As I only started using Google Analytics sixteen months ago, 2009 is the first year for which complete data exists. So, here goes... 'Liberal Bureaucracy' received 22,922 visits during the year, an average of nearly 63 per day, or 1,910 per month. Not too bad, I would suggest, especially as I don't really promote the blog as well as I might. The top postings were; 1. EXCLUSIVE: John Barrett MP to stand down (454 views)2. Nigel Griffiths - it's not the sex, it's the lying that will get you in the end... (280 views)3. Derek Draper - getting his canvass ...
Talking about a weak leader, David Cameron only has to look at a blog by Derek Wyatt's on Cameron's inability to hold a consistent view to see that he himself is a perfect example of weak leadership. Section 28 is a clear example of how Cameron's "year of change" should be greeted with a great deal of scepticism. ...
This is what Nick Clegg should be saying to David Cameron's proposed creation of a 'War Cabinet' but we all know, sadly, it is not what he will say. Cameron explains the proposals thus; On his "war cabinet" plan, Mr Cameron said opposition leaders would be able to "offer their advice and insights". "When a nation is ...
Taegen Goddard has re-started his 'Friday Night Trivia' series on Political Wire. He unearths some fascinating minutiae. This week, one particular fact caught my eye: Rep. Jeremiah Haralson (R-AL) was the only member of Congress to be killed and eaten by wild animals. This led me to the Wikpedia entry for Rep Haralson (1846-1916) which reveals an exceptional life story. He was actually raised as a slave. Indeed, he was sold twice. But he became a Republican congressman, having originally joined the Democrat party. He was Alabama's first black congressman. Long after, he was killed by a wild animal in ...
I wasn't going to blog anymore today but Iain Dale's Daley Dozen alerted me to this post by Donal Blaney. In he he talks about marriage for gays an argument he prefaces with this before going into his argument: "As a libertarian and a Christian myself, I really do not give two hoots whether someone is gay, bisexual or whatever. We are taught to love the sinner but to hate the sin." So you can imagine this open line brings in a couple of conflict which grate. First he claims to a libertarian yet is imposing a restriction on liberty. ...
Remember the story about the Tory-run Harborough District Council cancelling a Christmas appearance by reindeer because it might snow? Well, it has reached Conservative Home. It is fun to see a Tory council leader squirming in the face of an elf and safety (do you see what I did there?) story. I have done my best to keep the row going by pointing out that HDC has previous when it comes to going to pieces in the snow.
yes the chinese did take away. a life. a couple of days ago a man with alleged reduced mental capacity was sentenced to death for drug smuggling. he received the death penalty and is now dead. unable to appeal his innocence. why did this happen? and do we know the true reasons? china will have its own rule of law. i have no idea whether this is enshrined in common or statute. what i do hear is that there are laws to allow for mental capacity. were they used thoroughly and robustly? in the media there were allsorts of reports ...
"We have said that from day one of a future Conservative Government, a national security council, with the key ministers and defence chiefs, will sit as a war cabinet. And I can announce today that if we win this year's election, I will invite leaders of the main opposition parties to attend the war cabinet on a regular basis so they can offer their advice and insights." David Cameron, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, 2 January 2010 Apart from the obvious question, "Who, exactly, are we fighting?", I was most intrigued by young Dave's suggestion that Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown's replacement, whoever ...
At 2.00 p.m. on Sunday January 3rd a group of local people will try to build a massive snowman on Belle Vue field. They'd be really pleased if you would join them.
I haven't been posting much about rugby this season but thought it would be apt to report on today's fantastic win for the All Blacks at Redruth (in part because it will annoy my brother, a Reds fan). Back in September, Launceston beat the Reds in their first home match of the season despite a last gasp rally by the visitors. It was a shame that such a big match was so early in the season, but it was great to win. This time, Nigel Hambly and his team seemed to think that they could get the better of the ...
