Whilst Labour council cabinet members get an officer of Gateshead Council to send their Xmas greetings by email, Lib Dems in Blaydon had a Christmas card stuffing party in my dining room last week. Here's the proof:The cards have now been delivered in a number of wards in the constituency (Labour will have to ask around as to where but most houses will eventually get a card) but more are still to
I sat in the waiting area of the Dermatology clinic waiting for my appointment, and, as you do, I had a bag of reading. First was the report from Public Health. All good work I am sure, and all about getting people to stop smoking, eat healthier, have 5 X 25 minutes exercise a day and so on. The words were getting a bit wearing and I had the image of "do this and do that". All to the...
Following my post last week about the coming to light of more evidence of alarming health inequality in Reading, children's health in our area was in the news again today with the publication of damning statistics relating to childhood obesity. This time the data (published by the NHS Information Centre) showed that 35% of 10 and 11 year olds in Reading are overweight or obese. This is a tragedy for the children and families affected - obese children are more likely than other children to suffer poor health to experience bullying. But these problems go deeper and wider than just individual families. They ...
England 2018 have announced the dozen Candidate Host Cities to be included in their final submission to FIFA in May 2010. While it's great news for Yorkshire, especially Leeds and Sheffield (bad luck Hull), I am mystified at the inclusion of Milton Keynes, and to a lesser extent, Plymouth at the expense of Leicester and Derby. Milton Keynes and footbal? The Open University? Brilliant. Bletchley Park? Good work. Concrete Cows? Fair enough. But football? OK there's MK Dons, but I've never been enamoured of teams who up sticks and move miles away from their roots and foundations, pace Arsenal and ...
I wrote about Copenhagen on August the 27th predicting that the summit would just be a re-run of environmental commissions, conferences and summits before, such as the WCED in 1987. My doubts that the conference would actually address one of the most important issues of the environmental debate, the North/South divide, have been legitimised, as Copenhagen has been ...
There is to be a by-election in the Primrose ward of South Tyneside following the death recently of Labour's Cllr Barrie Scorer. The ward is not one that necessarily appears on the radar screen of closely fought battles and therefore normally does not generate a level of interest in the way a marginal seat would do so. Except now is different. The result last time put the BNP on a third of the
Yes, I today officially unleash Andy Williams! I am, at last, feeling Christmassy, after three months of enduring Stuart Maconie voicing over Christmas DFS adverts with people with no shoes and no socks on, lying on sofas. Here are my Christmas thoughts: [IMG: Star of Wonder] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: c.a.muller Any road up, as well as officially declaring Christmas open, I would also like to announce that this blog is fully and formally supporting the bid of "Rage against the machine" to have the Christmas Number one, and I have just downloaded their "Killing in the name". ...
Speculation is rife that the General Election will instead of being in May be in March with the 25th being the supposed date of choice. It's hard to tell if the shocking conclusion to The Thick of It fuelled this speculation or in fact is the result of this (as well as a desperate writing ...
Tony Flynn of Salford Online has posted this gem of a video here, and he has already posed the question: Are these the best Christmas lights in Salford? While my neighbour has made a fantastic effort – I don't think even her efforts are quite up to the standard offered by David Brierley. Still well done – her display gets bigger and better each year. We're quite lucky on Seedley Park Road, many residents have made a great effort and I really do get in the christmas spirit every time I come home from work (as it's always pitch black ...
This is my letter to the East Kent Gazette. It is in reply to a letter from a Mr Richard Palmer who states he and his children do not see the point of voting because Labour is a waste of time and Conservatives only benefit the rich. Therefore they will all vote UKIP. 'Richard Palmer is right to criticise the two stale old parties as a waste of time - but he does not mention the other option. For radical and different policies, Mr Palmer should look towards the Liberal Democrats. We are the only party to promise a massive ...
I admit it, I use the Heathrow Express at least twice a month, because I have to travel for work. (I promise to cut my flights by at least 10% next year.) I always leave enough time so that if one gets cancelled I'll still be in time taking the next one. That works for ...
The Eastern Daily Press has the sad news: Hereward Cooke, a hugely popular Norwich priest and former leader of Norwich City Council's Liberal Democrat group, has died while at the Copenhagen climate change conference. The Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham James, announced with great regret the unexpected and sudden death of the Revd Canon Cooke. He died in his sleep at the age of 70... In 2000, Hereward became involved in local politics as city councillor for the Lakenham ward and went on to be leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the city council. He retired in ...
Never mind the first ever cold planning committee (did someone forget to pay the heating bill in the library?) nor the petitions and all the letters still arriving about Preston Park, nor the fact that we'd forgotten to buy the tree in the midst of all the activity of the last few days. This evening was one of the most important events in the life of a small but important part of the council.
