The National Audit Office has reported that the BBC does not always provide best value for money when covering large events. This should be little surprise to anyone. Some of the big events justify a large staff and big costs. The Olympics instantly spring to mind. But more than sic months ago it was reported that the BBC sent almost as many staff to Glastonbury as they did to China to cover the Olympics. As I wrote at the time, I am not fan of the BBC devoting itself so entirely to a niche event like Glastonbury, and I hope ...
Kibworth, as we call it know, is really two villages. Kibworth Beauchamp (which has the new bookshop and the former Council Street) and Kibworth Harcourt. Harcourt is far smaller and, perhaps because much of it was owned by Merton College, Oxford, more genteel. There are reports of conflict in past times between the radical framework knitters of Beauchamp and the more genteel inhabitants of Harcourt. Today there are no shops left in Harcourt and even its pub has been turned into an Italian restaurant. Its Main Street makes a number of right-angled turns. So much so that the modern A6, ...
Today, human trafficking enslaves twice as many people as were in chains during the entire 350 years of the appalling African Slave Trade. This is an evil that must be fought, and politicians can contribute to this fight. I have today emailed our local police commander and children's services director with a series of questions about this issue. I want to know what the police and the council are doing to fight human trafficking. I know that much good work is being done on this by many local organisations, including the police and the council, and I want to work ...
A statement from East Sussex Hospitals Trust released yesterday confirms that a pay-on-exit barrier controlled parking system will replace the current pay-on-arrival system in the main visitor car parks at both Conquest and Eastbourne District General Hospitals. The new system will become operational at Eastbourne DGH by mid-February and Conquest by the end of February. Nick Perry, the ...
Commenting on reports of Conservative plans to increase petrol duty to raise money to pay for their proposed married couple's allowance, Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker said: "This is a retrograde step that will cause immense damage to people in rural areas who have no alternative to using their cars. The Tories are just ...
From www.moneymarketing.co.uk : "The Liberal Democrats have set out the key pillars of their economic manifesto which include plans to separate banking functions and keep the FSA as the UK's financial regulator. At the Demos Politics 2010 series in London on Monday, Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable said: "A modern version of Glass Steagall is required separating retail and investment banking and there is need too for more meaningful competition in business and mortgage lending. Until the banks are broken up and are able to compete and succeed or fail without Government guarantees, they should pay an insurance premium - a ...
The officers of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Trafficking of Women and Children have emailed me asking for my support. I am very keen to support this as human trafficking is one of the great evils of our age, and the Lib Dems have strong policies to fight it. As the all-party group says: "Human Trafficking is one the top three most lucrative manifestations of organised crime - along with drug dealing and the arms trade. "Human Trafficking is a fundamental assault on basic human dignity. It affects millions of men, women and children throughout the world. More than twice ...
A few years ago I asked why it was that we are giving £825 million in aid to India. Today we read that India is to spend more double the amount we give them in aid on a space programme to put Indian astronauts in to space. Is it really a good use of our money in these hard times to gives British taxpayers money to fund projects in India when the Indian government seem to think that s space programme is more important ?
I was pleased to receive an independent report from Keep Wales Tidy this week, in this report it found that Conwy had the cleanest streets in Wales. My thanks go to all our staff. I believe there is more that we can do and I am determined to improve on this excellent result. Working together and using technology is one way forward. Tourism is our bread and butter in Conwy and news like this will be a welcome boost. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8483629.stm
So, apparently all those who have done 'soft' subjects, according to the Tories, are misguided. Why is it that the Tories seem to equate the 'quality' of your education to how 'hard' a subject is? Why do they never take into account that actually some people want to do subjects that may not be as privileged ...
A short break from campaigning tonight when I went to the book launch of "The Three Secrets of Green Business" by my friend Gareth Kane. He gave some of the secrets away but I still bought a copy! What he emphasised was the tremendous opportunity for businesses to embrace the opportunities posed by the challenge of global warming and environmental degradation. You can buy his book here:
The divisions in the climate debate are clearly about animosity, not science.
I went to the Annual General Meeting of Citizens House, Consett, tonight. Many people don't even know that the building opposite the gate of the Medical Centre is Citizens House. It's the former booking office of Consett Station, but as Citizens House it now exists to provide facilities for local clubs and groups. Fewer people still know the history of it. The original site was at the top of Front Street and was given by American Servicemen in gratitude for the part played by the people of Consett in the war effort, but it moved to Station Road when that ...
