I'm absolutely astounded by this story, which was originally brought to my attention by David Ottewell, who blogged about it today. For those that can't be bothered to follow those links, the crux of the story is that the 10 local authorities of Greater Manchester all pay Marketing Manchester to, well, market Manchester. I don't want to get into the value (or otherwise) of councils like Salford paying out taxpayers cash to market another city, but a deal was struck some years ago to split the cost, with 35% to be paid by Manchester and the remaining 65% to be ...
A story in the Leicester Mercury today brought me up short: A green energy company is considering an appeal after plans for a wind farm on a former nuclear missile site were rejected. Nuon Renewables wants to build seven 415ft towers five miles south east of Market Harborough. A former nuclear missile site five miles from Harborough? Incredibly, it is true. The site in question is the former World War II airfield RAF Harrington. It was opened in September 1943 and played host to a number of American bomber squadrons until the end of the war. Afterwards the airfield fell ...
The Darlington Early Years Inclusion Service has been the subject of two special Budget consultation sessions over the past couple of days. I've been to both, to try and find out what the real issues are here.The Council's proposal is to replace the eleven-strong team who provide concentrated, personalised support to a number of handicapped and disadvantaged pre-school children, mainly during
Tue 2nd
22:22
North thanet libdem spokesman signs downing street petition to save battle of britain memorial fligh...
[IMG: be2] (Press Release) North Thanet Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Mark Barnard is backing the campaign to save the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight from being axed in any defence cuts. Mark commented, "The flight was a crucial link to the most glorious episode in the RAF's history and was particularly important to North Thanet. Manston Airport was the hub for the Battle of Britain I urge people to sign the 10 Downing Street petition to make clear the strength of feeling on this issue. There are five airworthy Spitfires in the memorial flight and costs less than 0.1 per cent ...
We just attended a local version of Question Time, in the hall of a nearby school, Dimbledored by a local methodist minister. Lets have a game of "match SB's impression of all the candidates to the candidate's name", shall we? It's very simple. Match a number to a letter, and let's see who is closest... Your prize will be in the form of smugness :D Candidate Name and party Matches with? SB's Impression 1, Booth, Stephanie (Labour) A, Vacuous, slimy, self-important, self-obsessed turd who will likely win 2, Buckley, Greg (UKIP) B, Sweet, enthusiastic, spent most of their time endorsing ...
The date by which comments or objections to the Planning Application for the Consett Academy and Leisure Facility should be received is getting close. It's next Monday, February 8th. You can see the plans here You can check the "Saved Plans" for Derwentside which should still guide planning decisions in the district here N.B. the "Expired Plans" no longer have any relevance. Since Durham County Council doesn't provide one, you may wish to read the Leeds City Council fact sheet on the requirements for an application for outline planning permission. It is to be found here and provides a useful ...
today is Groundhog Day, back in 1993 the film of the same day was released with Bill Murray in the lead role. It's a lovely little film in which condemned to live the same day over and over again until he learns his lesson and he begins to re-examine his life and priorities. Aaaah!
All, Another meeting to advertise: Thursday 25th February 2010 Shipston High School Drop-in surgery 6.30pm Community Forum starts at 7.00pm Community Forums give YOU the opportunity to raise issues of local concern and keep up to date with what is happening in YOUR community. Local surgery If you have a specific concern or problem then come along to the local surgery from 6.30pm - 7.00pm where you will be able to speak to officers from your local Safer Neighbourhoods Team, Councillors and Officers from Warwickshire County and Stratford-on-Avon District Councils Topics for discussion at the next forum • What's Going ...
[IMG: image1096880502.jpg] All, Just a reminder that the next Shipston Town Council meeting is on Monday, 8th of May from 7pm. It's an open meeting - and all members of the public can come along. There's even an opportunity for local residents to speak if there's something you want to ask or suggest. Come along, see how we spend your money, and tell us if we're getting it right! Regards, Philip [Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]
Apologies, folks, we missed this one yesterday ... Simon Hughes, the Lib Dem shadow secretary of state for Energy and Climate Change, was the subject of The Independent's latest You Ask The Questions Q&A feature. Here are three of the 15 questions and Simon's answers: Why is your constituency [Bermondsey & Old Southwark] still riven by inequality and lack of jobs 25 years after you became MP? TANYA AHMED, WOLVERHAMPTON The short answer is that inequality and job creation is most influenced by the international economy, and national and regional government - and for all of my time as MP ...
No doubt on election night somewhere between 1 and 2 A.M. if all goes smoothly Alex Linkston and his staff will be getting well deserved thanks for another well run count. polling day operation etc. Indeed in all the years I have known Alex and his organisational skills not once has the team let him down (machinery is a totally different issue from 2007). Therefore he has a message for the people who can vote in either Livingston or Linlithgow and East Falkirk, in today's Queensbury Gazette and Linlithgow Gazette which I'm sure will be in the West Lothian Courier ...
Thank you, taxi drivers of Southampton; next time I visit your city I now know who not to call for a cab. Where I live, about 95% of the drivers are Pakistanis, and not only do they know where they're going but they charge fairly and seem to know instinctively whether you want to talk or not. Good lads; I'll bet few Southampton cabbies come close (and if you read this, Saj, no you're not getting any extra free advertising :) ) Still, those stickers could serve as a useful advance warning if they were to turn up in London ...
Er... No thanks George, you gamble with your own money (you've got more than enough) let serious politicians, like Vince Cable, run the ...
Local Lib Dems are appalled by the Labour Council's decision to close Ewing School despite an 11,000 strong petition. Labour Councillors voted to close the school for children with speech and communication disabilities. Chorlton MP John Leech said: "I am amazed about the breathtaking ignorance of Labour Councillors, who clearly don't know about the excellent work Ewing does. Labour ignored the views of parents, carers and pupils who have worked tirelessly to save Ewing " Local Resident, Victor Chamberlain said: "This is the wrong decision; an excellent school is closing without any guarantees that what replaces it will be better." ...