New Year, old sabre-rattling. Gordon Brown and David Cameron are parading their leadership credentials, with a view to capturing an entire nation – the UK, that is. David Cameron made a speech (transcript here) in Oxfordshire today saying that the country needs a change of direction and a new leadership: "We can't go on in these difficult times with a weak prime minister and a divided government." [See the BBC website for a video clip] You can almost hear the Tory munitions factory roar as they forge this, strengthen that and defeat the other. And here's Gordon Brown on New ...
It's been snowing again in town. The Council has been gritting fairly heavily but I expect that the same problems will occur as last time - the roads which get no grit will be impassable. That means most of the roads on which people live. If you have any concerns, please contact me on 07984 644138 or alexfolkes@gmail.com
Residents have contacted me regarding the poor condition of the road surface in Hillcrest Road - particularly at the Blackness Avenue end. I have raised residents' concerns with the City Development Department of the City Council.
I return to the rarefied subject of the Cable landing point at Widemouth Bay, Cornwall. Yesterday I took this photo of an exposed cable on the beach. ...Not something you see very often. Here's a more normal photo I took. There are some oyster catchers in the foreground. It was a pleasure to see them – as the usual ornithological fare there is pretty well dominated by gulls. Widemouth Bay, Cornwall 2/1/10 And here's a proper photo of oyster catchers which I didn't take: [IMG: Oyster Catcher & chick] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: Ian A Kirk
[IMG: chorlton-meadows-5.jpg] The site visit for the Planning Committee to visit Chorlton Meadows has been arranged for 14th January at 10.15am. Most of the Planning Committee (attendance isn't obligatory, but most will attend) will visit the site to see first hand the impact the growth of the football club could have on that part of the Meadows. All are welcome and it is by its very nature less formal than the main Committee that sits at 2pm the same day.
Leader of the Liberal Democrat European Parliament Group, Fiona Hall, has set out why David Cameron's drive to modernise his party has been undermined by the actions of the 25 Tory MEPs since they joined a right-wing breakaway group last July: A Tory attempt to stop the EU offering "new and additional" money at the Copenhagen summit was defeated by 588 votes to 78. Two Tory MEPs, who are climate change sceptics, Daniel Hannan and Roger Helmer, voted against Mr Cameron's policy to support an 80 per cent cut in carbon emissions by 2050. The Tory group refused to condemn ...
Sat 2nd
18:25
Linkblogging for 02/01/10 (OK, so I was completely wrong about the whole palindrome thing...)
The closest I've come to a New Year's Resolution this year (other than getting PEP! out not *too* late and trying to stay employed all year) is that I'm going to try to post *something* every single day. I've also decided to blog every single book I read (not reread or I'd post about nothing ...
Conservative Home never disappoints when it comes to revealing the true face of the Conservative Party. One wonders how many hairs David Cameron has torn out through a simple skim of its contents as it undermines his efforts to argue the Conservative Party has somehow changed. It reports that 70% of Conservative Party members support 'ethnic screening' of air travellers; In the ...
In spite of worries that Keighley's very own Christmas Day bus service might not be able to run because of the heavy snow the Bus Museum Trust volunteers kept the show on the road for the fifteenth year. They checked out the routes for safety before the bus service began for the day and managed to run the full service using their wonderful vintage buses. Congratulations to all concerned - and a big thank you on behalf of Keighley.
In the run-up to the much-anticipated appearance by Tony Blair in front of the Chilcott Inquiry into the Iraq war former Prime Minister, Sir John Major has stepped up to the microphone and said what many of us have been thinking: The Tory ex-premier told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he wanted to know whether the Cabinet had been aware of doubts about Saddam Hussein's threat before the decision to take military action. Sir John said that in the mid-1990s aides to US President Bill Clinton had raised the idea of regime change in Iraq with UK officials. They ...
New Year's Day: The first grew too old, his body wearing thin; the second confronted the Time Lords; the third realised his own mistakes before facing death by radiation; the fourth was visited by each of his companions; the fifth gave his life for a single ordinary, extraordinary person; the sixth saw his own future; and when he became the seventh he crashed his TARDIS. Paul McGann doesn't count. The ninth survived the Time War and burned in the TARDIS. The tenth was all of these things, and with "I don't want to go" uniquely his own. The perfect conclusion. ...
