Leven Bridge on the road between Yarm and Ingleby Barwick has cracked and the road is closed. One thing it has highlit is the probelms of children from Ingleby Barwick travelling to Yarm to school, and a long detour will be necessary. A great flurry of e-mails over the afternoon pointing this out. Obviously this is an awful problem and the detours will make it worse. I have always supported...
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From today's Observer: David Cameron's Tories were accused last night of dog-whistle politics after the Conservative leader appeared on the front of flyers saying the floodgates had been opened to mass immigration. Critics say the flyers are alarmist and misleading because they imply limits could be imposed on entrants from EU countries such as Poland. Last night, the party's frontbench was forced to distance itself from the hard-hitting material, which was put out under the name of Cameron's home affairs spokesman, Andrew Rosindell [in his Romford constituency]... The Liberal Democrats' home affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne, said: "These flyers play to ...
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During the 1950s and the Red Scare period in the States, the country began to turn in on itself and looked for conspiracies where none existed, fearing the rise of a Fifth Column it sought the Enemy Within. Into this dreadful paranoia rode the "Red Baiting" self-appointed saviour Senator Joe McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). A film that beautifully portrays an aspect of that era, namely the blacklisting of writers, actors, and artists, is The Front, starring Woody Allen and Zero Mostel whose birthday it would have been today. Zeo Mostel was a fantastic actor who was ...
Here then are the scores on the doors for 2010 so far, listing the number of reports I've made: 57 graffiti 12 dumped rubbish from the corporate sector 42 dumped rubbish from private individuals 1 road name sign 2 utility cabinets 8 street lights 11 pot holes 9 others ... for a grand total of 142 reports so far this year, a rate which if kept up through the year would produce a total of 852 by 31 December (down from 924 which is what the January figure would have turned out at over a full year).
This morning I received a response to my complaint to the BBC about Radio 4's Women's Hour. To recap: the other day, during a piece on young people engaging in politics, presenter Jane Garvey asserted that the Lib Dems "appear to have quite a clear line on trying to abolish tuition fees. Er, it's not ...
So, I have been doing the one woman campaign for the recognition of the FACT that there are more women bloggers than men ones etc. etc. for a long time now. And you know, I knew this was a problem in other areas as well, but I just read this post on Splinster and it made me hopping mad. Horror is a very different genre from political writing, it's true, but YET AGAIN we have a man in a position of power telling a woman that the people she is talking about don't exist, or if they do exist they ...
Cameron's suggestion that the Tories are a 'radical' and 'modern' party may seem slightly off the mark when considering the meaning of Conservative and its apparent opposition to radical. However, maybe the Tories' are radical, that is radically regressive? Maybe Cameron is right, his party is radical - radically objectionable to the real changes in society and thus, ...
That was my reaction to the Sunday Times/YouGov poll today suggesting that Labour had managed to close the Tory lead down to just 2 points. While I expected the polls to close as election day drew nearer, and wouldn't even be surprised by a margin such as that come 6 May, I never expect ...
I was out in Winlaton today, for most of the day the weather held and I got a good reception. Then I met an old friend for a bite to eat and a chat. When I was at college with her, she was a died in the wool Tory. Now she is fairly apolitical but was scathing about Cameron, who she considers lightweight and too much of a toff to understand the problems of normal people. We also had a really interesting chat about the worrying situation in Pakistan, a country some of her family live in. Then I came ...
It has been quite busy since I last posted, and there is still plenty of homework to do for next week. Monday, some of us met a delegation of Somali Ministers. I asked them whether their 'government controlled more than 20% of the territory of south and central Somalia, ie excluding Somaliland and Puntland, and they just waffled. Similarly, I got no answer to the question of whether they would recognise Somaliland as an independent state. A Reuters report today says that 'The insurgents [al-Shabaab]control most of the south of the drought-ravaged country, where fighting between the rebels and government ...