Belsize Green Drinks and Book Swap is tomorrow night (Wed 3 Feb) from 8pm upstairs at the Sir Richard Steele pub on Haverstock Hill. Next week's eco film - Wed 10 Feb, 7.30pm at the Sir Richard Steele - is The Power of Community, the film about how Cuba survived life after oil. If you haven't seen it, then I highly recommend it. The Keynote Listener will be Ed Fordham, the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn. On Wed April 14th Transition Belsize will be holding a Transition Husting for all the parliamentary candidates together. This will involve ...
Clare Short's testimony today to the Iraq inquiry drew applause from the onlookers, but to my mind and In know that of many others, hearing Ms Short justifying her support of Mr Blair and her mistakes in doing so only served to highlight what a fool she was and remains. But more than that, it really does make you wish that Robin Cook, the one cabinet member who did resign over Iraq, was still alive to given evidence. Clearly Robin Cook was cleverer that Ms Short because she failed to see what the rest of us and he could see, ...
So I am investigating building a 3d game in XNA. So far, my main conclusion is that all of the available "engines" are rubbish. Either poorly-documented, feature-lacking, or both. I am used to the relative elegance and acres of documentation of Java3d's Scenegraph, and despite the fact that J3d is lacking a ton of modern features (like, er, shaders), I have actually managed to get something approximately like what I want up and running in it. This is quite frustrating. In the unlikely event that you have any tips, please contribute.
In the two months since my last report, the election campaign has started in all but name. After a phenomenal amount of work by the manifesto team – led by Danny Alexander, the party's policy unit headed by Christian Moon, and the Federal Policy Committee – we have now established the broad outlines of our campaign: Reform of the tax system to create a fairer base, introducing the pupil premium to give all children a fairer start in life, creating sustainable housing and jobs and political reform to bring in a fairer voting system, and the power for citizens to ...
I'm almost scared to write this in case it all goes horribly wrong again, but I have to give credit here it's due. We appear to have heat again. And hot water! Don't think I've forgotten how utterly useless Homeserve and their agents Vaillant (proper spelling this time) were yesterday. I won't, not for a long time. They have, though, redeemed themselves today. However, I got an e-mail to the blog e-mail address from one of the managers in Vaillant saying that they wanted to restore my faith in the company. I replied with a little more detail than I ...
Railway Stations UK offers a growing catalogue of photographs. The picture above shows one of my favourite stations: Cromford in Derbyshire. You may recognise it from the cover of "Some Might Say" by Oasis, who are a band who were popular with the young people for a time.
I've just seen one of the dumbest film clips ever on The One Show regarding the Kraft takeover of Cadburys. Now I know The One Show does very much aim its fire at the lowest common denominator, but I had hoped for something a bit higher than The Sun business pages level of coverage from Adam Shaw, one of the presenters of Working Lunch. But no, instead we got the tripe that I just saw. In comparing the possible loss of jobs in the Kraft takeover with other takeovers of UK forms, Adam Shaw sought to show how some takeovers ...
An envelope arrive from LoveFilm. I tear at it with anxious fingers. Could it possibly be? It is! Tomorrow at Ten. A review will no doubt follow.
Since Edward Davey and Susan Kramer launched the Save Kingston Hospital campaign at the beginning of last week, much has been happening. For a start, nearly 6000 people have signed the petition, and nearly 11,000 have joined the Facebook group. If you have somehow missed it, I should explain that some weeks ago the MPs were told that a review was being undertaken of the hospitals in South West London. One of the options being considered was to close down the A&E and Maternity departments at Kingston. This South West London Strategic Plan was due to be published in December, ...
Plenty of media coverage today of Nick Clegg's announcement that the Lib Dems will pledge to give every child a fair start in life by investing an extra £2.5bn in schools which could be used to cut class sizes, offer one-on-one tuition and provide catch-up classes. Nick Clegg says Lib Dems would help poorest children (BBC News) Clegg: 'Education is everything' (Radio 4 Today Programme) Liberal Democrats promise to scrap tax credits for wealthy families (Daily Telegraph) Once again we see the renewed Lib Dem emphasis on that f-word, Fairness; and in this case, a policy which has long been ...
The remarkable attack today by Clare Short on Blair and Brown over Iraq at the Chilcot Inquiry may have the power to produce headlines but it doesn't throw much light on her own role. She spoke with an incredible degree of bitterness and a considerable amount of hindsight. Her claim that the Cabinet was misled by legal officers claiming the war was legal is all very well but there were clear
In 2005 there were a mere 405 votes between Nigel Griffiths and the Liberal Democrats in 2005. Labour had already lost the Scottish seat that takes up most of the Westminster constituency to Mike Pringle, he went on to increase his majority in 2007. Therefore these quotes from local Labour party members in Edinburgh South make interesting reading: One Labour Party insider said: "This decision is just typical of Nigel. That is why he will leave no legacy in South Edinburgh. He has put the party in a very difficult position by making his entire campaign centre on his personality. ...
Well. That'll teach me to leave comments on other people's blogs. I criticise someone for describing a Lib Dem as a "Measurement Fascist" and in return get described as being "frankly pathetic".Ah well, it's a free country. And on reflection maybe I was being harsh. But I wish people wouldn't diminish just how evil Nazism, Stalinism and Fascism were by using such phrases as "Health Nazi".Having
The House of Twits has launched a new poll at http://www.houseoftwits.co.uk/vote.html asking simply whether or not you are in favour of replacing the "First Past the Post" system of voting. I was the first to vote. Of the first ten people to vote, all the Lib Dems were in favour of change, and all the Tories against, with the Labour vote split. I wonder whether this will change? I'll let you know!
The News Shopper has the story that Southeastern has replied to the Chair of Transport Committee of GLA Caroline Pidgeon AM that requested the company an explanation for the three days of railway mayhem at the beginning of January. Here's the original letter in full, it's an 11 pages dissertation of the company Managing Director ...