Just finished chairing an interesting debate on the future governance of Calderdale Council, as the government has told us to do. It was an interesting, (relatively) well-tempered, and short. In the end we plumped for an elected leader and ...
It appears that those good folk of easyJet have stepped in to help stranded Flyglobespan passengers while spotting a commercial opportunity. Over at their website, "Following the announcement that Globespan has suspended its operations, easyJet, the largest UK airline, will offer those passengers stranded a special rescue fee of £60 (including taxes) to return home on the routes where our flights overlap with those of Globespan. These are: Faro to Glasgow, Malaga to Glasgow, Alicante to Glasgow, Faro to Edinburgh, Malaga to Edinburgh, Alicante to Edinburgh and Geneva to Edinburgh. Thanks to Mike Souter, easyJet have confirmed this offer is ...
Yesterday I suspect passengers who had flights booked with Flyglobespan over the Christmas break were gloating somewhat over fellow passengers who had flights booked with British Airways. How things have changed in 24 hours. Unfortunately Flyglobespan, Scotland's biggest airline has now called in the administrators meaning that the Civil Aviation Authority is now responsible for bringing around 1,100 holidaymakers home who are currently on Globespan package holidays. These are the lucky ones. For the remaining 3,500 who booked direct and are overseas, the bad news is they are not covered, there are also around 27,000 people who have flights booked ...
We have had to complain again about holes in the road, surely it would be cheaper to have re-surfaced the whole road.These were holes that had been patched before that were breaking up.Ambleside Road/Marsden Road junction seems worse the worse
Wed 16th
19:04
Don Foster MP comments on announcement of Public Inquiry into Bath Transportation package
"Right from the outset I have argued that more research was needed into these proposals. When I spoke at a Council meeting in September 2008 I expressed my concerns that this project had been tackled the wrong way round, and that consultation with residents had been far from adequate. "However, the Council refused to listen to my concerns and is now faced with the real possibility of losing
The blue bags for putting out cardboard waste, have come to Odd Down, well all over Odd Down, we have heard back from a number of residents without bags, if that is you call 394041.We can't see how it can help, and what about the cost ?
Here's the text of the press release from Cheltenham Lib Dems just received by The Voice – the defection of Cllr Klara Sudbury from the Tories to Lib Dems takes Cheltenham Borough council from Lib Dem minority control (20 seats out of 40) to overall control. County and borough councillor Klara Sudbury has today announced that she will be leaving the Conservative Party and applying to join the Liberal Democrats and the party's groups on the county and borough councils. Statement by county and district councillor Klara Sudbury 'After giving it a great deal of thought I have decided to ...
Harriet Harman stood in for Gordon Brown during PMQs today. There was one point where she decided to turn a question from Vince Cable about tax evasion into a jibe against the Tories' non-dom problems regarding tax and Michael Ashcroft. Here is what she said (taken from Hansard): We have been determined to take measures to stop tax avoidance, and we think it important that an example be set not only in this House, but in the House of Lords. According to an old saying, there should be no taxation without representation. What about no representation without taxation? We will ...
Police Community Support Officers stopped an Italian art student in London under anti-terrorism legislation, because she was filming buildings "for fun." From the Guardian: Simona Bonomo, 32, an art student at London Metropolitan University, filmed the moment on 19 November when she was approached by two police community support officers (PCSOs) in Paddington, west London. When Bonomo was challenged by one PCSO, she said she was filming "just for fun". He replied: "You like looking at those buildings do you? You're basically filming for fun? I don't believe you." Bonomo then declined his request to see what she had filmed. ...
Forgive me if I tread carefully here, for while the Lib Dem deputy leader is protected by the cloak of Parliamentary privilege your humble scribe has no wish to tangle with a billionaire. So I'll let The Times tell the story of today's (Deputy) Prime Minister's Questions: A senior Liberal Democrat today referred to Lord Ashcroft, the Tory deputy chairman, as a "non-dom" in the Commons. It is the first time the Conservative peer, whose tax status is unknown, has been described in a such a way on the floor of the House. Vince Cable, Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, used ...
The host cities for England's World Cup 2018 bid have been announced and I am delighted to see that NewcastleGateshead is included. I have to confess that I am not a follower of football but I am a very strong advocate for tourism in my region. Anything that brings the visitors (and their money) to our area is welcome.---Sent via BlackBerry
Done a lot of interviews today about our Liberal Democrat campaign to make advertisers fess up when they have been enhancing images. Proctor & Gamble withdrew the advertisement which has a very airbrushed Twiggy looking perfect in the under eye area - her secret being Olay eye cream. Of course - the other secret which wasn't mentioned - was the airbrushing! After over 700 complaints to the Advertising Standard Authority the ASA said that the ad was 'misleading' and credit to Proctor and Gamble for then voluntarily withdrawing it. The LibDem campaign is really about honesty in advertising. All we ...
