It was hard work at my voluntary work this morning, with lots to do, but I do get satisfaction doing my best to help people, giving information where I can in a way that is helpful to people, and hopefully making a difference to their lives. I was surprised to see chocolate eclairs provided at our workers training session, we usually have delicious healthy snacks like fresh fruit, but who was I...
Listening to the Iraq hearings today I wished that Robin Cook was available to give evidence. I am not responsible for the subtitles in this video
Watching the last ad break in Celebrity Big Brother tonight I am totally fed up with the amount of adverts from the government filling each break. Firstly I had to watch the ridiculous advert telling me to drive five miles less each week. Given the price of petrol these days the times when I used to go out simply for a drive are long gone, so I find the adverts patronising and silly. Then I had to watch an avert about apprenticeships, again paid for by the government. It's even worse if you listen to commercial radio with whole ad ...
Stoke's The Sentinel newspaper reports the latest in the case of an election won by one vote with one ballot apparently missing: The public inquiry, which began on Monday, looked into why 742 postal vote envelopes were counted before election night, of which 26 were rejected, leaving 716, but only 715 were accounted for after the official count. The petition was rejected by electoral commissioner Richard Mawrey, who said it had led to cumulative costs of six figures for both parties. He said the "missing" vote could be explained by mistakes in the recording of information on the records. "They ...
Earlier this month, I mentioned the excellent presentation to West End Community Council about Transition Towns and the subsequent first meeting of a Dundee West Transition Town Group that I attended. The Dundee West Transition Town Group has now set up a blog available at http://transtowndundeewest.blogspot.com. Details of the next meeting on 5th February are available on the blog - all welcome!
So reports the BBC: More than 150 people have approached consumer publication Which? Computing claiming to have been wrongly targeted in crackdowns on illegal file-sharing. ACS:Law has sent thousands of letters to people claiming they have illegally downloaded material and offers them a chance to settle by paying around £500. Which? says it has been approached by some – including a 78 year-old accused of downloading pornography – who have no knowledge of the alleged offence. You can read the full story here. The wider significance of the story is that the Government's line on the Digital Economy Bill is ...
The Preston Park saga rumbled on through the day with contributions on radio from the Conservative Parliamentary candidate and an IBIS councillor this morning then an item on the local TV news tonight.Meanwhile I'd a meeting this morning to discuss issues around safeguarding children and vulnerable adults in the borough in the light of recent inspections. I'm reasonably confident that the vast
A good day today, nearly 1000 households delivered despite the rain. Looking to deliver in the Conwy Valley this Saturday.
I spent the whole day today at Consett Community Sports College, though it felt like a return to Blackfyne as I walked the corridor to the classroom where I once taught and talked to ex colleagues and pupils. The reason for my visit was to attend the day-long seminar the school was running in collaboration with the Anne Frank Trust. The day was moving, harrowing, challenging and yet filled with hope. What made the day especially hopeful was the fantastic band of young teenage "peer-educators" who took us through the exhibition, elaborating on the detail and clearly having taken the ...
A busy day - including : * The first ever Board meeting for the West End Primary/Nursery Schools project - St Joseph's Primary, Park Place Primary and Park Place Nursery Schools - took place. It is envisaged that a pre-planning application process, including an exhibition for parents, carers and the local community generally, will take place between February and April. The exhibition will be on 1st and 3rd April, and there was some discussion about the location of this - the consensus view I support is to hold it at Blackness Library. * I had a useful meeting with a ...
Small teething problem with the blog feed over the past few days. Not being in any way technological apt, I puzzled for a while before e-mailing Ryan, the Lib Dem Blogs founder. He very graciously referred me to the FAQ section, noting that I was using Feedburner (which is a bit rubbish, it seems). I hadn't been aware that I was but, finding a moment, I went into Blogger and discovered that, indeed, there it was. it was the work of a second to remove it, and now all is well. Good, isn't he?
So... let me get this straight... You can only run programs that Apple has authorised. It comes with 16G (woo! A whole 16 gigabytes!) flash memory. (You know, that really good kind of memory where if you write to it too often it stops working). It doesn't have a keyboard. You need to buy extra adapters if you want ...
I have today joined Greenpeace's campaign to give "Coal the Boot" you can see the site of my boot at: http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/gctbpage2/ If, like me, you think that this country should be investing a lot more in proven technologies that reduce carbon emissions now rather than supporting large scale investment in so called "clean coal", which will emit many millions of tons of carbon before such technology is proven, then I invite you to sign up too. The Labour MP for Blaydon campaigns for more coal to be dug up as long as its not in Blaydon constituency! Our constituency has ...
Last week Hebden Royd Town Council agreed the budget for 2010/11, which is almost entirely funded by council tax payers in our area. The budget agreed is a total of £277,100, up from £255,600 in 2009/10. Taking into account our bank balance at the end of the financial year, and the grant of £8,941 from ...