I do understand that it can be hard to be in power as you have to make hard decisions that you don't like, but closing the Look In is the wrong decisions as there are other ways of finding the money. As reported on this blog here and here. It looks like the council could have a real fight on there hands. The users of the cafe are mobilizing and are prepared to hold a march to the council offices and the petition already has 1000 names. Look In campaigners have and will be attending the council budget meetings There ...
Yes, you read that headline correctly. Technically it's been illegal to leave rubbish in Transport for London's litter bins at stations with rail services. You might think a litter bin is there for placing litter in, but alas the lawyers weren't thinking of that when they drafted the London Regional Transport Bylaws back in 2000. But don't worry if you've been placing litter in litter bins. It will soon be legal again. Rejoice, rejoice.
I promise I will get bored of this soon. But I thought posterity needed to know that I have attended two events on this subject in the last week. The first at the IoG has a higher suit ratio than I had ever witnessed, but was correspondingly high quality. It's Chatham House, so I cannot ...
Great news - Ecotricity are now offering green gas contracts. They're going to make gas from food waste and supply it into the national gas grid, in a way that mirrors their work in green electricity. See here for how you can switch your gas contract.
The news that our Prime Minister was going to rake the Co-op Party over the coals for Labour's GE manifesto upset me. It really did. Everything the man touches turns to dust before our eyes. I went to bed last night dreading the possibility that the sensible discussion on mutualist solutions that this country so desperately needs was never going to happen having been further cursed by Gordon "Jonah" Brown. Those of you who read this blog will know that I'm not a big fan of the Co-op Party being an "affliate constituent" of the Labour Party. State socialism and ...
The bus that was put on to replace the 28 is being changed again to provide a connection to Knaphill and Sainbury's as well as Waitrose. The bus will leave the station at 15 minutes past the hour from 0915 to 1415, arriving at the Crown at 22 mins past. It will then continue onto Waitrose, Knaphill and Sainbury's. The 1415 terminates in Horsell. Coming back the bus leaves Sainsbury's at 45 mins past and Waitrose at 57 mins past, leaving Horsell for the station at 2 mins past. The full timetable is here . Don't forget there is an ...
Yesterday, Nick Clegg announced one of the Liberal Democrats four key policies for the General Election campaign ahead - A Fair Start for Every Child. Education has long been a cornerstone policy for our party. We have been proved right in our consistent support for increased investment, particularly in early years education. That is why we are placing our pledge to improve childrens' education at the heart of our electoral contract with the country. A Liberal Democrat government would cut class sizes by delivering a multi-billion pound pupil premium. This would mean that children from less privileged backgrounds would be ...
Never mind the birch as a rallying cry for legal reactionaries - David Cameron seems to be willing the law back to Infangthief. That is the right of a property owner to exact summary punishment on a criminal found on his property. Or even Outfangthief - the right to pursue and punish off the property. Perhaps understandable as a legal expedient when the only police force was the Hue and Cry Posse, way back in the 1300's, this concept has rather been eroded by some centuries of the Rule of Law. Or so one would have hoped. Once more we ...
We have heard that the Northern Line is due to close an hour earlier on weekdays for up to 18 months and the section from Stockwell to Morden will close at weekends for 16 weeks as engineering work takes place. The Evening Standard has more details:
Pope: "I follow Natural Law" shocker Apologies in advance: this is yet another religious-themed blog post, rather than my usual inane ramblings on politics. I was distressed, saddened and angry last night, when I read about the Pope and his criticising of the Equality Bill. Then I stopped myself, and tried to think rationally. First, one point that needs to be addressed. We won't like hearing it. Us liberals don't like hearing about the positives of religion - especially Catholicism - after all. The salacious claims going around that the Catholic Church has been an oppressive institution "for over 2,000 ...
I am standing as a candidate in a local town and borough council by-election here in Owlsmoor, Sandhurst for the Lib Dems. The election is on the 25th February and was called following the sad death of councillor Ray Simonds. I did tweet about this a couple of weeks ago but did not want to blog until the candidate list was officially announced which it now has been. I am intending to do some blogposts about how the campaign is going over the next few weeks. It is the first time I have stood for elected office and I am ...
As February starts to bite, the tradition of it being a shitty month seems to be continuing. Following in a long and glorious tradition (well, following Mortimer, anyway), the current Queen of Lib Dem blogging, Charlotte Gore, has hung up her keyboard. We mourn her passing, and reminisce about her many fine rants. But as we mourn, we must celebrate the fact that this means a succession to the throne, and the next highest ranked female Lib Dem blogger is the one and only Caron. May Cthulhu bless her and all who sail in her. My February Sponsor is To ...
I'll use it as an excuse to have another Youtube link to John Cleese! There is a longer (9 minute!) version on Youtube as well.
I've blogged quite a few times on the subject of televised debates between the main party leaders at the general election, so here's a round-up of my posts on the matter: After 46 years of trying, there are finally to be TV debates between the party leaders at a UK general election. I've made my ten predictions for how the TV leader debates will pan out, including how Channel 4 could make itself the real broadcast victory of the series despite being cut out of the debate schedule. All it needs is a little application of worms. Although Danny Finkelstein ...
Welcome to February, a little belatedly as I was utterly shattered yesterday, and to ease you into the new month I've prepared a selection of links to sites with pretty pictures - each of which will also insidiously get your brain working. Well, I hope they'll do so for me, anyway, as I'm still knackered and have a great many things I want to write. Marvel, then, at Jodrell Bank's pick of the night sky for February, a fabulous Douglas Adams pastiche, several comic strips and something not at all safe for work. Hope it cheers and wakes you up. ...
For a good graphic, far too big to reproduce here, go to ...
I really am at a loss as to explain how the Tories are going to fix this "Broken Britain" they keep banging on about. But then again, I'm not alone, it seems that they don't either. They vacillate between Senna the Soothsayer in Up Pompeii ("Woe, ...
