A party news release brings the message: Dee Doocey, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly policing spokesperson and member of the MPA, has today called for the Met to address its poor record of meeting requests by innocent people for the deletion of their DNA records held on a national database. At present only 24% of the requests from innocent people to have their DNA removed are granted by the Met. After questioning the Met Commissioner at today's full meeting of the MPA Dee Doocey said: "The current situation is totally unsatisfactory. The Met Commissioner has the power to delete the ...
Time and again the Liberal Democrats are disrespected when they ask specific fair questions to the BBC yet receive a bland mass-generated meaningless reply. Things that can be done: Complain to the BBC on www.bbc.co.uk/complaints Call Feedback programme on R4 and say you want to talk about it giving cogent reasons Perhaps it's time to go to the barricades ...
Received - this email from John Ward - Chair of Governors at Emmanuel School February 2010 Dear parents, friends and neighbours Emmanuel School Development Project - application for planning permission Our application for planning permission to develop the school has now been submitted to Camden's planning control department. As you know, the proposal is to develop our school on the footprint of the houses at 152-158 Mill Lane and on part of the site at 160 Mill Lane, and to make some changes to our existing site at 101 Mill Lane. More details can be found on the school website ...
At first it seems a surreal comparison, but pollster and journalist Peter Brown sees great similarities between Palin's political profile now and that of Jesse Jackson in 1988: Simply put, the two emerged as political and media celebrities backed by exceptionally strong support within the most ideological wing of their respective political parties. But both also carry substantial political baggage with the much larger numbers of American voters who decide November elections.
I was very pleased to sign the Campaign for Real Ales (CAMRA) There are many great community pubs in the Blaydon constituency serving natural British real ale. There is a wealth or Tyneside micro breweries who, unlike Newcastle Brown Ale for which production is being regrettably moved to Yorkshire, are investing int he North East and promoting our regional identity. As a result CAMRA have kindly allowed me to use the logo on the left. So there it is! The loss of local pubs partially due to cheap supermarket booze is a great loss to local communities. My current favourite ...
There are not many spectacles more unedifying than that of Nigel Farage being awfully gratuitous to the President of the European Council - below. In English the tirade sounds terribly coarse and ignorant. So let's at least raise the level a bit and quote some of it in French (indeed, the language in which, I suspect, Mr Von Rompuy actually heard the remarks): Vous avez le charisme d'un chiffon humide et l'aspect d'un employé de banque de qualité inférieure There – sounds a bit better doesn't it? Our Anglo-Saxon crudity tends to lower the tone, especially out of the mouth ...
Yesterday, Sachin Tendulkar became the first man to hit 200 in a One Day International yesterday, and it made me think of the great John Arlott whose birthday it would have been today. The man's mellifulous tones were the sound of summer when I was growing up. He had a wonderfully poetic phraseology and had marvellous gift for evoking magical moments in cricket. The pleasure of watching Test Match cricket, with the sound turned off and the radio on was inestimable. In the 1940s, he went to South Africa and condemned the apartheid policy. When filling in an immigration form, ...
The Sun, Daily Sport as well as 'lads mags' age restricted? Pleasing suggestion if you ask me. A report commissioned by the Home Office into the sexualisation of our society/culture has suggested, rightly, regulation to curb the degrading imagery that is becoming more dominant and freely accessible in society. The bolded comment above refers to how paradoxically the ...
Guess which newspaper talked about the British working class in these terms today: Half turned up late or not at all ... Those that did eventually arrive were a woeful sight. You looked in vain for a glimmer of shame or embarrassment in any of them, but came up emptyhanded. The infuriating dozen, stunned by the prospect of physical labour, resentful of any advice, childish. The Daily Telegraph perhaps? No. The Daily Mail then? No. It was Lucy Mangan in the Guardian. I did not see the programme she was reviewing, and I suspect I might have agreed with her ...
In the midst of all the allegations of bullying emanating from Downing Street at the moment (personally I'd be surprised if any incumbent of Number Ten never lost their cool) there continues to be precious little scrutiny of the Conservatives' relationship with Andy Coulson, former News Of The World editor and David Cameron's Communications Director. ...
