I would like to wish everyone in Chorlton a happy and healthy 2010!
I would like to wish everyone in Chorlton a happy and healthy 2010!
I am furious at Jack Straw for insulting police officers throughout the country. Locally, Inspector Hubbard and his team do a great job. A gang of burglars robbed properties in the ville in the early hours of 23rd December. Arrests were made within 36 hours. We have a situation where PCSOs have virtually no paperwork and police officers are overloaded. This means that the visible side of policing is being done by PCSOs. I know the valuable role they play, but many members of the public see them as 'plastic police'. Straw should apologise and get more police out on ...
Some of you must be extraordinarily sick of the Beatles-only focus of this blog for a little while. That's because I've got essays on Grant Morrison's Steed & Mrs Peel and Doctor Who comics work, political progressivism as a result of Bayes' theorem, LA powerpop music of the last decade, and Nine Carols And Lessons ...
Day one of the new year and more snow is here and forecast. I understand everyone's frustration, upset and anger about how bad it all is. We are used to being "in charge" and getting solutions at the click of a button, but that is not possible in this situation. If the main roads could be left once they have been cleared and all efforts be put onto estate roads, it would help. But the main...
Sgt Pepper was always going to be a difficult one for me to review. Quite simply, I don't think it's a very good album. Oh, it's far from a bad album – I'd go so far as to say it was 'quite good' – but it's infinitely inferior to the albums on either side of it ...
Mark Reckons has a piece looking at the problems facing ITV. One of his proposed solutions is to restore the regional identities that the third channel has lost. This puts me in mind of a video I discovered on YouTube the other day. Taken from BBC2's Late Show, it shows Peter York looking at the history of television companies' logos.
The Guardian reports that backbench Tories are mobilising to try and force the Commons Speaker, John Bercow, out of his post following the general election. Various excuses are cited, but the real reason is that he is frankly not Tory enough for them. MPs such as Nadine Dorries have been moaning about him from the ...
The major resurfacing work in Shire Way, Yate from the Edgeworth junction down to the Westerleigh Rd mini-roundabout was originally supposed to be done last month. It has now been rescheduled to start on Monday 11 January, and to be complete by Tuesday 19 January.
The First Saturday of the month (that's the 2nd) will have the regular drop-in session at Gorton Market, 12 - 1. We'll be in the seating area in the middle. All welcome.
So, there goes the RTD era of Doctor Who. Frankly, I'm not sure I know what to make of it as a standalone episode yet, but then, I'm not sure I'll have settled that for a good year or two yet, with the benefit of a bit of time-assisted perspective. Inevitably, one's analysis of this ...
Happy 2010 to you all! Here's a post that *doesn't* contain any Dr Who-based content. Forget Antony Gormley's angels, the people at the top of the fourth plinth, and Diana's Drain in Hyde Park; everyone knows that the greatest piece of public art ever to have been built in Britain in modern times[1] was the fibreglass statue of King Kong that once stood between the old Bull Ring and the Rotunda in the otherwise ghastly brutalist city centre of 1970s Birmingham, home of Cliff Richard's Brumburgers[2], described by Telly Savalas as "my kinda town", and chronicled by me here a ...
There were a number of references to Star Wars in tonight's Doctor Who. The guard who was an inch too tall in the mansion, just like Luke being too short when he rescued Leah. The haphazard and bumpy rescue of the Doctor in his wheelchair was like Chewbacca rescuing the recently released from carbonite Han Solo. The Asteroid Guns on the Vinvocci vessel were straight steals from the Millennium Falcon. The ominously large Gallifrey and all hell breaking loose hanging over earth are similar to the Death Star. Murray Gold's music also at times had echoes of John Williams score. ...
Thank you Doctor, a great final episode.
Huh? What's happened? What am I doing here? Last I recall I was at my brother's house in Bangor on Christmas Day playing junior monopoly and trying to watch the Doctor Who Christmas Special. Now I find I'm in Scotland, there appears to be an awful lot of snow outside. Who is this on my Facebook and Twitter profiles? And who has been writting this on my blog? WARNING Note to all blogreaders this is just a plot devise based around the two part Doctor Who Christmas Special if you haven't seen it I do apologise.