It's 25 minutes into this interview on the Victoria Derbyshire show. The diatribe from the TUC lady (about 29 minutes in) becomes unbelievable, aiming at all sorts of straw men like whether the paper is a call for locally-based minimum wages (it is not). The TUC's defensiveness on this is really telling. They don't want people ...
West Lothian has produced some marvels in its time, former Doctor Who actor David Tennant would be enough by himself to put the county on the map forever. Then, of course there was Susan Boyle, who lives less than 10 miles from where I'm sitting now. Bathgate has also produced Indycar champion Dario Franchitti. Now Franchitti's cousin, Paul, from Uphall, has signed for Force India as their test driver. It's an amazing opportunity for him as he'll get to go to all the races and may even drive on some of the Friday practice sessions. Last year's test driver, Vitantonio ...
The DUP apparently last night were split 60/40 over the deal regarding justice that would probably have seen an end to the long negotiations that have been going on at Hillsborough Castle. Sammy Wilson was unusually tight lipped about events (especially when compared to some of his utterances earlier in proceedings over the last 10 days): "You have within any organisation your internal discussions (and) when you reach conclusions which impact on the public, then you go out and you give the outcome of those conclusions and that's what we did yesterday." It would be interesting to speculate who is ...
Here is a list of things I put in my "things to link to" folder over the past week: Ads bearing Malware appear on Livejournal. It's at this point I would like to remind everyone that DW is totally ad free... Sarah-Jane.tv are running the third annual Sonic Lipstick awards. Go and vote, all you SJA fans! How to deal with conversations with geeks. Assisted Death: Pterry is in the news over it. He did the Dimbleby Lecture last night, and it was very moving, and I urge you all to watch it. The best post I have seen on ...
Saw this at Leeds station the other night. Love that someone has taken the time and effort to correct the mistake with a marker pen. Maybe Netwrok Rail will get it right next time!
I was shocked to read the story in Today's MEN that Manchester City Council has overpaid £421,000 of local taxpayers money due to 'an accounting blunder'. But what shocked me the most was how the Labour Deputy Leader of the Council seemed to shrug it off as insignificant and not worth claiming back. Why is the Council happy to "waive the overpayment"? Manchester has one of the highest levels of poverty, deprivation and social exclusion in the Country. This money could be used to really benefit citizens, but Labour's incompetence means it has just been squandered. In Chorlton this ...
PagePlus - the desktop publishing software used by Liberal Democrat campaigners - is now available to download from the Serif website. Previously, the software was available to purchase on disk only via the ALDC shop, however Serif have now discontinued the physical disks. Instead, Serif have agreed with ALDC and the Campaigns Department an exclusive offer where Liberal Democrat campaigners can now download the software instead. To purchase and download the software, go to: Liberal Democrat PagePlus download offer
Two Licensing Compliance Officers have been appointed to check that licensed premises are complying with the terms of their licences as part of a move to help reduce crime and disorder in St Albans City and District. The two officers will also check that hackney carriage and private hire vehicles are operating within the terms of their licences. The posts are being funded for a six-month trial period by St Albans City and District Council and Hertfordshire Constabulary, as part of the St Albans Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership. The Licensing Compliance Officers will work mainly on Friday and Saturday ...
Back in 1985 the Coach House at Northdown Park, was leased at an annual rent of 300 quid, in that period little seems to have gone on at the property, which at the time, the lease was arranged, was to have been used as a museum, this never happened. In fact little seems to have happened, apart from the building deteriorating, last summer, someone pointed out to me that vandals had apparently removed the guttering and now it is boarded up. Now after 25 years of apparent inactivity it seems Thanet council are finally showing an interest in the state ...
An article in the Civil Service World newspaper from 27 January is drawn to my attention in which the Work and Pensions Minister, Jim Knight, who has recently been appointed as the government's lead on moving public services on-line, confesses to having a 'ongoing struggle' with officials about web access. During a question and answer session at the Dotgov Live Conference last week the Minister was asked how civil servants could be expected to engage with the public when they are banned from using many of the social media sites such as Youtube or Facebook, where members of the public ...
Roger Williams, MP for Brecon and Radnorshire and Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Wales has today warned that the Government's Post Office closure programme is destroying the Welsh Post Office network. His comments came after a Parliamentary Question revealed that the number of Post Office in Wales has dipped below 1000 for the first time. Information for 2008/2009 shows only 971 Post Office operating in Wales. Since 2003 over 300 Post Office have closed, most of them in rural areas. While most areas still have a Post Office within a three mile radius of them, this is often ...
Welsh Liberal Democrats have hit out at the patchy and ineffective use of the Welsh Government's Proact scheme, as the party uncovered figures showing that it has had very little effect in many areas of Wales. Figures show that in some areas, the scheme, often hailed by Labour and Plaid as an economic golden bullet has helped less than ten people. In Ceredigion, where the scheme has been repeatedly praised by Plaid Cymru, the scheme has only helped eight people, while in Conwy only seven employees have been supported. Welsh Lib Dem MP for Ceredigion, Mark Williams said: "Plaid and ...
They say if you want to know the fate of a ship keep an eye on the rats. They'll be the first to desert a sinking ship. Well about a quarter of Labour's Scottish MPs have now decided that enough is enough and they are getting out. Rosemary McKenna Cumbernauld and Kilsyth (turning 69 in May announced retirement some time ago) Mohammed Sarwar Glasgow Central (only 57 first elected in 1997 announced he would step down in 2007)Gavin Strang Edinburgh East (also late sixties flip-flopped twice on retirement before settling on the option after 40 years as MP) Adam Ingram ...
Mark Pack, former Lib Dem Geek-in-Chief, has written a series of articles for Total Politics magazine on the use by councils of new technologies. In this month's article, Mark argues the case for councils having blogs. He says that it should not be a means of communication solely for individual councillors, but that council officers should consider using a blog to communicate what the council is doing. The key argument that Mark makes is that people come back and read blogs regularly because they know they will have something new to say. Regular websites, on the other hand, need to ...