A few weeks ago I blogged about my support for the campaign led by local resident Tom Lendrum to get Labour-run Reading Borough Council to take action to deal with the problem of dog fouling - a major issue for residents living in Whitley and I have no doubt, other parts of Reading. I tabled a question to this week's full Council meeting on this issue - "What is the Council doing to tackle the problem of dog fouling in the Borough, and how many fixed penalty notices have been issued for this offence by ward?" Note: my ward colleague ...
No, not days until the election – another retailer in my high street. It's next door to the one I blogged about before Christmas – and that shop's still empty. This time a shoe shop has shut its doors. Last time I wrote about shop closures, I had one or two supportive messages but more "tough ...
Nigel Farage is a man who is never going to miss an opportunity to deliver a soundbite. His disgraceful antics in the European Parliament, unleashing a verbal tirade against the EU "President" was clearly inspired by Daniel Hannan's equivalent diatribe against Gordon Brown. And it worked. It got Farage coverage on the national news; I saw the ...
It's not often you can say this, but there is an interesting passage in Derborah Orr's column for the Guardian today: In 2008, before the recession bit, there was much talk on the left about how to revive the concept of "good character", except that it had a new name: "pro-social behaviour". Avner Offer, professor of economic history at Oxford, suggested that consumer capitalism itself, by providing a constant source of novelty, undermined "self-control, both cognitive and social". Matthew Taylor, Blair's former head of strategy, now head of the RSA, made the excellent point that "the reason we find the ...
Tonight's "Evening Telegraph" 'Civic Scene' updates readers on the campaign to ensure a permanent and proper memorial to the Tay Rail Bridge Disaster of 1879 is achieved. This follows the item on this blog last month about the matter and my subsequent very useful and productive meeting earlier this month with Stuart Morris, son of the Laird of Balgonie about the matter. As 'Civic Scene' mentioned tonight, we are holding a meeting with all interested parties at Tayside House on 23rd March - if any resident is interested in attending, please e-mail me at taymemorial@frasermacpherson.org.uk.
Very challenging weather conditions driving to Falkirk with the 'day job' today - photo taken on the A977 earlier today. But good to hear this on Radio 2 on the way - KD Lang "Constant Craving"
This is a posting about the disagreement between Odeon and Disney over the new Alice in Wonderland film on the blog that its arts editor Will Gompertz writes for the BBC. For reasons best known to the BBC, one of the illustrations with it shows the old Ritz Cinema in Market Harborough. The Ritz closed in 1978, so the only films I saw there were Jaws and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. When I moved here in 1973, you could see the remains of what had been two other cinemas in the town. Later the Ritz became a Kwiksave ...
Over at The Independent today, Nick Clegg argues that Labour has no basis on which to claim the ground of fairness any longer. Here's an excerpt: Last weekend, Gordon Brown set out his stall, claiming that Labour is the party of fairness in Britain. Their General Election slogan, "A Future Fair for All", seeks to stake out this territory as their own. But, after 13 years in government, are these claims credible? Gordon Brown also urged people to "take a second look" at Labour. What, then, is Labour's record on fairness really like? The slogan itself is old, first used ...
It's #bbcqt day again and as usual the Live Chat on this blog will start tonight at 10:30pm. The panel includes the senior Labour politician Peter Hain MP, the shadow defence secretary Dr Liam Fox MP, the Plaid Cymru leader Elfyn Llwyd MP, UKIP's Nigel Farage MEP and the journalist and broadcaster Janet Street Porter. So for the second time in recent months there has been a 4 week period when on only 1 week was there a Lib Dem on the panel. This has quite rightly annoyed lots of Lib Dem bloggers. See here for Mark Pack's take on ...
Bonuses for bankers: can they be justified? That's the question everyone's asking following RBS's announcement that it made eye-watering losses of £3.6bn, but paid out bonues to staff worth £1.3bn. Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable is dubious: It's hard to understand why £1.3bn is being paid out in bonuses when RBS continues to make losses. RBS rewarding individual bankers is like a football team paying their striker for scoring when they've just been relegated. "While it is good news that RBS is meeting its mortgage lending target, its lending to business has fallen. The Government has to get a ...