It really is a very clever viral marketing campaign, making sure that lowly unpaid bloggers like us do their work for them, ensuring that Trafigura's activities around the world get a lively and informed audience.* Watch and weep. and then read this pdf of the original story. *Just in case you hadn't noticed, you needed your irony button switched on to read that first paragraph.
Would you like a day out over the Christmas holiday? Here are some offers you may not have heard about: You can get a £5 day return ticket to London from Snow Hill or Moor Street. You have to book in advance using London Midlands' "rapid advance purchase" system. You can also get a £10 day rover ticket which allows you to travel anywhere on the London Midland service. These are special ticket offers the company has agreed following its failure to run Sunday services earlier this year. This emerged at the meeting of the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority ...
In amongst the platitudes and visions of Elysian Fields on Belle Vue, the cabinet today couldn't quite avoid admitting that £3.7 million of the £14.8 million set aside for a sports centre will be spent relocating Consett Football Club and Consett Rugby Club when, or if, the county builds on Belle Vue. "New for old" will certainly be attractive to the Football Club, and no-one will blame them for being pleased at the prospect of a new ground. It will be interesting to hear where it is to be. Word is, it's classified information at the moment. For the Rugby ...
I think Caron Lindsay sums this up best with the following tweet: I thought I was unshockable until I saw that the BBC were asking whether it was ok to kill gay people as if it were legitimate debate. Whilst, the original question on the BBC website has now been changed from "Should homosexuals face execution?" to ...
I think the recent Climate Gate email debacle and the prominence of columnist in a number of papers who have written about their climate change scepticism as well as the growing belief that 'this is a left wing' conspiracy about control and taxation could be building problems for the Tory party. This problem I believe could become as big for them as say the EU issue. As I read a while ago Mark Reckons blog 'Are Tory bloggers out of step with membership on the environment?' I think this scepticism is shown up in the bloggers and indeed top Tory ...
I give a hat tip to Caron for this who tweeted my attention to it via SohoPolitico. Now I have friends who work, some of them quite high up, in BBC New Media, but I hope that none of them were involved in approving or setting up this debate in have your say. The question is "Should Homosexuals be executed?". I'm pretty sure my jaw dropping wasn't due to a particularly heavy swell hitting the ship but abject disbelieve that I am reading this on the BBC. Has the Daily Fail bought out the public broadcaster? It feels like it. ...
It's the name of a website: CONGRATULATIONS! YOUR PARENTS JUST JOINED FACEBOOK. YOUR LIFE IS OFFICIALLY OVER. So, you finally caved. You've accepted a friend request from your Mom, Dad, crazy Aunt Ida, and your college roommate's newly divorced mother. Well here's your chance to get back at them for taking away your public privacy. Email us at: myparentsjoinedfacebook@gmail.com because we want to laugh at your Mom's ridiculous Facebook status and the embarrassing message your Dad wrote on your wall too! If you want your relative to remain anonymous include that in the email. Family. Can't Facebook with 'em, can't ...
At the weekend I threw in another reason why Gordon Brown is very unlikely to call a general election before May. The Times's Danny Finkelstein has a good perspective on the issue today: "In every election I have been involved in, there has been a last-minute rumour about an early poll date. And every one has involved a mad dash to get things ready, all those little practical details that you were going to get round to but hadn't. Followed by anticlimax." Quite. It's sensible to err on the side of caution and be prepared (who has ever regretted being ...
TFL have announced consultation over plans for a "cycle superhighway" linking The Oval area with the City and going south to Merton. It is expected that work will start next summer if plans are given the go-ahead. More details on the plans here and a copy of the actual map of the route can be found here. It includes the Clapham Road and Kennington Park Road - both of which can be a nerve-racking experience for cyclists - and of course Clapham Road has been the site of two very sad deaths of cyclists in recent times caused by lorries ...
Figures released yesterday showed that the number of new business start ups in Scotland are down 16% on the same time last year. In Q3 2008 there were 4,598 in 2009 this was down to 3,861. Speaking on this issue Alistair Carmichael MP said: "These figures show just how hard the recession is hitting Scotland's small business sector. "Labour has effectively nationalised two of Scotland's largest banks, but they have done little or nothing to get them lending again. This has left businesses struggling without the credit they need. "Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling should be standing up to the ...