It looks like the Lib Dems are gearing up for perhaps the stupidest piece of political foot-shootery ever carried out by human beings. The AV referendum bill is going to be voted on next week and it seems likely that many Labour backbenchers will refuse to back it. It it does not pass because of lack of Lib Dem support then it will have been the single most selfless (and astonishingly stupid) political decision ever made. I have written previously on the benefits of the AV system: but have now considered the polling results contained within this document: ...
One of the debates in today's Assembly Plenary is on 'a sense of place - the value of local distinctiveness and heritage in Wales' communities'. On the on-line agenda there is a link to a supporting document described as a 'sense of place' toolkit. I was disappointed to discover that it did not contain a compass and map.
The campaign to save Heaton Park from a commercial soccer centre made it to the BBC Manchester website today: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8492770.stm Heaton Park residents oppose sports centre plans People living around one of Europe's largest municipal parks are opposing plans to create a new sports centre. Goals Soccer Centres wants to build 13 five-a-side pitches, changing rooms, and tennis and netball courts in the north-west corner of Heaton Park. But opponents said the security fencing would create a "caged stockade", out of keeping with the green space. Manchester City Council, which owns the park, said the plans were compatible with the ...
How sick are you of hand wringing Labour cabinet ministers appearing before the Chilcott Enquiry and saying, um, well, we really weren't happy at the time, but, well, um? Clare Short is the worst and most annoying example so far, but Jack Straw doesn't come out of it covered in glory either. Geoff Hoon feared that the Army wouldn't be able to cope. I'm probably more annoyed with Clare Short than anyone else. I thought better of her than to say this on 10 March but to capitulate to Blair's wishes a week later on the eve of the Parliamentary ...
Pope Benedict XVI has attacked British society and in particular our equality legislation. In a letter addressed to the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, the pope criticised UK legislation for creating "limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs". Of course, what the Pope means is the law now prevents adoption agencies from discriminating against gay couples and the Equality Bill may mean the Catholic Church can no longer discriminate on grounds of sexuality or gender.
It was off to Pizza Express in Greek Street last night, having been invited to their launch event for the new menu. [IMG: Pizza Express, Greek Street] Red carpet was rolled out for the event and tables moved out of the way, so I can't judge what the venue is normally like. But it certainly seemed long and thin when crammed with people trying to get a taste of the new menu as waiters buzzed back and forth holding plates high in the air as if they were operating a pizza air lift to get slices to the far corners ...
I am just hearing news that Michael Hunton has resigned as Chairman of Southport Conservatives Kew Ward branch. This is just the latest in a long line of resignations, sackings and defections since Brenda Porter became the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Southport. The latest resignation follows Southport Conservative Association being placed into the political equivalent of 'special measures' by the national Conservative Party Board, and the sacking of the respected and long-serving Jackie Glover as Chairman of Southport Conservatives. More to follow...............photo by Richard Hands
Today Gordon Brown is asking Parliament to agree to hold a referendum (after the election) on a change to a different voting system. As I blogged before on the subject when it was mere conjecture - why on earth should we believe you now? In 1997, Tony Blair committed Labour to holding a referendum on a proportional voting system for the House of Commons. I'm fairly sure that Blair himself was never committed to PR and saw this pledge as a means of getting the Lib Dems on board should he need them in a hung parliament. Labour got a ...
In the last few days, stories about England captain John Terry have relegated the troubles of the UK economy to the runners-up spot. Infidelity has become the new metatarsal, a major threat to England's World Cup success. Now whatever your moral feelings about infidelity, it's neither illegal, nor unusual. Not that that makes it OK. This ...
This Twitter lark is hard. I have so far managed two tweets, but really there is so little in my life that I think anyone else would find interesting that I don't understand how people can keep the whole thing going. Maybe if I was a Hollywood A-lister and could pepper my tweets with juicy celebrity tit-bits like "just popped round to see Kirk Douglas" then people might be interested. As it is, I am barely a Prestwich F-Lister, and since starting out on Twitter two days ago the highlight of my life has been a pint of Diet Coke ...
On 27 January, the Hendon Times reported that Hendon's Conservative candidate: "faces current Labour MP Andrew Dismore and Lib Dem rival Matthew Harris for the seat, which is predicted to be one of the tightest parliamentary contests at the next general election."It could indeed be tight, so every vote will count. Our borough of Barnet's neighbours include Brent and Haringey, both of which have elected Liberal Democrat MPs, so it has to be possible that Hendon can do likewise. I look forward to speaking to as many local people as possible over the coming weeks and if you have any ...
A remarkable film about Avebury with a commentary by John Betjeman: /www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1e6tnpKK0M
Tue 2nd
12:47
Cheadle civic society website lauched to celebrate the history of Cheadle and the bicentenary of Che...
www.cheadlecivicsociety.org The Cheadle Civic Society has launched a major new web site to coincide with the bicentenary of Cheadle Green in 2010, as well as celebrate the history of Cheadle over the past 1000 years. The new site features an assortment of rare archive photographs of Cheadle Green and the surrounding area and reveals many different aspects of Cheadle life from the past. Cheadle Green is the only official village green in the borough of Stockport and came into being following a special Act of Parliament in 1810. This stipulated that no housing or commercial activity could take place on ...
So, the Pope wants to revive an age old tradition and interfere in British politics. Amusingly, the response to him is the same as the response to muslim terrorists, American fundamentalists and indeed any nay-sayers either in Britain or abroad who spend their lives doing down our system or threatening it in a variety of ways: if you don't like our freedom, butt out and leave us to enjoy it. If you want to enjoy it and live and let live, you're very welcome. Perhaps 'His Holiness' will revise his future travel plans and leave Britain off his itinerary. He ...
