Once the snow was melted by the rain on Saturday my team hit the pavements with the first Lib Dem Focus of 2010. We've made a good start, lots of feedback already and I was particularly pleased with the response to my comments in the Bromsgrove Standard on cold weather payments. Nationally 1.7m pensioners (and 2,100 in ...
Kina had her knee replacement operation this morning, and came through it with flying colours. She rang up this evening in good spirits, to ask me to send her the Christian Morgenstern poem Das Knie, which I have done: Ein Knie geht einsam durch die Welt. Es ist ein Knie, sonst nichts! Es ist kein Baum! Es ist kein Zelt! Es ist ein Knie, sonst nichts. Im Kriege ward einmal ein Mann erschossen um und um. Das Knie allein blieb unverletzt - als wär's ein Heiligtum. Seitdem geht's einsam durch die Welt. Es ist ein Knie, sonst nichts. Es ist ...
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I watched a Daily Politics clip just the other day on the BBC News web-site which claimed underneath the video that the""Lib Dems have ditched their commitment to tuition fees as a manifesto promise." Naturally, I was incensed, as this directly contradicts the manifesto pledge made by Nick Clegg just a few days ago: "The Liberal Democrats will also phase out tuition fees over the course of six years" Well, a few moments ago I received this reply from the BBC"Dear Mr. Rinaldi Johnson, Thanks for your email. We acknowledge that despite the fact the Liberal Democrats have indicated the ...
Apart from two surgeries this afternoon at Harris Academy and the Mitchell Street Centre, I had a very useful meeting with the Pennycook Court and Sinderins Court Residents' Association about a number of local issues, including road safety, pavements & dropped kerbs and the Friendly Bus sheltered shopping service. Tonight, the City Council's Development Quality Committee lasted well over three hours, a major application approved being the Asda superstore application at Kingsway West.
Facebook campaigning is a new experience for me - quite exciting ! I've been a member of Facebook for a while, and signed up to a number of campaigns, but never have I seen anything like what has been happening here. Local people have set up an Against Egglescliffe School being relocated to Preston Park group and it is excellent - do visit and sign up please. I've been astounded how quickly it...
In the early days of this blog I wrote of David Dimbleby: He is a public school boy of no great imagination or ability, projected on to the national stage by television fame and family connections.A profile of Dimbleby published in the Observer last October suggests this was more true than I realised. Written by James Robinson, it says of Dimbleby: He attended private schools in Surrey, including Charterhouse, and studied at Oxford, graduating with a third-class degree. He joined the notorious Bullingdon Club, many years before David Cameron's membership brought the elite drinking fraternity to the attention of the ...
Day after day we checked the Tory website and everytime it pointed us to the candidates website which turned out to be an advertising organisation . Now Pete brings me up to date: It kind of gets better. The link is now working as intended for me. However before you reach the blog, which look a little sparse, you go to a link page with the following message"You are now leaving the website of Southport conservatives. Southport Conservatives are neither responsible for, nor necessarily endorse the content of the site to which you are going" Thanks Pete, I've not been ...
Some residents in Redlands and many parts of Reading are still waiting for their grey bins to be collected after the disruption to bin collections caused by the recent severe weather. Collections revert to the Council's advertised schedule today. If you are unsure when your bin is due to be collected visit this page on the Council's website. Residents on Redlands Road contacted me this evening to say they haven't had their grey bins collected for four weeks and the scheduled collection is not due to take place until next Thursday. I have written to the Council's Streetcare department this evening ...
We are seeing a major shift in political power. Having ruled much of the world for more than a decade, the baby boomers --usually seen as the age cohort born between 1946 and 1961 -- are now on their way out. The boomers are being replaced by what the social commentator Jonathan Pontell calls Generation Jones*, a sub cohort born between 1954 and 1965.* They form a bridge between the baby boomers and Generation X, born between 1961 and 1981. Evidence of the new shift piled up during 2008. In the United States, Barack Obama (born 1961) trounced John McCain, ...
This is what I call good television. The Paul Martin and Flog it! page gives us this gem of a repeat to look forward to: BBC2 Monday January 25th 3.45pm-4.30pm Northampton Experts:- Mark Stacey and James Lewis Paul visits the corset museum at Market Harborough.