Apologies for the lack of blogging today: I have not been well. Things are happier at the Hall... Christmas Day I look around my table at the guests assembled for lunch at the Hall - Paddy Ashplant, Menzies Campbell and the formidable Elspeth, the Reverend Hughes, Knuckles Oakeshott, Hazel Grove (such a brave choice of dress in this cold weather!), Bob Russell (we miss his brother Conrad - though not the latter's Big Band - on such occasions), Tavish Scott in his horned helmet, Susan J. Kramer (though not the Dakotas, who tend to eat rather a lot), some amusing ...
Bit of a rush this evening so no time for the details of whose on etc. but the chat will start at 10:30pm as usual here tonight. Dazmando from Bracknell Blog will be hosting as I am otherwise engaged. Have fun! BBC Question Time - 28th January 2010
The Southport Visiter has the story about Central Office effectively 'nationalising' our local Tories. It is significant as Conservatives keep telling us that they are a localist party and that constituency parties are the keystone of their operation. To decide to dump the chair and bring in one from outside tells its own story
Well well well, this is a bit of a rum turn of events in Cornwall. Councillors send tweets during council meeting. Western Morning News runs a story about this, taking a few potshots and quoting The Taxpayers' Alliance slamming the councillors for this behaviour. One of the councillors then points out that someone from the TPA was actually sending them messages on Twitter during the meeting asking them questions. But TPA then say, no – they weren't being hypocritical for criticising councillors for tweeting whilst also encouraging them because the quote they gave the press was in fact in response ...
Nigel Waterson, the Conservative MP for Eastbourne who is struggling to hold his seat in the face of Stephen Lloyd's challenge, has suffered a further blow today. Only a few days ago the former Tory MP Ernle Money said he would be voting Lib Dem in Eastbourne, saying Nigel Waterson "has been a rotten MP and on numerous occasions, he has jumped onto any passing bandwagon and taken up causes after they have already been dealt with by others." Now the former chair of the local Conservative Association has accused Nigel Waterson of negative campaigning and revealed that he had ...
The BBC has the story of how Lib Dem MP Jeremy Browne has won his appeal against repaying £18,000 of expenses. Taunton MP Jeremy Browne complained after auditor Sir Thomas Legg ruled he must repay the cash claimed for mortgage interest on his second home. Sir Paul Kennedy, who was appointed to hear appeals, said he had acted "openly and honestly" when making his claim. Mr Browne said he felt "relieved" and "vindicated", but "not elated". He is the first of the 80 MPs who challenged Sir Thomas's requests to repay money to make the results of his appeal public. ...
Finally, release 0.4 of our website is live Visit www.chrisandeddie.info It's still in it's infancy, but is a vast improvement on 0.3 which was consigned to the rubbish bin within about a day as it fell over too many times and crashed my server with a stupid php loop i could not find... Back to basics and something ...
Thu 28th
20:45
Tory councillor's nicknames: domestic abuse victims are "screamers", gay people are "queens"
Brentwood Tory councillor Keith Parker has shown the caring, sharing side of his party in the last week. PinkNews reports: A Tory councillor in Brentwood who made a joke about promoting gay rights and help for domestic violence victims has been accused of being offensive. Keith Parker, the councillor for Brizes and Doddinghurst ward, remarked at a committee meeting last week that the "scream team will be conversing with the queen team". Following the meeting, he was criticised by Labour and Lib Dem councillors for the remarks. Lib Dem Cllr Karen Chilvers told the Brentwood Gazette she had made a ...
Today I recieved an email from Anthony Steen MP and the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Human Trafficking. It is as described in their letter one of the most fundamental assaults on human rights and human dignity, so I reproduce their letter below, if you wish to find out more on the issue there ...