Well, I thought I was unshockable. Until this lunchtime. Until I came across this. I really hope that by the time you read this that link has been taken down because someone has seen sense and realised how utterly objectionable it is. I am speechless (and that takes a lot) that a corporation with a reputation for being the best public service broadcaster in the world has seen fit to host a discussion entitled "Should homosexuals be executed?". I can't believe that they think that this is a legitimate question for discussion and, what's particularly worrying is that the fact ...
Back in September when the Cabinet last discussed the Scilly link project, everyone was assured that Option C would be pursued alongside the 'preferred' option A. So when Option A was scuppered by the planning committee on Monday, surely Option C was ready and waiting to take over? Not according to Transport Cabinet Member Graeme Hicks at today's Cabinet meeting. He told those present that he would not be following up any further option that involved Penzance. Earlier, he answered questions from Penzance residents who had travelled up for the meeting telling them that the promised action on Option C ...
Tonight is another meeting of Bury Council - the last one of 2009. it's a public meeting, which you're all welcome to come along to. It kicks off at 7pm in the Council Chamber at Bury Town Hall. I hope it will be over by 8pm, because that's when Spurs v City kicks off at White Hart Lane. But there are 51 Councillors in a room together, each one's ego bigger than the last, and so there's more chance of the meeting finishing in an hour as there is of the match ending in anything other than City's 43rd draw ...
This argument is always bound to generate alot of heat and that is to a degree understandable because people's party loyalties are tribal in character. Sometimes that is a good thing and sometimes that is a bad thing; generally, when it gets in the way of advancing common causes or agendas it's a bad thing. However, ...
We have reached the final phase of the conference now, where ministers (and heads of governments) arrive to look over the draft texts from the AWGs. We can learn a lot about how the negotiations are going by watching the final sessions of the AWGs; as the text is chewed over and nations put on record any remaining reservations they have.
With nine sleeps remaining until Christmas Day it is time to continue the countdown of the decades Christmas Number Ones with a little bit of nostalgia to bring in a little bit more Christmas spirit. This post like all in series is scheduled to go live well in advance. Indeed this one will hit t'Internet while I'm on the Irish Sea so do not know if I will have coverage to blog live. So we move unto 2001 when a couple of big stars from the entertainment world did something stupid. Err, no I mean a couple of big stars ...
Telling the LibDems to side with Labour, or even to hint that they would, is an open invitation for the Tories to write a devastating, one line leaflet: "LibDems - keeping Brown in power near you".
Wed 16th
15:51
Two bits of good news for Sheffield Wednesday - now that's not something you hear very often these d...
As a long-suffering Sheffield Wednesday supporter it isn't often you get two bits of good news for the club in one day. First, and the most exciting bit is that Hillsborough will host World Cup matches if England wins the bid for the 2018 World Cup. Of course, that's a huge if, but it's really good ...
Green Party Parliamentary candidate Peter Tatchell has announced that he is to step down after brain injuries sustained from beatings left him unable to campaign effectively. Peter Tatchell's statement (from the Green Party website): "It is with great regret and reluctance that I am standing down as the Green Party parliamentary candidate for Oxford East. My brain injuries from the Mugabe and Moscow bashings mean that I would not be able to campaign effectively in the general election or do the duties required of an MP, if I was elected," human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell announced today. "It would not ...
The Daily Mail carries the story of Sandi, a ginger tom who went out for a stroll one night and ended up travelling 1,400 miles to Spain and back. The cat was discovered by ferry staff under a lorry as they prepared to unload the Pride of Bilbao, which had travelled from Portsmouth, Hampshire. The crew took Sandi to a vet who was able to tell from an embedded microchip that he was registered in the UK. The paper reports: For the return journey he was fed a special menu of salmon, chicken and milk and had an ensuite cabin ...
Commenting on figures showing that unemployment rose faster in Wales than any other part of the UK in the last quarter, Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Economy Minister, Jenny Randerson said: "We are endlessly hearing from Labour and Plaid how well they have dealt with the economic downturn. They quote Re-act and Pro-act at every opportunity, but the sad truth is that these figures show Wales is coping worse than the rest of the UK. In turn, the UK is coping worse than the rest of the World. "Northern Ireland which traditionally shared many of Wales' economic problems saw its unemployment ...
Evidence that Plaid Cymru are still smarting over the loss of one of their Assembly Members to the Tories is there for all to see in today's Western Mail. The paper reports on a challenge from the newly selected PLaid Cymru PPC for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, Jonathan Edwards, who wants to know what role was played by David Cameron and Tory Shadow Secretary of State, Cheryl Gillan in the affair. This is more than an academic question simply because of the reasons given by Mohammed Ashgar in recent days for switching parties. He told a local radio station that ...