....Or: Where to draw the line in broadcasting Steve Penk. He's a bit of a scamp. Does wind ups. Once wound up Michael Winner. Made a lot of money doing it on Capital Radio and now does the breakfast show on a radio station in Oldham. For legal reasons I'll let the Manchester Evening News take up the story: RADIO DJ Steve Penk has hit back at critics after he played a song titled 'Jump' as police tried to talk down a woman from a motorway bridge. Shortly after the record was played, the 30-year-old woman plunged from the 30ft ...
Newsy.com emailed me following my blog post on the 8 year old 'terror supsect' Mikey Hicks, here is their summary of the news from around the world in different media.
To be found on The Wardman Wire.
A short blog post for now as University Challenge calls. This is a shout out to the random person that keeps doing searches on my blog for "Lisa Harding from Woking" I would like to clarify that I am Lisa Harding OF Woking and not FROM Woking. To make it easier for you, I am originally ...
The Press Complaints Commission is currently reviewing its Editors' Code of Practice so a group of bloggers, including myself, have got together to propose five changes – and we're running an online petition which you can sign too. Amongst any group of people, the exact reasons for supporting the suggestions will vary but for myself they are: (a) All the suggestions are obvious and easy ones which ask no more of newspapers than to meet the sorts of standards many journalists and editors have long since said they should meet. (b) They pass the "what if your kids asked...?" test, ...
Alex Finnegan at the Mandate blog has identified Burnley as one of the key seats to watch at this year's general election, with the Lib Dems tipped to take the challenge to Labour in one of its heartland seats: With former Government Minister Kitty Usher standing down because of her expenses' claims, Burnley is the sort of seat the Liberal Democrats need to gain from Labour in order to do well. The Lib Dem candidate, Gordon Birtwistle, is the current leader of Burnley Council and has strong local roots and the Liberal Democrats have performed well in recent local elections. ...
West Lothian already has one internationally known Motorsport Champion in Bathgate's Dario Franchitti the double Indy Car Champion. But it won't be him that may be lining up on the F1 grid this year. Though to keep it in the family his young cousin Paul Di Resta impressed in testing at Jerez last month. The 23-year-old is a member of the Mercedes Young Driver Development Programme, and has already won a European Formula 3 title and been runner-up in the German Touring Car Championship with Mercedes. He has said he has been in talks with Force India who will be ...
So David Cameron and the Conservative Party have launched their education policy, calling for an elite band of men and women to be called teachers. They want all new teachers to have at least 2:2 degree. Yes, having a good subject knowledge is one element that contributes to good teaching. But this is not the be all and end all.I wonder how detailed the research was that the Conservatives did. A
This is my view as expressed to the planning committeeAlthough not within Odd Down ward the effect of this application will have widespread implications for my residents.I have tried to remain open minded about the application, the retail survey did identify a need, something I would agree with, and I don't have an objection in principal to a supermarket on the site.However, I would ask you to
Today's Independent published its 'you ask the questions' - and it was me answering. Sorry for posting so late - but just buzzing. You can read my answers here.
Carers Partnership Board Ken Fish the vice-chair of the board took the chair for this meeting as due to a diary mix up I had missed the agenda planning meeting. Julie Wilson updated the board on the work being done to refresh the Carers Strategy. As a major problem with providing services for carers is getting carers ...
Nick Clegg has taken the opportunity of a speech today to the Royal Society – on the relationship between science and politics – to press for reform to the UK's "stifling" libel laws. Here's how the Press Gazette reports it: There appears to be a growing political consensus that Britain's libel laws are too waited in favour of rich claimants and money-grubbing lawyers. Today Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg is set to use a speech to the Royal Society to call for libel laws to be reformed, The Independent reports. "Libel tourism is making a mockery of British justice," Clegg ...
Just what I wanted to write about.... It seems that the sewer has collapsed today under Leatherhead Road opposite St Catherines Close, leaving an unsafe void. There are traffic lights around the emergency worksite, which explains the long queues on the Leatherhead and Hook Roads this afternoon - I got caught in them earlier. Apparently the work will take two weeks, so we all need to find alternative routes. There are signs up saying the road will actually be closed tonight and tomorrow night.
