The Sunday Telegraph and Mail on Sunday both ran very similar stories at the weekend: The professional body that represents health-and-safety experts has warned businesses not to grit public paths. (Mail) The professional body that represents health and safety experts has issued a warning to businesses not to grit public paths. (Telegraph) Both then went on about health and safety gone mad etc. Only one problem. The experts had said nothing of the sort. The Sunday Telegraph had approached the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health who in fact gave a comment which said the opposite of what the newspaper ...
This first appeared on the PRSD website HERE. To visit the front page of the PRSD website, click HERE. We have less than five months to go until the General Election, most likely it will come around sooner than that. At long last, the people will have their say. There is one group however who may be robbed of their chance to be heard: our armed forces. Official research from the Ministry of Defence suggests that one-third of service personnel might not even be registered to vote. For those who are registered, especially those based overseas in places like Afghanistan, ...
In amongst all the political trouble for the DUP's Peter Robinson, one other problem has been largely overlooked – an Electoral Commission investigation into donations. The problem? In public he's talked about giving donations to the DUP which would have required declaring. But there is no trace of them in the DUP's records of declared donations. This is just the sort of issue which, for a popular politician at the height of their powers, rarely turns in to a big deal – apologise, blame bureaucratic details and move on. However Peter Robinson is anything but that at the moment.
What puzzles me most about the rumours that Rod Liddle is being seriously considered as the next editor of The Independent is that he is part of the traditional media's past, not its future. He does opinionated, personal rants which feed many readers preconceptions. Insults are thrown around. Facts are scattered over arguments to dress up an existing view rather than the basis of deciding what to believe (hence Liddle's inaccurate claims about crime figures in London have, despite the mistakes being repeatedly pointed out to him, not resulted in any apology or admission of error). There was a period ...
I've just watched Jo Swinson MP, live, on BBC Parliament. It's gone 11:00 at night, and Jo did a valiant job of leading the debate on body image in a chamber empty save for a tiny number of men. (Jo's speech echoed the work she has already started by launching the Real Women policy paper.) So it was disappointing to see the chamber so empty - yet entirely understandable at this time of night. Today's also the day that the Speaker's Conference on Parliamentary Representation published its final report. From the news pages of www.parliament.uk: The Conference recognises the inflexibility ...
David Miliband's reputation has taken a bit of a knock over the past week. Today Labour MP Geraldine Smith went on the record to give her withering assessment, as noted by The Guardian's Andrew Sparrow: David Miliband needs to display a more mature attitude, really. ... I think he's yet to prove himself in any capacity. ... I think David Miliband is probably finished as a potential leadership candidate. ... he hasn't covered himself in a glory. I think he's behaved in quite an immature way. Labour party members are very angry about what's gone on in the last few ...
I'm still trying to wrap my head around this story, as reported by the Salford Advertiser. The background is that the man in charge of Salford's childrens homes was suspended back in April 2009, after being accused of failing to alert Jill Baker (then Head of Children's Services) about poor Ofsted reports of the city's childrens homes. Mr Kelly has now been cleared, and following a return-to-work programme, will either resume his original post or take up another one. My question – if Mr Kelly is innocent of this charge (he is!), then who is the guilty party? Will the ...
I've commented before about the story in Eastenders between Syed and Christian. Now that Syed has been the son he thinks he should be and marry Amira. But this article on BBC Asian Network highlights that he has got a relatively easy outcome. Many more gay Muslim men are being forced into marriage, often back in the countries where their families come from. Those that don't abide with their family wishes but run away to be themselves often end up ostracised by the whole family network, an outcast, penniless and homeless. For many the option of taking a bride to ...
Whilst Clegg's speech took the right tone, simplistic and to the point, as Darrell Goodliffe has rightly argued, there is much to question, namely what has been left out. I want to focus on our childcare policies and how they have faced the chopping board, attaining the dreaded 'aspiration' title. To contextualise my argument, it is ...
I'm happy to report that as from tomorrow (Tuesday 12th January), Salford Council is able to resume it's bin collection services. Therefore all Langworthy residents should put their grey bins out as normal. If your bin is full (mine is – no collection for weeks!), you can put extra refuse in a SEALED black bin bag, I am assured these will be collected as well. Please do not put out your recycles – this service is still suspended at the moment, [IMG: Share/Bookmark]
Over the weekend Salford Labour Councillor Derek Antrobus fell and broke his ankle. I understand he has had an operation, but should be home by now. I and my fellow Lib Dems wish Councillor Antrobus a speedy recovery. We may be political opposites, but those of us involved in local (or national) politics are all doing it for the right reason – to help our communities and to make things better for the people who live here. Get well soon, Councillor Antrobus. [IMG: Share/Bookmark]
Yesterday, the Conservatives announced that they would offer the children of fallen soldiers university scholarships. Impossible to argue against, surely? Well, no; this is the latest in a long-line of Conservative policies that is cheap and gimmicky. It's easy to oppose because put plainly and simply it isn't fair. Sure, children in this situation have had ...