Christmas Eve Walking on the frost-rimed grass this morning, I reflect on the folly that has led to this tiresome "credit crunch". Money was lent without security to finance what in many cases were no more than vanity projects - anyone who has visited Dubai will know what I am talking about. Fortunately the Bank of Rutland commissioned the necessary research and concluded that, although Abu Dhabi has a lot of wealth from oil and Dubai has a similar name to Abu Dhabi, Dubai itself has no oil. Later I call in at the Estate Office with some of Cook's ...
A guest from the Kingdom of Jorvik took part in the Jarldom of Hjaltland festivities for Up Helly Aa last night. I would ask the local MP for a comment, but at this time of year...... .....you can never be too careful. It is probably just as well that the Kingdom of Jorvik born Stephen Lamming's profession* didn't exist when the Vikings really did terrorise our shores. They were scary enough in their long ships without coming sub-marine. UPDATE 21:37: The MP has made this comment via twitter. "nice story by the BBC but riddled with inaccuracies!" * Diver.
Well done to Elliott Loohire for their contribution to my post Grant Shapps in the Portaloo: Jonathan Calder may be "the Lib Dem blogfather" but I'm the UK's bogfather!Thrill, too, to their blog Our Life with Portable Toilets. See, spammers? Make a little effort and I am happy to let you comments stand.
Given that Alistair is marking Up Helly Aa, I thought it might be nice to add a picture. This is, I am told, Alistair. Now, if he were to turn up in Parliament looking like this, I think that we might be taken more seriously...
Two or three people have told me that there's more dog mess than usual in the small park at the ends of Sevenoaks, Leyland and Saville Roads in Gatley. Most dog owners are responsible these days and clean up after their pets, so its disappointing when a minority don't. Since this area is commonly used as a play area for young children living nearby it's of particular concern. I've asked the Council to increse dog warden patrols in that area, and I urge all dog owners to be considerate and put dog mess in the bin at the side of ...
Word reaches me that progress in the talks to secure the devolution of criminal justice in Northern Ireland is painful and slow. Yet again they take brinksmanship and raise it to a new level. For many people in Northern Ireland who seek to establish a "normal politics" it is incredibly frustrating that it is the governments in ...
Ah, the joy of train travel – you buy your ticket, possibly costing you a small fortune unless booked in advance, only to discover you're chucked off the train and onto a bus if there are repairs being made to the line. Well, no more, says Norman Baker, the Lib Dems' shadow transport secretary. Stormin' Norm is proposing that the Lib Dems would radically overhaul Network Rail, replacing its executives with a 'Public Interest Board' made up of representatives of customer watchdog Passenger Focus, the Local Government Association and independent experts. They would be charged with putting the interests of ...
MPs were debating what are sometimes called 'council newspapers' last week. None was supportive. At first sight it is easy to see why. Administrations exploit the legislation which forbids party political propaganda on the rates. So long as the rag doesn't actually say 'Vote Conservative' it is usually quite within the letter of the law. So a publication featuring mainly the leader of the council and only positive stories may irritate the opposition (and the voter) but will not cause the monitoring officer to stir. But this isn't why it is open season on these publications. Trinity Mirror and other ...
Later on today I and my family shall be part of a torch-lit procession in commemoration of the Holocaust, the event is entitled Peace, Hope, and Light. This is one of the most important days of the year as far as I am concerned, both the horrors of the Holocaust and its legacy should never be forgotten. Although other genocides have been committed whether in Armenia, or Rwanda, or even in Darfur, nevertheless the systematic and legalised attempt at the extermination of the Jews and the Roma stands as a low watermark in human atrocity. I can only concur wholeheartedly ...
Sir John Chilcot, who is chairing the inquiry into the Iraq war, today expressed publicly his "frustration" that the Government has refused to declassify certain information. The BBC reports: The Lib Dems have accused the government of trying to "gag" the inquiry by refusing to publish them. The documents include letters between Mr Blair and President Bush. The Cabinet Office said no documents had been withheld from the inquiry but some needed legal clearance before they could be released to the public. Nick Clegg has called – once again – for those documents requested by the Chilcot inquiry to be ...
This video shows the winner of "Ukraine's Got Talent", she is 24 year old Kseniya Simonova. Kseniya draws a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table. Her piticures show ordinary people being affected by the German invasion during the Great Patriotic War (Eastern Front of World War II) resulted in 1 in 4 of Ukrainians population being killed with almost 11 million people died from a population of 42 million. This really is quite an aabsolutely astonishing video to watch, Take some time out and be mesmerized.
A local resident has given permission for me to publish his letter to Camden - quite a head of steam building up here. I do hope all those who are objecting to me and to each other will also formally object to the Council's Licensing team. "I would like to oppose the above application on the grounds that I believe that the sale of alcohol in the hours requested. The sale of alcohol by Tesco's will increase noise at unsocial hours and we expect will lead to public nuisance, antisocial and disruptive behaviour. It is also likely to encourage loitering ...
Frank Little writes: we welcome the long-awaited happy news that our chairperson has been delivered of a 8lb 10oz baby boy. Congratulations to Helen and to Jon.