South Gloucestershire Council, Age Concern, the Senior Citizens Forum and Southern Brooks Community Partnership are staging the first South Gloucestershire Spring Into Life Festival - A Celebration of Age. This festival will open on Saturday 10th April with an event at Patchway Community Centre, and closes on 23rd April with an event at Cadbury Heath Community Centre. Community Groups and Organisations can: • bid for up to £300 to put on their own event, with the deadline for applications being Tuesday 9th February 2010 • be included in the Active Directory in return for waiving fees for those new members ...
Congratulations to Peter Tatchell, who has won Liberal Democrat Voice's third annual Liberal Voice of the Year award – an award which publicly acknowledges the campaigning work of non-Liberal Democrats in promoting liberal values. Peter gained a plurality of votes, with 27%; the runner-up was author and journalist Ben Goldacre, with 20%. Over 700 votes were cast, and the results were as follows: 13% (93 votes) – Guy Herbert, general secretary of NO2ID, for his campaigning work against the database state; 27% (193) – Peter Tatchell, for his tireless and fearless international human rights campaigning; 14% (104) – Joanna Lumley, ...
The extensions to the Hither Green East and Old Road/Bankwell Road CPZs started operation today – Monday 18th January 2010. Our experience is that many residents (and their visitors!) get caught out during the first few weeks of a new controlled parking zone. The zone will operate from 9am until 7pm, Monday to Friday, so during those hours, if you're going to park on Kellerton Road, Manor Lane Terrace, Northbrook Road, Murillo Road, Remrandt Road, Abernethy Road, Lochaber Road, Aislibie Road, Lenham Road, Lampmead Road, Brightfield Road, the section of Manor Lane north of the railway bridge or the section ...
I was asked by a resident about grit bins. If anyone wants one installed this is the current criteria.There are currently over 370 grit bins throughout Bath and North East Somerset in known trouble spots which include:· Areas not normally subject to mechanical treatment with hilly, exposed locations · At potentially dangerous road junctions on streets
Got out of the habit of posting this here, but will try to remember in future. Here's the listing of local events from our E-Focus newsletter. You can get this direct to you inbox by signing up for email news using the box on the right. The next local assembly will be on January 19th from 7.30pm at Northbrook School (the old Ennersdale School site on Leahurst Road) There'll be a Coffee morning and Mini Sale at the Good Shepherd Handen Rd Sat 23 Jan 11am-1pm FUSS are holding a fun night on Saturday 23 January at The Station Hotel ...
Wasn't it a minute ago, Cameron was saying that it was the parenting style that was the most important thing for influencing children's future? Well now he thinks it is the teaching style: "The most important thing that will determine if a child succeeds is not their background, the curricula, the type of school or the ...
One of my predictions for this year is... Gordon Brown will get a job on the international stage and resign as an MP. And I like that prediction. It feels right. The reason why is fairly simple. Labour are sure to lose the election. In that case, Brown goes, possibly quickly, but if Labour are not ready, which ...
Over 15,000 Teesside pensioners will miss out on Cold Weather Payments triggered by the recent weather, according to analysis of Government figures by the Liberal Democrats. Cold Weather Payments of £25 a week are paid to people on low incomes who receive a qualifying benefit, such as Pension Credit, which goes unclaimed by as many as 1.7m pensioners across the country. Commenting, prospective Liberal Democrat MP for Redcar constituency, Ian Swales said: "It is a scandal that local pensioners on the breadline are missing out on these payments, worth an estimated £375,000. "Fuel prices are at an all time high, ...
Let hope that Nick Clegg is right and that the courts have far more courage than our politicians when it comes to the case of Gary McKinnon. This has been a shameful episode for British justice and the politicians involved in it in particular. It has revealed the one sided nature of our extradition agreement with the US, negotiated in the heat of the war on terror. This extradition agreement should be re-negotiated straight away.
The Conservatives think they can improve education in this country by making the teaching profession "brazenly elitist" but it looks like they haven't done their homework. David Cameron's latest wheeze would actually exclude Carol Vorderman, the Tories' own Maths Taskforce chief. David Cameron made a speech today at a south London school, outlining Conservative pledges: The Tory leader said he wanted to make teaching the "noble profession" and would bar students with a poor degree from taking government cash to train for the classroom. And in what was almost certainly a conscious echo of Labour rhetoric, Mr Cameron said: "Good ...