This "altogether confused" Durham County Council seems to specialise in getting things back to front. First it decided where to build the biggest development in Consett's recent past before it decided to have a master plan for Consett written for it by GVA Grimley. Now it has just put in a Planning Application to demolish the Civic Centre a couple of weeks after it put in a Planning Application to build on the site. (Does that give any hint that the Planning permission for demolition is considered a "done deal" even before it's presented?) Probably at some point someone at ...
I was a bit dismayed by the outcome of the Speaker's Conference on Parliamentary Representation which really doesn't seem to have got the point on increasing the number of women in Parliament. Apparently if there is no improvement in the representation of women from the current rather pathetic 20% of the House of Commons, then it wants parties to face mandatory quotas. I expect even the Tories would go for that, you know. Sure, they might well be happy to put up loads of women. In fact, they could put up female candidates in every Scottish seat. Wonderful! Yes, but ...
Bizarre Posting of the Day goes to the Libertarian Party's Members' Blog. It seems the party wants the state to fund and regulate home schooling. The posting begins by saying: the Party will be implementing a Voucher System roughly along the lines implemented in Sweden, this will not mirror any clamp-down or coercive programme directed towards Home Educators that exists there.Fine, but what would a Libertarian government do about home educators under its new system? Clearly, home educators have as much right as any school to receive payments through the voucher system: should the Educator request that the taxpayer fund ...
Because it is the most important model for Bonkers Hall, I have long taken an interest in Nevill Holt Hall. It has latterly been the home of David Ross, founder of the Carphone Warehouse and prominent supporter of David Cameron, but it has had a long and colourful history. It was for centuries the home of the prominent Catholic Nevill family and belonged to the Cunard family between 1876 and 1912. Sir Bache Cunard, who devoted his time to hunting and metalwork rather than the family shipping line, is one of the models for Lord Bonkers whom I discovered long ...
EMERGENCY FINANCIAL APPEAL 11 January 2010 Dear Friend, We are writing to ask to you to help our campaigning by donating to our emergency appeal. This month there are two events which should be high profile for the anti-war movement. We know that Tony Blair is due to appear before the Chilcot inquiry one ...
In other words, pull the other one...My local Tory county councillor in Oxfordshire, who happens to be the Executive member responsible for the work to clear the county's roads, has been fighting a rearguard action on the radio today in an attempt to defend the council's dismal response to the snow. Now as almost everyone who has commented on this problem on the local radio has said, no one blames the people who have been working round the clock driving gritters and snow ploughs, for they have clearly been putting 100% into their efforts. No, the current problems in Oxfordshire ...
Today has been a day for writing news releases and sorting candidate photos. So we are taking a few hours off this evening to celebrate David's new job. The interview was this morning. So we walked down to the Marquis of Granby pub, near our village of Sunniside (it is one of the historic pubs of the area). The meal is ordered. And I am drinking a pint of guest ale called "Brains"!---Sent via
Great headline in today's Guardian, apparently BoJo blamed Margaret Thatcher for turning Britain into one of the most "roadwork afflicted nations in the world". Apparently, there are something like 1,000 holes dug every day in the capital which causes more than a third of all traffic delays and costs businesses £1bn a year. All this because Mrs Thatcher unleashed competition amongst privatised utility companies and gave them almost unlimited powers to dig up the road without a by your leave. There was a TV ad for Heineken a few years back that tapped into the frustration that many motorists face ...
Well, sighs of relief all round. Northern Ireland politics has stepped back from the abyss, for now, and Peter Robinson has (perhaps) shown some admirable leadership in continuing to focus on Police and Justice to get a deal. There's an excellent commentary, along those lines, by Brian Walker on Slugger O'Toole. I can't pretend I didn't enjoy BBC's Spotlight programme on Iris Robinson. I was also fascinated by this this little piece from Suzanne Breen of The Sunday Tribune: The Robinsons' home - a huge white villa in east Belfast - is Iris's pride and joy. The opulence is overpowering: ...
Another planning application with a connection to a local Councillor! This time it's me who is connected as a governor of King's Hedges Primary school on Northfield Avenue. As part of a very exciting project to support the learning of speech and language they have put in a planning application for the "Erection of language centre with decking area and ramp". The application number is 09/1131/FUL. As always more details on the proposal can be obtained from Development Control at the City Council. The plans can be seen at City Homes offices on Arbury Road, or other places. See the ...
The snow has melted, making the ground wet so my phone has stopped working. I cans still be contacted by email or post (19 Kirkby Close, CB4 1XP). If it is urgent call Neil or Andy (see left) and they should be able to help. Sorry!
I probably fit into the target group that the BBC think they are talking about when they say: "The move away from some of the [Lib Dem]'s key commitments is expected to anger some Lib Dem activists." They probably think I'll be marching pitchfork in hand down to the spring conference in Birmingham to set the Lib Dems back on the path of the things I've been fighting for, campaigning on, and speaking up for for ages, instead of them being shelved. They think I'm outraged by Nick Clegg's announcement of this morning. But you know what? I won't be. ...