The Wallington South Safer Neighbourhoods Team hold street surgeries throughout the ward to give residents the opportunity to drop in and have a chat about any crime or safety issues they may have. In February the street surgeries will take place in the following locations: Street briefing Wednesday 10th February 1pm - 3pm at Sainsbury's entrance Have a say day Thursday 5th 2pm – ...
On Sunday I was very briefly a trending topic on twitter, as lots of people retweeted my anger over the fact that there is a page on Facebook where one can become a fan of Hitting Women. Lots and lots of people did as I politely requested, and reported it to Facebook as inappropriate content. Yet it's still there. It's been there for well over a week now. A standing testament to the fact that while it's unacceptable to pick on the religious, or ginger people, or those of a different skin colour, sustained abuse against 51% of the population ...
I'm yet again chasing up getting the lamps fixed on the path from Belmont Road to South Park Road, in Gatley. Now two are broken, throwing half the path into pitch darkness. I've also reported a few faulty streetlights on Styal Road. Three of these (between West Drive and South Drive) are actually in the small part of Styal Road that's in Manchester. A fourth, near Falls Grove, comes under Stockport.
[IMG: Cropped Stuart Bonar with Steve Webb (unemployment)] Lib Dem shadow work & pensions secretary Steve Webb MP and me We have just crept out of the longest, deepest recession for decades. Amongst the human costs of Labour's recession, so far at least, is unemployment of just shy of 2.5 million. So much for the cry we used to hear from Labour MPs of "no more boom & bust". How that must make them cringe now. After the most recent unemployment figures came out a few days ago I decided to check the local figures. It is amazing how bad ...
Each Cornwall Councillor has a small pot (£2195) to give to local organisations in the form of community grants. At the start of our term we were told that there were few restrictions and, whilst there would be a checklist for officers to make sure that monies were not being mis-used, there would be no complex forms for local groups to fill in before they get the money. Then, in September, we were told that there would, in fact, be a form. And boy, what a form it is. It runs to eleven pages and asks for all sorts of ...
Following on from my thoughts about the value of public meetings, click here to read a report of my speech at a Keep East of Luton Green meeting from earlier this week.
The link is to my speech last night referring to the No 41 bus.I would like to carry out what I call the "No. 41 bus test" on whether the new watchdog and the order are of any use. At times, it is good to look at specific problems and at whether they are likely to be improved. The No. 41 bus served part of Birmingham and Solihull until the weekend, and its withdrawal has caused major problems,
Over the last weeks I have had the honour of speaking at a number of public meetings across our community with topics ranging from jobs to protecting our green belt land and from Margaret Moran to the Iraq war. What may surprise some, who are not familiar with our town, is how well attended these meetings have been and how passionate fellow Lutonians are for our town. People throughout our community are working together to raise questions and find solutions to the challenges that face our town. The media often chooses to tell us that people have lost interest in ...
A few updates : "Just the Job" - a course aimed at local people looking for work but English is their second language started this morning at the Mitchell Street Centre. It aims to help participants improve their application filling, CVs and interview skills and will run every Tuesday morning until 9th March. Further information is available from Kim Robertson on 435872 or Colin Christie on 436414. Corner of City Road and Scott Street - Home Scotland has arranged a litter pick and tidy up of the area follwing my raising residents' concerns about the untidy state of the site ...
I am just hearing news that Michael Hunton has resigned as Chairman of Southport Conservatives Kew Ward branch.
Here's a couple of blogs I've been reading recently that are well worth a look! Retro Dundee - http://retrodundee.blogspot.com - is a super look back at Dundee in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. My LibDem colleague, Alistair Carmichael MP, has started his blog "Burning My Boats" at http://alistaircarmichael.wordpress.com/ and it is well worth a read.
Check out Graph of the Day from this post by Brad DeLong. That's it; I am removing Dubya from the CentreForum mailing list.
Last night's 'Tower Block of Commons' on Channel 4 was highly illuminating. Not only did it show Mark Oatcakes in a good light for once as some one willing to meet and engage with people in all circumstances, it also made the deck-shoed Tory shadow minister (posh name, anonymous face) look equally positive as a role model for politicians. Ian Duncan-Smith started badly, patronising his host unbelievably ("You know Big Ben? Well the building below is where I work...") and then had to leave due to his wife's illness. Fair enough. But plaudits for sheer front and ghastliness go to ...
Well, the political news is full of the planned Commons vote-on- referendum for electoral reform. This is one occasion where my job and political beliefs as a Liberal Democrat coincide very nicely with my vocation and my research for a PhD in Political Theory – so I hope you'll permit me to indulge in a ...
Climate change science has been dealt another blow by the revelation that University of East Anglia professor Phil Jones knowingly used flawed evidence in one of his studies. How many more revelations like this will we have before the scientific community learn the lesson that transparency is the only way to ensure public trust? Meanwhile, a man not especially reknowned for his valuing of science, Pope Benedict, has been condemning UK equality laws. Some people are more equal than others in the eye of God, it would seem. Talking of equality, Gordon Brown appears to have finally come off the ...
Winnersh station is only manned part-time. The ticket machine was vandalised last summer and was removed, so for months we have had no means of buying a ticket at the station for much of the time. This is not the first time this has happened. According to SW Trains, Winnersh is the worst location on their entire network for vandalism. Why that should be I don't know, but now that I am aware of this unwanted label I will put my mind to thinking about what can be done about it. But back to the lack of ticket machine. I ...
With today's announcement that the government is going to prepare the ground for a referendum on changing the electoral system to the Alternative Vote system in a Commons vote next week I, like many Lib Dems I suspect, have very mixed feelings about it. As I have blogged about previously, AV is not proportional. In fact it can be even less proportional than the current First Past the Post system. In 1997, Labour could have had an even bigger majority under AV. However it is reform and it does greatly reduce the need for tactical voting which is one of ...