Liberal Democrat councillors in Redcar will this week demand better bus services from Dormanstown and East Redcar to the town's new hospital. At present people in Dormanstown have to catch two buses or face a long walk to the new Redcar Primary Care Hospital. Not only that, the new complex is now the location of several local GPs. At this Thursday's meeting of Redcar & Cleveland Council, Dormanstown Councillor Eric Howden will ask the Council's Cabinet Member for Highways to demand a better service from bus operators. Eric said: "People have to meet appointments. If appointments are missed, which at ...
I'm copying an email I've received with news from the front line in Afghanistan concerning a certain chain of coffee shops and its products:- "For your information: Recently, British Royal Marines in Iraq wrote to Starbucks because they wanted to let them know how much they liked their coffees, and to request that they send some of it to the troops there. "Starbucks replied, telling the Royal Marines thank you for their support of their business, but that Starbucks does not support the war, nor anyone in it, and that they would not send the troops their brand of coffee. ...
I don't like to routinely disagree with Danny Finkelstein, as his political analysis is nearly always very insightful. But he's had a bee in his bonnet about Lib Dem tax plans for some time, and I think, on this occasion, he is wrong in his analysis (the most recent of which you can see HERE). His ...
Say what you might about Blaydon Labour MP David Anderson, and I often do, but one issue that he has led on and which is close to his heart is the campaign for compensation for sufferers of pleural plaques, a form of asbestosis. A judgement by the House of Lords a few years ago overturned the previous position in which sufferers were entitled to compensation. David Anderson is campaigning for
A post on the Bracknell Liberal Democrat website by Ray Earwicker, PPC for Bracknell has raised a very interesting issue, see here. In this post Ray talks about 'ash payments' which are made by grieving relatives to doctors. the charge is £73.50 for each cremation form they sign. It states that 'Figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show that almost £15million was earned nationally in 2009 by doctors signing a form to release a body for cremation'. Our local hospitals have charged a total of £39,973 for Heatherwood and Wexham Park and £62,338 for Frimley Park. Now just think about ...
Well, one's staff are anyway. Prince William announced to the New Zealand parliament yesterday: The Queen started tweeting a few months ago But when you look at it, it's actually her Palace flunkies who are tweeting regularly with thunderously interesting tweets such as: On 19 Jan: The Duke of York – Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, will NOT NOW... http://www.royal.gov.uk/c NOT NOW what? They've really got my interest now, so then I follow the link and it says, alarmingly: The Duke of York Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, will NOT NOW attend a Perimeter Institute Dinner ...
[IMG: injured-boy-medium.jpg] As the full scale of the horror that is the Haiti earthquake begins to hit home, I would urge everyone to spare whatever they can to back the Disasters Emergency Committee Haiti Appeal. Every little helps. You can donate online by going to their web site here .
Reading Borough Council has this afternoon published a report on the impacts of the severe weather conditions Christmas and New Year 2010. It is has been prepared by the Chief Executive of the Council, Michael Coughlin. RBC is not the only Council to be investigating what occured. Essex County Council has said it is planning a national 'Snow Summit' for councils. The report will be discussed in public this evening at a meeting of the Labour-controlled Cabinet. My ward colleague & Lib Dem Group Leader, Cllr Kirsten Bayes, will be attending the meeting. If you would like to attend the meeting is ...
Salford Council have given a loan of £350,000 to Salford City Reds to pay for the day-to-day running of the club (see: here). The council are also borrowing £20m to pay for a stadium for the Reds. Cllr. John Merry, Labour leader of Salford Council said: "The club puts a lot back into our communities ...
For anyone who hasn't yet got round to submitting any comments on the Academy/Sports Centre planning application, the latest news is that the closing date for comments/applications as part of the consultation process is now February 8th. The statutory notice was due to be printed in today's Northern Echo, so the 21 day period ends on that date.
I fear that although great strides have been made by the BBC to ensure fairer coverage of our party (well done Cowley Street!) there is still a long way to go. On the 7th Jan I sent the following complaint regarding Woman's Hour The reply I have received (and sent on to our Mediawatch is thus): Thanks for ...