In a speech today, Nick Clegg laid down the direction of the Liberal Democrats' election campaign. It is clear that the party will treat the voters as adults, being brutally honest where necessary. He said: "The Liberal Democrats start this election year with a different assumption [from Labour and the Conservatives]: voters know the game's up for the old politics. "Shopping lists of pledges don't wash any more. The politics of plenty are over. "Voters will have no time for implausible promises. But neither are they interested in relentless prophecies of doom and despair. "Faced with these new circumstances, I ...
Lots of spinning going on over the Lib Dems commitment to phase out tuition fees. Labourite tweets from the likes of @2pallas tried to suggest that the Lib Dems had scrapped the tuition fees pledge. Conservative blogger Declan Lyons suggested that the policy was all over the place: the policy was dropped as they couldn't afford it. Then they picked it up again. Now, it has just been extended to be done over more time. All not true. The policy was never dropped at Conference. What Clegg said was Ending tuition fees would cost billions of pounds every year - ...
The Liberal Democrats have announced they will fight the General Election on four key principles, designed to make Britain a fairer place. PPC for Redcar constituency, Ian Swales, has today set out his campaign priorities: fair taxes; a fair start for every child; fair, clean and local politics and a fair, green economy with jobs that last. Ian Swales said: "Local people have been let down by their politicians and are rightly frustrated. I am going into the election with a clear direction and a manifesto that is short, direct and to the point. "We will introduce fairer taxes by ...
Today, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg outlined the values and commitments that will be at the heart of the manifesto the party puts to the country in the General Election. In contrast to Labour and the Tories, who, he said had produced "a greatest hits compilation of almost everything that has turned people off politics", he argued that the ideas he would put to the country would build us a fairer and more sustainable future. Typically, the media has chosen to focus on what's not in there, so let's do a bit of rebalancing. Nick spoke about how we need ...
There was no little schadenfreude, especially amongst LGBT folks, when news of Iris Robinson's indiscretions broke last week. Back in June 2008, in the same week as a particularly nasty homophobic attack, she declared that homosexuality was an abomination, and that homosexuals could – with help – be turned around. Stonewall voted her the UK Bigot of the Year 2008. So the reaction to her fall from grace is hardly surprising – a woman who was only too happy to attack what she saw as the moral lapses of others turned out to have sizeable feet of clay herself – ...
My mole is removed I have a hole in my back Please send me brandy The doctor was lovely. It didn't hurt much beyond having the anaesthetic injection, and it just feels hot now. She is sending the mole off to the hospital for biopsy just to be sure, but she says she's 99.5% certain it's nothing to worry about. I have three stitches and a ruddy great Elastoplast, and I have to go back next Thursday to have the stitches out. Dr Reed says the worst bit will be pulling the plaster off LOL. I have to be gentle ...
Well, the headline is a typical blogpost/Tweet enducing one. But when you read the man's remarks in full they are not so crazy: Hitler is an easy scapegoat throughout history and it's been used cheaply. Stalin has a complete other story. Not to paint him as a hero, but to tell a more factual representation. He fought the German war machine more than any person....we can't judge people as only 'bad' or 'good'. [Hitler] is the product of a series of actions. It's cause and effect. People in America don't know the connection between WWI and WWII. So: He's got ...
Boy it feels warm! And according to the BBC weather forecast it is dipping back to zero as I type. So of course it is not actually warm, but when Edinburgh was up to about 4C today it is comparatively warm. Of course it doesn't help that I am wearing exactly the same number of layers as I did when it was -10C or thereabouts heading to and from work. That is quite a differential in temperature from Friday to today. Of course one thing this means is that the thaw is on. Walking past some of the ponds that ...
Nick Clegg has launched the Liberal Democrats General Election campaign saying that four 'principles of fairness' will drive the parties manifesto commitments. While doing so he said that the recession means; that some multibillion-pound spending commitments we have promoted in the past - like new free childcare entitlements, a new citizen's pension or free personal care ...
[IMG: doctor-who] So, now we all know that the outgoing Doctor has come out dissing David Cameron. In the most recent edition of Doctor Who magazine David Tennant admits to finding David Cameron "a terrifying prospect" - this from the man that has laughed his way through fights with the likes of Cybermen, Daleks and the vashta nerada week in week out for the past few years! Should we be surprised? Perhaps not. It has been perfectly clear to me that the Doctor has been going mad in recent episodes... the growing God complex that led him to believe that ...
The calendar and the clock are marching ever on, and whilst it might feel like you've barely blinked since Christmas, important deadlines in the Conference office are fast approaching. LDV have booked a big room for a conference fringe event on the Friday night and we have until the 15th to decide how much information to put in the conference pack about the Exciting Secret Project our boffins and wonks are collaborating on late into the night. We're of course stuck between a pillar and post – will the event be so massively oversubscribed we might need to remove walls, ...