Thursday: In the week when Mr Nigel Farrago decides he wants to be the poor man's Mr Daniel Hangman (no, Mr Farrago, bellowing rudeness at a passing Belgian will NOT make you this year's HootTube Hero), Mr Daniel Hangman decides that HE wants to be the poor man's Ms Sarah Pain*. Enter the TEA PARTY. TEA, you probably know, was the making of the British East India Company. First it was stolen from China, after which we inflicted the OPIUM WARS on them all to make them trade the stuff to us. Tea is therefore a sign of STUPID BRITISH ...
If you don't want the geekery and just want to complain that for the third week in four, there is no Lib Dem on Question Time, just click here. You might want to call over at Daddy Alex's first cos he'll make you laugh. I'm sure nobody would ever be geeky enough to go to this page and analyse the 33 episodes of Question Time since 23 April last year it contains to see what nerdy facts they could extract about guests. And if they ever did that, they would never set up an Excel spreadsheeet containing the information. If ...
The latest Tory poster "I've never voted Tory before" has, as usual, spawned a number of spoofs. The negative ones are always funny but mydavidcameron.com has built one where you can change it to a Labour or Lib Dem poster. Here is my version! If you have a few spare minutes on your hands, why not build your own?
One of the more fascinating reports on the agenda for today's meeting of Swansea Council was the scrutiny committee report on the Swansea Metro. This has been a matter of great controversy in the City even though the road works associated with it were funded by Government Transport Grant and the bus company paid for the buses themselves. Nevertheless, it is proving very successful. Some of the harshest critics are the Labour Party themselves who have tried to use it as a stick to hit the administration with. When it is pointed that the scheme originated with them then they ...
I don't want to get Matt Smith *too* excited, given what he said on his Formspring profile about his political crushes, but I am full of admiration for Plaid Cymru's Bethan Jenkins this week. This is Eating Disorders Awareness week, and as I've had a family member struggle in the past with anorexia, it's something of a pet subject for me. Bethan has been a champion in highlighting the cause. First in a guest post for the F-word blog, she set out the reasons for her dismay with the results of a Beaufort survey carried out to assess people's attitudes ...
Some statistics I read the other day show some shocking truths about the state of education in Wales, and in the country as a whole.A bright child in a poor family will fall behind a less bright child in a rich family by the age of 7.Although more people go to University under New Labour, only 3% more come from disadvantaged backgrounds.The average undergraduate student loan debt is about £20,000.Welsh schools have £527 less funding per pupil than their English counterparts.These figures show Labour's complete and utter failure to reverse the growing gap between rich and poor. To be falling ...
Jeremy Warner of the Telegraph is berating the heir-presumptive of the ECB, Axel Weber, for being anti-inflation: Yet it is plainly better to be attempting to choke off an inflationary boom than to be in a Depression wondering how to get out. In a deflationary debt spiral, monetary policy becomes almost wholly impotent. However low rates ...
Dr Aleks Krotoski has put together an interesting series in The Virtual Revolution which holds together well, but it's rather poor when it comes to analysis. I couldn't help cringing every time she mentioned how many years she's been writing/researching the internet. Alas, the many years do not make up for lack of depth.For Dr Krotoski the 'virtual revolution', the technological revolution of the
The announcement from the Public and Commercial Services Union that members have voted strongly for strike action (64% for), and even more strongly in support of action short of a strike (81% for) will come as a bit of a blow to the Government. The announcement that notice is to be given of a two day national strike on 8 and 9 March will be even more troubling. Memories of the late seventies, and of public sector workers on picket lines, will haunt those Labour activists who experienced the dying days of the Callaghan government, but this does potentially present ...
It's been a busy week - meetings every evening, and Budget Council tonight. I hope it won't be as long as the Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel meeting last night which finished at 12.15am. But it was a very important meeting, and I was impressed by the way in which everyone was listening intently throughout. The topic was the threats to Kingston Hospital. I had proposed that we call a special meeting of the Panel, after several people voiced concerns at the last meeting, and I was very pleased that the major players were represented at the highest level. So ...
Today is 10 years since Victoria Climbie died. As Leader of the Opposition in Haringey I remember the beating of breasts by the then Labour leader of the Council about how lessons would be learned and how this must never happen again. And then it did. Eight years later - Baby Peter died another dreadful death - with over sixty visits to the home by Haringey Children's Services and other agencies. And again the phrase 'lessons must be learned' were uttered. It is clear to me that when Victoria died - lessons were not learned. Only the social worker at ...