Well I'm sitting on the HSS heading away from Scotland (actually currently still surrounded by Scotland as we're still in Loch Ryan) for the Christmas holidays, so I'm only just catching up on stuff that has been happening since my three trains to get here. One thing I did see on TV before setting off was Jo Swinson talking about the Olay ad for wrinkle cream in which Twiggy's wriggles had been airbrushed out, it aired at 7:40 this morning a time of that show I don't usually see. Reading on Lib Dem Voice just now there is a party ...
From a party press release: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled against an Olay advert containing a heavily airbrushed image of the model Twiggy on the grounds that it was misleading following a campaign led by the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats have called for airbrushed ads to be clearly labelled, and for airbrushing to be banned in adverts aimed at children. Commenting, Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson, who has led the campaign, said: "I hope this decision marks the first step in really getting airbrushing in advertising under control. "If advertisers think that someone as beautiful as Twiggy ...
Getting old buildings back into community use is incredibly difficult and usually there are one or two individuals responsible - St Stephen's in Hampstead is just such an example. This picture was taken earlier in the year as the restoration programme was in full swing and it was especially gratifying that at the Heath and Hampstead AGM two years ago Michael Taylor, who has lead the work, asked that the heath and hampstead use the old church when re-opened. And so some time later we all gathered there for the Christmas Party and saw the church open in fascinatingly candle ...
Thanks to the Keighley Bus Museum Trust for running free to users buses in Keighley on Christmas Day. (The regular bus service does not run that day.) Here is the timetable, all four routes are planned to run an hourly service though the Museum does point out that they cannot guarantee every bus because the whole thing is run by volunteers. KEIGHLEY BUS MUSEUM TRUST WILL PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING "Free-to-Users" BUS SERVICES ON CHRISTMAS DAY 25th DECEMBER 2009 17 : Oakworth & Fell Lane Circular North Street The Livery Rooms (Wetherspoon) 1025-1525 Coney Lane The Cricketers' Arms 1027-1527 Oakworth Road ...
That would seem a pretty far-fetched demand. But what else to make of the complaints from Labour councillor and Methodist Rev Paul Flowers? Bradford Council has been involved in organising and/or publicising a large number of events this year which feature Christmas, as shown by these examples: German Christmas Market Christmas Light Switch On Events Victorian Christmas Market Bradford Christmas Street Market There's also the event called "Midwinter Medieval Celebration". Clearly Bradford isn't banishing Christmas, but should it have to stick Christmas in the name of all events? Well, Rev Paul Flowers has complained (in the Daily Mail): Why, oh ...
In response to the latest consultation with Bury Council about the proposed Goals Games Zone in Heaton Park, Bury Council has maintained their committment to a 10pm curfew on floodlights. I had attended last nights Planning Committee to see what Bury's response would be and to press for concerns to be raised about inadequate parking provision in the proposals. I asked the Committee to maintain its previous position that floodlights should be turned off at 10pm and that extra car parking should be provided. The present provision appears to presume that Five-a-side teams will either arrive on foot or all ...
Wolverhampton Liberal Democrat Councillor Robin Lawrence will be moving a motion calling for Council Tax to be scrapped at tonight's Council meeting.
After the last meeting of the City Council's Policy and Resources Committee, I wrote to the Council Leader suggesting that all-party informal discussion between group leaders on the 2010/11 revenue budget takes place. I indicated that "as a City Council, facing a significant financial challenge and I think it is in the interests of the city that we all work together irrespective of politics in a productive way to minimise any negative impact on service provision." I was pleased to learn earlier today that the City Council Leader has arranged for such talks to take place next Monday. The Liberal ...
Gary Gibbon of Channel 4 News had the scoop that Vince Cable was to use his questions in today's PMQs to officially out Lord Ashcroft as a non-dom (and use his Parliamentary Privilege to do so). And that's just what he did. Apparently Cable has got hold of a document from HMRC that shows Ashcroft is ...
At Cornwall Council's Cabinet this morning there was utter confusion about the status of the budget. Despite the Conservative Leader of the Council sending out a press release commending the budget plans, he appeared to back down today whenever he was challenged on a controversial point. I asked about the plans to close some One Stop Shops for two additional days a week and was told that this was only an idea and was not yet definite - despite it being in the Council's budget for this year. My colleague Doris Ansari asked about the outrageous plans to get rid ...
At the request of the Paton's Lane sheltered housing complex, I recently acted as sponsor for their funding application to the Awards for All scheme to get television, DVD and music equipment for the sheltered lounge. I was delighted to learn of the success of the application and enjoyed a visit yesterday to the lounge to see the new equipment - see photos below. There's already been a "Mamma Mia!" night at the lounge for the residents - and the new equipment is going to be well-used! Angie and colleagues run many events for the sheltered tenants and do a ...