Nick Clegg today outlined the Liberal Democrat four priorities called 'Four steps to a Fairer Britain' which are ; 1.Fair taxes. 2. A new, fair start for all children at school. 3. A rebalanced, green economy. 4. And clean, open politics. Nick Cleggs speech can be read here My blog is not about this speech however its about the fact that he has delayed some of the key policies as they are too expensive and that no party is telly the truth when it comes to the required spending cuts to reduce the countries deficit. The policies being removed from ...
Readers of Pink News are getting the oppurtunity to ask Nick Clegg questions on a wide varitey of subjects including LGBT issues. You can submit a question here.
I watched last week as Pickles set about the Labour Party. It was good fun. A political striker gently passing the ball into an empty goal. How could he miss. Divided parties don't win elections he purred. Marvellous. Here in Southport we were all nodding enthusiastically. Nobody is more bloodily divided than our local Tories-and Pickles is right they can't win! I fully expect any day now for more of the infighting to break out in public again and the Tory leadership to wish Tom and Jackie Glover a long and happy retirement. (Well that is how they announced their ...
Nick Perry, the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Hastings & Rye, has written a new policy for his party on the under-10 metre fishing industry. The policy motion will first be debated at Lib Dem South East Region Conference, to be held in Guildford on 6 February. It has also been submitted for the party's federal ...
And then there were two... With Sir Michael Lord and Richard Spring already having announced their retirements with less than a year to go before a General Election, and potential succession plans scuppered, I am not altogether surprised to hear that John 'Beefburger' Gummer has also decided to make way for a young, thrusting successor in Suffolk Coastal. That leaves just Tim Yeo and David Ruffley to continue into another Parliament (subject to the will of the voters, of course...), especially as both the Suffolk Labour MP's Bob Blizzard and Chris Mole, are pretty vulnerable. > For me, the interest ...
This BBC article (okay puff-piece for own programme but still!) has the headline: "Survivors cast survive swine flu" Other than the fact they were filming in the midlands, they doesn't seem to be any reason to think they may have got it! Of course had an epidemic halted production we may have been saved the tedium of a second series...
Peter Robinson has stepped aside as Northern Irish First Minister with immediate effect for a period of six week. He has designated Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster to step into the breach. This move eases the pressure on the counsel in the OFMDFM from making a rapid decision in the one week time scale that Robinson was talking about last week. It means that a thorough investigation into whether he himself broke either Assembly or Westminster rules over what he knew and how he acted in relation to his wife's financial dealings can be carried out. At the same time it ...
Commenting on today's Government statement on medical care for veterans, Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey said: "This set of announcements is a case of too little too late. "We have known for some times that many doctors and veterans are unaware that former servicemen and women who are injured while serving are entitled to priority NHS treatment. "Raising awareness of the scheme is a step in the right direction but sadly this does not guarantee that veterans will get the treatment they deserve. The scheme needs to be much more closely monitored to ensure veterans who have risked ...
In the run-up to Christmas, Lib Dem Voice ran a series of articles from bloggers giving advice on how to start a blog, what to write about, where to find readers and many more. All written from direct personal experience from a range of (very different!) bloggers, the pieces provide a handy guide to anyone who is thinking of starting a blog or is already blogging but wants to get more from their blog. I've now collated the articles into one pdf booklet, including some updates to individual pieces. You can read the guide below or view and download it ...
Services are slowly coming back on, the following summarises the position at the moment Refuse and Recycling All the crews are currently out. They are accessing roads on a road by road basis depending on safety. Missed roads will be published on the website. Excess waste left with bins is being collected for the time being. Highways Main roads passable. Side roads snow covered and slippery. Salt stocks for treating priority footpaths and other pedestrian areas have been replenished and priority footpath treatment has commenced. Herts. Highways have yet to replenish the salt bins in the St Albans area. Burials ...
Call for a summit meeting to discuss new approaches As the slight thaw to be followed by another freeze signals more problems for local people trying to get to school, work and the shops, Sandy Walkington, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for St Albans, has called for a fundamental rethink on the prioritisation of pavements and footways in ice and snow clearing. "This winter's snow should not be seen as an aberration. Increasing climate extremes will be part and parcel of overall climate change. Just as the 'once in five hundred years' west country floods of a couple of years ago ...
[IMG: A snowy Mayfield Road ] I was out and about in the ward at the weekend and was really pleased to see that the grit bins that I had complained about (see previous post) had been filled, and that some residents had made use of the grit on their pavements and front paths. I've also sent people who live near the grit bins on Mayfield and Inderwick Road a letter with the number to call to get the Council to refill the bin next time its empty. However, it struck me how few of the hill roads in Stroud ...
