This evening, at a packed AGM of Tower Hamlets Liberal Democrats at Oxford House in Bethnal Green, I was adopted as the LibDem PPC for my home constituency of Poplar and Limehouse (new boundaries, having lost all the bits in Newham). It's an extraodinary seat, illustrating both the huge diversity of London and also the ...
Today is the anniversary of the foundation of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. It is the most famous of all of the Roman Catholic institutions, and its alumni include the co-founder of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and co-recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize, James E. Muller. Next week I shall be moving a motion in Council, proposing that we join the Mayors for Peace campaign, dedicated for the promotion of peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons. Oh and another famous alumnus of Notr Dame? President Josiah Edward "Jed" Bartlet, ...
Episode 9 of Flash Forward started off with a series of flash backs. The use of this slightly forced plot device highlights the lack of plot and character development over the last few episodes. But it was used to spark off an episode which, whilst light on plot again, this time gave us plot developments as people argued, fell in love, argued again and fell ill. In that, the series was returning deliberately or not to its roots in the Robert Sawyer novel. In the original book the events are largely a backdrop for an investigation into people's emotions and ...
Vulture Funds are pretty fucking vile. They buy debt of poor nations at reduced prices then take that nation to court in order to retrieve the funds. Two of these Funds, Hamash Investments and Wall Capital, both registered in the Caribbean, have won a UK High Court case to retrieve debts originating from 1978. The sum ordered to be paid is the equivalent of 5% of Liberia's annual budget. This is an abomination. These funds prey on poor nations unable to defend themselves. The original case, won buy the two firms in New York in 2002, took place during Liberia's ...
Apologies for the lack of new contend. I do have a few posts planned for the next few days: HELP! tomorrow, James Bond on Saturday, a review of Bryan Talbot's new graphic novel Grandville on Sunday, but I've been quite tired for the last few days and also planning stuff for PEP! – my new ...
In any other organisation someone that was being investigated by the Police for colluding with active paedophiles with disabled children would be suspended on `gardening leave` at the very least. Why don't the Catholic Church act and say that what has happened is utterly appalling that their leader allowed a known abuser of disabled children ...
The agenda for the Council meeting at 2pm on Tuesday 1 December 2009 includes:the annual report of the Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sport & Culture - Martin Mullaney (Lib Dem, Moseley Ward);the annual report of the Chair of the Coordinating Overview & Scrutiny Committee (large pdf, 2245KB) - my fellow Selly Oak Ward councillor Alistair Dow;a Lib Dem motion (pdf) reaffirming the Council's
The decent homes programme is a government scheme aimed at bringing social housing (council and housing association properties) up to a pretty minimal standard by the year 2010. Most councils have just got on and done this. There's government money available to do it, and there are several ways to achieve it – by transferring stock to a housing association (like at Leybridge Court), by a PFI (like in Brockley) or via what's called an 'Arms Length Management Organisation' or ALMO. Lewisham have gone for all three approaches – with different solutions in different areas. I've been supportive of the ...
Jackie Ballard is one of the candidates to join the board of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, set up after the expenses scandal. Her name was among those announced by John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, on Tuesday. She will have to be approved by MPs. As the BBC website reminds us, Jackie: was Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton from 1997 to 2001 and has served as director general of the RSPCA. She is currently chief executive of the Royal National Institute for the Deaf.
Good news in this week's Harborough Mail. Edinburgh House, where I worked when it was the head office of Golden Wonder, may come back to life. The building has been empty since the company went into administration in January 2006. Now a local developer is proposing to convert it for retail and restaurant use.
David Cameron's early success as Conservative leader was built upon the emphasis he put upon the more appealing aspects of Toryism, such as conservation and localism. To a large extent he is a traditional aristocratic Tory, seeking power to ensure that those who are doing well out of the current system (notably D. Cameron) maintain there position. This kind of Conservative seeks power in part to prevent anyone else winning it. Similarly, you sense that stopping Labour was the chief reason for Boris Johnson's standing as Mayor of London. It was not so much that he had great ambitions of ...
It's #bbcqt day again and as usual the Live Chat on this blog will start tonight at 10:30pm. For the second time in four weeks the panel will not include a Lib Dem. This has caused someconsternation in the Lib Dem blogosphere, especially as Jo Swinson was dropped at 48 hours notice and in the week that the Iraq Inquiry has started (of course the Lib Dems were the only one of the three largest parties to oppose the war). Caron has commented on it and Liberal Revolution had a couple of posts (here and here) as well. The panel ...