Some of these reviews can also be found on Amazon.In December 2009 I read the following books: 1. Gibraltar Sun, by Michael McCollum This is the middle book in a trilogy, and is self-published. The author used to be published by a "proper" publisher but is no longer. That is of course, a terrible recipe, and his work must, of course, be rubbish. But it ain't. Sure, it's not high art. But it's engaging and entertaining. And that's what ultimately makes a novel a good one. I've actually read this book before, but it was a coupla years ago, and ...
No offence to any accountants out there but the profession doesn't exactly have the coolest image does it? However I have a new respect for them. Seems that after the PBR Vince is the accountants choice for the next Chancellor. Now, without meaning to be rude to Vince (I have a huge amount of respect for him), he's not the coolest person in the world either but his grasp of economics leaves most MPs eating his dust. So well done Vince and by the time the general election rolls round let's hope everyone starts thinking like the accountants! (Well not ...
Full body scans for ordinary travellers because the security services can't do the job properly and talk to each other? Why make us all suffer even more and tie up billions of pounds and man (woman) hours on security searches which don't seem to work anyway? Umar Abdulmutallab was on terrorist watch lists but managed ...
Liberal Youth call for a "fairer, greener and more liberal" decade for "our generation". Full text here: As we move into 2010, our generation stands at the start of a new decade. Our first decade as the people gaining control and moving into positions of power - our decade. The challenges we will face are huge. 10 years ago, a new decade started with a healthy economy; excitement and anticipation about what the new Millennium would bring and a belief that the world will become better place for future generations. Our decade starts with an economy in tatters; a political ...
Thus: About 2nd Jan 4pm R4 news: On the 4 o'clock News (R4) there was a headline about David Cameron's speech on `starting the gun on the General Election`with an item with what he has to say and a Labour reperesentative stating an opposing narrative. As the starting pistol had effectively been fired by a main party leader ...
John Major seeks today to criticise Tony Blair in his handling of the Iraq War. Much as I would like to agree with John Major, I cannot forget or forgive the fact that his government knew about the murder of 5,000 muslims in Srebrenica in 1995, was warned about it by then Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown, and the UK government let it be known that the "safe areas" would not be defended. John Major will not be judged well by history, and I beleive in 16 years time when the 30 year rule is applied to government data and ...
Miranda Hart did a review of 2009 the other day and it was hilarious. At the time there was a lot of banter going back and forth across the Internet between those of us in different political parties as there were edited versions of all the leaders words to distort their messages. Thing is us political types are more than capable of laughing at ourselves so here they are in all their splendour. First up the Prime Minister. Next the man who would be king. And finally in the interests of balance and impartiality Nick Clegg*. *I way off to ...
Over on Next Left, Sunder Katwala makes the case for 1910 being the most underrated year in political history. Reading this, a thought occurred to me: will the Labour Lords respect the Salisbury-Addison Convention if Cameron wins the general election later this year? As long ago as 2005, Lord McNally refuted the continued legitimacy of ...
A big thank you to the 23,060 people who visited this blog since I activated google analytics on it on Monday the 23rd of April 2009. That's quite a huge number, isn't it? And that doesn't include anyone who reads by RSS or on their LJ or DW friends lists. My whelm. It has gone over. My top three posts were:My review of last week's Doctor Who (609 absolute unique visitors)A post advertising the fact that I have invite codes (I currently have 6, by the way) (491 visitors)And another post advertising invite codes (459 visitors)This tells me that lots ...
So David Cameron has started campaigning for the GE. First job for our Party on Monday morning is to ring up the BBC and other media organisations demanding that we have parity of airtime as in effect THE GENERAL ELECTION HAS BEGUN. Forget about technical niceties – old-fashioned and there to entrench institutional discrimination against our party ...