There has been a huge amount of issues with the selection of Conservative candidates for this general election. I suppose this is bound to happen when there are more MPs stepping down (and therefore more vacancies) than at any point in living memory and when the Conservatives have a chance of winning there are sure to be more people wanting to be Conservative candidates (would be interesting to see where Cameron's A-listers were in 2005!). This article from Conservative Home points out some of the difficulties that CCHQ is having coping with the sheer number of selections. And even when ...
The message on Bury Council's switchboard informs residents that: - The Council is focussing on the collection of Grey Bins for the time being, to get rid of any backlog. - Please leave your Grey Bin out on the normal day - we're being allowed to put out TWO EXTRA BAGS as well as a full bin. - If you're due for a blue bin collection this week this will probably not take place as the teams will be focussing on the grey bins - but please put your bin out if your are due a collection, in case it ...
Reading through the Lib Dem blogosphere I'm often struck by the recurring thought; "Would we mind fixing one thing at a time please?" I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised, therefore, to find that thought cropping up elsewhere. Not that Geraint Talfan Davies and the IWA are trying to fix multiple things at once, of course. But they do call useful attention to something we often seem to be. Mind you, I am surprised that it wasn't the Lib Dem blogosphere that alerted me to a House of Lords Constitution Committee investigation of referendums; I'd have expected geekery-a-plenty on that ...
I've been with this Party from its formation and I fondly remember helping out at the `Yes for unity` campaign at the Goodharts house in Kensington. It seemed a logical move that would help us win votes. The two parties were merged in 1988 so we are now 21 years old and one can feel that ...
ConservativeHome has published a list of 100 achievements of Boris Johnson as Mayor of London saying, "He is bringing tangible benefits to Londoners." Several of the major items on the list are highly questionable but the best is number 27, which I quote in full: The Queen's portrait unveiled in City Hall. A cynic might wonder how tangible the benefit really is to Londoners. Or what it says about Boris Johnson's record that this has to be roped in to the list.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg launched my party's General Election campaign today with honest pledges and a promise to create the fresh start that Britain needs. The Liberal Democrats have made four key pledges to deliver a fairer society. These are: 1) Fair taxes - a commitment to make the first £10,000 you earn tax-free. People earning less than £10,000 will pay no income tax, and everyone paying the basic rate will receive a £700 per year tax cut. This will be paid for with a mansion tax on properties worth above £2m, and by taxing income and capital gains ...
Big own goal by Lib Dem Voice with their "Liberal Voice of the Year 2009" nominations; it appears that they're being well and truly astroturfed in all shades of Green what with the choice of Peter Tatchell among the names on the shortlist, though even his presence is nothing like as incongruous as that of Rory "Lawrence of Belgravia" Stewart (see posts passim), the frighteningly well-connected ex-spook who bagged himself the plum Tory seat of Penrith and the Border much to the consternation of the local Conservative Association, and who looks certain high-level Cabinet material in a future Tory government ...
The Independent today asks "Could the next election finally provide a reason for the [Twitter] microblogging service?" There are many reasons for Twitter, some better than others, but if today's Independent article is anything to go by, the General Election won't be one of them. "It's Twitter that will make this election unique.", the Indy proclaims, before going on to show why that claim is almost certainly not true. The paper lists the political twitterati, a mixture – it turns out – of established figures doing a bit of tweeting and political bloggers. Most excitingly for us at Lib Dem ...
I thought I was getting comfortable in my politics geekery. I must have been. Because the last 24 hours has seen fate grab a bazooka and fire several missiles in my direction. Firstly, Mat went to a local party campaign group meeting last night and I'm not going to go into detail about what happened, but I suspect that the ructions will be pretty severe and longlasting. There's battles to be fought, and I don't know if either of us has the mental energy required. I was aware that elements within the local party held some animosity towards us, but ...
As an experiment we decided to have an internet message board to discuss local issues in Cressington ward. The thinking is that not everyone can get to a meeting on a specific day and this at least gives a chance for people to take part over a longer period of time. If it works I can see other parts of the City wanting to do the same as its an extra way of giving people a chance to take part. Liverpool First kindly offered to host this one and have done all the technical stuff. The various ward partners are ...
Yesterday it was my turn as speaker at the Citizenship Ceremony. A real pleasure again. It's great to see so many cheerful faces pleased to take the final step to getting citizenship.
The news has just this moment broken – via Twitter, where else? – that Elaine Bagshaw, chair of Liberal Youth, has resigned her post. The website carries Elaine's resignation letter in full. Below is an excerpt: Dear all, It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I have to inform you that I will stepping down as your Chair, effective immediately. This is not a position I wanted to be in, but unfortunately recent events have meant that I'm no longer able to give this position the attention it deserves, and to give all of you the Chair ...
I was disappointed to read this article from the BBC about a West Midlands Council giving taxi licences to people with criminal records. The investigation, to be screened in that region tonight, revealed that many taxi licences are granted to people with criminal records, and that crimes are committed by licenced taxi drivers. What the article doesn't say (although I hope the TV programme elaborates more) is anything about the context of these licencees and their behaviour, or much about the steps that Councillors take to preserve the safety of the public. I am one of a dozen of so ...