This is a email to local residents, members of the Gondar and Agamemnon Residents Association from the Chair: "Linden Homes, the new owners of the reservoir, have removed all the trees from the street frontage in spite of our protests. Their explanation that this is "for maintenance reasons and to reduce the risk of branches falling onto the street" does not sound credible. GARA immediately protested and requested them to leave alone at least those trees that are set back from the street. It seems to us that they might have been deliberately removing habitat in advance of a nesting ...
As a public service announcement, and because it's rather embarrassing... Annual coding: multiple or incorrect tax code notices HMRC has recently introduced a new National Insurance and PAYE system and is using it to issue notices of tax coding for the first time. The new system creates a single record for customers and this, together with increased automation, is resulting in many more people having more accurate codes than before. The transition to the new system has, however brought to light discrepancies in our existing records and this is resulting in a number of incorrect notices being issued. The vast ...
Commenting on today's YouGov survey for Friends of the Earth and the Renewable Energy Association showing that over 70% of people support a higher feed-in tariff, Liberal Democrat Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Simon Hughes said: "It is clear that there is a huge demand for renewable energy and that people all over Britain want to contribute to our energy supply. "But the Government has been blinded by nuclear lobbyists at the expense of green energy. "The need for clean, decentralised power generation is more urgent than ever after 12 years where Labour has languished on renewables. "People who ...
The public interest defence for civil service whistleblowers should be restored, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg told the Institute of Government. Providing this protection will strengthen the independence of the civil service and would aid officials speaking out on issues in the public interest, as with the dubious legality of the invasion of Iraq. In his speech Nick Clegg said: "The Chilcot Inquiry is a powerful reminder of the ambiguity that can surround the role of officials and the ease with which they can be dictated to by politicians. "Where national security is concerned officials should act with the national ...
The next Camden Town and Primrose Hill Area Forum takes place on Wednesday 3rd February from 7 to 9pm at Pirate Castle, Gilbey's Wharf, Oval Road, NW1 7EA. Area Forum meetings were introduced as a way to allow our community in Camden Town and Primrose Hill to have a say on the issues affecting where we ...
Simple question: what's the best tag to identify posts about what the Lib Dems stand for, given that #WhattheLibDemsstandfor would be a bit long? Planning my series, and noticing several other people had blogged on the topic, I thought, 'I should be all modern and use the tag'. Only there wasn't one yet, so I've narrowed it down: it's a two-horse race between #LibDemHeart and #LibDemValues (no, you're not getting a bar chart). Ideally, I'd like some more of you to pick this up and use it so I can follow the cross-blog ideological debate - so, which should win? ...
Technology is a wonderful thing, glancing through my emails on my somewhat ancient but still fully functional nokia N 95 I note that I've received an email reminder of Fairport Conventions appearance at the Theatre Royal Margate on Saturday details of which are available here www.margateharbourarm.co.uk/events.html please note this posting has been created on my phone so I will no doubtneed to edit and elaborate later on Update to my earlier posting, not being overly familiar with their music I'm having a listen to their stuff on Spotify (spotify is a brilliant service supplying music for free or subscription) as ...
This story from the PA (hat-tip LDV) made me laugh. Kids TV hosts Anna Williamson and Jamie Rickers said they were questioned by police under anti-terrorism powers - for carrying glittery hairdryers. The pair, who front ITV1's Toonattik, were filming a skit for the programme on London's South Bank wearing combat gear and armed with children's walkie-talkies and hairdryers. Their fake fatigues aroused the suspicions of patrolling police, who stopped them and took down their particulars. Anna, 28, said: "We were filming a strand called Dork Hunters, which is to do with one of the animations we have on the ...
What makes my day is the sweet sound of Tory fury on the economy. It may only be 0.001% growth, but it is too early dammit. "We are badly prepared for recovery" grimaces Osborne. Too right you are, the last thing you want is any recovery before the election. Now Osborne may have a point that this government deserves no credit. Governments don't fix recessions, they sit them out. It wasn't exactly a grand achievement of Brown to inject a fiscal stimulus - it is no hardship for a government to spend all of the next government's money as well ...
Wednesday: It's UNSUBTLE isn't it, to have to bring up the Equality Bill when we're remembering the ultimate HORRIBLE consequences of NOT just treating people as people. And yet here we are: STILL not learning the lessons of history. Let's be fair, six MILLION Jewish people being murdered for NO REASON is way more than the quarter of a million Gypsy/Romany people being murdered for the identical NO REASON and the quarter of a million differently-abled people being murdered for not fitting into a BONKERS and completely-ignorant-of-how-evolution-works EUGENIC stereotype and the we-don't-actually-know-how-many gay people murdered that we DON'T ACTUALLY KNOW ...
TfL has communicated that major roadworks on Loampit Vale will start on 1st February and will complete by 12th March. These are non-essential maintenance and are done to solve the problem of road drainage and will be a major disruption for traffic and bus service for the period involved. Brockley Central has more details. I wonder, does ...