I just spent the last four hours coding the mammoth Who Daily reaction post to yesterday's episode of Doctor Who. Not all of fandom hated it as much as I did, but the reaction is mixed to say the least - although everyone loves Cribbins. Many of you reading this will find yourselves featured. You can thank me for the traffic later; right now I'd just like you to click this link, to lovely Andrew Ducker's masterful, pithy, and succinct summary of Doctor Who: The RTD Years.
I'm fairly certain that it was one of the wise and greatly missed Conrad Russell's maxims that you should read something three times before you react to it. Having acknowledged the wisdom of such a course of action, I am now going to completely disobey it by writing about my initial reaction to last night's Doctor Who, which I've only seen once and have yet to view rationally, without the emotion of the occasion. It'll be a long time before I'm able to do that, though, so you're stuck with my initial thoughts. I was never going to like the ...
This is a true story about a former Essex MP - Major Sir Frederick Carne Rasch. Rasch seemed to have had a pretty good life. He went to Eton and then Trinity College Cambridge, and did a lot of rowing there (that's rowing boats , not rowing in arguments). He spent ten years in the Dragoon Guards, became a director of a couple of breweries, and then went into parliament as a Conservative,
"In that spirit of unity, of a greater purpose than the simple pursuit of politics, I have an announcement to make. "We have said that from day one of a future Conservative Government, a national security council, with the key ministers and defence chiefs, will sit as a war cabinet. "And I can announce today that if we win this year's election, I will invite leaders of the main opposition parties to attend the war cabinet on a regular basis so they can offer their advice and insights. "When a nation is at war, it needs to pull together. "I ...
Looks like the culprits who stole the 'Arbeit Macht Frei' sign from Auschwitz have been caught. I still can't understand how anyone could do this, especially as it seems the police suspect profit as being the motive. If, as is being speculated, the sign was stolen for order by some sick collector this event is even more disturbing. What is truly heartbreaking is that this harrowing symbol was unceremoniously cut into three so it would be easier to transport.
Sat 2nd
14:16
It was the best of time, it was the worst of time... [DOCTOR WHO: END OF TIME SPOILERS]
Polly Toynbee really doesn't like Gordon Brown and increasingly she is annoyed with the Labour Party; the 'death-wish brigade'; In five months David Cameron will be prime minister and Gordon Brown will be toast. Remember him? The man who crashed his party. Remember them? The death-wish brigade that let him do it. However, the commentary on the ...
From the Oldham Evening Chronicle: A selection meeting sparked a huge fall-out amid allegations of threats and candidate rigging. Oldham East and Saddleworth Conservatives chairman Barbara Jackson will stand down in protest, while former Councillor Chris Shyne called it a farce after only five candidates stood for five seats. But North-West leaders insisted they are "a lone voice" and that the party is fully behind the selections. Barrister Kashif Ali was chosen to fight Labour's Phil Woolas for the Oldham East and Saddleworth seat with Kamran Ghafoor taking on Labour's Michael Meacher for the Oldham West and Royton seat. Traditionalists ...
When you put it like that, it kind of sounds like you're making a euphemism for sweary words, but, no. A Very Public Sociologist has published a list of the top 100 Tweeting Bloggers in the UK.. I'm in there at number 82, but Scotland's finest Lib Dem blogging tweeter (or whatever) is none other than Andrew. As far as I can see there are only 4 Scots, the others being the ubuiquitous Tom Harris and Greener Leith.. However, this list doesn't pretend to be and isn't exhaustive. For example, Stephen with 845 followers to my 773 should be nestling ...
Over the last week, the three main party leaders have given their new year messages. Usually, I pay these comments little attention. This time, however, I think they offered some strong clues about the stories the leaders will try to tell in the general election campaign, and, just as interestingly, how they might be tripped up. The main opposition party's theme will always be that "it's time for a change" and, in telling a story, the obvious archetype is about "the rot at the top" that must be stopped. In a clever message, David Cameron didn't stick to the obvious. ...