As I drove to work today, passing a billboard with David Cameron staring down at me trying to look all ernest and serious, the election campaign ahead became even clearer to me. You listen to Cameron and Brown and all you seem to get is a bidding war as to how much they would cut public services in order to deal with the budget deficit. They both pledge to "protect" the NHS. Although it would seem the Tories now don't mean all the NHS, just certain bits. It's as if they are trying to prove they are tougher than each ...
From the City Engineer at lunchtime today : "Fraser As you are no doubt aware, the ship arrived in Dundee yesterday and salt was delivered to Marchbanks yesterday and is again today. The stocks we have are sufficient to keep priority roads and footways treated well beyond the next ship delivery of salt which is currently due on 18 Jan 2010. The Council's grit bins were fully stocked over the weekend, with only minimal replenishment required on Sunday. Grit bins will now be dealt with on a case by case request."
The amazing thing about the Dome of the Rock is that when you look up/across at it from outside the Temple Mount you have no sense of the size, the scale and most of all the incredible use of space. The next thing that strikes you is the amazing geometric architecture. My father was always interested in ancient culture and art influences an often cited muslim art from the 7th/8th centuries on as being of incredible beauty and very advanced compared to other cultures. Now I'm not claiming to know the dating of the decor of the Dome of the ...
For the first time ever in British politics, Labour have been in power for a whole decade, from 2000 to 2010, the noughties. So what were the Labour noughties like? This is the first post in the series. This post isn't meant to be particularly partisan (but I always find it hard to be totally neutral!). It is intended to be a list of the governments last 10 years of political successes and failures. Feel free to add any yourselves in the comments. 1997-1999 Not strictly this decade but it made more sense to start at the beginning. 1997 After ...
The Independent has a (pretty good actually) round-up of political twitterers today, along with "rumour quality" and "tweet regularity" ratings. I think it's safe to say this will be the only political story of 2010 in which I am rated higher than Vince Cable [IMG: :-)]
The quality of traditional media coverage of political opinion polling has been a common cause of complaints amongst political bloggers. The most obvious problem is when an opinion poll from one polling company is compared not with the previous poll from that company but against an older one because the intervening one happened to have been published by a different media outlet. Whilst comparing, say, the latest ICM poll with the previous ICM poll is the most useful comparison to make, if that previous ICM poll appeared elsewhere, in the part it has got airbrushed out of report of the ...
Cornwall Council has subscribed to a great website which helps people to plan their journeys. Every time that anyone wants to dig up to streets in Cornwall they need to let the Council know. The Council passes this information on to the company behind this website and they plot the information onto a map. For all the street works that are planned (ie not emergencies) you get to know about them at least a week in advance. The mapping system is updated daily and is free to use. Unfortunately, not all councils subscribe to the system and those that don't ...
There was one principal council by-election held on the 7th January. The Lib Dem held the seat. There were no Parish and Town council election results reported to ALDC. [IMG: The photo shows l-r Claire Kelley (LibDem PPC for Harrogate & Knaresborough), Cllr Greta Knight, Cllr Andrew Goss (LibDem, Woodfield). Cllr Geoff Webber who represents the area on North Yorkshire County Council is to the rear] In the Woodfield Ward on Harrogate council in the Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency we ran a professional campaign that you would expect in a held parliamentary seat to regain a seat lost by defection ...
A website has been launched by Andrex which allows people to search for public toilets in their area. It also lets people search for public toilets near them and to rate ones they've used. It's a useful service and would be a good thing to publicise to residents in Focus leaflets or on councillor websites, particularly in areas where the local council website, (which is often not the place people would think of going), doesn't provide the information conveniently. Anyone can add new toilets or rate existing ones, and it'd also be good to get some councillors adding in the ...
[IMG: nick_clegg_leader_liberal_democrats] Nick Clegg today announced that he is scrapping some of the Liberal Democrats "big ticket" spending pledges in a move that looks designed to up the ante on David Cameron and Gordon Brown to finally speak out on where they will put the axe."We have stripped away everything that is not essential because the country cannot afford it" he said. The following have gone from the Lib Dem manifesto according to the leader : The committment to providing free childcare to everybody The committement to scrap tuition fees in one parliament. It will now be rolled out over ...
What if last week's attempt to get rid of Gordon Brown had succeeded? It's entirely possible that Gordon would have hung on to the election, with his successor slated to take over after Polling Day, but more likely that he'd have had to go at once. My understanding is that the Deputy Leader would be in charge of the Labour Party until they'd elected a new leader. When John Smith died suddenly, Margaret Beckett led Labour for several weeks whilst they sorted out their new leader (rather successfully in fact, with very good results in the Euro Elections during her ...