Following last week's public meeting about traffic issues on Schools Hill in Cheadle, I can report some early action. Council officers will be looking into the water issues at the bottom of Schools Hill: that's the pooling near the junction with Wilmslow Road and the water that seems to run across from somewhere behind the Pavillions from time to time. At the other end of Schools Hill, the lines on the road marking the right turn into Turnfield Drive will be repainted to make them clearer. Additionally, the whole road is now down on the list to have its lines ...
The Labour Party in Luton have again refused to call for disgraced MP Margaret Moran to resign and deny her a substantial pay out after she ceases to be the MP for Luton South. Speaking after being selected as her replacement Labour Parliamentary Candidate Mr. Shuker argued that it should be disgraced Luton South MP Margaret Moran's decision if she resigned, rather than arguing that local people should have the right to sack her. On a recent visit to Luton South Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg MP, argued the power to sack an MP should be with residents rather than ...
Wed 16th
11:59
Herts PCTs heading for £24 million overspend - and won't guarantee no cuts in operations
The Herts County Health Scrutiny Committee heard with astonishment that the PCTs are planning on cuts in excess of £28 million in order to manage an expected deficit this year of £24 million. County and district councillors were already suspicious that there were major problems when the PCTs failed to deliver a financial update paper in time for the beginning of the meeting. Documents handed out during the meeting showed that the PCTs were already well off budget and are planning major cuts next year including: - 'acute trusts validation of activity and pathways': £8 million - clinical effectiveness, including treatments of ...
A campaign by residents in St Ann's Road has resulted in concessions from the Council after a long running dispute about garden tenancies. Householders in the area were alarmed early last year when the Council tried to enforce new terms and conditions on land leased from them as gardens. In many cases, the land had been given over temporarily to householders in the Second World War, and then forgotten about. Residents has enjoyed use if it for decades, under varying terms. A large number were enjoying it for free, or paying a nominal rent. The Council sought large rental payments, ...
Wed 16th
11:50
Furore over twitter transport joke doesn't stop international diplomacy in 140 characters
Shashi Tharoor is probably not a name familiar even to readers of The Voice who follow online politics closely, but he's one of the highest profile politicians on Twitter. The Deputy Foreign Minister of India, he has approaching half a million followers on Twitter. He's had some criticism for travelling in first class air travel and staying in five-star hotels, even though in both cases he says he pays for it himself. Asked in September whether he'd consider travelling in standard (aka "cattle class") in future, he deployed humour: "Absolutely, out of solidarity with all our holy cows." The result? ...
Liberal Conspiracy deserve praise for their debunking of denier myths.
Today is the last day the Lords can table amendments against the Digital Economy Bill. The Open Rights Group are running a writing campaign: click here to join in while there's still time. Anyone who likes the internet, or just has a passing fondness for due process and parliamentary oversight, should care about stopping this trainwreck of a bill. Here is a greatest hits compilation of the reasons why: "tell every Briton you know. If we can't stop this, it's beginning of the end for the net in Britain." - Cory Doctorow "the Secretary of State may compel any ISP ...
As I mentioned yesterday, Shahbaz Majeed was winner our our Christmas Week photography competition, winning a voucher kindly sponsored by Jessops. I've been speaking with Shahbaz and he's a really accomplished photographer - his site at www.framefocuscapture.co.uk is well worth a look - here's an example - his photograph of St Giles Cathedral. There's lots of superb photographs at his site.
Dear World Leaders, The tipping point 4 climate change is today, in your decisions. If humanity is to have a sustainable future how hard a choice 4 your heart can it be? United Nations Climate Change Conference COP15
I am not going to the Bella Centre today. There is supposed to be a "peaceful protest" about the fact that NGOs have been mostly barred from the conference, but I thought it wouldn't be peaceful, and I was right. This picture (which is copyright Banksy, although this is a photo of a T-shirt of it) ...
The latest "House of Comments" podcast with myself and Stuart Sharpe of the Sharpe's Opinion political blog is now live. The website for the podcasts is here and the eighth episode which we recorded on Monday 14th Dec is available to download via this page here (raw mp3 file here if you prefer). You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes here. The format is to invite one or two other political bloggers each week and discuss a few of the stories that are making waves in the blogosphere. This week we were joined by Tory Rascal and covered defence ...
The Cambridge shortlist has now been published and, contrary to some hopes and wild rumours, has neither a nationally known media star nor a BME candidate on it. But then no member of either group applied. The candidates are all councillors or former councillors in Cambridge but, as the Returning Officer said, "The shortlisting committee was chosen by the local party and I was happy that it was a balanced one. They drew up the selection criteria and marked the applications independently of each other. We only came together to total the scores, the result of which showed that the ...