This is a copy of a contribution I have just made to a discussion on the LDDPR group on Lib Dem Act. I'm not sure if I have properly set out my stall on this before so thought it important to put it out there to give an impression on the kind of thing I think LDDPR and eventually the Lib Dems should be advocating. Original source here: "My position on this issue is very much one of "better safe than sorry". It is glaringly obvious that the classification of cannabis at Class B or Class C does nothing ...
After attending the POWER 2010 deliberative polling weekend I would thouroughly reccomend that you go on their website and vote on the proposals that you would like to see enacted to renew our democracy. As I understand it the top five ideas will form a pledge that all PPCs will be asked to sign. A proportional voting system is currently at number 1 and it would be great if it topped the poll.
My google-fu is failing me on this one, so I am putting out a batsignal to the f-list: does anyone know how to make it so a Skype conversation window is always on top? I know it must be possible because google reveals someone wanting to DISable it... I did look at that to see if I could work it backwards, but it appears to be for a different version of the software or something. Any ideas? Oh, and while you're feeling helpful, go and see if you can help [IMG: [personal profile] ] matgb with this.
Now that the snows have gone (at least until Wednesday), it is evident that there are some serious potholes, caused by freezing water entering previously substandard surfaces. If you see a pothole, please report it on www.hertsdirect.org/actweb/hfr/default.cfm If you feel it is so serious that we should know about it too, then please get in touch!
Rousing stuff from Gordon Brown in the Independent, where he announced draft legislation enforcing the UK to hit and maintain the United Nations target of 0.7 per cent of national income to be spent on aid each year: "In conscience and in our own self-interest, for their sake and ours, we dare not fail. We must act now to give the entire world back its future and its hope." What he actually meant was: "In the interests of DfID's many conscientious bureaucrats, for their sake and mine, this government dare not fail. I must act now, to spend more tax ...
Manchester LibDem Leader Simon Ashley is offering his opinions on the World Cup bid in 2018. Read the post here.
[IMG: picture-1] Hear ye! Hear ye! The Prestwich Farmer's Market is back for a fourth time, pushing the envelope of potentially-over-doing-it to new and exciting levels! For those starved of expensive bread and ostrich burgers recently, here's your chance to mooch absent-mindedly around some obscure food-retail tents once again before returning home with a goat curry in a tupperware box and a wholly unnecessary lump of cheese. "When's it on?" you are doubtless screeching. Well, let me tell you: It's on Sunday 24th January 2010, between 9.30 and 15.30, and it's at the Longfield Centre, Prestwich Village. As well as ...
With all the attention on Haiti and what needs to be done there, a quick thought on the situation in the Dominican Republic, Haiti's neighbour on the island of Hispaniola. To illustrate the possible political fallouts, see this November 2009 online article entitled "France, US, Canada aim to unify Dominican Republic and Haiti". That reports a statement by the an influential member of the Dominican Republic ruling party, Professor Euclides Gutiérrez . In brief, he claims that for decades people like (former US president) Bill Clinton and (Former French president) Jacques Chirac have tried to get the Dominican Republic to ...
Mon 18th
13:27
Tories rate defence, Europe and cutting welfare, more highly than the environment, housing, transpor...
ConservativeHome have conducted an interesting survey that interviewed 250 candidates from the Conservative party's most winnable seats. The results were interesting. Whilst Liberal Democrats might not disagree that "reducing the budget deficit" should be a top priority of any new government, it is the items that were placed at the bottom of the list that ...
Nigel Jackson (University of Plymouth) and Darren Lilleker (University of Bournemouth) have carried out a useful little piece of research into what prospective Parliamentary candidates get up to on Twitter. Size of Twitter audience Although size isn't everything on Twitter, the number of followers a candidate can build up is relevant to the question of whether Twitter can be a useful medium for direct communication with voters (as opposed to indirect communication, i.e. reaching journalists and helpers on Twitter who then in turn reach the public). This survey found PPCs with followers often numbering in the thousands which leaves open ...
The thaw (which seems to have reached everywhere in Britain except for the area immediately in front of my house, which is still icy) has exposed a number of cracks and pot-holes that weren't there before. Mother Nature has given Bury Council a nice late Christmas present, and it's up to us to let the Council know exactly what needs patching up and exactly how perilous it is to drive around local streets now that they resemble the lunar surface. For instance, I have this morning reported a cavernous legion in the road at the junction between Butterstile Lane and ...