Not surprisingly the shockingly badly mismanged changes to local bus routes imposed by National Express West Midlands continues to cause much anger in Acocks Green, Hall Green and beyond. In principle some elements of the changes make sense, but the overall package and the way it has been carried out, with no consultation and very poor information to bus users, has turned what could have been a manageable exercise into a horrendous mistake, which will cause significant problems to many local residents. If National Express WM had been prepared to have real consultation, and make some amendments to the changes, ...
John Rentoul is outraged that the BBC have chosen to cover the publication of the government's new report on equality with the headline "Rich-poor divide 'wider than 40 years ago'." He is of course correct to point out that the main increase in inequality over the past 40 years took place during the Thatcher ...
Pressure from Cllrs Anthony Rowlands and Chris White has ensured that FCC has repaired it enormous and dangerous pothole on Station Way. The pothole before repair: [IMG: station-way-pothole.jpg]
Police powers to Ulster, Or is that "six counties". Hours after hours of discussion and nothing. Brown proffers packages tied up with string, This is an old Northern Irish thing. Forty eight hours to mull over the offer, Then Brown will decide what becomes of the coppers, Marches and justice are all in his hands. Peter and Martin are on shifting sand. When the times up Loggerheads or not They could be feeling bad. They'll have to remember the thing that unites And then they won't feel so mad. Apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein but as Brown flies out of ...
Wed 27th
14:25
Ebay rates my, and Hilary Stephenson's, Magnum Opus at a value of £2.50 - but at least someone...
One of the most interesting aspects of working for the Liberal Democrats is the training and advice that you are asked to give to other agents, candidates, MPs and local parties. In 2000, having agented a successful general election campaign, a couple of parliamentary by-elections and helped run the European elections in 1999 I was asked, with Hilary ...
Today's Cornish Guardian has a light-hearted article about a number of Cornwall Councillors from all parties (myself included) who use Twitter. (The printed version is a bit less pejorative than the online version). For anyone who doesn't do Twitter, don't worry, it's hardly the end of the world if you're not using it. But I feel it is a useful way of communicating everything happening around you. This can descend to the incredibly banal - what you're eating for breakfast and so on. But it can also be much more interesting and useful. During the recent Iranian democracy protests much ...
These are just three of the items I have taken up today with Herts Highways. 1. The huge hole at the corner of Townsend Drive and Waverley Road [IMG: img_0325.jpg] 2. The remaining potholes on Lemsford Road: why are Herts Highways doing some but not all of these? [IMG: img_0328.jpg] 3. The hole on Verulam Road at the junction with Spencer Street [IMG: img_0330.jpg]
As Helen Duffett has blogged, there are plans to introduce a diagonal crossing outside Wood Green tube station. However, take a look at the Haringey Council web page about the project and you see an example of how not to communicate with the public: The page does not provide any meaningful detail about what is going to be done, There are no links to further information, and There will be a public exhibition with staff on hand to answer questions - but only on one day for 3 hours, which makes the paucity of the web page all the more ...
Take a look at this, an example to us all or too extreme? http://news.bbc.uk/1/hi/england/8482824.stm We still have one or two who say they can't cope with the recycling scheme in Conwy, does this put them to shame?
John Cross from the MySociety team writes about their latest campaign: On New Year's Day 2005, when the Freedom of Information Act 2000 came into force it was described in the Government Press Release as "one of the most generous Freedom of Information regimes in the world." The reality has been mixed, information released has lead to thousands of news stories but there are still too many loopholes that can be used to avoid or delay the release of information that really ought to be made public. I recently wrote to MP about one of the worst of the loopholes ...
Peter Kenyon has a blog where he has called on the NEC of the Labour Party to be open with their outside interests and particularly their interests in standing for a parliamentary seat considering the NECs role in candidate selection. This made me think a bit about how the Lib Dems work internally. We are probably not as open as we should be about the outside interests of members of our internal party structures. The problem is mitigated slightly in the Lib Dems as the national party has far reduced controls over local parties and candidate selection. However the same ...
Given the latest threats to independent retailers in Chorlton, with 2 very large supermarket proposals submitted to Trafford Council - with an estimated combined impact on Chorlton District Centre trade of around 22% (their figures not ours) it seems important to press the government to take action. The relentless growth of Tesco has crushed small businesses and local shops. And it has turned many of our communities into Tescotowns. In response, the Competition Commission has recommended a new competition test for town planning. This would stop supermarkets opening new stores in places where they already control the majority of the ...
If there is one single area where Labour has persistently failed many people in this country it would be in its attempts to reduce poverty and the poverty gap in Britain. And within that their pledge to eradicate Child poverty is the most miserable failure of all. A report by the National Equality Panel published today has stated that the gap between rich and poor in Britain is now wider than 40 years ago. The Panel found that "Deep-seated and systemic differences" remain between men and women and minority groups in pay and employment. This is despite this Labour Government ...