Jon Boswell, Head of Stronger Communities, BRCC, has responded to the reaction of our town council saying "we have no wish to install a work that does not have the backing of the Town Council." Well, that's a small win for consultation requests. He acknowledges that they should have built more public consultation into the overall project. He is hopeful that they will come back in May or June to engage possibly with a local school to create a new design for the wall frieze to go up in Bedford Square.
this is all a bit bizarre. this whole chilcott enquiry. an investigation without recourse to penalties and obligations. it all feels like a bit of new labour PR. in they come lord goldsmith , jack straw et al. they get grilled as though they are being interviewed by fern britton with a feather duster. and the thing that really gets me is the scarey aspect that it is on one minute delay. surely there is a freedom of information point here. also as viewers we can have coverage put off but the people there at the enquiry are still there. ...
Thu 28th
19:25Cameron: he was against paternity pay before he was in favour of it. What will his view be next mont...
'Dads will be able to take up to six months' paternity leave while their child's mother returns to work, under government plans announced today,' reports The Guardian. The Lib Dems' shadow children, schools and families secretary, David Laws, is deeply unimpressed with Labour's approach: The Government fails to understand that all families are different and need far more flexibility when it comes to parental leave. Labour seems to think it knows best when it comes to how families should arrange their lives. "Instead of more rigid and complex reforms, the Liberal Democrats would introduce fully flexible parental leave which can ...
There is a large possibility that this is an invented story. The town, solicitor and judge have no entries on Google, except in relation to this story. But it is a funny vision, nonetheless. Here is the original story on Google cache.
I have today answered Premier Radio's call to pledge my promise to vote in the 2010 General Election. The UK Social Attitudes survey released this week show a marked decrease in those seeing voting as a civic duty (now just 56%) so it is time for us to remember and recommit ourselves to the political process as a vital part of what it means to be a cohesive and caring community. This pledge to vote is a good first step.
Haringey Labour really are in a mess. Their latest move has been to cancel the Full Council meeting scheduled for Monday 8 February. Each year since I was first elected to the Council in 2002, we have had two Full Council meetings in February - these are the ones that set the council tax for the year and where the Labour backbenchers mindlessly vote through any budget that their Cabinet puts before them. On Friday last week, we all received an email saying that the meeting was cancelled. No prior warning and no explanation. Certainly our Chief Whip was not ...
It seems that David Cameron is doing everything in his power to avoid having to come cap in hand to Nick Clegg after the next election. That includes sacrificing any attempt at even-handedness with respect to Northern Ireland. The message of this is clear – the Conservatives are firmly on the side of only one of the communities in Northern Ireland.
The Telegraph reports Lib Dem shadow health secretary Norman Lamb's proposals to tighten rules on the employment of foreign doctors after the death of a 70-year-old man treated by a doctor from Germany: Norman Lamb, the party's health spokesman, [has] called for a series of reforms including a national language and competency test for every doctor wishing to work in Britain. The demand comes after David Gray, from Manea, Cambridgeshire, died after he was given more than 10 times the recommended daily dose of diamorphine by Daniel Ubani, a locum doctor from Germany. Dr Ubani, 67, had been on his ...
Channel 4 News asked top lawyer and Lib Dem peer Lord Lester for his view on former Labour attorney general Lord Goldsmith's evidence to the Chilcot inquiry into the war against Iraq. You can see the eight-minute video below, together with C4's news report: Lord Lester QC, a leading human rights lawyer and expert in international law, believes Lord Goldsmith failed in his responsibilities on Iraq. "He didn't give the correct legal view," says the Lib Dem peer. As Britain went to war in March 2003, 16 out of 17 international law experts disagreed with Lord Goldsmith's decision. "The case ...
This story on the BBC headline 'Ministers passing too many 'bad' laws, say ex mandarins'. Former civil servants ask for the way Britain is governed to be reformed simply reinstates a believe that I think many people have on the workings of our current Labour government. This is why we need a change of government; 1. Too much unnecessary legislation 2. Badly thought out and prepared legislation 3. Media driven policy, making for bad un-thought out rushed through policy. 4. Lack of training 5. Incomplete, poorly explained bills 6. Tick-box culture leading to a loss of initiative and this replaces ...
I really can't believe that any arms company would even consider putting biblical references on weapons used in the Middle East. How ridiculous! This plays completely into the hands of Islamic fundamentalists who want to portray the UK and US intervention in the Middle East as a new set of crusades. It's good to see that these references will no longer be used and I hope the military both sides of the atlantic think more carefully about using this particular supplier again.