[IMG: picture-4] Due to the huge public outcry Goals Soccer Centres have failed to present their plans to Manchester City Council Planning Committee twice but have now submitted a 3rd set of plans and ethy don't get any better (see below). They are trying everything they can to get these plans approved. It's up to us to stop them. They have tried and failed in other parks. We must fight them every inch of the way. Goals have been stopped before Regents Park - REJECTED Mordern Park -REJECTED Lets stop them in Heaton Park and make it three nil for ...
On Saturday it rained in Cornwall, rained like I've never seen it rain here before. I'm lucky enough to live in an old house in the country, which is my dream life for most of the year. There are one or two drawbacks to this, the main one being that we are quite often prone to ...
Lynne Featherstone takes to her keyboard to respond to the Independent's questioning readership. You can read her answers here. Lynne doesn't exactly get an easy ride. Those questions which aren't of the form "Why don't the Lib Dems pack up and go home?" are all specifics about how much her expenses were: Why did you think it reasonable to spend £22,000 of our money on stationery for your office? Hannah Farthing, London When I was elected in May 2005 I promised to be one of the "hardest working MPs - ever". If you look at my record, you will find ...
floc.to - the Flock Together URL shortener - now supports the names of local parties (as seen on your party's page on Flock Together). So http://www.flocktogether.org.uk/winchester can now be shortened to http://floc.to/winchester.
Today's FT has an interview with wannabe Chancellor George Osborne, where he once again fails to give any real details of the Conservatives' economic plans, should they win the next election. Osborne talks about his admiration for Sweden, although he is unable to put his finger on exactly why, saying: "I'm no expert on Swedish society but I am a regular viewer now of Wallander". What next: Chris Grayling telling the Daily Mail that he is changing the Conservatives' policies on drugs after catching up with a few episodes of Van der Valk?
Towards the end of last year Leeds University Union (the student union at the University of Leeds) passed a policy supporting striking Leeds City Council refuse workers. I disagreed with this policy at the time. I didn't think that the strike was much to do with LUU and the lack of collections was detrimentally affecting LUU students. However LUU had a right to take a position on this strike even if I disagreed with it. What does strike me as wrong though is the current LUU action against the ballot of lecturers for strike action from the University and Colleges ...
The picture on the right is NOT of Brenda Porter, so why is it on her website? I've been holding this story for a good while now wondering how long it would last. I thought with so much bad news for Southport Tories today I would (as an act of charity) send in out today. If you go on to the Southport Conservative website the lead is a picture of their parliamentary candidate and a link to her website. I urge you to follow that link to: http://www.tellbrenda.com/. There you will find the photo opposite and a marketing agencies selling ...
For your chance to ask Nick Clegg in person about young people's issues from 16:30 this Wednesday follow this link: ...
For a Party that Red/Blue campaigners say `can't win` a hell of a lot of effort is expended by them in talking down the Lib Dems – of course using a corrupt and abusive system in an attempt to constantly `squeeze us out`. The conundrum is that General Elections in this country have, according to neutral ...
Here's a little something especially with my Scottish readers in mind, as clocked on my Mac a few minutes ago. I'm sure they may have something to say about the contents of this alert box; [IMG: holyrood]
A genuinely hard problem, or one the large parties have an interest in not solving? Whichever the truth is, political activists might find these comments have a ring of familiarity. A far more serious problem, however, is the lack of any limitation on amounts which can be spent nationally and in the period between elections. These amounts have now begun to dwarf the total sums spent on behalf of all candidates. In the period leading up to the 1959 election it has been estimated that the Conservative Party spent £468,000 on advertising along, while over three times that amount was ...
Issues round local NHS services are constantly raised on the doorstep and in letters to me. Of course people recognise there has been investment. But the lady who told me 'The NHS has left me' summed up a wide sense of loss as the delivery of NHS services becomes more distant for local people. There have been many disappointments for St Albans over the last few years. The city expresses the ambition to be Hertfordshire's premier community. Yet our City Hospital was down-sized against the promise of a new super hospital at Hatfield, and then the Government reneged on the ...