Many predictions for 2010 have already been made by bloggers and I can't resist adding my own. So here are my predictions for 2010; 1. Both the Greens and UKIP will have there first MP's after the election in Caroline Lucas and Nigel Farage 2. Lib dems will lose a number of seats in the South West but will gain others ending up with about the same number of MP's (63) 3. The Tories will win the next general election with a very small majority. 4. England will lose on penalties in the Simi final of the World Cup. 5. ...
When Charles Kennedy stood down as leader of the Liberal Democrats in 2006, many saw this as a great opportunity to shift the party into a more "economically liberal" position. The agenda was to be to advocate a smaller state and tax cuts. Whilst proclaiming that they saw the labels of left or right as irrelevant when defining where they stood politically, they were also keen to point out that the party should not be identified as being left of Labour as it had been in previous general elections. Early proposals for the party to drop it's support for the ...
Today, the first of January two thousand and ten, is a binary date. 010110. That appeals to my inner geek, but is a bit alarming because I realised it on the last binary date, the eleventh of November 2001, 111101, which was over eight years ago but feels like it was a week last Sunday. On that day in 2001 I was presenting my regular student radio show, and remarked on the oddity of the day (I hadn't realised at the time that the day before had also been a binary date. As had the first of that month, three ...
Not been really thinking about your responsibilities to the planet, today? Nursing a hangover? Worrying about whether Matt Smith will be any good as the new Doctor? Delivering all your remaining calendars because Labour have had the temerity to do a calendar too? Well join the club! Luckily, the good people at the Guardian have anticipated our slumber and offered a helpful guide to get our 10% cut. I have been looking at what I can do and any issues. 1. Cut the electric & gas bills by 10% 2. Unplugging more appliances, one very bad habit of mine. 3. ...
A Happy New Year to all. I hope 2010 brings health and happiness your way. My own decade has begun in inauspicious circumstances, having spent most of its first day stuck in the giant roadwork which I hear is officially known as the M6. Speed restrictions and narrow lanes were left in place over the holidays "for my safety," although after five hours crawling through them there was a significant danger to both my sanity and the safety of those to whom I was close. Thankfully I was un-armed and therefore unable to take my frustrations out on anyone. Last ...
A dusting of snow with glinting sunshine; here is a picture I took at half past eight this morning: [IMG: New Year's Day at Keighley]
A selection of tributes and news articles about Cllr Kabeer Hussain who was a councillor for Hyde Park and Woodhouse up to his death on the 29th of December 2009. Cllr Hussain left behind his wife and three young children. Our thoughts are with them. Tribute from Cllr Richard Brett, Joint Leader, Leeds City Council BBC article - including tribute from Leeds NW MP Greg Mulholland Articles from the Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post
In just over an hour, the event I've been stockpiling all the tissues for takes place - the end of David Tennant's tenure as the Doctor. Actually, who knew I'd need the tissues to deal with a stinking cold and the rather painful consequences of poking myself in the eye with the Radio Times last night? Who knew listings magazines could be so lethal? If you've come in here looking for a serious review, I have to disappoint. Time and my current state of one-eyedness doesn't lend itself to long spells at the laptop. Instead, I can only direct you ...
celebrity spot ... David Mitchell by St Clement's car park in Oxford # turns out I'm better at air soccer than ten-pin bowling. Who knew? # 'Nick Clegg's got the X factor in this election' says Mail headline http://bit.ly/6P7OVy <- hmm, can't see this in Rees-Mogg's article # http://twitpic.com/vl2n4 – I love a nice bit of irony when out delivering LD leaflets on a freezing Bank Holiday # http://twitpic.com/vl3gb – I love a nice bit of irony when out delivering LD leaflets on a freezing Bank Holiday # one delivery round down, one to go. (Finally found flat 16B). But ...
celebrity spot ... David Mitchell by St Clement's car park in Oxford # turns out I'm better at air soccer than ten-pin bowling. Who knew? # 'Nick Clegg's got the X factor in this election' says Mail headline http://bit.ly/6P7OVy <- hmm, can't see this in Rees-Mogg's article # http://twitpic.com/vl2n4 – I love a nice bit of irony when out delivering LD leaflets on a freezing Bank Holiday # http://twitpic.com/vl3gb – I love a nice bit of irony when out delivering LD leaflets on a freezing Bank Holiday # one delivery round down, one to go. (Finally found flat 16B). But ...