Earlier I sent a complaint to the BBC regarding their coverage of the Skidelsky letter. I have received a less than adequate response. Thanks for your e-mail regarding 'BBC News 24 – One to One'. I understand that you believe the issue of the Lord Skidelsky/60 economists letter was covered with bias on the programme. I can assure ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 158th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (21st-27th February, 2010), together with a hand-picked quintet, usually courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget, by the way, you can now sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox – just click here – ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. Times report: Tories ...
Westminster North funding for political parties for the 2 years 2008 & 2009: Conservatives: £319,840 Labour: £110,871 £82,000 of the Tory funds referred to arrived in just one quarter, Oct-Dec 2009. Source: Electoral Commission, some of which was quoted in today's Independent. (Lib Dem funds received in the region of £10k a year) No spin, nothing personal, just the facts. ...
The Liberal Democrat Dundee West Parliamentary campaign saw a superb team effort this weekend, concentrating on the West End and in Kirkton. Pictured above is John Barnett, LibDem parliamentary candidate, campaigning in the West End in Blackness Avenue. Following today's polling news of SNP meltdown across Scotland and the Tory lead across the UK disappearing to nothing, John pointed out that there is all to play for, in a close-run general election ahead.
In the past few week's we've had hot air from our Labour MP which clearly really frustrated the Tory Leader of Hounslow Council. I have some sympathy with his view. With just three days until our Budget meeting for the 2010/11 we need solutions, not more waffle. Over the past few months Joe Bourke and I -- with input of several local people -- have been working on how the £8.2m funding gap could be resolved. On Friday I shared with other political group leaders on Hounslow Council the short report 'Regenerating Gunnersbury Park, local history museum and mansions - ...
Sun 28th
20:22
Thoughts from the Train*: as you near your destination, the more you're slip sliding away...
There will doubtless have been some sensation of discomfort amongst Conservatives as they gathered in Brighton this weekend. As what looked like an unassailable lead has ebbed away, there has been little sign of Messrs Cameron and Osborne finding that special something that will stop the rot. The supposed 'magic app' that was the offer of discounted bank shares to the public came and went without much more than criticism from sensible financial commentators, the talk of business tax cuts misses the point that it only affects companies, and not the majority of the public who are employed, and the ...
I was very impressed by Withington MP John Leech's performance on the Politics Show this morning. John discussed the importance of online campaigning locally and highlighted the massive Save Chorlton Meadows online campaign and the Save Ewing School as two issues where the Internet has helped local Lib Dems join with residents to fight to preserve and promote public services. John also discussed the Lib Dems' commitment to abolish tuition fees. The interview is available to watch online at: http://tiny.cc/JLonPSNW until 7 March.
Having been in the West End campaigning the past few days, I am playing TV catch-up tonight and just watched the Channel 4 programme about the 1978 battle of the boogies ... I confess to having bought both! So which is better? Mick : Michael : I suppose its fairly obvious by who became the world-wide megastar, but Mick was pretty good nonetheless!
I've gone a week without posting because this is going to be a huge one, and I wanted to make a big post my 400th one, rather than some tossed-off linkblog or something. The White Album is a tremendously difficult record to write about, far more so than any other Beatles album. This is not ...
Welcome to the birth of a new tradition. I have been posting these on bank holidays, but we just don't have enough of them. So I present the first End of the Month Lolcat... [IMG: Funny Pictures of Cats With Captions] see more Lolcats and funny pictures
For almost a year now I have been continuously inspired by the hard work of campaigners in Midsomer Norton to create their own Town Council. For years, there has been a growing dislike for Norton Radstock Town Council - an organisation that is increasingly out of touch with residents and has no public mandate to serve the community. Last Spring, over 900 people in Midsomer Norton demonstrated their growing anger towards the current Town Council by returning a petition card calling for a Local Governance Review to take place. Later in the year, a further 700 people in Westfield signed ...