I shall be attending my second Broadland Council meeting in two weeks tonight as an ordinary member of the public (which is ironically the same number of meetings that the former Conservative councillor for Taverham North managed in a whole year) when they discuss the Rackheath "Eco" town tonight. The whole concept of the Edo Town is flawed on many different levels. Firstly, the standard of ecofriendliness required for building the houses is a lower standard than those standards expect of all new homes by 2016, and by 2016 none of the new houses will be built. So in effect ...
On Monday I gave a talk at to public sector organisations in the West Midlands with my 10:10 hat on. Here are five things I suggested they do, which might be of interest to other organisations: Revolving Water Efficiency Fund Back in the early 1990s Woking Council's then Finance Director, Ray Morgan (later Chief Executive), understood that investing in energy saving measures would reduce his bills in time. But he also understood that, if he directed the energy bill savings into a fund, it would grow in time and provide more resources to re-invest. Hence the phrase Revolving Energy Fund, ...
The Conservatives' Deputy Leader in the House of Lords and Foreign Affairs Spokesman, David Howell, was the guest speaker at the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) this lunchtime at the London office of the European Parliament. Though he asked to be off the record regarding his remarks about his party's leaving the main centre-right grouping in ...
The Electoral Commission has published the latest donation and borrowing figures for the political parties this week, and its website allow us to gain a picture of the Lib Dems' fundraising efforts over the years. Below is the full breakdown of cash and non-cash donations received by quarter since 2005, and annually between 2001 and 2004. Five/six-figure gifts coming from the following: Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust (£222.5k), Christopher Nicholson (£52.2k), Michael Brehme (£50k), Charles Brand (£25k), Brian Roper (£20k), Neil Sherlock (£20k), Susan Kramer (£15k), Richard Duncalf (£11.7k), Christopher Butler (£10.7k), Giles Wilkes (£10.25k), Richard Brindle (£10k), Stephen Dawson (£10k). ...
The GOM did quite a bit of work on simplifying taxes - cutting income tax and (more importantly) slashing customs duties and other such taxes. We currently have a hugely complicated tax system in the UK; much of the complications are attributable to trying to address the deficiencies of Income Tax. The problem with Income Tax is that it's only a tax on income and it assumes that income can be attributed to a particular point in time. That is, I get a payslip once a month and the income on that slip can be attributed to that month - ...
Cornwall Council has decided to bar Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg from visiting the Heartlands Porject in Pool. Local Councillor Kym Willoughby wanted Nick Clegg to see for himself how a rundown old mining area is to be transformed using a multi-million pound Lottery grant. Even local Labour bigwig Malcolm Moyle (who is part of the team behind the Heartlands Project) seems mystified: "I'm in favour of anything that we can do to publicise it. I would welcome the leaders of any political party, as I would welcome any member of the public. I don't know if there's an issue ...
The BBC today* denied accusations (again) that stuffing Question Time with five authoritarian egomaniacs (again) displayed a jaw-dropping lack of political balance (again). 'We apportion panellists according to the votes political parties receive,' a spokesperson said. 'By winning about one in four votes, the Liberal Democrats get one place in four. Hang on, does that say one place in four weeks? Shit! I mean, no comment. 'With Peter Hain, Liam Fox, Elfyn Llwyd, Nigel Farage and Janet Street Porter [see our EXCLUSIVE advance photograph] representing, er, Liberal Democrat-run Cardiff, the audience can be assured a full range of political colours.' ...
The possibility of the 2010 General election in Britain leading to a hung Parliament is now being seriously discussed across the news media. In fact it requites a very particular set of circumstances to lead to a hung Parliament, and usually minority votes still lead to a significant advantage for one party over another. Indeed the Labour Party was able to gain a majority government in 2005 with only just over 35% of the vote- barely a third of the votes. The electoral system does not reflect how people actually vote, and it has happened that the party that comes ...
Having up to now provided a free cardboard recycling service for businesses in Darlington, the Council has announced that, from April, there will be a charge of £4.78 + VAT per collection. That's almost £250 a year if, as most businesses do, cardboard is put out weekly. This is being done "to ensure economic viability in readiness for the coming financial year".I suspect, with trade as poor as it
Busy busy busy today. These caught my eye however. Tim Montgomerie is making an explicit push for Christian votes here. I think it is worth reading this in conjuction with the Reportage of Chris Cook on this subject, and the tensions within Conservativism caused by this: Two years after being exiled by Michael Howard, a small group ...