Our household's all agog for tonight's Doctor Who - probably the most important regeneration for twenty-eight years. Thank you, David Tennant, and good luck, Matt Smith! And I always said the Time Lords were gits. As a special New Doctor treat, I'd like to share with you this superb piece of animation by "Tardis Timegirl", mixing Stanley Kubrick and Patrick Troughton to create something very special indeed: inspired, gorgeous to look at and, in parts, rather witty. In other turn-of-the-year news, birthday elephant Millennium - happy birthday, young Master Dome! - has assembled the best of his and other bloggers ...
It's Friday, it's 5 and a few minutes. So although it doesn't feel like home time what with it being New Year's Day a tradition is a tradition, even if only a few weeks old. Found this via Karen Alloy on twitter, who I'd recommend you subscribe to her YouTube Channel. This however, isn't one of hers just her recomendation hat tip where it's due. But this is her latest. And finally thanks to Alex Wilcock for unearthing this gem as we await the 10th regeneration scene of The Doctor later this evening.
Ministers are trying to get their hands on hospital charity-cash ... Labour kick up over calls for an immediate by-election ... a quarter of all MPs now plan to quit ... and there are 20,0000 council officers with the powers to search your home. Tories trying to buy power, says Straw - The Independent, 30.12.09 David Cameron is today accused by a senior Cabinet minister of attempting to "buy" victory at the general election with a US-style campaign dominated by advertising. Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, predicts the Tory campaign will the most lavish in political history and denounces Mr. ...
[IMG: keith-in-snow.jpg] If you think this was just a photo opportunity, check out the 550 houses in Blackhill which we delivered this morning.
Helen Duffett, on LDV's 2x2, has reminded me that today is the 25th Anniversary of Ernie Wise making the first mobile phone call in the UK (pictured). He is dressed that was as he is in Panto, this is January the first after all. What the picture is sadly missing is the battery pack in his left hand. This truly was the age of the brick as a mobile phone, they that to the kids today and they will just laugh at you. The phone he is holding is actually one of my former clients Motorola, I'm not sure what ...
Cassetteboy recently had his edits of the Party leader speeches shown on BBC2's 2009 Unwrapped with Miranda Hart. The full episode can be found here on BBC IPlayer. Here are some of the funny outtakes from it. Also here is the full Nick Clegg edited speech And as an extra treat do check out Cassetteboy vs Nick Griffin vs Question Time Other clips from Cassetteboy can be found here. Enjoy!
Happy New (General Election) Year! On this day in 1973, the UK joined the European Community, along with Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. On January 1, 2002, Euro coins and banknotes became legal tender in twelve of the European Union's member states. It's a quarter of a century since Britain's first mobile phone call was made. In a seemingly random intersection of the Fates, comedian Ernie Wise was calling from St Katherine's Dock to a room above a Newbury curry house – the then office of a little company called Vodafone. 2 Interesting Stories Is a Labour-Tory coalition unthinkable? ...
Rumours have it that tonight the Master Race is going to come under threat of extinction because of the Doctor. Don't make me laugh hahahaha. Remember how not that long ago it took the whole human race to save him. Well they, you, me everyone is now the Master, he'll have a hard time persuading me to turn against me. With over 6 Billion of me taking him on this he won't be able to simple rely on turning his interesting human race hocus pocus to get his own over on us like he did the last time. Remember my ...
That's the challenge I ended up setting Contact Islington during 2009: 223 reports of graffiti 154 reports of dumped rubbish from private individuals 76 reports of dumped rubbish from the corporate sector (e.g. abandoned materials after road works) 18 broken street lights 44 other issues The vast majority have been handled efficiently and got right first time, for which praise is due. The volume of reports has also dropped through the year, suggesting a genuine and sustained improvement in the parts of the borough which I pass through frequently. It has also been good to see that whilst removing much ...
Martin Kettle has a piece in the Guardian this morning floating the idea that a hung parliament after this year's general election might result in a Labour-Tory coalition. Though Labour-Tory coalitions are by no means unknown in local government, the article is all a little tongue in cheek. Still, we Lib Dems would do well to bear Kettle's conclusion in mind: It seems innocent to assume that either Labour or the Tories would automatically turn first to the Liberal Democrats in those circumstances - or that the Lib Dems would necessarily deliver. The big parties could calculate that they would ...