Sober heads realise that the UK bond market is not suddenly going to implode, for rather dull reasons like the maturity profile of our debt
A £500,000 bid to Sport England to help fund the new Westminster Lodge development has progressed to the next stage. St Albans City and District Council has been invited to submit further information in support of its application to the Government's Free Swimming Capital Modernisation Programme for grant funding to provide improved swimming facilities and equipment in the new Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre. The Council has been asked to provide a more detailed plan to Sport England to secure the £500,000 grant which will be used to provide facilities to encourage more residents to get active and take up swimming. ...
This is a personal story that is both sad and celebratory. In December 2006, I was invited to the annual Marie Curie service in memory of cancer victims. I wrote about it then and said; "I was particularly keen to attend this, as we had lost a family member to cancer just over a year ago and she had died in a Marie Curie Hospice. I was able to read a poem in memory of her." What I didn't say was that the poem was by Christopher Reid, in memory of his wife, Lucinda Gane. On Tuesday, Christopher won the ...
For the first time, Manchester Harriers are holding parent's cross-country races on Saturday 6th February, and there'll be prizes! Harriers run the Primary Schools Cross Country League at William Scholes Field, Gatley on Saturday mornings from 10am. The remaining dates of the season are Saturday 6th February and Saturday 6th March. The league has been in existence for over 30 years and there are about 300 runners at each race meeting. There will be two parents' races - one for ladies, one for men, running from 10.30am on Saturday 6th February. There's also a primary schools relay event after school ...
Does any more actually need to be said about the greatest failure of this LABOUR government? I don't think so! But don't be fooled into thinking the Tories would be any better, after all their only tax promise to date is to slash tax for the richest 3,000. Disraeli must be spinning in his grave, wondering why he bothered writing Sybil, or The Two Nations.
It has been announced that a hearing in to the GP who claimed links between the MMR jab and autism has found him to have been guilty of misconduct. The report on the hearing is HERE. The one question that has not been answered yet though is how many children did not get the MMR jab and as a result, hat was the increase in children getting measles, mumps and rubella. These illnesses, very serious to people of different ages, can leave permanant damage. You still occasionally hear people quiting MMR as a reason not to get a flu jab ...
[IMG: Eamonn Boylan] Stockport has appointed Eamonn Boylan as the Council's new Chief Executive, subject to confirmation. Mr Boylan's appointment goes before a full meeting of Stockport Council on 4th February for ratification. Mr Boylan is currently Deputy Chief Executive of national housing and regeneration body the Homes and Communities Agency where he is responsible for improvement programmes for land, private finance, growth and new initiatives Stockport Council Leader, Councillor Dave Goddard, said: "We are delighted that Eamonn is to become our new Chief Executive. This is a real statement of intent from Stockport that we want to move from ...
Lib Dem members on email will have received the following message from the party's interim chief executive Chris Fox this afternoon advertising the new members' site, designed to complement the main party website and the ACT social networking website. Dear Stephen, Today we are launching the new Liberal Democrat members' website: www.libdems.org.uk/members This provides a new channel of communication right across the Party and it is an important resource for all party members. The new members' website is there to give you the things you need. It includes our latest news, as well as campaigning resources, policy documents and a ...
No my ears were not deceiving me. That is what Alex Salmond replied to Tavish Scott's question regarding colleges admission (or not) findings and youth unemployment in Scotland. Basically Tavish pointed out that 85% of colleges in Scotland have had to turn away applicants this year, many for the first time ever with some having seen a 800% increase in applications. In West Lothian the number of applicants has increased by 41% over last year, Oatridge college who have never had to turn away applications before saw a 74% increase in applications and turned away 300. These findings came from ...
[IMG: Cllr Maureen Walsh] The Deputy Leader of Stockport's Conservative Group, Cllr Maureen Walsh, has this week resigned from the Conservative Party, leaving local Tories in disarray. She now sits as an Independent on Stockport Council. Having got to know Maureen over the last few months, I personally feel angry at how she has been treated, and how local Tories have tried to cover their tracks and pretend there's nothing wrong. There are some councillors you respect, whichever side of the chamber they're on, and Maureen is one of them. She's represented her ward of Bramhall North well and done ...