A Borough Council By-Elections in the Ward of Olwsmoor will be held at the Owlsmoor Community Centre from 7am to 10pm at Yeovil Road on 25th February. This by-election has be called because of the the sad death of Councillor Ray Simonds. The candidates standing in for the position of Borough Councillor are; Norman William Bowers - Conservative Peter Martin Forbes - Green Party Guy Alexandar Gillbe - Labour Party Mark James Thompson - Liberal Democrats And this election also includes Town Councillor; Wallington Philip - Conservative Peter Martin Forbes - Green Party Guy Alexandar Gillbe - Labour Party Ian ...
Although this won't really have much relevance for my area of Leeds, garden waste collections are set to resume across Leeds. This is the last step back to normality for collections following the bin strike.
The January edition of Total Politics had the third in a series from me on councils and communicating. The first part, Yes, council websites can, looked at lessons from the Obama campaign for local council use of the internet. The second part, Adding some colour to council emails, looked at ways to make better use of email. Now it's the turn of blogging. "Councils should get blogging" - that was one of the headlines generated by a report from the local e-Democracy National e-Government project - back in February 2005. Yet since then, although internet usage and tools have grown ...
From the Western Mail: HE has been characterised as much for his relationships with pop stars and underwear models as he has for his politics. But Lembit Opik revealed last night to the Western Mail he has formed a new relationship that he believes will last a lifetime - with God. The Montgomeryshire MP said although he has believed in God as a "life force" since childhood, he turned to religion to help him through his "darkest hour" late last year. ... "Some people will say, 'How can Lembit be a Christian with the way he lives his life?'," he ...
THERE was outrage this week when it was revealed government anti-terrorism experiments involved blowing up LIVE pigs! The explosive tests at a secret military research lab in Wiltshire, were to examine how to help British soldiers in Afghanistan and victims of terrorist attacks like the 2005 London bombings.But there was an outcry when folk found out that the experiments included wiring up pigs up to explosives then blowing them to kingdom come. Scientists claim the pigs were sedated and that the results could help to save lives. But others aren't convinced. My MP pal Norman Baker called the process "revolting ...
I expected to see the LibDem blogosphere erupt in a fit of hand-wringing over different voting systems in response to the news that Goron Brown was now (after 13 years of dither) proposing a referendum on changing the voting system. I was pleasantly surprised to see this wasn't the case so much. Maybe it's because we've already been through a recent bout of this last year. Not wishing to repeat what I said then (although I will), I just wanted to say that I can't believe anyone can seriously suggest that we shouldn't support this. If we are going to ...
Yesterday, rumours emerged via BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson that the government is planning to slip an amendment into a current bill to give MPs the chance to vote for a referendum to bring in the Alternative Vote (AV). Later on today, Gordon Brown will back up this proposal with a speech telling the world why ...
Today is Groundhog Day, but I've resisted the temptation to simply give you yesterday's Daily View again. It's also the ancient Celtic festival of Imbolc, which symbolises the turning point of winter towards spring. Twenty years ago today President FW de Klerk began to dismantle apartheid in South Africa, announcing that he had lifted the 30-year ban on the African National Congress, the Pan African Congress and the South African Communist Party. De Klerk also committed to release jailed ANC leader Nelson Mandela, who was freed nine days later. Commenting on the news, Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu said: ...
What is it about Labour? Why are they waiting til the dying days of their last government for X years to propose anything new and radical? Yesterday, LDV posted the news that Labour has, eventually, U-turned on non-doms, and agreed to Lib Dem proposals that they will no longer be able to sit in Parliament. And then later last night came the news that Labour will put to the Parliamentary vote next week proposals for a referendum to be staged as a step towards replacing the 'first past the post' system. Chris Huhne, the Lib Dems' shadow home secretary, issued ...
The Liberal Democrats have announced a major funding commitment to boost education in Bury. Nick Clegg has this week set out the Liberal Democrat manifesto commitment for a Pupil Premium that would invest around £11m of extra cash in Bury schools, raising the funding for disadvantaged pupils to private school levels. The money will be invested through the Pupil Premium pledge, part of a £2.5bn manifesto spending commitment. Vic D'Albert PPC for Bury South said: "It's nothing short of a scandal that children in Bury continue to lose out under Labour. Some of the schools here receive significantly less money ...
For several years the natural health industry in this country has been engaged in a running battle with the European Commission to defend the rights of UK consumers to continue to buy higher strength vitamins and supplements. It seems now that a decision is imminent: a decision which could lead to the closure of independent health stores across the country, the loss of many small manufacturing
With the special dinner to commemorate the 1910 election soon upon us, I thought I'd continue the series of articles setting the national background. I will leave the local dimension in Michael Braham's capable hands . The dinner is to be held on 13th February at the Royal Clifton Hotel Southport. Further information and tickets from Rachel on 01704 533555 The Liberal Government of 1906 carried out a whole raft of important legislation including the creation of labour exchanges and the introduction of a system of insurance against unemployment and sickness these were important but none was more important than ...
The Pope's attack on the UK Equality laws are interesting for several reasons, but the main one is the notion that discrimination might be reasonable if there's a religious belief behind it. There are many religions in the World, some of which hold views which might justify discrimination on a range of reasons. For instance, is it acceptable for a school to refuse to appoint the most able candidate as a Headteacher purely on the grounds of their gender, if it is a faith school? If that's considered acceptable, what about racial discrimination if it's a point of doctrine? There ...
The Government having not done very well with two recent energy saving programmes (zero-carbon homes and replacement boilers) are hoping that they will be third time lucky with the newly announced renewables programme. They appear to be offering up to 36p/kWh (notice the up to) as a feed in tariff for solar panels plus an extra 6p for anything fed into the grid. As the solar insolation in winter is only one fifth of that in summer over the UK, it looks like most of the power will be fed into the grid in summer when the demand on the ...
Back in December I reported how Caroline Spelman had dropped the Conservative Party's policy of abolishing Regional Development Agencies. Then last week Ken Clarke was reported as ordering a review of the nine English RDAs to decide what to do with them, but now the Conservative Party has denied there's a review. So there's going to abolish them, but not and going to review them, but not. All clear I trust?