The United Nations Climate Change negotiations in Copenhagen are failing. The outcome is likely to be a terrible fudge. The headline emissions cuts agreed will not be the 40% by 2020 that green NGOs are calling for. Rich countries will allow themselves to carry on business as usual by permitting carbon offsetting, which offloads the problem we created on to poorer nations; by backing carbon capture and storage, which is unproven; and by and investing their hopes in carbon trading, which, thus far, has achieved nothing except give greedy, unscrupulous bankers and traders another way to steal our money. Idiot ...
Its not often I praise or commend this government, but to be fair they do make it hard for me to do so! I will praise them on reducing the bingo tax. Now I know this has enabled a lot of mocking of the government but this is an issue of fairness - and one that is still not resolved. In the 2009 Budget the Government increased the level of Tax on the bingo industry from 15% to 22% without any prior warning. Taxes on other forms of gambling are: Bingo (in a licensed club) 20% Bingo (online) 15% Casino ...
This post is a very simple plea for help. At the next General Election most parliamentary constituency boundaries will change and what I'd like is a map of the UK showing the new boundaries that I can pin to my wall. The last time this happened in 1997 I had a really good map that showed not ...
John Redwood's concerns about rising inflation this month are illfounded, and he knows it. The real test will be next year, when we start to learn just how much economic slack there is in this economy. Surely, with 3 million unemployed, there is a lot?
New proposals to allow councils to put in place 20 mph schemes over groups of streets without the need for traffic calming measures such as speed humps were announced today by Road Safety Minister Paul Clark. The Government is encouraging local councils to introduce 20 mph schemes into residential streets and other roads where cycle and pedestrian traffic is high, such as around schools, shops and parks. In the past, councils wanting to implement 20 mph schemes on groups of roads have had to do so in 'zones' which require traffic calming measures such as speed humps. 20 mph limits ...
Via all sorts of places, a video they don't want you to see on the BBC: I'm beginning to think that Carter Ruck have changed their purpose to become a performance art collective dedicated to interpretations of the Streisand Effect. Or that they're a group of Streisand haters who want to see it renamed – perhaps ...
It looks as though the County Council have delayed the review of the Fire and Rescue Service. In spite of calls for clarification from our Lib-Dem councilors no indication has been given by the ruling Conservatives as to when plans would be brought back to the Council. Now the cynical amongst us might conclude that plans will be delayed until after the General Election, as the Tory councils plans have been very unpopular with the Tory MPs and Candidates and they have been doing everything they can to distance themselves from it. We will just have to see.
Wed 16th
09:04New Government guidance: Chris asks Tories when they are going to introduce 20 mph zones
[IMG: 20mph_243×235.jpg] Open letter to Stuart Pile, Executive member for Highways and Transport, Hertfordshire County Council Dear Stuart You will be receiving today new guidance from central government over 20 mph zones and limits. This will make it clear that the Government expects 20 mph to be the normal limit near schools and in residential areas. The guidance reflects public opinion and is something that the Liberal Democrats in Hertfordshire have been advocating for some time. But the response from Herts Highways, which is answerable to you, has been to say the least tepid: when there are requests, both general ...
This is a guest post from Judy and Kalvis Jansons On the cold but dry afternoon of Tuesday, 15 December, a protest against the proposed extradition of Gary McKinnon by the US government was held outside the Home Office in London by Janis Sharp, Gary's mother, and other supporters. The protest lasted from 12:00 until 14:00 and when we arrived at 12:30, there were about 50 people present. Most of the people were enclosed in a kind of pen on one side of the Home Office, and two police officers stood behind this enclosure throughout most of the protest. MPs ...
Well done to Jo Swinson and the Real Women team for a great success in getting an Olay ad, featuring a highly modified Twiggy image, withdrawn. If you want to see the two faces of Twiggy which some say prompted much of the impetus for this move, see here.
I have just rejected my first comment on this blog. In the interest of transparency I thought I would tell the world and not slide away in the corner with this. The reason why is that I have been sent a link to a site selling mephedrone and quite frankly I think it is spam (I apologise if it is not!) and I also do not wish to turn my site into an indoor market for all sorts of exotic produce. I am sure that if people google for this site they will find it. Interestingly they use the Royal ...
Last week I used Google's search data from the UK to look at the relative popularity of different social bookmarking services. The same can be done for social networks too, and here's what the data says:
Jo Swinson has been gracing radio and TV in the past 24 hours as the Advertising Standards Authority has upheld the large number of complaints about the Twiggy advert. This is great news - there is no reason why we should have women's and young girls body image dictated by large multinational corporations. Twiggy looks great without retouching, as do many, many older women. Plus, has anybody noticed that very few women don't die there hair now when they start to go grey. I think grey hair looks great on women! Why are women not allowed to be old and ...