The Western Mail reports on concerns about whether the NHS in Wales will meet key targets as new figures show thousands of patients are waiting more than five months for surgery. The Welsh Government wanted all patients to start hospital treatment within 26 weeks of being referred by their GP by the end of December 2009. But waiting times figures for December, which were published yesterday, suggest the NHS still has a long way to go before achieving the target. They also show that the number of patients breaching the former targets of 14 weeks for inpatient treatment and 10 ...
Last night was the Full Council meeting which included our budget setting. I'll blog more about some of that later when I have a moment. However, I did speak at last nights meeting. I was opposing some of the suggestions made by the Green party. But before I got on to that I felt the need to tell everybody off! There is always a bit of background noise in the Council Chamber. And people do have to go in and out. But last night there was both an extremely noisy exodus of people plus a load of ongoing coversations which ...
Greg Mulholland clearly has "Measurement Mania". Having sought to ban the word "regular" from our coffee shops last week, he has now gone on record welcoming the law requiring pubs to serve small (125ml) glasses of wine alongside larger measures. EDM 737 27/01/10 "That this House welcomes the introduction of the law, within the Mandatory Code of Practice, requiring pubs, bars and other similar establishments to offer the choice of a 125ml measure of wine alongside larger measures; notes that this follows campaigning since the introduction of the Sale of Wine (Measures) Bill in 2008 and a campaign by the ...
This morning's Western Mail carries the less than cheerful news that local Councils in Wales who are struggling to make ends meet could shed as many as 10,000 jobs in Wales over the next four years. The paper says that at least two Welsh councils are understood to be examining the possibility of "hundreds" of job cuts in the short-term, with fears that budget deficits could quadruple over the next three years. Local government experts have warned of the biggest squeeze on public services in a generation. The report points out that the consequences of the banking crisis, which have ...
Apart from being able to get serious with the debate on parking charges, most of my day today has been taken up with the silly story about the use of twitter in the council chamber. My view is that Twitter and other tools are a useful way of communicating with those who are interested in the goings on at the Council. Like other tools, Twitter can be mis-used and can take up your whole time if you let it. My duty, as a councillor, is to represent my constituents in the best way possible. I believe that Twitter can help ...
[IMG: slimfigures] Kent on Sunday this week carried the above story about Kent TV "Thousands watch KCC soap" referring to the Hollywould drama and if you don't analyze this it looks like a good news story, which it isn't*, firstly the cost per viewer assuming the same viewers were hooked to each episode, is just over £2 per viewer (based on average viewer figure per episode 10K) or £1 per eye ball. This "soap", was aimed at a teenage audience, reaching an average 10,000 per episode, now I may be mistaken but I understand that Kent's secondary school population is ...
When the Total Politics poll of political blogs was announced in September of last year I jokingly started to refer to myself as a nearly blogger. The term "The Stephen Glenn Position" was coined and reused by many for that position just outside a chart. Because there were ten published positions for the Scottish Blogs and the Liberal Democrats, I was eleventh in both (for Scotland that was a on-mover).There was the top 100 blogs overall, and my name wasn't on that list but at the very top of the 101-200 blogs. Even the other day Mark Thompson issued a ...
Cornwall Council's Car Parking Panel has just voted to recommend that the first hour parking charges are frozen across the County. That's great news and will be a benefit to Launceston shopkeepers and shoppers alike. The Council's proposal was to increase charges by 5% but with a minimum increase of 10p. In effect, this would see Launceston first hour charges rise from 70p to 80p (an increase of 14% and a second increase in a year). Launceston town centre shops are already suffering greatly and another increase could be the end of the line for more traders. So I argued ...
Thu 28th
13:55If Gordon's a "glum optimist" and Dave's a "perky doom-monger", can Nick be the "honest optimist"?
Here's how The Economist's Bagehot characterised the performances of Gordon Brown and David Cameron at their respective press conferences this week: On Gordon Brown: "... [he] was his usual funereal self (even if he did manage a decent joke about the date of the general election). I thought he looked exhausted. But what he had to say was relatively upbeat: the recession is over; the government has plans for the "job-rich prosperity" that is just around the corner and an expanded middle class. On David Cameron: "... [he] was his usual breezy self, cracking jokes, remembering journalists' names, etc. But ...
It seems that something in WordPress has broken, and so my posts are currently only viewable on the front page, and comments not at all. This possibly has to do with the extremely high levels of traffic today... I hope this will fix itself soon.