The agenda for the Council meeting on Tuesday 2 February 2010 has been published. Items on the agenda include: the annual report of the Cabinet Member for Housing (pdf, 113KB);the annual report of the Planning Committee (pdf, 67KB);the annual report of the Licensing Committee (pdf, 117KB);the annual report of the Public Protection Committee (pdf, 206KB);the annual report of the Audit Committee (
I've been compiling a list of Liberal Democrat MPs on Twitter, which I've shared so you can conveniently follow them all in one place [insert joke of choice here]: http://twitter.com/#/list/markpack/libdem-mps PS Do let me know if you spot any errors or omissions.
So today in (Deputy) Prime Minister's Questions Vince Cable stepped up to ask Harriet Harman about the widening inequality gap, which I'd picked up on earlier. So in response Ms Harman said it had got wider under the Conservatives. Well to be honest it did, but that is not the end of the story, it got even wider under Labour. Indeed the differential (equivalent to 100 times the wealth) between the top 10% of earners and the lowest 10% is greater than at any time since 1961. One wonders just how Harriet can justify her statement that her Government have ...
The CBI in the North East are holding a conference today for rising stars of the business world. They are having a political panel discussion and I have been invited as the Lib Dem speaker. Labour will be represented by Nick Forbes, their leader on Newcastle Council, and the Conservatives by Wendy Morton, their Tynemouth candidate. I am on my way there on the bus now. The event will be held in
Ever tried to sum up 'What the Liberal Democrats stand for' in a sentence? And make it exciting? With - probably - 99 days until the General Election, many Lib Dems are already hard into their 'ground war', pounding the streets and delivering leaflets, but there's more to politics than being a good local campaigner. Where other parties work hard (or, perish the thought, local Lib Dems don't), what's the difference that makes you think, 'Yes, I'm still sure I'm a Lib Dem'? Nick Clegg uses one word: Fairness. I'll look at that later, but first, what would I say? ...
There was two principal council by-election held on the 21st January. The Conservatives held the Erewash BC, West Hallam and Dale Abbey ward. In this by-election the Lib Dems came a very credible second place having not stood last time around, the result showed Gary Hamson the Liberal Democrat candidate polling 506 votes, which was a 37.6% of the vote share. The second by-election was in the Airedale and Ferry Fryston ward of Wakefield MBC. The Liberal Democrat candidate Paul Kirby's campaign team delivered a range of literature including Focuses and Blue letters, and there was some telephone canvassing that ...
Just recived this speedy response from the Post Office complaints people: This is an automatic acknowledgement from Royal Mail Customer Services Your reference number is xxx-xxx (my change) Thank you for your e-mail regarding lost, damaged or delayed mail. We know how important it is for all mail to be delivered on time and without incident. We would therefore like to apologise for any upset or concern we may have caused. We are unable to process claims for loss, damage or delayed items via e-mail as we require your signature of declaration on our claim form and we also ...
There's less than 8 hours to vote in the Scotblogs Awards. I've really enjoyed the opportunity it's given to get to know some great blogs. There's a lot of talent in the Scottish blogosphere. This is simply a shameless plea for your vote for this little blog. It's an 142 horse race, so I really need it! Thanks are due to Duncan Stephen, or Doctorvee, for the work he puts in to developing Scottish Roundup and the Scottish blogosphere. He's continually seeking to improve the site and encourage bloggers everywhere. It takes up loads of time and he deserves never ...
This issue affects both the US and the UK. We've had our Q4 preliminary figures. Again, a surprise on the downside. Despite the silly fuss about a mostly-predictable inflation blip, it is probably growth figures – nominal GDP, as Simon Ward points out – that will drive future MPC decisions. Even Tories get this – Stephanie ...
Today is 27th January, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Holocaust Memorial Day. As happens every year on this day, Bury is holding a ceremony and tonight's is at Radcliffe Civic Hall. The day and the event focus on the legacy of hope. Today can be a particularly emotional day for those who survived the Holocaust or who lost relatives to the Nazis. I know that there are many such people in Prestwich, and you all have my good wishes and thoughts today. My thanks go to all those locally involved in events to mark today, including the ...
Banking reforms proposed so far don't survive detailed attention.
I mentioned the other day the new Bury Image Bank website (www.buryimagebank.org.uk). Here's a great picture I've found of Prestwich Village taken in 1968. It's interesting to see how the ward looked back then - lots of familiar sites like the Railway and Naturalist pub and the building that's now Natwest (it may have been then too, I don't know!). [IMG: Prestwich Village] Digital Image copyright ©Bury Archives Service. All rights reserved. Lots unfamiliar too, like the big bus shelter and the building to the left, now long since gone. And of course the virtually traffic-free road! Sadly that's a ...
Burn-out Noun. The feeling of exhaustion experienced by many the day following Up Helly Aa. So Lerwick's day of days is over for another year. There may be a few slightly delicate heads this morning and the streets of Lerwick will be on the quiet side. This year's Jarl, Rae Simpson, cut a dash leading his ...