I am, it is fair to say, a pretty lucky guy. Life is for the most part good, I have a lovely wife, my job unexpectedly allows me to be nice to people, and I come from a family who take a curious interest in what I do. My finances are healthy, I meet interesting people all the time, and my health is undeservedly good. All that said, we all have those darker moments when we need a kind word. Inevitably, Jennie gets there early, and I should really like to take this opportunity to thank her. Mat's a lucky ...
An article in the Guardian from 1992 tells the story of this single: Granny Takes a Trip was recorded at Sound Techniques, a converted slaughterhouse in Chelsea, the day after Boyd had produced Arnold Layne, the first single by a young group from Cambridge called Pink Floyd, in the same studio. Beard remembers: "Syd Barrett [the Floyd's enigmatic leader] was there when we were recording. He loved Granny and said we would be No 2 in the charts when they went to No 1. He even offered us a song of his, Boon Tune, for the follow-up."Unfortunately, it is not ...
Gentlemen and Ladies of Discriminating Taste can fuck right off this time round, cos it's time to RAWK on Radio Dave with:Sepultura Mötley Crüe The Clash Def Leppard Guns n Roses Led Zeppelin Motörhead The Ramones If you use a Mac, then read either of these pages to get it to work properly. Playlists like this are just about the only thing that the Blessèd Steve got wrong.
Well perhaps not as this small story which caught my eye this evening (thanks to @Cravenite for tweeting it) of a young intern working at Conservative HQ shows us. Take the case pf Charlie Sonnex who with his masters degree in International Conflict decided that he would like to work at CHQ. Was he introduced to any ...
[IMG: HGE consultation doc] Nearly two years after it was first introduced, and after demands from the Local Assembly, the Labour-run Council has finally got round to reviewing the Hither Green East CPZ. Surveys like the one on the right should have reached households in the area over the last couple of weeks. Please return it to the FREEPOST address within three weeks of receiving it. I was really pleased to see that Car Clubs are given a strong plug in the survey document. If you're new to car clubs, they're basically a self-service pay-as-you-go hire car you can use ...
And so another Liberal Youth Conference is at an end, and whilst it was a mite fractious, I thought that it went rather well. Hustings were delivered, and although the agenda didn't really allow an optimal amount of time, the hustings for Chair in particular were lively and, I think, well received. Ballot papers were distributed to members, and I'll be taking care of postal ballots tomorrow. I also ended up aiding the Chair in the Executive Reports section that followed, on the probably sensible grounds that having an old hand around might prove useful. The Executive Committee discussed a ...
There has been much discussion locally about the Eco Town project supported by the Labour government government and local Tory councils in Norfolk, in the face of much local opposition. One of the main arguments against the project has been based on the concerns about flooding and the problems arising from laying tarmac over scores of acres of agricultural land. I have to say today, from my own experiences of getting to and from Rackheath in terrible rain, that these concerns are very real. The roads around Rackheath were terrible, with some roads completely under water and other becoming rather ...
[IMG: SLP 26-2-10] The sorry saga of the Crown Estate's plans to sell off their homes in Lee Green and elsewhere in London rumbles on. Using Freedom of Information requests, residents have discovered that plans to sell off their homes were being discussed a year before the Crown Estate launched their 'consultation'. The South London Press covered this on Friday. On Saturday, I attended the residents' protest outside the Crown Estate's 'drop in' consultation at the Colfeian Sports Club. It was good to see a huge turnout from residents, and also cross-party political support for their campaign against the sell ...
The results of polls can be confusing, especially when they are volatile. For a good while most commentators have been working on the assumption that either the Conservatives will form the next government or there will be a hung parliament. What if Labour wins? This has been floated but not seriously by anyone bar members of the Labour party. Given the state of the polls it is possible although unlikely. What would happen to the Conservative party and David Cameron's leadership? Where would it leave Nick Clegg's desire to replace the Labour party and the holder of the progressive flame? ...