The Voice is only a success because of the interest and support from our readers. For many people just lurking and reading the site is all they want to do – and that's fine, we're grateful for people taking the time to read the site. You can though help us continue to produce interesting content for a growing audience. Here are three simple ways: 1. Let us have your tips for stories. Perhaps there's something outrageous going on in your local council? Or you're an expert in a particular area and have spotted a story other people have missed? Or ...
It's the 2nd of January and David Cameron is already talking the election talk. On one hand it makes him look ready, sprightly and organised. On the other it could mean fatigue for Conservative activists and put the public off the political process more than ever. If he can't keep up the momentum then he will damage his chances. What is for certain is that even if the election is in March rather than in May it'll seem like the longest General Election Campaign ever... Let the mudslinging commence!
[IMG: Street sign on Nelson Road] I've received notice from the Council that Streetcar are planning to put 3 new cars into Stroud Green. This is excellent news as I know lots of residents are making very active use of the car club and are keen for new sites. The proposed locations are: The Oakfield Road Bridge (when the current engineering works have finished) Nelson Road, near the junction with Ridge Road (see photo) Osbourne Road, near the junction with Victoria Road The formal consultation is planned for February, but if you have any views on these locations then please ...
Benediction for 2010 by Neil Gaiman, which made me tear up. Hat-tip to elisem. My transcript below the cut for those who need or want it. May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books, and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art. Write, or draw, or build, or sing, or live, as only you can. May your coming year be a wonderful thing, in which you dream both dangerously and outrageously. I hope you'll make something that didn't exist before you made ...
We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very happy and successful 2010. Here is a link to The Guardian article reporting Nick Clegg\'s New Year message. The General Election must be held this year; this is Nick's message in a nutshell: "Some people say, what's the point of voting when the same old parties ...
It looks like David Cameron is running scared and rightly so. For more than a year, polls and pollsters have been showing a decisive lead and been predicting a Conservative landslide at the next General Election with Monsieur Cameron as our next Prime Minister.But now, with Labour making a recovery in the polls and talk of a hung parliament, it seems that Dave and his cronies are failing to
Nick Perry, the Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye, has stepped up his work to hold the Department of Transport to account for the proposal to cut the Hastings-Cannon Street direct rail service from 2015. Whilst a letter to Mr Perry from the Department (attached) suggested that a further consultation would be necessary before ...
"The politicians and public of the 2010's may well be asked bigger questions than have been in play at any time since at least the 1980's and maybe the 1930's. It's going to be an interesting decade." David Herdson- PoliticalBetting.com David Cameron is about to kick off what is expected to be a five month general election campaign with a speech in his Oxfordshire constituency. I don't know what he's going to say, but you can count on him not addressing the terrifying state of our democracy. The United Kingdom is a UN Security Council nation, a NATO nation, we ...
To those who don't give a damn, I make no apology for posting an item on Doctor Who. I've loved the programme since I was a kid (I vaguely remember Jon Pertwee, but Tom Baker was 'my' Doctor) and have greatly enjoyed Russell T Davies' 're-imagining' of the show over the past four or five ...
Speaking in Woodstock today David Cameron has launched the Tories election campaign. He said: "The next general election is no more than 153 days away and I don't think it can come soon enough. "Let's make this the year for change - the year when the positive defeats the negative. "We can't go on in these difficult times with a weak Prime Minister and a divided government." He also said that he would from today and every day until the General Election he would spell out what that means. That is a good idea I'll be waiting each day to ...
So just howdoes the main road along Tel Aviv coast end up being named Herbert Samuel Esplanade? Herbert Samuel, later Lord Samuel, has largely dropped from public knowledge in the UK but in terms of several elements for me he's a crucial piece of a local jigsaw. On a simple and political level Herbert Samuel was leader of the Liberal Party - not the most prestigious period from 1931-1935 - and is one of the Leaders during an almost 'dark ages' following the splits with Lloyd George and well before the Grimond Revival. Further, Herbert was a school boy at ...