It seems that a Carl Cross has been put into run Southport Tories. Would this be the same Carl Cross, Chair of Merseyside Conservatives, who stood in the recent Merseyside by-election (in Halewood) and secured 2.4% of the vote? A quick search on Google, tells us he was up a against Ben Chapman in the last General Election which certainly some folk tipped a s a Tory gain. It was not.There seems to be a strong link between Southport Tories and the Wirral. The man who fought John Pugh after Ronnie stood down was from Wirral. He was tipped to ...
People often think that politicians hate each other. They imagine that because we disagree about policies we can have no personal relationships. There are some folk like that who take everything personally. The must have real difficulty surviving. It is closer to the truth to say that politicians have politics in common and that sets them apart from most of the population! I recall having long and interesting talks with people from other parties during the US Presidential election. We were all fascinated. We recognised the craft in the campaign and were all interested learn the lessons. There are lots ...
On Monday I wrote the following letter off to the Guardian pretty much as soon as I opened my copy of that day. Dear sirs, I've been enjoying your series on the romantic poets and was looking forward to the appropriately timed Robert Burns collection inside 25th January's paper. However, I was skunnert (pardon my Scots) to find that you were more concerned on this day, and night, of all nights to publish an address to Scottish dental care (Address to the Toothache) than to the "great chieftain o' the puddin-race" (Address to a Haggis). Surely the poem that is ...
Yesterday, I participated in a cross-party workshop with the City Council's IT department at which a prototype in-house computer application to assist councillors with constituent casework and other enquiries was demonstrated and discussed. In the afternoon, I was able to attend part of the latest Go Dundee Dundee Wave of Change planning meeting, introduced by Gerry Hassan. There was very interesting group discussion about possible community engagement events and you can read more about Go Dundee and the Wave of Change at http://www.godundee.co.uk/. Last night's "Evening Telegraph" has a great feature about the West End (although only in the actual ...
This twitter account is an entertaining (and sometimes extremely informative) look at the inner workings of parliament. Contributed to by anonymous staff and interns, it carries little snippets of info about what various MPs are up to and who they're meeting with. A very informal way of opening up parliament. If you're in parliament and fancy contributing take a look here and email to the address shown.
Natasha Walter is duly outraged at our 'culture' where women aspire to be naked on the cover of a magazine. It's rather depressing that stripping, lap-dancing, and being photographed in a 'sexy' pose is considered success. As mentioned in previous posts (Sexy,Sex, the media & personal freedom, and Down your throat) I struggle to understand why people who make millions, such as Britney Spears,
From a letter to my MP: I emailed Sir Roger Singleton [see letter here] on 14 September about my concerns with the way the Independent Safeguarding Authority's guidelines state that if someone has been found innocent in a court of law that does not mean they could have been completely innocent. Particularly given the many issues about the ISA's remit, this choice of wording in their own guidelines is one of obvious concern. I heard nothing so I emailed again on 16 October. On 19 October I was told by the Vetting & Barring Scheme Information Team that the issue ...
One strength that the Conservative party prides itself on is that it knows how to do things, how to govern. If you don't like their policies, you at least get competent government, they say. But that kind of competence seems to be in worryingly short supply nowadays. The airbrushed David Cameron posters, for instance, were an own goal waiting to happen. And it looks as if they could be a long term millstone round his neck. I particularly like "Tough on jobs. Tough on the causes of jobs." But the inspiration for this post today is Boris Johnson. He is ...
Rachel, of the UK Association of Gypsy Women, reminds me that some 650 Roma families, including 400 children, were settled on a lead-contaminated site in Kosovo by the UNHCR in 1999, and that so far 84 children have died on the site through lead poisoning. Now, the WHO has demanded that the camps be shut down and the inhabitants moved. I'm tabling the following question today: What steps they will take to assist the World Health Organisation campaign to shut down the lead-contaminated camps at Osterode and Cesmin Lug in Kosovo, and to resettle the Roma inhabitants on uncontaminated land. ...
I read today of the governments plan to drop the speed limit on the A1 between Birtley and Blaydon Bridge and narrow the lanes to enable them to squeeze another lane in. This region, and especially Blaydon constituency, is having its potential for growth throttled by a lack of investment in our infrastructure. Very little investment in new public transport has been compounded by a lack of vision on key road routes. The A1 just doesn't have enough width as it runs past Blaydon constituency but cutting speeds means that drivers in non peak times will actually take longer to ...
The toys-out-of-pram throwing in Northern Ireland has been deemed sufficiently serious by Gordon Brown to miss yet another Prime Minister's Questions. I don't wish to belittle the seriousness of the situation in Norn Iron, but let's face it, we're hardly on the brink of a sudden return to paramilitary warfare. Naturally, a little of that is ...
It is difficult to know what exactly is going on over the resolution due to be tabled for debate on 9th February regarding a referendum on moving the Assembly from part three to part four of the Government of Wales Act. From what I can see, the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Tories all want this motion to be the trigger vote that will schedule the plebiscite for October of this year. I suspect that this is also the position of the majority of the Labour group as well, and yet the new First Minster refuses to be ...