The third phase of a seemingly unending series of ballots is now well underway, following resignations, co-options of three Vice Chairs and four General Executive members (there may be a partridge in a pear tree involved, but don't hold me to it). I was hoping to announce the candidates, but I'm having connectivity problems with my laptop, and can't access my e-mail at work. So, ladies and gentlemen, watch this space, and as soon as an announcement is possible, you'll be amongst the first to know... see you in York?
Surprise, surprise. The Press Complaints Commission rejected the complaints about Jan Moir's nasty attack on Stephen Gately. If there's any good to come out of this affair, perhaps it's that this case reinforces the case for wholesale reform of the PCC. Here's why. The PCC is not independent The PCC claims to be independent. One of the advantages of self regulation ought to be that it keeps the press out of the hands of politicians while still holding newspapers to account. The PCC fails on both counts. The Chair of the 17-member Commission is Baroness Buscombe, a Conservative member of ...
Two things strike me from this story, describing the disgraceful incident in which a mother, Amy Wootton, was thrown off the bus, with her six week old baby, in the pouring rain for breastfeeding. Firstly, why does the vile misogynist of a bus driver still have a job? If he had insulted someone on racial or religious grounds, I expect that would have been defined as gross misconduct and he'd have been sacked on the spot. Intimidating a customer, threatening to call the Police and then turfing her out in the rain is appalling behaviour. A bunch of flowers, a ...
The Government gave RBS a lending target. K2, a Luton company (on World at One) said that they went to the state-owned RBS and were refused. It wasn't that they didn't have a good business case. Because guess what – they did. Why? Because they went to a foreign owned bank who, after two meetings, ...
At last night's Local Assembly for Lewisham Central ward, among the other presentations of community groups there was one update on the state of the developments at Town Centre delivered by no less than Mr John Miller, Head of Planning of Lewisham Council. The news is that the Loampit Vale development is now due to start ...
From Monday's debate on the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme Order 2010... Baroness Scott of Needham Market: I thank the Minister for bringing this important instrument to the House today. My noble friend Lord Teverson, who knows so much about these issues, is unable to be with us this evening. However, we have had a number of discussions about this. I can say at the outset that we on these Benches are very positive about what you are seeking to achieve through this. The timing is particularly good for me because last week I was with a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association delegation ...
Over at the Independent, Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg explains why Labour's new slogan, A future fair for all, is a massive fail: The slogan itself is old, first used back in 2003. Then, like now, the poorest paid a higher proportion of their income in tax than the richest. But there is a difference: then, the gap was about two percentage points. Now, it is about four percentage points. In other words, the gap between what the rich and poor pay in tax has doubled. This is a staggering change. If anyone deserved tax cuts in the last seven ...
The BBC report that the seven new health boards which run the NHS in Wales are set to go more than £43m over budget. Six are forecasting a deficit for the end of their first financial year, with all under pressure to make savings. Research by BBC Wales into the latest combined financial position shows the seven boards have a running deficit of around £67m, which they forecast being able to bring down to £43m. The overspend is set against the overall health and social services budget of nearly £6bn. The Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, serving north Wales, is ...
For those of you who remember the Welsh Liberal Democrats' last Assembly Election manifesto, you may remember it included a commitment to making St David's Day a public holiday in Wales. It was also a commitment of Plaid Cymru, but as they haven't seen fit to bring it about or even bring it up thus far in almost two years of coalition government, I am going to assume they won't bother in the next two, either. I don't envy them trying to share power with the bloated carcass of fauxcialism.. Thankfully someone has at least spent a few minutes of ...
[IMG: Menzies Campbell] North East Fife MP Sir Menzies Campbell has today highlighted his concern at the news that a third of service personnel are not currently registered to vote. For those who are registered, a short election campaign may mean they do not have enough time to use a postal vote. Commenting, Sir Menzies said: "It is unfortunate but not surprising that so many of our serving personnel are not registered to vote. Many will have joined the Forces before they were eligible to vote and regular deployments overseas or to different parts of the UK make it hard ...