This sunday the Longfield precinct in Prestwich will be holding another of our now popular farmers markets, with a host of quality produce from across the North West. [IMG: festival_010.jpg] The event runs from 9.30 to 3.30 - but be warned stalls have sold out previously so get there early. As ever there is something for all the family with a free raffle, Childrens ride, Squeaky the clown and a Town crier.
Brilliant little game by the parliamentary education service on life as an MP!
I don't have anything against this creed in particular – indeed some of my best friends are libertarians. However, it would be a wonderful thing if they'd finally accept what they have in common with the communists who infested the UK's intellectual seen for much of the last century, which is that they have no ...
I've been looking at Conservative plans for reducing public expenditure over the past week and, to be honest, I've not been particularly impressed. Admittedly, you might expect that - 'Liberal Democrat endorses Conservative spending plans' is particularly unlikely given who I am - but I'm genuinely disappointed by the timidity of these proposals. It's almost as though the Conservatives want not just power, but to be loved too. It's hard to imagine a Margaret Thatcher-led administration taking such a stance. This is the phrase that prefaces the proposals on the Conservative Party website; These are examples of specific savings that ...
Well, the performance statistics are out for January, courtesy of National Express East Anglia, and so, how have they done on punctuality? 78.2% for all routes 69.3% for mainline routes Guess what I have to deal with? What this means is that, to achieve their franchise target of 91%, they'll have to achieve 93% punctuality for the next eleven months. That is, to coin a phrase, so not going to happen. Ah well, never mind...
Happy Monday morning, everyone. On this day, in 1788, Britain established a penal settlement at Botany Bay in Australia; while, in 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt sent the first transatlantic radio transmission originating in the United States to King Edward VII. Even more excitingly, it's the birthday of AA Milne (b. 1882), Oliver 'Laurel &' Hardy (b. 1892), Cary Grant (b. 1904) and Peter Beardsley (b. 1961). But without further tarrying ... 2 Must-Read Blog Posts What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here's are two posts that have caught the eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator: Holyrood: The Budget ...
The ban on HIV-positive people entering the US officially has now ended. The 22-year-old law was one of the most restrictive immigration policies in the world for people with HIV but was lifted following pressure from the EU. In November President Barack Obama described it as a "decision rooted in fear rather than fact".
An article in today's Daily Mail shows all the signs of a cut and shut story which has seriously lost its way. The piece entitled 'Minor 'crimes' of the middle classes raking in a £400m fortune for cash-hungry councils' starts with the usual Mailesque jibe at fines for putting your rubbish bin out on the ...
I saw this on Twitter last night but apart from casting out of my mind the image of the Speaker of the House of Commons chasing a mouse around his kitchen in full ceremonial garb, I thought nothing more of it. However, it seems that what the Speaker's wife tweets is news and so the Daily Telegraph has the full story just hours after it happened: After spotting the rodent run under the dishwasher in the apartment, Mrs Bercow sent out a tweet appealing for advice as ''the mouse catcher man doesn't work on Sundays''. Suggestions ranged from using the ...
As the British election draws ever closer, the debate begins to focus on a small number of key themes. This time, the media have taken up Class as a subject of debate, well I say the media, but actually I mean the left wing media which thinks that pointing out that David Cameron is a posh boy will stop him getting elected. Class, we are told, is still with us, and it still matters. Well no shit, Sherlock. However it is not really about David Cameron, or even the large number of rather chinless public schoolboys who make up most ...
From the New Zealand Book Council:
I must confess that I have not been following very closely the revelations of former Labour general secretary Peter Watt in his book, which is being serialised in the Mail on Sunday. However, this report in yesterday's Observer caught my eye this morning and intriqued me. Mr. Watt alleges that Gordon Brown kept a secret Labour fund allegedly used to finance projects while his supporters were trying to unseat Tony Blair. He wrote: "This was money we could not dip into since it was set aside for the chancellor's own projects ... The money was registered as a donation to ...
[IMG: picture-4] Due to the huge public outcry Goals Soccer Centres have failed to present their plans to Manchester City Council Planning Committee for a second time. They are trying everything they can to get these plans approved. It's up to us to stop them. They have tried and failed in other parks. We must fight them every inch of the way. Goals have been stopped before Regents Park - REJECTED Mordern Park -REJECTED Lets stop them in Heaton Park and make it three nil for all those people who love open parkland. We urge you to object to this ...