The news this morning that Zac Goldsmith has spent £260,000 of his own fortune on the battle to become the MP for Richmond makes me feel a little uneasy. We have never had a serious issue with money dominating British politics. Central party financing of campaigns, and spending limits during the election have always made sure ...
I was down in London at the time, but Ros Scott visited Market Harborough last week. We took her to see the Focsa depot at Great Bowden. We know how to give a girl a good time up here.
2 Big Stories More 20mph zones on the way As reported by the BBC, new advice to Councils will recommend 20mph zones around schools and in all residential areas, plus a reduction of the speed limit from 60mph to 50mph on rural main roads with a history of accidents. The BBC have also produced a road traffic deaths map: find all the deaths in 2008 and see how many were near you (in my case, fewer than I'd expected). One question local authorities may ask about having more 20mph zones is whether they need to have traffic calming measures too. ...
The charity Fairshare is going to demonstrate the food waste problem in Trafalgar Square at noon today. The food they are using has been grown by farmers but is considered too ugly to sit on the shelves by our supermarkets (maybe Jo Swinson and I should set up a campaign against our 'airbrushed' and discriminatory fresh produce aisles but I digress). They will be providing soups and curries, as well as free groceries with the 6 tonnes of produce that have been turned down by the supermarkets. I can guarantee that nobody will be able to tell the difference from ...
If you've driven down Silverdale Road in Gatley after heavy rain recently, you'll have seen water pouring off the land on the Cheadle Royal side, across the pavement and down the road to pool by the pub and the parade. There's a stream that runs from Cheadle Royal, under the road and across the grass/woodland on the Borrowdale side. This seems to have got blocked up, leading to water pooling up. It looked to me like the water was at least a couple of feet deep in places on the Cheadle Royal side, making the path to Cheadle Royal totally ...
[IMG: http://www.wikio.co.uk] [IMG: torystrike.jpg] The Conservatives plan to introduce law which would force MPs and Lords to be UK taxpayers, following controversy over Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith (who apparently avoided £5.8m in tax - what an upstanding member of our community) and Deputy Chairman Lord Ashcroft (Yet Cameron and other Tories have also refused to disclose his tax status). Commenting on David Cameron's plans to bar people who do not pay full UK tax from Parliament and the Government, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: David Cameron's plan is a sham. The super rich like Lord Ashcroft, Zac ...
On the twelve days of striking BA air crew gave to me Twelve families sulking Eleven babies screaming Ten iPods blasting Nine laddettes bitchin' Eight bags a falling Seven stewards all hiding Six boards delaying Five onion rings* Four hours of sleep Three fisty cuffs Two smelly socks And one million people delayed Willie Walsh BA's Chief Executive has said: "We are absolutely determined to do whatever we can to protect our customers from this appalling, unjustified decision from Unite. We do not want to see a million Christmases ruined." The Union Unite say: "Ruined Christmases will eventually be forgotten, ...
Two scheduled meetings involving Luton and Central Bedfordshire Councillors have been cancelled as members squabble over whether a plan for 5,500 new homes East of Luton should go ahead. An added complication was introduced when, without any explanation, Luton Council switched from supporting the plan to opposing it. Local Tories really need to get their act together Whatever they tell us, there is clearly a major split in the Tory Party with some Conservative Councillors saying they are against the East of Luton development plan and some wanting it to go ahead. We had hoped there would be an early ...
View Larger Map This Sunday 20th December we have an afternoon double bill of Libdem initiatives and everyone is invited to come. The appointment is for 3pm at the trouble junction between Lewisham High Street and Courthill road SE13. There we'll time the traffic lights and we need quite a lot of people to do this because ...
Updates are shown in italics BROKEN PROMISE 1: Lemsford Road: resurfacing was repeatedly promised and I even checked the text of a letter I sent to local residents confirming that it would be done two years ago. Last year I was given further reassurances but am now told that it is on hold awaiting the end of building works. There is now a tentative date of February next year but they have added in new reasons why they won't be willing or able to do it. BROKEN PROMISE 2: I was assured that there would be additional markings on Holywell ...
I was doing some work for charity yesterday which involved knocking on doors and giving out small presents and a Christmas card to people who lived on their own. Everyone was pleased to see me and it was a very pleasant experience. It also involved going into sheltered accomodation. On one occassion the first person let me in and I then went to see the manager because I had more to give out and I presumed that they would want to know about me. Unfortunately the manager was nowhere to be seen. In another home I had two presents to ...
I recently came across the Birmingham Be Heard Consultation Database a service which brings together information on local consultations.