The winners of the Ripplestone Review Biennial Awards 2008-2010 will be announced here and on the website by 15.01.10. The list of nominees is as follows: Best Place reviewed: Pencarrow House Yalding Organic Gardens Hall Place & Gardens Jurassic Coast (Charmouth) Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens Bedgebury Pinetum Leeds Castle Best Exhibition/Event reviewed: Mark Rothko Exhibition (Tate Modern) RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Show (2008) Open Day ~ Rochester Airport, Kent (2009) Best Album Reviewed: Radiohead ~ In Rainbows The Black Crowes ~ Warpaint Phil Campbell ~ After the Garden Kings of Leon ~ Only by the Night Paul Weller ~ 22 ...
Nick Clegg has been outlining the principles behind the Lib Dems' general election manifesto this morning. Below is Nick's speech, and below that are this morning's BBC Radio 4 Today Programme interview, and a video excerpt from the launch ... Last week's phoney election campaign was a depressing experience. The other parties managed to produce a greatest hits compilation of almost everything that has turned people off politics. Airbrushed posters, meaningless slogans. All set against the spectacle of the Government turning in on itself when the country is crying out for leadership. But most depressing of all was that we ...
Well, here we have it: comprehensive proof that Nickers is the right man to lead the country. I have always thought he cut the mustard and I am still mildly astonished that I backed a winner at the leadership election but this latest announcement confirms unequivocally that he is the business. For Nickers has come out firmly against the bizarre writings of one Gina Ford, author of a help guide for parents which me and my wife christened 'The Contented Little Nazi'. This impossibly successful tome on childcare from a woman who doesn't have any kids of her own basically ...
Happy Monday morning, everybody! It's 440 years to the day since the first lottery was held in Britain; 60 years since the first recorded snowfall in Los Angeles; and the 56th birthday of actor-comedian John Sessions. But enough factoids, here are the factuals ... 2 Big Stories The fall-out from the Labour SnowStorm plot We're in the final months of Gordon Brown's premiership, and the Labour debate is focusing on what happens after the party loses the election. James Purnell, who resigned from the cabinet in June to no discernible effect, tells us his differences with Mr Brown in an ...
For a year the wallpaper on my computer showed Patrick Vieira's last kick of a ball in an Arsenal shirt. Wheeling away after scoring in the penalty shoot-out which beat bitter rivals Manchester United in the 2005 FA Cup Final. I felt as sad about Paddy's move to Juventus as I had when Liam Brady ...
Well Harriet is having a bit of a morning of 'me too'. I see that she is now keen to join in the Liberal Democrat campaign against airbrushing being used in advertising to produce fake images. Hurrah again! Come on girl - keep up! You can read the article here - but no acknowledgement that this is a Liberal Democrat campaign. We don't mind her jumping on our very excellent campaign - but it would be nice if she acknowledged where she got the idea from! I first proposed this as a campaign two years ago. Since when, via the ...
John Maples, the Conservative MP in charge of the system for picking candidates for the next general election has just announced his retirement and, in doing so, stuck two fingers up to the system he was meant to oversee. The Conservatives traditionally give their local associations a large amount of say in choosing candidates. But, when an election is looming, local parties lose a lot of that power. The cut off date the Party chose was December 31st. If an MP announced retirement before that time then their local party would have a large say in picking their successor. If ...
Only two schools are currently reporting that they are closed in Bury today: Radcliffe Hall Primary - closed to nursery and reception pupils - boiler failure. St Luke's Primary - closed to allow clearance of snow from the playground and pathways around the school grounds.
As I've posted before, Cornwall Council helpfully lists the roads that it salts in bad weather. For those areas which do not get salted, there may or may not be salt bins provided where residents can collect salt and spread it themselves. A number of people have been in touch with me to ask if they can get an additional salt bin in their area. The Council has pledged to consider new salt bins, but not until the summer. Here's an idea from Sutton Council in London which I am asking Cornwall Council to consider following - it's a map ...
"The posters have been unveiled and the war of words has begun. But it's Twitter that will make this election unique". So says Rob Sharp here as he rates the Westminster warblers in the Independent. Amongst the Liberal Democrats - I see it's me , my old mucker Mark Pack and Vince Cable - leading the field!
It's been a surprisingly lively winter period as far as the polls are concerned. So much so that it's time to see if all that wonderful political action over the last few weeks has actually achieved anything. Conservatives: 40% (N/C) Labour: 22% (N/C) Lib Dems: 21% (-2%) Clearly not. I am, however, starting to get a little concerned about my ...
A look at the Conservative Party website indicates that they will: A public sector pay freeze, except for the lowest paid. We will freeze pay for all public sector workers in 2011, except for those earning under £18,000. The savings from this are equivalent to protecting more than 100,000 jobs. There is no doubt that such a proposal is popular, albeit not with public sector employees, especially as the reputation of public servants is probably lower than it has ever been. Unfortunately, nearly half of the civil service earn less than £20,000 per annum, many Departments are already imposing pay ...