I have written a lot about the Liberal Democrat narrative: what it is, what it could be and why the party has problems defining itself. In his post, Rigorous Liberalism, instinctive liberalism, Jock Coats suggests that the party should always ask why there is a problem and what one wants to resolve instead of going for a quick fix, with the assumption that it is better for people to solve the problem and not the State. He believes that this method would help the party define itself, develop policy and bring the 'social' and 'economic' liberals in the party together. ...
I'm not one to believe Rupert Murdoch's rags but this headline in today's Sunday Times caught my eye and to quote the ...
Well I watched the whole of David Cameron's speech today and indeed I tweeted it all the way through it. My general thoughts are that it was a par performance for Mr Cameron. I have certainly seen better from him but it was not terrible. The thing is though that with the polls slipping to just a 2 point gap between the Tories and Labour today he really needed to pull something better than this out of the bag in my view. Yes, he did it without notes but frankly I don't think that's going to cut much ice with ...
Well it is Sunday and I noticed this posting from Sandy Walkington. Sandy is the Lib Dem PPC for St Alban's and a YL contemporary of mine. He last fought the seat in 1983. It is worth a read. He takes for his text from Isaiah chapter 32, verse 8: "The liberal deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall he stand." Unlikely though it may seem the last person I heard quote this verse was Tony (Lord) Greaves- who looks more like an old testament prophet than Michael Ramsey who is the subject of Sandy's reminiscence .
This is the second of a two part posting to mark Rare Disease Day 2010. You can read part 1 here. Last year I spoke to Jayne Hughes, the wonderful founder of the charity Amy and Friends and wrote this posting on here. Amy and Friends is a great example of what can happen to further research, understanding and support of a rare condition when there's an organisation trying to bring all of these things together. As Jayne herself says, when Amy was diagnosed, she had nobody to turn to. At least now, the NHS in England will give details ...
The Liberal Democrats gained two seats in by-elections held on 25 February. In Eastwood South (Broxtowe District Council) the Lib Dems surged ahead of Labour: LD Keith Longdon 985 (53.1; +34.0) Lab 484 (26.1; -12.1) Con 387 (20.9; -0.4) In Fenstanton ward, Huntingdonshire District Council, the Lib Dems gained a seat from the Tories: LD Colin Saunderson 391 (51.1; +4.2) Con 337 (44.1; -4.1) Lab 37 (4.8; -0.1) For this week's full results, commentary and fantastic victory photo see the ALDC website. Mark "Reckons" Thompson was the candidate in the Owlsmoor by-elections and has blogged about it in My experiences ...
Earlier this year, I noticed a number of the following posters appearing on Northern Rail trains. I am strongly in favour of recycling, but they seem to have the wrong end of the stick. Recycling is just as much about reuse as it is about reprocessing materials and making something new. Leaving newspapers on the train ...
As if it wasn't bad enough that the Labour Party has drawn up all women shortlists for candidates in some forthcoming parliamentary seats, it looks as though the party have gone a step too far for grass roots paty members in Ashfield in Nottinghamshire by parachuting in former GMTV presenter Gloria De Piero as a ...
I am told, from those members from Wolverhampton South West, that the West Midlands Regional Conference was a good event. I stayed back in Wolverhampton but had an equally good day with leaflets going out to deliverers and then some canvassing. I think I am starting to look forward to the elections now!
On Friday morning, Nick Clegg was interviewed on ITV's This Morning by Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford. He was good - pointing out when challenged on inexperience that we'd called a lot of the current issues of the day correctly, a long time in advance, and showing how the Liberal Democrats have made a difference on issues like the Gurkhas and the Speaker standing down. You can see the whole thing here.
Let's begin with the positive: Inside Out, Peter Watt's autobiographical account of his two years as Labour general secretary during the handover from Tony Blair to Gordon Brown, is an entertainingly gossipy book which, at 200 pages, doesn't overstay its welcome. It's packed with anecdotes and throwaway remarks which cast a new – and rarely flattering – light on Labour's senior dramatis personae. In short, well worth reading. But does Peter Watt come out of it well. Hmmm, there I'm less sure. Here are the five aspects of the book which struck me ... Thing 1: Tribalism The over-riding impression ...
