they had to house some teams in the room next door! In all over £1,400 was raised for the Mayor's charity,
It is to our shame that Hertfordshire now has a BNP county councillor. But since her election in Jume, Deirdre Gates has seen the party's challenge in a district council by-election within her seat come to nothing and has engaged in a war of words with Labour politicians in the local newspaper. This week sees a ...
A number of incentives for council tenants were reviewed at Cabinet on 4 November. The aim of the changes is to ensure that housing resources are aimed at those tenants with the greatest needs. Recent consultation with tenant representatives on the housing strategy identified the under occupation of council properties, as being of significant concern to them. The proposals went to Overview and Scrutiny (Public Services)* who recommended:- · The objective of giving incentives should be to reduce under occupancy. · Incentives should be given only to those who need the service and to those living in appropriately sized housing. ...
Four weeks ago, I wrote about the contest to be Chair of the English Liberal Democrats. It drew little interest at the time, and none since. And now, courtesy of the Party President, I know the outcome. So, congratulations to Jonathan Davies on his success. That's the last positive I can muster. It is a shocking indictment of an organisation that has tremendous influence on the running of the Party that there is no coverage of the outcome, no indication as to who will be running the English Party next year. You might almost suspect that they would prefer us ...
A rather baffling case from Guildford Crown Court. On Tuesday, a former soldier, Paul Clarke, 27, was found guilty of possessing a firearm. He'll be sentenced on December 12th and faces, reportedly, a minimum sentence of five years in jail. Now here's the baffling bit, with the caveat that the following summary is taken from press reports of the court case. From the window of his home, Mr Clarke spotted a black bin liner at the bottom of his garden, which has a low fence next to a public park. On retrieving said bag, he found it contained a sawn-off ...
The Daily Telegraph reports on an astonishing proposal today, which if true is final proof that the Government really has lost the plot. They suggest that the Queen's Speech will contain a new power that will allow members of the public to challenge a chief constable's refusal to delete their profiles in court - but they will have to pay a £200 application fee to do so. Up to a million people are on the national DNA database who have never been charged or convicted for an offence. There are now more than 5.3 million profiles on the system, making ...
A recent report showed that Haringey has the 4th highest teenage pregnancy rate in London. So I met up with the borough's dedicated teenage pregnancy team to find out what is being done to tackle the issue. At the meeting were representatives from the Council and the local health service who told me about their various initiatives to spread information and target prevention work with particularly vulnerable teenagers. They are working closely with local schools to improve sex and relationship education, and to help identify groups of young people at risk. The team also uses a special dedicated website to ...
Candidates, especially ones who have just been elected as Members of Parliament, quickly forget how they got elected. It is an unfortunate truism that outsiders believe that, 'candidates win elections and agents lose them.' This is more of a comment on the apportioning of blame, or praise, rather the actual work done. But, one of the things ...
[IMG: swine-flu.jpg] As of Friday 13 November 2009 The Council continues to monitor the situation. There has been a slight dip in the number of people contacting the National Pandemic Flu Service, both nationally and at a local level here in Hertfordshire. This may be due to the October half-term holiday and should not necessarily be seen as the start of a downward trend. The PCT reminds us that treatment with antivirals remains a key part of the strategy to manage swine flu as antivirals can prevent complications developing in otherwise healthy people. Whilst the spread of swine flu remains ...
Every time there is a change of colour of government it seems that it is almost a ritual to change PMQ's. To a degree this is understandable as each individual Prime Minister changes it to fit their individual style; and so it is that the Daily Mail reports David Cameron will move PMQ's to Thursday ...
The revitalised Aneurin Glyndwr site points out some of the contradictions in Adam Price's call for a maximum ratio between bosses' pay and those of their staff in the private sector. However, it is to Wales' highest circulation daily newspaper that we turn for the most damning verdict on this policy. The South Wales Evening Post is not impressed at all: We all want a way to reduce the awful inequality that exist between the bonus-creaming bankers who caused the recession and the rest of us who suffer its consequences, but this is not it. Plaid is already making exceptions ...
I was in the middle of writing up a piece on prostate cancer, it is Movember after all, in the early hours of last Saturday morning when I suddenly lost all Internet connection. So despite being off all of last week I have been startling quiet. Douglas Adams used to take extremely long baths, he claimed so that the good stuff came to him, others claimed that he was merely procrastinating. Well this morning I was taking a long soak in the bath when the postie turned up with my new dongle, so maybe there is something to that. While ...
An very occasional series highlighting a previous post that (a) I still think was actually pretty good, but (b) the server stats say not many people came and read. Just in case you, dear reader, may have been wrong in overlooking this post here it is for your enjoyment once more: The stalling and decline of Wikipedia? For the English version of Wikipedia there are clear - and long running - signs of stagnation and decline when it comes to the generation and maintenance of content. To find out more, read the original post.
In an hour or so, I'll be off into the town centre for an event called, These Heels Were Made For Walking Charity Walk. I and about fifty other men will be slipping on pairs of high heels and strutting our stuff on the mean streets of Hebden Bridge. The White Ribbon Campaign is the largest effort in the world of men working to end male violence against women. This is part of a series of events in White Ribbon Week and the lead up to White Ribbon Day on the 25th of November. Whilst Mayor of Hebden Royd last ...