This evening in Full Council I had a question down for Cllr Lyonette, the Cabinet's Transport portfolio holder. It read:"In December 2009 the Government's Road Safety Minister announced proposals which would allow local councils to introduce 20 mph zones in residential areas without the need for traffic calming measures such as speed humps.The Department for Transport is seeking the views of
The last couple of Council meetings have been enlivened (if that's the word) by the Manchester Evening News tweeting the event. It seems to be a sport where we can all join in, so various of us Councillors, in between speeches and votes were also attempting to tweet along. However it struck me that many of the tweets (especially for certain individuals on the other side) amounted to little more than written down heckles, bearing little relation to the debate itself and more to do with simply trying to suggest that anybody who disagrees with the ruling group are idiots. ...
I was astonished to find myself on the front page of the Western Morning News today as part of a curious 'process' story on the use of Twitter from Council meetings. I haven't actually seen it myself, as I tend not to buy confused right-wing newspapers, but I have seen the online version. That's right, ...
The Chilcot Enquiry into the Iraq War yesterday was astonishing for an incredible insight into how we were manipulated by Blair and Bush into deciding the war was legal when our own Attorney General felt it wasn't. When our Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith was opposed to the Iraq war or at least felt it was illegal, he went or was he pushed over the atlantic to visit Condoleeza Rice et al. Incredibly he then returns to the UK suitably reassured that the war would indeed be legal. Now forgive me for pointing out the startlingly obvious but as the US ...
[IMG: obama-state-of-the-union] I stayed up late last night to watch the President's State of the Union address. A year in and Barack Obama has seen his approval ratings plummet. Then again this was a man who a year ago people thought was god. It seemed that just by voting for Obama, Americans believed all their woes would be over. When they woke up and found it took a bit more than that, the nation was shocked and appauled. Superman had been hit with a large chunk of kryptonite and things were not all mother and apple pie at the ranch. ...
Health & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee This meeting looked at the Care Quality Commission's inspection report on adult social care services in Sutton. The inspection concluded that overall the service performance in Sutton is strong. However with regard to the criteria of 'maintaining personal dignity & respect' the grading was 'performing adequately'. An action plan had already ...
I finally got to meet the Chair (Baroness Blackstone), the CEO (Jane Collins) and several non-executive members of the Board of Great Ormond Street yesterday. I was there on two counts. The first was to ask why Kim Holt, the whistle-blowing, senior paediatrician who raised concerns over child protection in Haringey and was not listened to, had not begun to be re-instated having been on 'special leave' for two years despite agreement to so do. The second thrust of my meeting was about issues around bullying and unhappiness amongst medical staff and what had been done to address those issues. ...
Continuing my series on what the Liberal Democrats stand for, today's instalment is the heart of Love and Liberty, a 1999 booklet exploring my own Liberalism. It was born out of a political trip to the USA back in 1998 and three separate things that struck me there - a museum, an interview and a terrible event - which together rekindled my rather burnt-out political determination of the time. It sets out just why I think love as important a political standard as liberty, and why Liberal 'family values' should be nothing like the narrow, exclusive conservative claim to them... ...
I get a lot of emails from lobbyists as a potential MP. On the whole, I think lobbying must work, or else they wouldn't do it. However, if elected I would put forward what is best for Blaydon and what I believe in. The lobbyists from the Euroscpetic (or Europaranoid as they often appear) lobby are often the most hard to understand. I thought I would publish in full this slightly bonkers invitation to sign a secret pledge as a classic example of a very strange position: An open letter to all PPCs standing in the 2010 General Election. We ...
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 ...
[IMG: Google Trends logo] Cross-posted from the Mandate blog: For a long time both Google and Twitter have provided information on the currently hot terms - those words people are using to search (Google) or in tweets (Twitter). The data has been global totals, which in practice means the data tells you what is currently hot with Americans, with the rest of the world only getting the occasional look in. Both have however recently added geographic options. Google are keeping their UK trends page relatively well hidden, but you can go to it direct at www.google.co.uk/trends, which shows UK and ...