This story is really quite worrying. According to Professor Igor Semiletov, who leads the International Siberian Shelf Study (ISSS) at the University of Alaska, methane leakage from the Arctic seabed appears to have dramatically increased. Semiletov's team say they have recorded methane levels in the atmosphere around the region 100 times higher than normal background levels, and in some cases 1,000 times higher. Methane is 23 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, but 33 times if you include its indirect effect on tropospheric ozone and stratospheric water vapour. The Arctic methane was formerly trapped ...
The Law Society could have done some good last week. The Law Society could have put out a press release reassuring people that the legal risks if you decide to be a good neighbour and clear the snow and ice from outside your home are hugely overstated (i.e. the risk is so tiny no-one I've asked has yet been able to come up with an example of this actually happening and there are numerous major legal hurdles any such claim would have to overcome). Or, if it was feeling very cautious about the law, it could have called for the ...
Lying in bed watching the news - well blow me - Harriet has done a u-turn. Hurrah! Harriet has suddenly been converted and announced that the mandatory retirement age is no longer to be compulsory - and I assume she will put it through in the Equality Bill - which is currently in the Lords. Shame when I brought this forward at Second Reading of the Equality Bill in the Commons she was incapable of agreeing with me then. As I said from the front bench to Harriet during the Equality Bill Second Reading on May 11: "My last point ...
Nick Clegg is doing a speech and interview at 9am today which is being broadcast here. Join him as he unveils the principles behind the Liberal Democrats' General Election campaign. If you have something you want to ask, then it couldn't be simpler to put it to him. Simply log onto Twitter, type in your question like a normal tweet and add the hashtag #askclegg. Hope to "see" you there.
When faced with a story about some inanity attributed to health and safety, the reaction of many Liberal Democrats is to argue that the whole thing has been made up by the Daily Mail and conclude that we live in the best of all possible worlds. Characteristically, David Boyle looks into things more deeply: The ruling about not clearing ice is a good example, set out by the professional body of health and safety officials. The actual effect of this kind of regulation is to make us less safe. The actual effect of much of the safe-guarding regime is to ...
One of my many complaints about this Labour government and their dozen years in government has been their paucity of imagination, and general timidity in opposing vested interests. One area in which that is most glaringly obvious is Tony Blair's ...
The Liberal Democrats sought to distance themselves last night from the Labour-Tory competition to see who was prepared to cut the most from public spending. Responding to comments by David Cameron on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that he remained committed to starting to cut the £178bn deficit this year and intended to reduce it by more than Labour's plan to bring it down to £96bn by 2013-14, Vince Cable said: "Rushing into expenditure cuts in 2010-11 would carry a greater risk of precipitating a deeper recession." He also suggested he did not agree with Cameron's claim that spending should ...
[IMG: http://www.wikio.co.uk] [IMG: Mushy] They're at it again! West Berkshire Council are to hear an application for a "replacement" of a uranium enrichment facility on AWE's Aldermaston site. This is known as Project Pegasus. This facility would be used to produce weaponisable (at least 90 %) U(235). The detail for the planning application are: Replacement facility for the storage and handling of enriched uranium covering 18,489 sq m gross floor space on a 10, 496 sq m footprint, including office accommodation , storage facilities, material handling areas and ancillary support services. Construction related infrastructure is also proposed including access roads, ...
The American Football wildcard weekend was looking like producing a number of lopsided results. First up the New York Jets picked up a 10 point lead they never looked like surrendering winning 24-14. Then later on Saturday the Dallas Cowboys picked up where they left off from the week before and again trounced divisional rivals the Philadelphia Eagles 34 -14. Sunday afternoon saw Baltimore Ravens put another nail in the coffin of the recently proud New England Patriots as not even Tom Brady could step up to prevent a 33-14 drubbing. However, the last game of the weekend turned into ...
A few days ago I received from TfL the reply to my enquiry about the Courthill Road junction and you can read the full letter here. A very important element of the letter is the disclosure of the statistical data about the junction: The number of collisions is higher than we would expect for a signal controlled ...
Why has Peter Watt chosen now to put forward his side of the story? It is hard to see how any of this helps the Labour Party's cause. If his book were being published six months earlier he could at least argue that there was still time to get rid of Brown; if ...
Later this morning Nick Clegg will be setting out the Lib Dem's stall for the General Election. The BBC has some info on it. Reuters are doing an interview where people can submit their questions. "put a question to Nick Clegg, tomorrow morning 9am. use hashtag #askclegg(again) – Speech&Interview live on http://bit.ly/askClegg02" via ilicco Nick's going to be talking about the game being up for the old sort of politics. If that means having an opinion, and inducing fury from the likes of Gina Ford, to the delight of many – carry right on ahead Nick. We are looking forward ...
I know the weather is terrible but we live in a wonderful technological age and my blogs continue to be published from the comfort of my armchair. There is a connection between the technological age and the weather in the sense that my green garden waste bin was not collected week and the council website told me that it will not be collected this week. This is fair enough. I don't think anyone is prioritising work in the garden. I think that we need to concentrate on keeping the roads clear of ice. The great thing is that I have ...
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