Never underestimate a cat.....Hat-tip : Andrew Sullivan
While the BBC has focused on more liberal attitudes to homosexuality, the latest British Social Attitudes survey contains some other interesting results. The survey found that 27% of people identify as Labour supporters, compared to 32% for the Tories. That suggests Labour's current poll rating is pretty similar to the percentage of adults who think of themselves as "Labour people". That presumably reflects Labour has been reduced to a core vote of devoted party loyalists. The only remaining question is how many more of those 27-30% of Labour voters can be shaken from party identification (which is a much stronger ...
The way that the income tax system works is a mystery to most people. At this time of year some people are desperately trying to get their tax affairs in order to meet the 31st January deadline for submitting their tax return. But many more face confusion according to reports on the BBC which suggests that following the introduction of a new computer system (sounds familiar..) some people may be getting the wrong income tax codes in the post. If these errors are not corrected, they may end up paying too much money in the new tax year which starts ...
Cross-posted from the Mandate blog: [IMG: British Social Attitudes survey logo] The new British Social Attitudes survey has been all over the news. Credit is certainly due to the team for putting out a comprehensive, yet easy to understand, set of news releases. Enough detail and quotes to provide a large range of different stories but not so much as to drown journalists in statistical detail. Yet what is striking about the coverage is just how closely it has followed the story suggestions set out in the news releases. Understandable given the speed with which journalists have had to file ...
One thing coming out of the Iraq inquiry, is the admittance by Minister after Minister that there were not enough helicopters for our troops in Iraq. Now, if there wasn't enough then, how on earth could Gordon Brown constantly defend the helicopter numbers when Nick Clegg asked at Prime Ministers Questions week after week, when where the Government going to put enough helicopters into Afghanistan? Simple arithmetic shows if there were not enough in the illegal war in Iraq, and then you move troops immediatey, and sometimes concurrently, into Afghanistan there were less helicopters! So, why does the government continue ...
I admit that, in my second incarnation in the role, I have been obliged to ponder this somewhat. Whilst in London, the role was quite a traditional one, minuting, Executive servicing and the like, in East of England things are rather different. Again, I have a Regional Administrator to work with, but this time Lorna does the constitutional bits, leaving me, at least as far as the Constitution is concerned, without much to do. On the other hand, I've received more e-mail seeking advice in my first month as I did in all my three years in London. In a ...
[IMG: Katherine and I outside the derelict Council house] Like all Haringey Councillors, I'm regularly contacted by families in desperately overcrowded or temporary accommodation looking for a family Council house. These families wait for years, and there are over 16,000 families on Haringey's housing waiting list – with 566 looking for a home with more than 3 bedrooms. So when residents alerted local Lib Dem activist Katherine Reece to a large 3-storey empty council house in Nelson Road (N8) I was determined to investigate why it wasn't being used. I've now got a response which shows the house has been ...
That is the subject of a discussion being held, with remarkble good timing, tonight in the Houses of Parliament by permission of the Lords' Speaker, Baroness Hayman. Polly Toynbee and Jonathan Bartley, co-director of the Christian thinktank Ekklesia will be pressing the case for the prosecution, as it were. The Bishop of Leicester and Baroness Butler-Schloss will give the defence and it is chaired by David Aaronovitch. On Monday I saw, for the first time, the Bishops in action in the House of Lords. I had the vague impression that they were, unknowingly, sort of measuring themselves up for their ...
The UK has released the latest GDP numbers: on 40% of the data, the statistics show that the British economy finally returned to growth... of 0.1%. The consensus forecast was for 0.4%, so there is no doubt that these growth numbers are disappointing, and there is still the scope for them to be revised downwards. Meanwhile next months numbers are likely to be worse, given the slowdown in retail spending that the increase in VAT is likely to bring about. So it may be that the British economy has not even come out of recession, and even if it has, ...
It's Wednesday, so the nation's weekly fix of Prime Minister's Questions. I try to watch PMQs when I can but have never seen it live, well today I have a ticket to do so, Gordon Brown however is staying in Northern Ireland so I won't actually see the Prime Minister at PMQs, and hopefully that means Cameron won't be either.
I have just finished a brilliant book entitled 'No Expenses Spared' by Robert Winnants and Gordon Rayner. The authors are Daily Telegraph journalists and tell the story of the expense scandal as it developed last year - the leaking of the data, the SAS middleman, how the paper handled the investigation, and the development and consequences as the story took a life of its own. It was an interesting insight into how a newspaper deals with such a large scoop, and also the bravery of certain individuals who risked their reputation and, in some cases, their liberty to take on ...
A year ago I reported that the Sun Inn at Clun had closed. Since then, according to the Shropshire Star, it has reopened and now closed again. Elsewhere in the Shropshire hills, reports the South Shropshire Journal, the Green Dragon at Little Stretton has gone too. It was always the case that the pubs in Church Stretton were slightly disappointing and you were better off heading a couple of miles south to Little Stretton where there were two good ones. Now the village is down to one pub: the Ragleth Inn.