Until now, I thought the 'Literal Democrat' that stopped the Lib Dems winning a European Parliamentary seat in 1994 was the best example of trying to manipulate a ballot paper. But now I have read this... certainly an inventive idea. I don't think there would be anything to stop this being done in the UK, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. One good thing mentioned in the article is random ordering of names on ballot papers. About time the UK started doing this - instead of alphabetical order which gives what the article calls 'the donkey ...
Picture the scene. It's late. It's dark. It's miserable. You're a researcher in the House of Commons. Working late, as usual. Getting paid nothing, as usual. You've been there a few months now, so you know your way around. In fact, you're so into the swing of things that the job is so easy to you you're already ...
It's an absolutely vile morning in Essex, with strong, blustering winds and cold, heavy rain battering the 8.39 from Stowmarket to London. Given that I'm not in the best of moods - it was my birthday yesterday (45, since you ask) and I tend to the view that birthdays mark another step towards senescence and death - at last I don't feel out of place. My task today is to hold the line on the new Selection Rules for Prospective Parliamentary Candidates in the face of an English Candidates Committee populated in part by the sort of people that give ...
Earlier this week I went to meet with the Electoral Commission to discuss their plans for encouraging better practice at election counts. Having spotted my views, they invited me thinking I might be interested in their plans – and kudos to the Electoral Commission for willing to talk in this way. The plans are still in draft and subject to consultation, so I won't go in to details about them now, but the overall move is towards having a recommended set of count procedures and accompanying forms which are (a) a big improvement on the current situation, (b) produce more ...
A bit of Googling reveals that my hero J. W. "Paddy" Logan, former Liberal MP for Harborough, was mentioned in a poem in Punch in 1891. The poem is prefaced by a quotation from Logan, who had just gained the seat from the Tories in a by-election: "Believing firmly in the absolute justice of woman's claim to the 'Parliamentary' franchise, I shall at all times support that claim."The poem is long and facetious to modern tastes, but its ending is worth recording here: And now there comes another name To raise for Shes the party slogan. Well, trust, dears--if you ...
Yes, the advert was in yesterday's Liberal Democrat News, and nominations will close on Friday, December 4th. If you're interested, I'd move fast if I were you...
One last chance to save our Afghan mission
Welcome to part six of our "Introduction to blogging" guide for Liberal Democrat bloggers or would-be bloggers. It's appearing each Saturday between now and Christmas, with all the posts available via this page. The series will then be revised and collated into an e-book, so please do post up your comments as the series progresses. Today it's the turn of Alex Foster. When writing for a blog, perhaps the default view I have of my reader is someone who is familiar with my entire body of work, someone who started at the first thing I wrote, and read it through ...
Two Stockport parks are among the first in the country to be recognised as Accredited Country Parks by Natural England. Mersey Vale Nature Park and Reddish Vale Country Park are among the first four parks across the country to be given this accreditation from Natural England. In order to achieve accreditation, parks must meet a range of strict criteria for essential services and facilities, high quality signage and disabled access. Parks must be at least ten hectares in size, free to enter and have a daily staff presence in order to put themselves forward.
Once again, I've been too busy of late to blog. So here's a quick catchup on what I've been up to over the last few weeks: - attended the service of blessing for the re-opening of St Mary Islington's crypt with former Archbishop George Carey - welcomed party President Ros Scott to our Pizza & Politics evening - ...
The Courier this morning covers the issue of road safety outside Dundee schools, including my own comments. You can read this by clicking on the headline above or by going to http://tinyurl.com/schoolrdsafety.
Here's a handful of videos doing the rounds from American politics. First up "There's a rep for that!" – riffing on the iPhone's ad showing how there's an application to do the most ridiculous things, here's a video with a light-hearted but deadly serious look at some of the disgraceful campaigns American Republicans have run: Second, a similarly light-hearted but deadly serious song about gay marriage in the States, following voters striking down judicial efforts to get marriage for homos on the statute books: Stupid Callous Homophobic Hateful Legislation. Can you guess the tune before you hit play? Thirdly, via ...
We're often told that the fabric of our society is fast unravelling, and that one of the reasons is that we do not have enough common points of reference. I would strongly challenge that argument. However, even if that were true, surely one of ...
Saw this remarkable post on Newsbusters: Defending the decision of the United States to drop nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII is not a comfortable thing to do when you're in Japan. But if you're President of the United States, you must do it. Diplomatically, yes. With sympathy for the civilian victims, yes. But you must do it. So that would include President Dwight Eisenhower would it? That is, the President who was a General at the time of the bombing, who raised "grave misgivings" at the time, and who said afterwards: "it wasn't necessary to hit them ...
How do you view freedom? Is it liberating to have CCTV because we can walk safely through the town centre? Is there a great liberty in holding an identity card so that criminals can be named at once. Should we have our DNA on record so that convictions would be so much easier? How about security shutters on every shop window in the country? The problem with these liberating ideas is that if they go unchecked you end up with a Sylvester Stallone science fiction type vision of the future. We end up spending more on security than we have ...