Pete has news of a lost kitten in Lee Green ward, which the owners have asked him to keep an eye out for. Details below. If you happen to see him around Millbank Way, in Lee, please get in touch with Andy on 020 8318 0228. This has been a public service announcement!
Since I wrote this post yesterday, a steady flow of people have let me know either via Twitter or Facebook or the group on the new Lib Dem social network Act that they have complained to the BBC about Jo being dropped from tonight's panel and there being no Liberal Democrat on for two weeks out of four. Hell, some people have even done the old fashioned thing and told me via using their own voices, face to face, or on the phone that they've done it! It's obviously an issue that's touching a nerve and not just amongst Liberal ...
Harriet Harman declared that the Equality Bill would be exemplar. Part of its examplarness (if that's a word) would be that the Government would consult the opposition benches over how to handle the debate when it came to the floor of the House for Report Stage and Third Reading - which it does next Wednesday. However, there had been no discussions, consultations or anything - just an announcement that the Bill would be on the floor of the House on 2 December - a derisory one day only. This means that the dozens of amendments and New Clauses that are ...
There were some harsh things said during the debate on the Queen's Speech in Assembly Plenary yesterday. Most them were said about or by Peter Hain. By far the harshest were spoken by Conservative North Wales AM, Mark Isherwood, who got rather personal: It is an honour to follow Rhodri Morgan in his last debate on a Queen's Speech as First Minister, although I suspect that he may not like everything that I have to say. I also welcome back Peter Hain, whose perma-tanned retread resurrected the undead. He was forced to withdraw the allusion.
Is it just me that gets annoyed when something feminists have been saying for years gets trumpeted by Science Daily once a MALE scientist does some research (with a sample of THREE FFS) into it? Bloody women, we're never happy, are we? We complain when the menz ignore us, and then when they listen, we complain about that too. Tch! We should all just get back in the kitchen...
Whilst the media are concentrating on the latest revelations in the Iraq inquiry, that Tony Blair's view on regime change in Iraq "tightened" after a private meeting with President Bush in 2002, the more revealing stuff is here. The Independent reports that intelligence showing that Saddam Hussein's WMD had been dismantled was received by the Government just days before Tony Blair sent troops into the country. Senior Officials have told the Inquiry that Ministers were also given repeated warnings that intelligence gathered on Iraq's weapons programmes was unreliable. However, Mr Blair told the Commons that Saddam Hussein did have chemical ...
Fierce fire hits south-east London. Err... that's London, Ontario.
You can't fault ResPublica for an ability to generate chat amongst westminster policy types. Here is some more.
Been a nice quiet day at work, our contacts at the client's HQ are all busy basting their Turkey's etc for Thanksgiving. So happy thanksgiving to all of you and Courage the Turkey who is heading to Disneyland, not merely to have fun on the rides but to live. For sports fans there are of course a few traditional Thanksgiving Day games on. In the NFL Detroit Lions host the Green Bay Packers, my own team the Dallas Cowboys are hosting the Oakland Raider and in the Mile High City the Denver Broncos are hosting the New York Giants. If ...
Perhaps with the threat of being shipped out of Whitehall to the regions, to save money, the Foreign Office has decided to drag its image of Britain into the modern age. The official book, The United Kingdom: 100 Questions Answered, used in UK embassies abroad, to explain Britain to the world is now considered too out ...
Commenting on the Welsh Secretary of State's announcement on the Barnett Formula and the future of funding in Wales, Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats said: "At last, the Labour party has given in and recognized that the system is unfair to Wales, but the solution Peter Hain has come up with is only a half baked one to the problem we have. It doesn't address the massive underfunding we've had in Wales for the last 30 years and it doesn't address the issue at the heart of the Holtham Commission which is that Wales wants and deserves ...
I can't get to St Austell Bay today for polling day in the first Cornwall Council by-election. But I have been there the past few days and it certainly looks like it will be close. The by-election is being held because Conservative Richard Stewart has had to stand down for health reasons. Richard had a majority of about 450 over the Lib Dems - one of the safest in the county. However, it is clear from the number of activists on the ground that this time will be a lot closer. As well as Lib Dems and Conservatives, Labour are ...