The link is to the report of the Standards and Privileges Committee of today's date which finds Withers are indeed guilty of contempt of parliament.Hopefully the development at The Swan will now progress.Quoting from the conclusion:26. The evidence in this case is very clear and in our view the conclusion is no less clear. We conclude that Withers LLP were in contempt of the House when on 4
I was a bit bemused today to see an advertisment in the Western Mail from Her Majesty's Prison Service and Parc Prison Bridgend for various jobs in the new house block that is opening at Parc. It was not the fact that the jobs were being advertised me that intriqued me but the way that they were being sold. The advert starts off: 'HMP and YOI Parc is going through a time of excitng growth' I am not sure that others will view the expansion of the prison estate and an increase in the number of prisoners in quite the ...
Conservative Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, has this morning said that a Conservative Government will be 'tougher than Thatcher'. As the Secretary of the Luton TUC in the early 90s I can remember all to well the impact that Conservative cuts had on our community. After the Conservative Government where we once had factories we now have empty sites. These claims by George Osbourne show clearly the difference between him and Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg MP and Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable. Both Nick and Vince recently visited Luton South to talk about investment, creating new jobs and making the banks ...
Local newspapers in western Hertfordshire exploded on Friday evening with news that the county council had lost a court case. It was chasing an invoice for £335 in a dispute with a water company over a broken manhole cover. The county council had had to put up a couple of cones to warn passing motorists and apparently cones are expensive things to handle. The water company felt that this was excessive and the council and the utility had seen each other in court. The costs of the case were awarded largely against the council and were reportedly £110,000. Debate has ...
There is not much that links Gordon Brown, Dappy from NDubz and my four year old son (he prefers Elbow). But all of them in one way and another have had to get to grips with the government's anti-bullying strategy. Dappy, pop followers and Charlie Brooker fans may recall, was forced to step down recently from being the figurehead for the anti-bullying strategy after sending threatening text messages. I don't need to tell you about Gordon's alleged exploits. And my four year old son recently learnt about respect and tackling bullying problems for the first time as part of his ...
Sorry to be militaristic. This is the signal that the Royal Navy used to make it a supreme force in the world two hundred years ago. What is the one factor that is preventing thousands of electors giving the Tories another turn? It is fear of what they did last time. It is fear of Margaret Thatcher's impact on unemployment and on essential services. Cameron's main objective has been to move this stigma from the brand - cut's in services, dole queues, the nasty party. This morning Osborne admitted on the Today Programme that he will be 'Tougher than Thatcher'. ...
So my first election day as a candidate has dawned. The polls opened in Owlsmoor at 7:00am this morning. I was canvassing up until last night and delivering "good morning" leaflets first thing this morning. I am Telling at the polling station later on and then will be going to the count this evening. I had a nice experience just as I was finishing the leaflet delivery this morning. As I was going back to my car, I bumped into a chap who I had chatted to on the doorstep a couple of nights ago. He has given me a ...
So my first election day as a candidate has dawned. The polls opened in Owlsmoor at 7:00am this morning. I was canvassing up until last night and delivering "good morning" leaflets first thing this morning. I am Telling at the polling station later on and then will be going to the count this evening. I had a nice experience just as I was finishing the leaflet delivery this morning. As I was going back to my car, I bumped into a chap who I had chatted to on the doorstep a couple of nights ago. He has given me a ...
There's been an enormous amount of right-wing empire wank sprayed over the comment pages over the last couple of weeks. The proximate cause has been the revival of the Argentinian's claims over the Falklands in the wake of drilling operations commencing in the North Falklands Basin. This has taken the form of things that don't ...
I blogged recently on the absurd and ridiculous posturing of Ronnie Campbell, Labour MP for Blyth Valley in Northumberland. One week he was slagging off the Lib Dem minority administration in the county for supporting an equestrian event which he dubbed "a weekend outing for toffs" and the following week he was full of praise for the event.Ronnie comes from a Labour tradition in Northumberland of
[IMG: national-heart-month.gif] Friday 26th February 2010 is National Wear Red Day and your chance to help the British Heart Foundation fight heart disease. All you have to do is wear an item of red clothing in support of National Wear Red day. Order your free fundraising kit today at bhf.org.uk/red or call us on 0845 241 0976. You can join in at work, school or with friends and family.They will send you posters, stickers, a collection box and plenty of ideas! As the nation's heart charity, they are totally committed to creating a world where people no longer die prematurely ...