Commenting on figures from the Office for National Statistics showing an estimated 2m pensioners in the UK are living in poverty with a further million in fuel poverty, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Steve Webb said: "Labour's changes to the pension system have not protected many older people from the indignities of poverty. "It is still the case that pensioners who are forced to rely on the state pension and Labour's complex and undignified system of means-tested benefits are more likely to live in fuel poverty. "The Conservatives presided over the erosion of the state pension in the ...
What a great idea for a protest! Every time there's a new story about a photographer being stopped by the police for taking photos of some of the most mundane things it makes you question the anti-terror laws that this government has put in place. Surely the police have better things to be doing than stopping and searching everyone who's taking a photo of St Paul's Cathedral. I wonder how many terror plots have been foiled by police stopping tourists who were taking photos?
Following the announcement of the Government's new ICT Strategy, Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, Jenny Willott released figures showing that 33 abandoned and 77 over budget Government ICT projects over the last decade have wasted almost £1.2bn in taxpayers' money and caused a total of 70 years worth of delays. Commenting, Cardiff Central MP Jenny Willott said: "The Government has a track record of eye-wateringly expensive IT cock ups that have cost taxpayers billions. "Labour's addiction to grandiose computer projects has poured billions of taxpayers' money down the drain and causedhuge delays. "The Government has proved itself staggeringly incompetent ...
Thu 28th
11:25
'Hello, this is BBC Radio Stoke, we'd like a quote about your local PPC!' - The Press Officer's Guid...
As you will no doubt be aware there has been an issue with a Liberal Democrat PPC in Stoke-on-Trent recently. This was brought home to me over the weekend when I received a 'private number' phone call. "Hello, is that John Ault?" came the siren voice. "Yes," I said. "We have you as the contact for the Liberal Democrats ...
Cast your world-weary, battle-hardened, politico and political eyes over this disgusting filth spewing from the keyboard of swivel-eyed maniacs working through the night on behalf of some disreputable campaign to send vile messes to hard working Tory PPCs: Can you clarify that: You accept that climate change is caused by human activity? Do you support the target to achieve 15% renewable energy by 2020? Do you support the EU imposing tougher regulation to combat climate change? Hardly the worst questions a campaigner will receive. In my brief time working in politics both as an elected representative myself and for MEPs ...
At yesterday's Local Area Committee, I'd asked for the issue t Cheadle's Christmas lights to be put on the agenda and Council officer Brian Nash waited very patiently for the item to come up - over three hours into the meeting! I commented that I'd had lots of positive comments about the Christmas displays this year - the lights and trees. Gatley looked great, and Cheadle did too - except for the five lights that were out. Cllr Jones also mentioned problems with the small Christmas trees for shops, which didn't really work (partly because Brian was in hospital for ...
Today's WMN carries a story about the use of twitter in County Hall by councillors including myself. The main implication of the story is totally untrue and there are a large number of major and minor inaccuracies in it. I have complained to the paper and will provide a fuller update in due course.
It says it all when Obama is craftily reminding everyone that he never promised that he alone would deliver change... But remember this – I never suggested that change would be easy, or that I could do it alone And, you know what, he is right. I could have sworn I'd written about it before, but if ...
Welcome to a two-part series about the real impact social media (or social networking) is having on politics in Britain. In part one I look at the groups which face extinction, whilst in part two I will look at why pundits searching for the impact of social media on politics in 2010 are looking in the wrong place. What impact has the introduction of cheap colouring printing technology had on British politics? Almost none. Certainly many more leaflets are colour than used to be the case, more target letters contain colour inserts and a generation of amateur designers have had ...
Well most could do a lot worse than follow this example. Alexis mixes the humour seen on this blog post with serious local and national news and views allowing for great contact between him and his constituents. This is a problem that a lot of local councillors have with their blogs. They see them as a way to merely announce news. They should instead be viewed as a conversation with the electorate and as a platform for discussion.
I am not sure how often this needs to be asserted. But let's keep doing so all the same. As CentreForum has repeatedly argued – most recently in Time's Up, a paper directed at the Liberal Democrats' determination to scrap tuition fees, at great expense – the current way in which tuition fees are paid ...