I went along to the Launceston Road Safety Partnership meeting on Tuesday night where the main order of business was to find out the results of the vote on new road crossings for the town. I won't steal the thunder of the LRSP which will be announcing the results shortly, but I was amazed at the high turnout in the vote (conducted through the Cornish and Devon Post). It goes to show just how much people in our town are concerned about the lack of safe crossing facilities. Other issues that came up include the new Traffic Order for Launceston ...
Dear Friend Lots going on in Europe. But I restrict this report to two major events, because otherwise it would be too long. The Lisbon Treaty will come into effect, thank goodness, on 1st December. It will improve the way the EU of 27 operates. a. More democratic control as the European Parliament, representing the people, takes a full half-share control of all legislation. See http://euobserver.com/9/29036/?rk=1 And the other chamber, the Council, representing the 27 governments, must hold its meetings in public from now on and taking more votes by majority voting. b. no "President of Europe", a concept invented ...
We know that crime and anti-social behaviour can have a really detrimental impact on the quality of life of local residents in the ward. We take these problems very seriously so when local people contact us about these types of issues we do our best to get action taken quickly by the Council and the Police. The pictures below were emailed in by a constituent today. They illustrate the worrying anti-social behaviour residents are currently facing on Stanhope Road: [IMG: CIMG6784] I wrote to officers calling for urgent action after several residents contacted me with concerns about arson, motorbike nuisance and speeding stolen cars by the roundabout on ...
No wonder Labour politicians were so reluctant to have an inquiry on the Iraq war. Once the time had run out for putting off the evil day, the story about the decision to go to war would come out into the public domain. And so we are starting to see what did go on. Today, Sir Christopher Meyer, Britain's ambassador to the UN, revealed that they were scraping around looking for a "smoking gun"
Tom Harris often illustrates vividly so much of what is wrong with the Labour Party. It strikes me that a commitment to basic, often radical and reforming, democracy has disappeared with Clause IV. Harris trots out the usual canard, describing the scene amoung 'Chatter-88′ types; Parliament finally agrees that the Lords are to be elected by some form of ...
Roy Greenslade wonders why no one in the media other than the Guardian is making a big deal about this story: Imagine The Guardian being required to pay out £800,000 to a journalist because its editor had been exposed as a bully. You can bet that would have made headlines in rival papers. So why, I wonder, ...
ResPublica have EVERYTHING to prove, particularly after a launch event more suited to a major Hollywood movie than a think tank that has not really done anything yet
It seems that the Government have reached the conclusion that a review is needed to see what civil service and quango jobs could be moved out of London and the South East... again. There is, it is suggested, scope to move some of those 132,000 civil service and 90,000 "arms-length bodies" jobs and achieve not only savings but place civil servants in the heart of the communities they serve. Well, yes and no. Firstly, there are those of us who are still struggling through the reorganisations wrought by the Lyons Review, published in 2004, which called for transfers of work ...
It's the "specialist fish rescue team" on hand as Foxton Locks are drained for maintenance.
There's been a flurry of discussion, mainly on Twitter, following PR Week's report highlighting the possible problem for MPs who have "MP" in their Twitter name. That's because Parliament's rules say you can't call yourself an MP if you're not one and all MPs stop being ones when Parliament is dissolved for a general election. There are really only two things to bear in mind about the story: (1) We have a story of this type in the run up to every general election since t'internet came along. Previously it's been "MPs will have to shut websites" or "MPs will ...
There is a gas leak on Victoria Street near the junction of Bricket Road. National Grid are carrying out emergency repairs and road users are advised to avoid the area.
Yesterday the Liberal Democrats launched ACT - http://act.libdems.org.uk/ - their new social networking site, as one of the beta-testers I had been playing with it for the last week or so, I think it is going to be a very useful tool and will certainly change the way I use other social media (see below). However Anders Hanson at gives the most useful bit of advice about changing your settings not to be bombarded with annoying emails when anyone moves. Clearly there are glitches which will be ironed out over time.
Local residents, supported by Lib Dem Councillors for Oval Ward, spent a large chunk of yesterday evening in front of Lambeth's Planning Committee giving our concerns over the proposed 42 storey tower block on Bondway. As said in the previous post, many people are worried about the impact the tower would have on neighbouring residential streets. Clear evidence was presented to the planning committee over the loss of sunlight to nearby homes and Vauxhall Park, parking pressure and extra strain on Vauxhall tube station among many other factors. Some members of the committee expressed concern over issues like the availability ...