Completely forgot to do any of these last year so can't really say whether I was right or wrong to be honest so here's my attempt this year: Obama's healthcare plan will have become a reality by the end of 2010.Britain will have begun the withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of 2010.By the end of the year Mandelson will have been involved in another political funding scandal.Comrade Quentin Davies (of bell tower fame) will definitely not be made a Lord despite promises that may or may not have been made to hime when he joined the Labour Party.At least ...
Regular readers of this blog knew it was coming at some point - I was always going to reflect the amazing architecture of Tel Aviv. It is the singlemost feature that struck me when I was first here and not much has changed. Well, there's a slight sense of an economic down-turn in the air which might reflect the slightly un-maintained housing, but the city remains awash with architectural gems. In short most of it is from the Bauhaus tradition - it's essentially minimalist - reflects the beauty of white, simplicity and using the cleverness of lines and sight. The ...
Well it is a new year so Happy New Year. If you have made resolutions let's hope you keep to them and in the best Miss World tradition I will work towards world peace and harmony. Alright that is a bit challenge so let's go for working hard to make a little change each day. If we all did that it would be a big change. This morning I have wished quite a few people a happy new year and one person wished me a happy new decade. I didn't go into great explanations but I did speak with my ...
Nicholas Jones has an opinion piece about ITV in the Independent today. In it he explains how the TV station is in dire straits, steadily losing audience share year on year and doing worst in the the key demographic area of 16-34 year olds (incidentally I just exited this demographic a few months ago). The competition from other media such as the Internet and computer games etc. has also taken it toll. Towards the end of the article, Mr Jones specifies what he thinks could help to revive ITV's fortunes: The average producer will shout me down, but many TV ...
I have a confession to make: 2009 tested my belief in politics to breaking point. I remember once looking round the House of Commons during another Punch and Judy session of Prime Ministers Questions. In the real world, youth unemployment had just reached its highest level ever, our brave soldiers were facing extraordinary dangers in Afghanistan, the bankers were still gorging themselves on bonuses, and the economy was in the middle of the worst recession in generations. And what were the politicians doing? Yelling and guffawing at each other as if the world outside didn't exist. So I don't blame ...
One of the many interesting and challenging jobs I am tasked with as a member of the exec of Nottingham Lib Dems is to produce a members newsletter five times a year. We have a big events programme built up of lots of easy-to-organise events, and so much of the content is taken up with the details and information about those. But a recent training event with staff from Members Services at Lib Dem HQ set me thinking about what better could be in our members newsletter. Thinking back to how and why I joined the Lib Dems it was ...
* Well we are now in a new year and for all but the first few days of 2009 I was running Google Analytics on my blog. So how did I do last year. I had 20, 508 Absolute Unique Visitors, making 34,608 visits and 41,132 page views. In the Total Politics Guide to Political Blogging 2009-2010 I came 11th Scottish Blog, 11th Lib Dem and 101st Overall. I also had the honour of writting up the Scottish Blogging Year for publication. My Wikio Rankings in their have shown a constant upwards trend but I wasn't tracking them the whole ...
After 13 years of government and reams of legislation, you would have thought that having come to power promising to tackle crime and the root causes of crime, Labour might have cracked it by now. Alas that is not the case and the frustration is beginning to show. That is evident in the remarks of Justice Secretary, Jack Straw who has decided that he is going to blame the police for his own failure to deliver on Labour promises. In today's Guardian, Mr. Straw puts forward the view that some police officers prefer staying in the warmth of the police ...
Throughout the festive season, LDV is offering our readers another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which have appeared on the blog since 1st January, 2009. The fifth most-read LDV op-ed of 2009 was by LDV co-editor Mark Pack, and originally appeared on 8th September ... 29% of seats have not changed hands since 1945 Cross-posted from The Wardman Wire: A major part of the point of a democratic electoral system is that those elected to public office can be held to account by the public for their actions. The anger we often see over the behaviour ...
Courtesy of the LibDems4Parliament website, here is the list of candidate selections closing this month: Montgomeryshire – Prospective Welsh Assembly Candidate (02 Jan 2010) High Peak – PPC (08 Jan 2010) Battersea – PPC (18 Jan 2010) Tooting – PPC (18 Jan 2010) Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire – Prospective Scottish Parliamentary Candidate (22 Jan 2010) For further details on how you could become the Liberal Democrat prospective candidate in any of these constituencies see http://libdems4parliament.org.uk/events. The site also have further information and contact details if you're interested in finding out more about how to become a candidate more generally.