Wed 27th
07:41
Whittington A+E campaign update - this is about peoples' lives - not pawns on a management piece of ...
Decisions are being made right now behind closed doors about the future of health services at the Whittington, including the Accident & Emergency service. Although there will be a public consultation later this year (after the elections are safely out of the way!), what is being decided now is what options will be on offer in that consultation. So unless we fight now to get the options we want included, it will all be too late by the autumn. That is why I am going to meet with Rachel Tyndall, (Chair of the London North Central Review Panel) - and ...
There's a full Council meeting today. Figures have come through which show that Greater Manchester Police have been deprived of over £81 million over the last 7 years by the Government's formula for funding them, this year's shortfall amounting to £15 million. Meanwhile, GMP are having to look at losing 300 Officers due to a £5 million shortfall. It is appalling that the Government blame GMP for not meeting targets while depriving them of the funds to do the job properly. I'll be proposing a notice of motion about this today. Meanwhile, the budget round is about to take shape. ...
Two findings that make interesting reading today. First up the pay gap between rich and poor is wider than it 40 years ago. Despite Labour saying they constantly doing something about poverty and helping people aspire, their tax regime of regressive tax increases seems to have had the opposite effect. The other one I heard on the TV before leaving the house on the BBC was that family conflict not whether the parents were together or apart had more impact on a child's well being. Therefore the Conservative incentivisation, through a tax-break, to stay married may have repercussions on the ...
View Larger Map Work starts in February on London's latest diagonal pedestrian crossing - outside Wood Green Underground station in Haringey, North London. Pedestrians will be able to cross directly between the station and the Morrisons side of the High Road, towards Wood Green Library. The £400k crossing, at the junction of High Road, Station Road and Lordship Lane, is being funded by Transport for London. Cyclists will also benefit from the scheme, which includes advanced stop lines at all approaches to the junction, plus additional cycle parking. A short public exhibition will take place at Wood Green Library on ...
News reaches me that an English Conservative MP has laid an amendment to the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill that would move Welsh devolution backwards and render the voting system unfair. Under new Conservative plans, proposed by Daniel Kawcynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, they would abolish the regional lists, which would also mean that the Welsh Conservatives would lose half of their Assembly Members, including their leader, Nick Bourne. As Kirsty Williams says the Tories obviously don't have a clue about what goes on in Wales and they clearly don't understand the fairer system of voting we have of ...
News just in from the Council which is good news for all parents in our area. It means the new secondary school at Swiss Cottage can go ahead! The Government's Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and University College London (UCL) have signed a legally binding 'Funding Agreement'. The move means that Camden will get a new secondary school and UCL is confirmed as the academy sponsor. The agreement between the Secretary of State and UCL sets out the legal and financial details of how the academy will be funded, both during its set up and when it is ...
Camden Police and Camden Council are working together to deal with anti-social behaviour and crime issues that matter in your area. Camden police are appealing for information and witnesses following an assault in Cricklewood Broadway NW2, which took place on Friday 4th December 2009 at approximately 23.50 hours. The 25 year old male victim was making his way home along Cricklewood Broadway when he was involved in a verbal dispute with the suspect, a friend of the victim intervened and broke up the argument and the suspect walked off. The victim and his friends then walked to the victims home ...
This evening my Lib Dem colleagues and I on Reading Borough Council spoke out against Labour's latest bid to get Reading city status. I've attached the speech I gave below: "When I first hard about Labour's latest bid to go for city status I wanted to find out what local people thought about this, so I asked them. This is just a handful of the comments I received: "i'm not sure that Reading become a city will make a lot of difference to its residents" "What would it bring us except more pubs & clubs like the last attempts?" "Reading ...
Merton Liberal Democrats' Burns Night suppers have become something of an institution; odd, really, when one considers that the Willott family that has for so long been heavily involved in the organisation of the event has far stronger roots in Wales. But year after year, local party volunteers put on a splendid three course haggis supper, with ...
Devonport, Ernesettle and Ivybridge have all been shortlisted as possible locations of an incinerator that will burn much of Devon's rubbish. South West Devon MP Gary Streeter is already on record calling for an incinerator to be built, in Devonport. He has even spoken about ships bringing in rubbish by sea. The three Lib Dem prospective parliamentary candidates covering the three sites, Dr Judy Evans (Plymouth Sutton & Devonport), me (Plymouth Moor View) and Anna Pascoe (South West Devon) are totally opposed to a new incinerator. You can read what we have to say HERE. Burning waste should be the ...
Yesterday I wrote that I wanted to treat commentators in the way that I would like to be treated. I want my comments to be heard and so do they. If I don't like them telling me what I should be doing then they won't like me telling them the same thing. The news yesterday included a report from a French parliamentary committee that recommends a partial ban on women wearing a Muslim veil in public buildings. Furthermore opinion polls suggest that a majority of the French want a full ban. I can apply the same logic from yesterday's blog ...