[IMG: Letter from Manchester Airport] Over the last couple of months I've been contacted by people concerned about an increase in aircraft noises. I tried to contact Manchester Airport but heard nothing. Finally, a colleague found out it was an issue with their automated landing system. Well, this morning I've received a letter from the airport - you can click on the thumbnail to see it. The message seems to be that things are back to normal now and, next time, they'll make more of an effort to tell people what's going on. Let's hope so.
The campaign to stop an 8-acre private soccer centre being built in Heaton Park is in its final stages ahead of a decision by Manchester Council on December 17th. Campaigners to save the park have been encouraged by a wave of rejections for similar schemes in parks in London. Campaigners in Morden Park found out this week that their campaign to stop their park being turned into a commercial soccer centre had been a success. Regents Park, as well as the Morden Park and another park in Wandsworth in the capital, have all been threatened with "Goals" soccer centres similar ...
Thu 26th
12:54
Tarquin Fintim-Limbim-Whimbim-Lim Bus Stop-F'Tang-F'Tang-Olé-Biscuit-Barrel - 238 votes, but ...
With 28,118 votes Shirley Williams gained the formerly strongly Conservative seat of Crosby. The by-election took place at an almost unprecedented state of division in British politics. With social unrest and both the Labour and Conservative parties in a state of flux. The SDP had, at this point, not elected any MPs but did have an ever-growing ...
In a move sure to get Christians and tabloid newspaper journalists up in arms, the Prime Minister has removed all Christian imagery from his Christmas cards. The picture on the front of his cards does not contain any sign of angels, crosses or any other Christian imagery. But it's not only Christianity that has been removed, so too has all trace of winter. In a move some will suspect is making the cards a tool in the political battle over global warming, the "Christmas" cards paint a picture of a spring or summer day. "This is an appalling case of ...
The committee have found against Mr Tredinnick. The full judgement can be found here:
The Conservatives are treading dodgy ground indeed with their claims that the Government is effectively funding Islamic schools connected with extremist organisations. Childrens education and Islam, never mind extremism, are not the areas to be weighing in with irresponsible unconsidered, not to mention unsubstantiated claims. However, whilst I do not support the extremist organisation concerned there are clearly questions that have to be asked. Firstly they claim to be a registered political party. If so the organisation although extremist has the same rights to exist as the BNP - regardless as to whether I loathe their views. If they are ...
Everytime I asked at Council why the specifications of the "state of the art" new swimming pool planned for Loampit Vale are so poor and made specific reference to the very low depth that would never allow diving again in this Borough I was always told that hopeful divers are very well provided in South ...
The Ministry of Justice is running a consultation on whether bodies such as marketing firms and charities should be able to buy copies of the electoral register to use for their direct mail and other operations. There is a high chance this review could lead to a change in the law. There are currently three electoral registers: The full electoral register, which is used for running elections and which is available to political parties and election candidates for them to contact voters and other electoral purposes. It is also available to various law enforcement and other public sector organisations for ...
[IMG: Guide to 2010 election book cover] Here is my chapter from the Total Politics Guide to the 2010 General Election, looking at the prospects for the Liberal Democrats: The 1997 general election turned out to be a once in a generation opportunity for many local Liberal Democrat campaign teams to gain a Parliamentary seat from the Conservatives. At the tail end of a by then deeply unpopular Conservative Government, the election saw unprecedented numbers of seats falling to the party. A few seats that were not quite gained from the Conservatives in 1997 did subsequently fall in 2001 and ...
The following invitation has come my way: Would you like to get expert advice and your questions answered on Swine-Flu? You are invited for a presentation and Q&A with Danielle Osborn, Emergency Planning Officer - Islington Council at Archway Methodist Church, Archway Close, London N19 3TD (on the central island of the traffic system next to Archway tube ...
we finally have a government arguing from Liberal principals in America...