Plaid Cymru AM, Nerys Evans leaps into action in this morning's Western Mail with a load of old nonsense that belies her intelligence. In many ways her view that allowing Welsh MPs to serve as Government ministers in Whitehall with responsibility for England-only affairs is "unaccountable, undemocratic and unfair" is a natural position for a separatist, but her justification for this position demonstrates a surprising ignorance of the constitutional settlement we are working with. Nerys believes that the three Ministers she cites are examples of an outdated system that is yet to catch up with devolution. In reality though devolution ...
And so, another new year (and indeed, new decade) beckons. Given the action-packed nature of the last one, there might be much to be said for something a little quieter, but I don't think that the fates have that in store for me. There are some things that I'd like to do though, and without getting too hung up about them, i.e. I'm not publishing them here, it wouldn't do me any harm to sharpen up my act a bit in 2010. And with that, I'll see you all bright and early in the year to come...
New Year message from Tavish Scott, Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. "This year, 2010, will be one of the most momentous in politics for generations. We know there must be a General Election. But nobody knows how that will end. "The polls are all over the place. But they all show the Liberal Democrats in a stronger position in the run up to an election than we have been for generations. "We are the challengers to Labour across Scotland. "We have well-resourced target seats that are campaigning harder than ever. "We have inspiring candidates who deserve to be part ...
In time honoured fashion, the start of a new year is always a good time to consider what it might herald. And so, not to be outdone by other bloggers who've done the same thing, I'm going to share with you 10 predictions for this year. 1 - The Conservatives will win the General Election (which ...
In his New Year message, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has laid down a challenge to other party leaders to tell people what they really believe in, rather than what they think people want to hear. Here is the full text of Nick's message : "I have a confession to make: 2009 tested my belief in politics to breaking point. I remember once looking round the House of Commons during another Punch and Judy session of Prime Ministers Questions. In the real world, youth unemployment had just reached its highest level ever, our brave soldiers were facing extraordinary dangers in ...
Each day this week I'm giving a tip related to computers and campaigning. The exact details of how you follow each tip will vary depending on your own situation, so if you're not quite sure what to do by all means pop up a question in the comments. Today's tip: stop thinking that just sticking a web address on a leaflet is a good way to promote the local Liberal Democratwebsite. Yup, you read that right. Certainly, leafleting can be a crucial tool for generating more traffic to Liberal Democrat websites. But simply sticking a web address somewhere in the ...
Firstly, obviously, Happy New Year to everyone. I went to my hairdresser to have a hair cut (too short - hate it) and we were having a conversation about the new tax rate. Or rather, he was telling me of a client who is moving to Switzerland because of the 50% tax rate and the change to bankers' bonuses etc. He said other clients were thinking of leaving the country (this is a little hairdressers in Finchley Central by the way - not a swish West End jobby) because of this stuff. I said (and please remember this is a ...
I would like to take this moment to wish everyone a Happy New Year! This year brings a start to a wonderful decade full of change and growth. The world, as we know it, is at a crossroads, and this is the decade where things will happen, one way or the other. It is up to each and everyone of us to decide how we want not only our world to be, but how we want to live our lives. Do we want to govern ourselves, or be the sheep that the elite want us to be? I know my ...
The Evian roller babies have to be the best advert on just now!
Well it is the start of a new year, (the disputed) start of a new decade but of course it is that time of month where I get to reveal what has happened in December on my nearly blog. Compliment of the month came from Alex Wilcock who called me "the lovely Stephen Glenn" on Hogmanay. Iain Dale also managed to link to me five times this month. When after the first three I accused him of flirting with me he said "you wish", so no love bombing from the Tories top blogger then. Because of my disastrous November my ...
[IMG: diary.JPG] 12th - Economy, Environment & Transport Scrutiny, Bury Town Hall, Public welcome 19th - Polefield Tenants & Residents Association 21st - Prestwich Area Partnership 25th - Lib Dem Council Group Meeting
Happy new year and best wishes to everyone fighting elections this year. Well, the Lib Dems amongst you at least [IMG: :-)] Spare a thought though for another group of people facing an election in 2010. Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe (Zanu-PF) is talking of calling an election during the year. At the last election up to 200 opposition MDC supporters were murdered by Zanu-PF supporters. The bravery of those in the MDC who are willing to contest another election is an example to us all.