I wouldn't have wanted to have to travel from Livingston to Berwick today with the weather the way it was. But it is one of the games that is off today in Scotland as a result of the weather. In the SPL the Lanarkshire Derby Motherwell v Hamilton Accies is off. Three of the first division games are off. The Fife derby between Dunfermline and Raith Rovers, the Queen of the South v Ayr United and in the Highlands Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Ross County. Dundee face a 10 o'clock pitch inspection tomorrow for their game against Airdrie. With the ...
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 fourth most-read LDV op-ed of 2009 was by former LDV contributing editor Alix Mortimer, and originally appeared on 24th February ... In defence of Chris Grayling No, not his views on policing. His expenses. Obviously, I'm far from Grayling's biggest fan, but it's the tabloids' insistent foaming that gives one pause for thought. "If you thought Jacqui Smith was bad," they have screamed for the last few mornings, "Look at ...
There has been much ink spilled over the expenses debacle, but there has been an extremely disappointing lack of analysis about what the real consequences are going to be. And not just the intended ones either, like making politics cheaper, and making the political class more transparent with the taxpayers who fund them. What's really important ...
I'm due on LBC tomorrow at 1pm with Kevin Maguire to review the papers and talk about the big political issues for 2010. So - what do you think the big issues will be or should be?
This morning's Western Mail provides further evidence that Peter Hain's reluctance to agree to a referendum has more to do with protecting the power and privileges of MPs than with any concern about whether it can be won or not. Talking about the Welsh Language Legislative Competence Order the Secretary of State for Wales asserts that the emasculation of this instrument, that occurred as a result of scrutiny by the Welsh Affairs Select Committee and the actions of Whitehall, actually improved it. Furthermore he talks about it as if it were actually an Act of Parliament that changes things when ...
There's something about the start of a new year isn't there? I don't mean the inevitable resolutions, which come from eating and drinking too much usually, or the more general "will be nicer" one's which come from the guilt enduced by cards from people you have forgotten - I mean a sense of opportunities to come - this year more then ever! As a Parliamentary Candidate, I am now receiving e-mails asking about my specific views on an enormous range of issues. People want to know what makes me different from other candidates in this constituency and, if elected, how ...
It's great to see that the Lib Dems have pledged that they'll continue to fight for fair bank charges in parliament. It was a real let down that the first high profile judgement of the new supreme court was to support the banks in what any fair minded person could see was a natural injustice. These charges overwhelmingly affect the poor in society as, by their very nature, they affect those who survive on the breadline - it's about time some real action was taken to get rid of them or drastically reduce them. When I go overdrawn my bank ...
Three easy ways to recycle your Christmas tree: Leave it next to your green garden waste bin on your next collection day. The tree will be composted and used as a soil improver on farms across the North West. Take your tree to be shredded at Bruntwood Park, Cheadle any day up to 21st January (8.30am to 3.30pm). This service is also available at Alexandra Park, Bramhall Park, Etherow Country Park and North Reddish Park. Take your tree to one of the household waste recycle centres (local tips) and recycle it in the green waste section.
Happy new year to all and I hope you had a good Christmas. A mention to my fellow Sittingbourne and Sheppey political bloggers - Martin Clarke from the Conservatives, Ashley Wise from Labour and Stephen Trafford from UKIP, happy new year to you all. I look forward to our discussions in the year ahead. The big political event this year is of course the general election. It will be tough for us up against the Con-Lab coalition of vested interests but we will do our best. It would be nice to get the most seats but having more Liberal Democrat ...
A new mega-free trade area has entered the world scene, with the inauguration of the China-South East Asia Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which links the People's Republic to the 10-nation ASEAN bloc. This will make the region an even more formidable player over the next decade. China's commerce with South East Asia has rocketed in recent years, despite the economic ...
[IMG: Empires of the Sea book cover] Roger Crowley's book is an account of the naval battles for control of the Mediterranean during the sixteenth century. Predominantly a conflict between the Muslim Ottoman empire and the Christian Spanish empire, the fighting saw many others sucked in - and many people of each religion fighting on the 'wrong' side - but that does not detract from the underlying clash between two different empires with very strong religious overtones. The clash of religions - and indeed civilisations - is largely forgotten in much of western Europe, but it still has a legacy ...