Wednesday: Are the Conservatories about to come out against Faith Schools? I think not. So what was Mr Balloon doing raising SINISTER SUSPICIONS and AIRY ALLEGATIONS at Prime Monsters Questionable Time about two schools that JUST HAPPEN to be supported by an ISLAMIC foundation? Mr Balloon's "question" was whether the Government's anti-extremist fund was being used to, er, fund extremists. But where was his EVIDENCE? As his BBC chum Mr Nick "mate of Dave" Robinson spun it, some of Mr Balloon's facts were less than accurate. There's a word for facts that are less than accurate. And it ISN'T "facts". ...
Don't miss Gatley's Christmas Market at BossCo's car park this afternoon, from 3.30 to 8pm. More information here.
David Cameron two years ago: The idea that anyone ever could be offended by a Christmas card that says "Merry Christmas and happy new year" and we've got to send one saying "Season's greetings"; I think it's just insulting tosh. 'In fact, people – Muslims and Jews – are offended because it's treating them in a silly and politically correct way. Spool forward a couple of Christmases, and there are more than a few red faces at Tory HQ, as The Times's Ruth Gledhill notes : Two years ago, David Cameron, the Conservative leader, said banning Nativity plays and replacing ...
Thu 26th
10:24'Over the Firth to Kirkcaldy,' doesn't quite have the same ring as 'over the sea to Skye'!
News has come out that Edinburgh council is putting out a tender for a hovercraft service to link the city's Portobello beach with Kirkcaldy. To be fair the plan might benefit those who need to travel between the two, and would probably help, to a small extent, with the massive congestion on the Forth Road Bridge. A ...
The news that National Express has lost its East Anglian franchise is good news for embattled commuters in St Albans and Hertfordshire who are continuing to suffer appalling mistreatment at the hands of First Capital Connect. Last night the District Council condemned the way local people were being treated and there were calls for the franchise to be withdrawn. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8380108.stm
It may seem unlikely at present, but that accolade has been awarded to the emerging plans for the remodelling of Tolworth Broadway and the Roundabout. The Mayor for London (in the form of a professional panel) has sifted through 125 projects and identified 36 that are to be included in the The Mayor's Great Spaces scheme. This is exciting stuff! One advantage of being in the scheme is that it draws down some funding and advice at the design stage from the London Development Agency and Design for London. Once the project is completed then it will be judged again ...
The Liberal Democrats have expressed amazement at a proposal which came before the City and District Council full council meeting on Wednesday. The proposal to give two hours' free parking in all on and off street controlled areas throughout the district would cost the council £1 million and thus lead to a 10% increase in council tax. Anthony Rowlands, portfolio holder for Community Engagement and Support, said: 'It is difficult to believe that they are serious. It is significant that this is the first time they have mentioned such a proposal and have brought it straight to Full Council rather ...
In today's Telegraph, Nick Clegg writes about the opening of the Chilcot inquiry into the invasion of Iraq, and launches a broadside against Labour's botched foreign policy, and calls on the Prime Minister – who as Chancellor signed the cheques for the Iraq war – to apologise for his part in the devastation that has unfolded. Here's an excerpt: The opening of the inquiry into the Iraq war reminded me that one of the greatest tragedies of Labour's foreign policy is that they focused on Iraq, not Afghanistan. They focused on winning the argument for an unjustified war, instead of ...
Today is the day of the Moreton West and Saughall Massie By-Election, and I would like this opportunity to say thank you to all Liberal Democrat members in Wallasey for their hard work and effort during these past number of weeks. The campaigning is now over and today the people of Moreton West and Saughall ...
And so the Speakers Conference has concluded that political parties should be made to publish the number of women, ethnic minority, disabled and gay people are applying to be Parliamentary candidates. Let us not be under any misapprehension here, this is an attempt to impose a Labour solution on the body politic, regardless of the fact that other political parties see the solution to the diversity issue in very different forms. The phrase 'Speakers Conference' is meant to reassure, to provide the cover of apparent cross-Party agreement for an authoritarian attempt to blackmail other political parties to adopt the sort ...
Those of you who went out in Chipping Sodbury last Friday or Saturday night may have seen the new taxi and street marshals in operation. The scheme follows a similar one in Kingswood. The marshals will work on Fridays and Saturdays between 10pm and 2am, maintaining a safe, orderly queue at the taxi rank outside the George, assisting the police and taxi drivers, helping prevent anti-social behaviour and crime and watching out for unlicensed taxi drivers. Local Councillor Dave Hockey, who led a Council review into tackling anti-social behaviour, has welcomed the move. "Once our review found that a taxi ...