I was out and about talking to residents on Bede Walk and Hexham Road yesterday finding out what issues matter to local people and picking up bits and pieces of casework. On Bede Walk the two big issues on the doorstep were dog fouling and the state of Reading Girls School's fence. This is frustrating for me as these are two issues I've been nagging the Council and the School about for the last four years. Glenn, Kirsten and I have put a lot of effort into getting the Labour-run Council to spruce up Hexham Road estate and we are making real ...
Well I am sitting here watching the media aftermath of David Cameron's speech at Spring Conference in Brighton and I have to say that once again there is absolutely nothing there that makes me think that the Conservatives are in any way different today than they were when they were last in power. The same old ...
Today's YouGov poll in the Sunday Times suggests the Tory lead over Labour has amost disappeared, and that Labour may even end up the largest party after the general election (which would reflect the exclusive LDV election prediction published here at the start of February). Nor is today's poll a flash-in-the-pan. None of the last 12 polls has shown the Tories reaching 40%, the psychologically crucial hurdle most feel they need to be able to clear to be sure of a working Commons majority. Only one of those polls has shown Labour below 30%, and – sigh of relief from ...
Ed Balls said something that I thought was worth highlighting when he was on Andrew Marr's show this morning. He was discussing the bullying allegations against Brown and as part of his attempt to discredit Andrew Rawnsley (the author of the book containing the revelations) he pointed out that for two weeks running now, Rawnsley has published pieces defending his work. According to Balls, that is evidence that his book is full of holes. It is indeed true that Rawnsley has published two op-ed pieces on consecutive weeks in The Observer that have sought to defend his work and reputation. ...
"The liberal deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall he stand." It must be true – it's in the bible. Isaiah chapter 32, verse 8 to be exact. The New English Bible has a different translation from the original Hebrew – "The man of noble mind forms noble designs and stands firm in his nobility." I am of course very happy to have theological affirmation that it is indeed a noble undertaking to be a Liberal. I have scoured the bible from end to end and find no reference to Conservatives. As for Labour, we know that the lilies ...
I bit the bullet the other week and decided that i would try to get into the audience on the BBC's Question Time. I filled in the online application form and left it at that. I wrote in the form that i was a member of the Liberal Democrats along with the two questions you ...
Having watched George Osborne on Andrew Marr's programme this morning, his performance just underlines what I have thought for a long time. That he is just not up to the job. He went round and round in circles and was wholly unconvincing. Given the problems in the economy in the last few years and the fact that Labour have been in for well over a decade, the Shadow Chancellor should be doing much better than this. I really think Cameron should have moved him to another less high profile portfolio and let him concentrate much more on the party's election ...
We've covered before the habit of BBC Question Time of dropping a Liberal Democrat from the panel (three times in four weeks most recently) and also of loading up the panel with a far from politically balanced set of non-Parliamentarians. But it's not only Question Time where that's a problem. BBC Radio 4's Any Questions? has a similar habit: the superficial balance is actually undone by a far from balanced set of non-Parliamentarians. Let's have a look at the make-up of the Any Questions? panels so far this year: Number of Conservative Parliamentarians / candidates: 5 Number of Labour Parliamentarians ...
The debate on whether Gordon Brown is a bully rumbles on still and shows no signs of dissipating any time soon. Now one of Gordon Brown's senior foreign policy advisers, Dr Stewart Wood, has come into the debate with claims that Gordon Brown shoved him out of the way when passing him on a ...
Electoral registration is run by local councils, so in order to get on the electoral register you need to fill in a form and return it to your local council. Filling in other paperwork, such as to do with paying Council Tax or getting a driving license, will not add you to the electoral register - you have to fill in a special form that is just about the electoral register. You can get the right form along with the address for your local council from the Electoral Commission's About My Vote website. Don't worry if you're not sure which ...