This morning's Western Mail reports Government figures that reveal that personal wealth in Wales amounts to nearly £500bn - but well over half of that is held by just a fifth of the population. The Office of National Statistics say that the most affluent sector in Wales possesses an average wealth of more than £1.1m each - compared to just £9,000 each among the poorest fifth. The average family in the country's wealthiest 20% could give £1 to every other household in the country - and still be nearly 10 times as wealthy as those in the poorest 20% of ...
Research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed that just 10 Welsh people have had their DNA removed from the Government's controversial database since a European Court ruling that holding details of the innocent was illegal. This is despite the fact that since the ruling in 2008, the four Welsh police forces have added 23,778 profiles to the database, 4,945 of these have either not been charged with any offences or been acquitted by the courts. Jenny Willott, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Central, said: "It is appalling that Labour have taken the profiles of 5,000 innocent Welshman over the ...
The Internet is a fantastic place. It can also be an angry place. Lib Dem Voice has a high quality of passionate-but-reasoned debate in our comment threads, with many of our 30,000+ readers contributing their thoughts and enjoying LDV's role as "Our place to talk". However ... it's not unknown for debate on LDV to get heated, for commenters sometimes to get personal with the authors of articles, or with each other. The editorial collective has generally adopted a laissez faire moderating policy: save a handful of exceptional circumstances, comments are left untouched. Partly this policy has been driven of ...
On Friday, I wrote that it was Martin Luther King's actual birthday, however, today all across the US they officially observe it as a public holiday. Nearly a year on since the inauguration of President Obama, I think that it is fair to say that one of the reasons I did not support Senator John McCain's bid for the presidency, (Reaganomics, hardline anti-Soviet Union, pro Nicaraguan Contras, etc.) was that in 1983 he was one of some twenty senators who opposed the creation of a federal holiday celebrating Dr King. To be fair he did go on to say that ...
I realise there is some sympathy for the homophobic hypocrite teenager shagger that is Mrs Iris Robinson because she is being forced to stand down as an MP, Councillor and Northern Ireland Assembly Member because of mental health issues. But, am I the only one that thinks this is all just a little convenient given the circumstances she now finds herself facing? It appears her statement about suffering from depression came out after it emerged that the BBC were investigating both Mr and Mrs Robinson's financial affairs. Investigative journalist Darragh McIntyre appeared at Stormont accompanied with a camera crew one ...
The supply lines of aid to Haiti are apparently incredibly splintered right now. The airport at Port-au-Prince has been handed over by the Haitian government to US military control, the UN mission is Haiti is under the control of Brazil however. But while US Military flights are getting prioritised to the airport non-US flights, often carrying aid, are being diverted to the Dominican Republic. This is what has happened to Médecins Sans Frontières and Red Cross supply flights and is leading to tensions with the US over the control of access to the airport and therefore the people who need ...
Remember? Tagged: Hither Green
When I was a nipper we used to watch a lot of sport on the telly. My dad and I both love rugger, obvs, but there was also athletics and tennis and snooker and... ah yes, the snooker. Holly and I have been watching the snooker this week. Holly loves Ronnie O'Sullivan, in a way that reminds me very much of how I used to be about Jimmy White. ANYWAY. When I was a nipper, whoever we wanted to win would always lose in the final when my mum watched it (Jimmy White in the World Snooker Championships, year after ...
Linkblogging Extra! On 13th Jan, the three main parties' science spokesmen (all men, alas), invited by the Campaign for Science and Engineering in the UK, debated science and stuff. I'm only halfway through the video at this point, but so far, Evan's comments have been the only ones to attract any applause at all from ...
Last week Youtube made the news because a Thames Valley police officer was pushed down a steep snow-covered slope by his colleagues using a riot shield as a sledge. It looked like fun but was it wise for an officer to be seen having fun whilst on duty? Superintendent Andrew Murray, their superior, said "I have spoken to the officers concerned and reminded them in no uncertain terms that tobogganing on duty, on police equipment and at taxpayers' expense, is a very bad idea should they wish to progress under my command". The sledging officer could easily have hurt himself, ...