Yesterday I was at the Future e-Democracy 09 conference on a panel talking about "Digital campaigning post-Obama" along with Sam Coates (from MyConservatives.com) and Sue MacMillan (Labour's Head of New Media) and chaired by the Hansard Society's Andy Williamson. There were some good questions but the best I thought was one that turned the session on its head, asking us what we think Obama might learn from the internet in the next British general election. Sam's answer was probably not much, because we're playing catch-up with Obama and he also had far more resources than any British party. Sue was ...
Rather belatedly* The Voice is delighted to highlight an article by Lib Dem blogger James Graham over at The Guardian's Comment Is Free site, the subtitle of which is a neat, Tweet paraphrase of his argument: 'The idea that the Lib Dems want to jump into bed with Cameron is a fantasy. But multiparty politics is likely to be the new norm'. But as ever with James the article is well worth reading in full. Here's an excerpt: There is no enthusiasm within the party for co-operation with the Conservative party, but working with Labour is almost as unenticing a ...
Since yesterday, in fact. Because in an otherwise thoughtful piece on hung Parliaments in The Independent, Steve Richards made this comment: If there is a hung parliament there will almost certainly be no formal coalition government, even if Nick Clegg and Vince Cable would like to join one. Clegg is trapped by what is known as his party's "triple lock", a hidden rule that might become of vital relevance. Before entering a coalition he is bound to secure the agreement of his MPs, other national representatives and the membership. Credit to Steve Richards for knowing about this rule. But "hidden"? ...
The petition form can be found here . We have had an amazing response. It is important that we continue our efforts to get a really big total. It has been heart warming to see so many people wanting to sign up. Volunteers were out the main Library yesterday despite the cruel wind and got an excellent response. Full detail about the petition can be found by following the link above
My father didn't see my entry into the world. In the 1960s, fewer than a quarter of men were present at the births of their children and my father took up the standard birthing position of being outside with a book. More strangely maybe, my husband missed the birth of our daughter - not through choice, ...
Dan Hannan, that strange creature whom the Tories once loved – and are now keeping him at a necessary distance – has decided its time to make MPs work harder: There is a case, though, for making an exception in 2010 and having the House of Commons sit through August, as my party is apparently considering. ...
Trying to get more grit bins in my ward today. The Town Council has persuaded the Area Committee to give us more but they (in other words Bradford Council) are insisting that we have to have people agreeing to be "Grit Bin Guardians" to let Bradford know when they need refilling. I've got a volunteeer for one location; now I'm on the trail of another. They (Area Committee of Bradmet) gave us about two days' notice; their meeting is tonight.
Two "in-progress" issues we mentioned in our latest Keeping in Touch leaflet are now being sorted, both on Oak Road. At the junction with Stockport Road, the dip (which turns into a big puddle in wet weather - and I've almost forgotten there's any other kind) is now fixed. The area of land between the two sets of Honeycombe Cottages is being tidied up by the owner, after I asked the Council to track him down.
[IMG: Hands up who thinks this is *just a little* over the top...! on Twitpic] When I first saw this leaflet from Carshalton & Wallington Tory Ken Andrew I have to admit that I thought it was a spoof.You can see the leaflet in its full glory by clicking on the image which will take you through to Twitpic. Congratulations on the wedding to Mr Andrew - and nice that he wanted to share so much with everyone. But residents of Fortis Green can rest assured there will be no similar Hello! style photo shoot of my wedding popping through ...
One of only two towns in the country to receive such an accolade, Bury has been given the White Ribbon town award by Chris Green, chief executive of the White Ribbon Campaign UK. The award aims to recognise the hard work and dedication of the BurySafe partners who campaign tirelessly throughout the year to combat domestic violence and support families affected by it. White Ribbon Campaign is a charity which works throughout the year in education and awareness raising of issues around violence against women. The 16 days of action begins on White Ribbon Day (November 25, UN International Day ...
A second day with the doyen of Liberal Democrat parliamentarians. Tuesday To Cowley Street for the first meeting of the 'Liberal Democrat Attack Unit' put together by Clegg to direct our fire upon the Tories. I happen to be the last to arrive and find an encouragingly ugly crew already present when I enter the room. In the chair is Chris 'Hard Man' Huhne, and around the table I recognise Knuckles Oakeshott, Norman 'Bite Yer Legs' Baker and Norman Lamb, who made a good living as a masked wrestler ('The Sheringham Strangler') before he entered Parliament. Having given my apologies, ...