Vote Labour in marginal seats to keep out the Conservatives. Nice try Peter – given your woeful performances on QT is anyone really listening? I take it Labour will be putting out leaflets in the southwest saying `Vote Lib Dem` – nah, didn't think so. Shut up Peter – and go back to your bunker. ...
Late last year the national party launched a new Liberal Democrat style guide for literature in preparation for the coming general election. This introduced a new official colour palette. They also have revamped the national website with a design based on that style. The new style has proved controversial in some quarters, but I have to confess that I rather like it. However, like a lot of organisations which go through a corporate re-branding exercise the Party has failed to give proper consideration to the use of the style on the web. In particular the new colour palette, while specified ...
So Nigel Farage is on the campaign trail again and boy does it show! Not only has he managed to upset an enture nation with his 'non country' comment towards Belgium, which has transcended into by proxy upsetting the whole of Europe, he also made a complete fool of himself on BBC Quesion Time with ...
All this talk of David Cameron's "patriotic duty" to oust Labour reminds this Northern Irish born blogger of his Ulster Unionist partners too much. In 1995 the Orange Order march at Drumcree claimed it was their right to march down Queen's highway, through the Garvaghy Road estate. One of the prominent marchers on that day and the subsequent marches was the then local MP for Lagan Valley and now Conservative Peer David Trimble. So as you can imagine I've had far too much of flag waving patriotism in politics. In 2001 William Hague was counting down the number of days ...
Sun 28th
11:45
Rare Disease Day 2010 Part 1 - Pontocerebellar Hypoplasia Type 1 and the Joshua Deeth Foundation
Today is Rare Disease Day, a day to raise awareness of uncommon diseases and to ensure that there is enough knowledge of and support for them within healthcare systems across the world. This year's event has 4 main messages: * Rare disease research should rightly be considered an important area of research * Rare disease research needs to be better funded * It is important for patients and researchers to work in partnership as people living with rare diseases have experience and knowledge crucial to the research agenda * Development of treatments and therapies for rare diseases remains insufficient Late ...
Having suffered from a highly variable network quality at home (for both voice and mobile broadband) I decided to throw a bit of money at it and buy a Vodafone Sure Signal box. As the advertising says, it's easy to use and you'll be set-up within a few minutes with a wonderfully clear and strong signal. Ah yes, as the advertising says... And as the man in the Vodafone shop in Oxford Street says.. To be fair, his service was pretty good, answering all my questions clearly and correctly, being helpful and polite when the till broke down part way ...
As LibDem campaigners, we are used to pounding the streets in all weathers for a cause we believe in. Still, yesterday's Whittington march was something special. It might have, literally, been a damp squib given the heavy rain that started pouring just as people were due to assemble at Highbury corner. Add in Archway tube being ...
One of the reason why the Tories are struggling in the polls is because the closer we get to the election the more they look like a leaderless shambles. The latest example of this phenomonon can be found in today's Observer, which reports that David Cameron has appeared on the front of flyers saying that the floodgates have been opened to mass immigration: Critics say the flyers are alarmist and misleading because they imply limits could be imposed on entrants from EU countries such as Poland. Last night, the party's frontbench was forced to distance itself from the hard-hitting material, ...
The are calling it the Swansea bounce and for some reason the Sunday Times has become the most read newspaper at the Welsh Labour Conference, currently meeting in the City's Brangwyn Hall. Delegates are apparently ecstatic at the latest YouGov poll that shows Labour within two points of the Tories and with a fighting chance of emerging from the General Election as the largest party though not with a majority. I am not surprised that they are pleased but my reading is that this is not so much down to a sudden embracement of all that is good in Gordon ...