The subject of online fundraising came up when I recently took part in a panel discussion at the Search Engine London conference and I was then asked about it further in a short 'post-match' interview:
Like many former Liberals of a certain vintage, I was wooed to the cause of electoral reform by the diminutive but formidable figure of Enid Lakeman, who even at an advanced age could spear opponents with her logic and conviction. I wish she were around today to add her appraisal of whether Gordon Brown's referendum on AV is a step forwards or a step backwards in the long march to Fair Votes. As virtually everyone seems to be talking about 'fairness' these days, surely it is time that LibDems seized the moment and trumpeted our belief in STV? Moreover, we ...
Council Tax in Bury will rise by an inflation busting 3.65% after the Conservatives running the Town Hall rejected Lib Dem budget proposals for a greener, safer Bury. Last night was the annual budget setting meeting of the Council. Despite it being less of a carnival pie-chucking fest than normal (largely due to a very welcome change in the Conservative Councillor making the budget speech) it was still a disappointment. The Liberal Democrats proposed a Council Tax rise of less than 3% for all of Bury. Both the Conservatives and Bury Labour proposed higher levels. The agreed rise in Bury ...
Last night it was the Council's annual budget setting meeting. The Liberal Democrats proposed an amendment to the Conservative budget plans. Our amendment proposed more police, greener Council buildings, more road fundings, and a Council Tax rise less than the Tories or Labour. Sadly it was defeated despite Labour support because the Conservatives voted it down. Here is the speech I made to propose it: "Let me start by echoing Cllr Gartside and thanking Mr Owen and his staff for helping us with our amendment. Their dedication to Bury continues to be appreciated by members of my group. Mr Mayor, ...
In the last few years, I have seen three people close to me die after fighting cancer. Two of those people died in their own time, one after a short illness, the other after a much longer fight of several years. The third fought for over 18 months in one of the bravest and least ...
I wrote yesterday about Iain Gray and the Labour Party's truculent refusal to accept Nicola Sturgeon's apology over her letter in support of Abdul Rauf. I was taken by this post by Mr MacNumpty last night which suggested that Labour may have been motivated by a desire for revenge over what happened to Wendy Alexander. If so, this would appear to show an unpleasant and spiteful trait. I remember reading reports in the press in 2007 which suggested that Labour were being uncooperative when it came to arranging a pairing arrangement for Angela Constance MSP's maternity leave. When I put ...
Would you like to work with young people? Are you looking to gain experience in working with young people and receive training? The Alamein Community Association in partnership with Fusion and the Turnaround Project are looking to start a new youth club. However we need volunteer youth workers; we can offer you a training package and a high level of support. If you are interested and want to find out more; please come along and see what a normal youth club night is like. Come along to an open meeting at King Arthurs Hall tonight from 7:00 - 9:00pm. For ...
Defending your plans for cuts at a local council by comparing your management style with that of Toyota doesn't really sound the smartest move any more does it? Step forward, David Burbage (Conservative Leader of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead).
...bring on the Villa! Steve Webb, Frank Skinner, Eric Clapton, Adrian Chiles...your boys took one hell of a beating!
A new Local Party for me on Tuesday night, as 'First Husband' duties took me to Warlingham, in East Surrey, the scene of a recent Conservative selection contest starring Iain Dale. After a rather unpleasant journey caused by a signal failure at Wandsworth Common, we were met by Jeremy Pursehouse, our candidate there last time, and whisked off to the home of the Morrows, our hosts for an evening of pasta and politics. And it's strange how, even when you feel slightly cranky and irritable, just how restorative an evening spent with Liberal Democrat activists and members can be. Within ...
Rather than write a long rambling post about the National Bullying Helplines, withering demise and suspension of its helpline, I decided to take a different approach today and disseminate their press release from their website instead: Our Patrons have resigned at ...