Had a busy weekend - casework, delivery over in Bounds Green ward (one of our key targets for taking seats off Labour in May and taking control of Haringey), delivery in my own ward, successfully buying suits for my wedding and a lot of other things that don't make for very interesting blogging.There was also time for some fun stuff though - went to the theatre Friday and Saturday nights. The Rivals at the Southwark Playhouse was a lot of fun and Harry Hadden-Paton was just superb as Captain Absolute. Innocence at the Arcola (which we only just made it ...
According to the latest ComRes poll, the Conservative lead over Labour has slipped to 7 points (fieldwork was done between 29th and 31st January - so after the 0.1% growth figures for Q4 2009 were released). The figures are Con 38% (nc), Lab 31% (+2), LD 19% (nc), others 12% (-2). On a uniform swing, according to the UK Polling Report calculator this would give: This would be very, very close to what in my view is the best it could get for the Lib Dems in terms of influence. The Tories would be 30 seats short of a majority ...
The latest edition of the Stockport Visitor Attractions guide now available with details of activities for all the family to enjoy during half-term. The guide is produced by Stockport Council as part of the Stockport Boost campaign and includes a list of exciting events taking place across the borough. Events include a free fine art exhibition and a tour of Hat Works giving children the chance to experience what it was like to be a hatters apprentice at a local factory, plus tours of the Air Raid Shelters giving children the chance to step back in time and experience life ...
After my 515 reports to Contact Islington during 2009, I thought I'd keep a month by month record of how reporting goes during 2010. Here then are the scores on the doors for January, listing the number of reports I've made: 39 graffiti 4 dumped rubbish from the corporate sector 21 dumped rubbish from private individuals 1 road name sign 2 utility cabinets 3 street lights 4 pot holes 3 others ... for a grand total of 77 reports, which if kept up would come out at 924 in a full year (yikes). The numbers were slightly inflated by the ...
Andrew and Stephen have both posted passionately today about the Pope's planned visit to the UK in September. The Pope and other senior members of the Catholic Church have made their homophobic views clear on many occasions. His rather bizarre view that homosexuality was as bad as destruction of the rain forests had me choking on my Earl Grey a year or so ago. Now, I would have no objection in principle to him coming to the UK if the Catholic Church were funding it, but because he's coming as the Head of State of the Vatican, I do have ...
Welcoming the news that MPs will be asked to debate an amendment to the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill to enable a referendum to be held on changing the electoral system to the Alternative Vote, director of Unlock Democracy Peter Facey said: "We welcome the fact that the government has, at last, come off the fence on this issue. A manifesto commitment to a referendum on electoral reform without legislation to back it up would have been an empty gesture, especially given Labour's track record in reneging on such pledges in the past. We regret however that the system on ...
Your browser does not support iframes. Clicking on the picture above will take you to the British Pathe site and a film clip from 1913 entitled "Cabinet Returns". Note first the Suffragette outside the gates of Parliament - you can see her in the photo above too. Then Mr Asquith arrives at the House by taxi - note that he pays for it out of his own pocket. Then the scene changes and we see Lloyd George, Sir Rufus Isaacs and this blog's old friend Charles Masterman. Masterman is the younger man in the dark overcoat and stands on the ...
So the Pope is saying that the equality bill defies 'natural law' that may be his belief but it is also an oxymoron. Natural law, think about it, what does that mean? Look at the book of Genesis to see what natural law actually means in the bible. There is lying, fratricide, stealing, cheating on wives etc. it gets so bad that at one point God wipes out mankind bar one man, his three sons and their wives in a flood. You see natural law in the bible teaches that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of ...
Pope Benedict is certainly not serving out his term quietly as expected is he? The latest rubbish he is spouting, forgive my ranting, it's certainly making my blood boil, but then often that is exactly what the Catholic Church want, is to get a reaction - well they have succeeded this time, with me anyway. As reported on the BBC News website: Pope Benedict XVI said the legislation "violates natural law" and could end the right of the Catholic Church to ban gay people from senior positions.Forgive me, but what is wrong with ending a ban that prohibits LGBT people ...
The Liberal Democrats are frequently attacked for using "dodgy barcharts", this does annoy me somewhat as actually all parties, yes all of you out there, have at sometime pushed the boundaries for the stats used on various barcharts, I can state I have always used factual figures. This leaflet pictured is currently going out in the Manchester Withington constituency, and Labour's claim is that Lib Dems cannot win here. Okay, not quite a bar chart, but the nearest thing to one. Now, don't get me wrong in some parts of the UK that claim may well be true but Manchester ...
It is a bit late in the day, but nevertheless we probably should welcome Labour's sudden desire to hold a vote on replacing the hopelessly outdated First Past the Post (FPTP) system of elections. BUT!!!! What is needed is a two stage process. First, by all means let's have a vote to agree that we want to replace FPTP - if this can be done straight away then at least we have started in the right direction. But then we need to ASK THE PEOPLE what they consider a more appropriate replacement.So far in the UK there has been precious ...
A belated note about last Saturday's St Albans Interfaith Group's reception at the Civic Centre. St Albans is special in so many ways, and the longstanding interfaith group (which predates 9/11) is evidence of that. The initiative came from the Rev Tony Hurle of St Paul's Church, who wanted to create a regular dialogue between the local religious communities. On Saturday we had speeches from Kevin Walton, the Canon Chancellor at the Abbey, who made the point that our city's origin stemmed from Alban, then a non-Christian, reaching out to protect a persecuted Christian; a luminous talk from Dr Khalid ...
Terry Pratchett has caught the imagination of thousands by writing fantasy books and he is now using his fame to call for assisted suicide "tribunals". He has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and would like the ability to end his own life. Last night he appeared on television when he gave the Dimbleby lecture and he used this platform to put forward his view. In fact, according to one poll he already had the support 73% if the question was about those who are terminally ill. It looks like he doesn't need to persuade anyone. If we are to believe this ...