The minutes of the local engagement forum which I attended last week made interesting reading. Every questionner was named - except me. Despite (or because of) announcing myself as 'Keith Nevols' I instead was recorded as 'a local resident'. The question was there but the questionner became an un-person. At least my name was indicated in the list of those present. It appears that the Conservative leaders of the panel, who must have checked the minutes before publication, decided to 'censor' me regarding raising issues that we intend to campaign on. It's not worth making a fuss over minutes which ...
Thanks to everyone who contacted me about the tyres dumped by the stream at the top of Gatley Hill. I'm told they've now been removed (though I haven't had a chance to get up and take a look myself - all my trtrips to Gatley Hill are after dark at this time of year). If anyone has any information about who dumped the tyres there, I'd be very grateful - please get in touch,
No doubt there will people at work with radio headsets in, others looking at the BBC live text update, some may even be watching the live stream. Today is Andy Murray's third Grand Slam semi-final against the man who denied him a chance to repeat his previous final when he beat him in the 4th Round at the US Open last year. Maran Cilic is the number 14 seed but he is coming up against the number 5 seed in form. Murray has not dropped a set and took the game to Rafael Nadal in the last round, and was ...
Sixty three men had been killed in its construction, but you rarely in these days of health and safety hear of the number who die maintaining the Forth Bridge being added to. Last night a construction worker fell 150ft unto scaffolding at about 2100 and despite the efforts of police, paramedics and lifeboat crews he was pronounced dead at the scene. Maintaining the Bridges across the Forth is an important, year round role in keeping the communication channels open. Us mere passengers or car users (on the Road Bridge) forget how potentially dangerous such upkeep can be if something goes ...
[IMG: Smoke trails against a black sky] Good morning, and welcome to Daily View this morning. 24 years ago, 28 January saw the NASA Challenger disaster. It's the date of the death of Henry VIII and the beginning of the Diet of Worms. (If they went to that sort of effort, I hope they lost a lot of weight!) 197 years ago today saw the first publication of Pride and Prejudice and in 1958, Lego bricks were first patented. Today's bricks still mesh with the original 1958 system. Birthday bunny hops today go to novelist David Lodge and hobbit-actor Elijah ...
Cllr Dave Edgerton started a campaign to help a number of pensioners that are charged rather extortionate rents from their registered social landlord. As he found: Pensioners living in sheltered accommodation owned by Registered Social Landlords rents can vary between £90 and £150 a week. Often a weekly service charge is also added. Many of the ...
Don't you just hate those bankers? They're the parasites of our society, the folks who get bailed out by the government and then pay themselves massive bonuses. Aren't they? Well it's not quite as simple as that. True, the banking world has played a big part in the mess we're in by its reckless lending and paying out of obscene bonuses. And of course it's galling when banks that were bailed out with public money are found to be still paying big bonuses just a few months after receiving state help. But there's a simple truth in all this - ...
Thursday: It's Daddy Richard's birthday! And what could be more fun than playing with some Lego. Time to take my diary into a whole new dimension! Movement! Run VT! Happy Birthday Daddy! .
The Liberal Democrat peer, Rabbi Julia Neuberger, was the guest speaker at Islington LibDems' pizza and politics last night. The original idea had been that she would be interviewed by the Leader of Islington Council, Terry Stacy, but he was bedridden with flu. In the discussion, Baroness Neuberger was asked how she got on as ...
There is news that two 'earthquakes' or 1.5 and 1.7 on the Richter scale have hit the land of my father's County Donegal in the last 24 hours. But what exactly is 1.7 on the scale? You wouldn't even feel a thing. An express train going past you on a platform has more effect on you. It also is hardly news 8,000 hit the world every day of 2.0 or less, they are described as micro and not recorded. Compared to even the aftershocks that have been hitting Haiti this is nothing to write home about. Apart from in this ...
..."can you put it on expenses?" Sigh... Really can't wait for the political system to be properly cleaned up and a new breed of honest, ordinary people getting into politics. Come on people if you want to make a difference get involved, no point standing on the sidelines. You can make a difference!
Yesterday evening I visited my son who lives in Knutsford. In order to get to the motorway I need to drive through Lancaster and although I have written twice in the past week about the need for a link road I am going to write one more blog on the subject. It took me 43 minutes to get to the motorway for what should be a 10 minute journey at most. I am used to traffic through Lancaster so I always give myself 30 minutes to make this 10 minute trip. It was ironic to hear Radio Lancashire tell me ...