Once again my thanks to Stephen Glenn for the idea, here is the monthly summary of my visitor stats according to google analytics for December 2009. I have done this for the last three months and as it was somewhat interesting for me to see the numbers, like many others including Stephen I am sharing them. The busiest day on my blog last month was Tuesday 1st December when the story of Fiona Hyslop being sacked after Tavish Scott discussed with other parties introducing a vote of no confidence, Alex Salmond sacked her before the vote. Last month I had ...
Congratulations to Colin Smith of Keighley for receiving an MBE for services to Local Government. At a time when regard for public service, through the antics of a few MPs, has sunk to an all-time low, it is good to know that our firefighters, police, and ambulance services are still so highly regarded. They provide an invaluable service in keeping us safe in our homes, on the streets, and increasingly in our cars. One shocking statistic that has come out in recent months is that firefighters rescue seven times as many people from wrecked cars as they do from burning ...
Exploring the limits to chocolate consumption. I may be some time. # @artesea [IMG: :-)] in reply to artesea # Puzzled why quite so much spam on Twitter is about teeth whitening # RT @libdemvoice: New post: Five tech tips for the new year: back up your data http://ldv.org.uk/17254 # Off to engage responsible uncle mode. # @antonvowl Given great previous TV version of Triffids, what was point of making it again? in reply to antonvowl # @CllrIainRoberts Time to find the 'mark as favourite' option [IMG: :)] in reply to CllrIainRoberts # @jonworth Ta! in reply to jonworth # ...
As we begin 2010 it's tempting only to look forward. The year ahead promises to be an exciting one, with a general election and a possible referendum on further National Assembly powers, 2010 really could see the political landscape change. I know that across the party, elected members, staff and activists have already imagined the early months of 2010 a hundred times over. Diaries are already filled, plans made and campaigns well underway. It is an exciting and busy time. But we should resist ignoring the passing of 2009, however keen we might be to start this new year. There's ...
Let's not beat about the bush, 2009. You were rubbish. Complete and utter testicles. I'm glad to see the back of you. Go on now go. Walk out the door. Don't turn around now, 'cos you're not welcome any more. 2010 is already shaping up to be better, because I am v drunk, and have seen the new year in with some very lovely people. A shout out to Nicki, and Im and Tim, and Colin, and Liz, and Jules and Si, and Emma, and all the other people who made working New Year's Eve bearable. And, of course, to ...
Fri 1st
01:24
Linkblogging for 01/01/10 (ten months to go til the first palindromic date of the millennium...)
I've written 1831 words on Sgt Pepper so far and not got to the end of side one yet, so I thought I'd stick a few links up for now...Pepper post will be up tomorrow. Millennium Elephant is nominating himself for the Orwell Awards, and has a list of his favourite of his own posts there. ...
In the week before Christmas the Department for Transport released statistics which showed that, unsurprisingly for most Herts residents, that the Roads in Hertfordshire are worse than the national average and deteriorating fast. County Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst, Liberal Democrat Spekesperson on Roads said: 'The Tories keep telling us how wonderful their Asset Management system is, but this independent research shows that they're just overseeing the gradual collapse of the road network. The roads have got notably worse during the life of the last council. Pot hole filling doesn't solve the problem.' Liberal Democrat County Councillor Allan Witherick added: 'With the ...
I hope 2010 is a great year for everyone. There's one thing that is certain - it will always be interesting!
Welcome to 2010, I'm out and about somewhere but here are the Red Hot Chilli Pipers to bring in the New Year, indeed new decade with you in my absense. Also check out Lib Dem Voice where my Hogmanay edition of Haggis, Neeps and Liberalism should be up too.
I'm an hour ahead of most of my readers, here in Nice, so by the time you read this, I'll probably be asleep. However, I hope that 2010 is kind to you, wherever you are, and that you get everything you want, unless of course you're standing against a Liberal Democrat, in which case I hope that you enjoy your campaign and don't mind coming second too much. Happy New Year to you all!
Here's to 2010!
May you all have a happy and prosperous ...