The issue of road safety and the congested nature of Ancrum Drive given the extent of parking has been of concern to residents and residents have made a number of suggestions such a provision of off street parking or one way driving in the street as possible improvements. I asked for the City Council road safety officer's input and he has responded as follows : "The road is approximately 6.5 m wide and the resident parking demand is high. You are correct with regard to the disadvantages of one-way. The slow bend restricts forward visiblity but removing the risk of ...
In a written answer in Parliament this week, Jack Straw confirmed that several more parts of the Polities Parties and Elections Act 2009 are now kicking in or will do so soon. There don't look to be any surprises in the list and dates he's given. Most importantly, the new election expense provisions with a long and short campaign period are taking force as expected.
Tonight is Stockport's Full Council meeting (there's one roughly every 2-3 months, and this is the first I'll have been to). I'm hoping to tweet from the meeting, so everyone can see what's going on as it happens. The meeting starts at 6pm and will probably finish between 9 and 10pm. To see my tweets (assuming nothing goes wrong!), visit my Twitter page or search on Twitter for hashtag #stockportmbc.
Good morning, and Happy Thanksgiving to our American readers. 26th November is also the anniversary of the opening of the terrifying Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. Today also sees a significant birthday for Tina Turner and a rather less significant one for Hilary Benn. 2 Must-Read Blog Posts What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here's are two posts that have caught the eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator. I've taken two environmental picks today: Why are Reading's Christmas lights on during the day? Do these lights have to be blazing all day? This simply does not make finanical or environmental sense. ...
This is one of those 'independent' plaques that springs up from time to time - but this one is on Swiss Cottage school. It's not the most obvious site and when you realise it's the car mechanic Bentley you have great visions of the nature of either the grand rolling gated entrance house or of a sprawling garage laden house and grounds... He had a long life and was married three times, his last wife only passing away in 1989. Few of the on-line biographies give that much away to his character but I get a sense of a cad ...
"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery." Mr. Micawber from Charles Dickens' David Copperfield So more or less sums up the SNP's policy on how the Scottish Local Authorities are to help them get out their education quagmire. In the 2007 Manifesto Fiona Hyslop told us that a Scottish Government would "Maintain teacher numbers...place greater emphasis on recruitment for the early years, languages and science." They also promised smaller class sizes for Primaries 1,2 and 3. Now however, she is asking the Councils whose ...
So, the Supreme Court decided to support the fat cat bankers yesterday not the public affected by the massive banking charges. The court overturned all of the earlier court rulings that had allowed the Office of Fair Trading to investigate whether these bank charges were fair. I fully appreciate that many will jump in here and say, well if you don't go overdrawn without the banks permission then you won't be charged. I get that but there some occasions when this does happen and is it right that you get slapped £30 for the bank to write to tell you ...
Continuing the slew of terrible ACT-based puns that are filling up my reading list, I'd like to blog a bit about the new Lib Dem ACT social network. The thing is, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, I can separate all my Lib Dem stuff away from Facebook now, and stop boring all my non-LibDem friends with Lib Demmery, and stop swamping their posts with posts from Lib Dems. OTOH, I don't see how this will help us to become less insular and reach out to people. I am aware that you don't ...
Back in April I wrote about the police tactics in the G20 protests. A review of these tactics is due out tomorrow and is expected to recommend improved training for the police. It is not difficult to remember the incidents shown on television when protestors were hit by batons when speaking to the police. There will be recommendations about the use of "force". There will also be talk of "kettling" in which protestors are contained in confined areas and the confinement could last hours. Stories were heard of people who were not protesting, they were just in the wrong area ...
Monday: It was the forty-sixth anniversary of Doctor Who first being on the tellybox, so what better way to celebrate the start of a new era than by going back to the first story from the man who'll be at the head of the NEXT start of a new era. We welcome our new Grand Moff with his 2005 Hugo A Go-Go Award Winning "Empty Child". Rose Tyler, wearing a Union Jack tee-shirt no less, hanging from a barrage balloon over London, the classic skyline of St Pauls surrounded by flames but unbowed, as the Luftwaffe bombers scream towards her. ...