I've had reports of an increased problem with dog mess on Greenbank Road, Gatley - probably not helped by the road being used as parking for the vetinary surgery on the corner. Dog mess is a difficult problem to solve, but we need to do our best to keep on top of it. It isn't acceptable for owners to let their dogs foul in private gardens, or not to cleanup after them. Enforcement normally comes down to getting the dog wardens to visit the area more regularly, hopefully warn a few people or even hand out fines, and get the ...
Although we're all hoping not, I'm told this evening's Full Council meetings at Stockport Town Hall could go on to 2am. First we've got the meeting to consider whether a proposed City Region is right for Stockport and for Greater Manchester. This would create a new body, on which the leaders of the ten Greater Manchester authorities would sit. It would deal with transport (replacing the current Independent Transport Authority) and take on some roles around economic development of the region. I've written more about it here, and there are several good comments too. Next there's the meeting to set ...
Inclusive of this week's upcoming episode, of the four most recent episodes of Question Time, only one has featured a Liberal Democrat on the panel. This is despite many of the issues discussed being ones that the Lib Dems have had distinctive positions on, compared to consensus among Labour and the Conservatives. So what's going ...
If I had a pound for every time I've heard "we are where we are" I'd be a very rich man. It's the constant refrain of the county council and others with regard to Consett's future, and particularly the Academy issue. It dominated the meetings I attended on Wednesday evening. My first meeting was to look in on the GVA Grimley "Masterplan" exhibition where they explained carefully that the siting of the Academy and Leisure Centre was not up for discussion - and then went on to talk about many other things that could form part of the Consett masterplan; ...
"I regret the use of the word 'mistake' to describe Mr Rauf's offence. "As I hope will become clear from other parts of the letter, I did not intend to downplay the seriousness of the crime that had been committed. "However, I accept the use of the word mistake was open to that interpretation." So said Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday in her ministerial statement about her letter to the court regarding Abdul Rauf. She also went further to say that her appeal to the sheriff to consider an alternative to a custodial sentence was more in keeping with ...
The puddling on the corner of Sandpit Lane and Beechwood Avenue, reported here on more than one occasion and a source of great annoyance to local residents, seems to have been cured after Herts Highways flushed out the drainage systems. We will continue to monitor but are grateful for the action.
I met with the council last week to discuss economic development for Bromsgrove, specifically the High Street and Technology Park. After speaking to numerous business owners as well as constituents it is obvious that not enough is being done. The recession has been tough for businesses all around the country and Bromsgrove has been affected. However, the ...
When there is talk of a UN Mission to somewhere hostile, there is often a debate in Europe about carrying our fair share of the burden. Often, that consists of rather hoping that someone else will do it. And yet, Bangladesh has a well-earned reputation for punching above its weight in terms of peacekeeping. Indeed, Bangladeshi troops have been active in; the Western Sahara (MINURSO) the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) Liberia (UNMIL) the Ivory Coast (UNOCI) Sudan (UNMIS) Darfur (UNAMID) the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) East Timor (UNMIT) In addition, there are Bangladeshi police personnel in;Haiti (MINUSTAH) ...
I don't know what I think about this. Having only recently got over the shock of hearing my own voice on recordings, now I am challenged to see my "good face for radio" in glorious technicolour. Anyway, I did promise that if my talk were recorded I'd point people to it. The idea was to try to introduce "Mutualism" as an anarchist philosophy and as a mechanism for achieving a non-state society. The discussion goes off into many other interesting issues such as money (see my frustrated post from the other day) and Ponzi welfare schemes. I'm not sure how ...
The House of Commons will be a duller place when Phil Willis MP stands down at the forthcoming general election. Not only has he been a tremendous local champion for his constituents in Harrogate and Knaresborough, but he has also entertained people up and down the country on the so-called rubber chicken circuit. Orpington Liberal ...
This week I was listening to local radio and there was an interview with a coach tour operator. We know the economy is not good and I am sure that he was affected too but he was upbeat in telling us how people were still taking trips out. There were less trips to the Continent but trips were still being taken. They didn't travel too far because they were day trips. Then he mentioned school trips. They had been similarly affected by the economy but there was another factor that was much more important. It seems that school teachers cannot ...
More on the event I went to on Monday night – one of the things you're not prepared for as a PPC (or at least I wasn't) is the massive number of events you get invited to, lots of them in and around parliament. Most are worthy, attendance at most won't lead to a massive ...