As a party, we get increasingly defined as one of the '3 main parties', and accordingly lumped together with Labour and Tories as being the same. This view is encouraged by Cameron's foolish "we're all the same really" message (as that's really what the voters want to hear Dave. Let's not even bother debating policy anymore, eh?). It's a consequence of our increased success, but as a result we need to remind voters that we are the radical alternative to the Lab/Con status quo, and that we are most definitely not offering more of the same. If I was designing ...
I've never really written in depth on this blog before about a particular subject which seems to energise a number of "top" Lib Dem bloggers. But since this subject seems to be a prerequisite in order to gain any recognition in the Lib Dem blogosphere , I thought I chuck in to the melting pot my opinions about Dr Who based on having watched the Christmas and New year episodes. I, as people will read, am only a casual watcher of Dr Who. I probably catch a couple of episodes each series, so am in no way an expert on ...
Another DVD from LoveFilm I watched recently is Terence Davies' Of Time and the City. It is a compilation of archive footage of Liverpool accompanied by music and narration from the director himself, modelled on Humphrey Jennings' Listen to Britain (which is included on the disc as a bonus). However, it lacks the wonderful economy of the earlier film and more than one reviewer likened Davies' rather fruity contributions to Uncle Money from Withnail and I. Still, I could watch this sort of footage for ever, and amongst it are shots of the Liverpool Overhead Railway. This unique line can ...
My local MP, dear old Daniel, had a letter in the local paper the other day. It is mostly the usual sort of stuff from a Tory, demonising young people instead of facing an altogether more complex problem. But one particular bit of it caught my eye as being especially easily answered, even for a letter ...
"Even though I'm a Margaret Thatcher-worshipping libertarian, sometimes Tory policies - even those from the Iron Lady herself - make my blood boil". From yesterday's Daily Telegraph, fairly anodyne article about VAT, but I just loved the headline. You've got to laugh really, if even their most ardent supporters are having doubts, then the future may not be so bright for the Tories. Maybe the old Hutchison Telecom slogan "The future's bright, the future's orange" should be appropriated by us Lib Dems?
Whilst out & about in the constituency, I recorded this video, setting out three positive reasons to back the Liberal Democrats. Fittingly, it was recorded at the top of Estover's Ashdown Walk.
Well, lots of whimpering. ( click for intemperate ranting ) Seriously, I am tired and gumpy and possibly not in the most eloquent frame of mind, but THANK FUCK THAT'S OVER. There's no way in hell Moff can be worse. Is there?
Swimmers aged 60 years and over and 16 years and under have benefited from more than 40,000 free swims since the launch of a free swimming offer at St Albans City and District Council's leisure centres on 1 April 2009. To build on this success, the Council is extending the scheme to allow people aged 60 years and over and 16 years and under to access early morning swimming sessions free of charge at Bricket Wood Sports Centre, Harpenden Swimming Pool and Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre. Cllr Sheila Burton, Portfolio Holder for Sport and Healthy Living for St Albans City ...
My octogenarian mother has a painful rash caused by shingles. She is in a lot of pain, so I've decided to fly home on Monday and look after her. Meanwhile, I've been finding out about shingles. I already knew that you can't get shingles unless you have had chicken pox, but I didn't know that there is a vaccine for chicken-pox, which is given to children in the USA and Canada, but not in the UK. The rationale for not giving the vaccine in the UK is that it would increase the number of shingles cases in adults. This is ...
A few days ago the British man Akmal Shaikh was executed by the Chinese. There were many calls for clemency. They said that he was a sick man and his illness should be taken into account. They also said that the Chinese should show compassion for a man who was mentally ill. Now I don't know how ill this man was. The Chinese version is that he had 'no previous medical record' and the British version is that he suffered from a bipolar disorder. I don 't know any details about his crime. However I do know that it is ...