Contrary to popular belief, the Victorians tended to be pretty open and frank about sex. The old myth about covering the legs of pianos or tables was a joke told by the Victorians about others. This text is taken from "An exposition of the true Cause and only Cure of the Three Primary Evils: Poverty, Prostitution and Celibacy", by Dr George Drysdale and published in 1852. Excepting medical advances and terminology, it could almost have been written today. The only means by which virtue and the progress of mankind are rendered possible is 'Preventative Sexual Intercourse'. By this is meant ...
Some of these reviews can also be found on Amazon.In February 2010 I read the following books: 1. Acts of Destruction, by Mat Coward I bought this on the recommendation of Ken MacLeod, and wasn't disappointed. While the story is set in the future, it's not science fiction, it's a crime mystery. The futuristic setting acts merely to provide a whimsical - and frankly a bit silly - backdrop. That backdrop is somewhat similar to that of Morris's Dystopia, showing that a good novel can be built on such an improbable foundation. One of the ways this is far superior ...
Friday, February 26, 2010 by Daily Sport. IF there's one thing that comes between England and Argentina more than football, it's the Falklands. The little islands, home to 3,000 plucky British folk, have always been claimed by Argentina. You may remember their invasionin 1982 which cost many British and Argentinian lives. Times have changed. But tensions soared again when a British oil company began drilling near the islands. The Argentinian government saw this as theft of their natural resources and issued angry statements telling the Brits to back off. Then a bunch of Latin American countries including Venezuela, Nicaragua and ...
I know nothing of Steve Beasant or the Lib Dems in NE Lincs (altho in common with many in Southport we were delighted to see Gainsborough Trinity defeat our arch rivals for promotion-Fleetwood Town) but I am gratful to him for brining to my attention a letter that Chris Huhne has written to the Electoral Commission. It is self explanatory, please take a couple of minutes to read it. Jenny Watson The Electoral Commission Trevelyan House Great Peter Street London SW1P 2HW Friday 26th February 2010 Dear Ms Watson, I am writing to you today to request formally that the ...
The Southport Visiter has the story of Zac Aley signing for Blackburn Rovers. As the manager Liam Watson said: "He deserves everything he gets, he is a nice kid and Haydn Preece and Allan Smart (head of youth development) deserve a lot of credit - as do the club. Not many clubs would have been willing to put a 17-year-old on contract.Southport is the first club in the country to achieve funding from the Learning Skills Council to deliver a full time youth development 16-18 programme mirroring the Football League. It is nice to be able to say something positive ...
The News of the World phone-hacking scandal took a fresh turn last night with the news that Lembit Őpik has instructed lawyers to look into the possible unlawful hacking of his mobile phone: In 2007 the News of the World's royal reporter, Clive Goodman, and Mulcaire, a private investigator, were jailed for illegal phone hacking. The paper's editor Andy Coulson, now David Cameron's communications chief, resigned. He recently said he knew nothing about the unlawful activity, and the paper claims these were rogue episodes. But last week the Commons Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport published a report accusing ...
is never having to say you're sorry for a major campaign funder for the marginals who is a non-dom member of the House of Lords – who recently had on his website `if home is where the heart is then BELIZE is my home`.
Yesterday afternoon the Launceston Colts took on Falmouth in a merit table match and stormed to a comprehensive victory which sets them up for their U17 cup match at Weston next Sunday. A few photos below. You can find more here.
Tim Lovejoy (@timlovejoy to fellow Twitterers) posted a plea this morning. Comedian Sean Lock had to withdraw at short notice from Something for the Weekend, did people have any jokes for Tim to fill in? For visiting Martians, SFTW is a BBC2 Sunday morning foodie/footy show so any jokes would need to be cheerful and ...
Wondering how to show your support for the Lib Dems at this election, but reluctant to sport a rosette? Well, The Guardian has come up with eight options for the fashion-conscious party supporter. Though it probably helps to be a lady. (Or else a male transvestite). Options range from £8 to £695: Skirt £89, by Reiss; Gloves £195, by Holland & Holland; Shorts £8, by Matalan; Clutch £420, by Smythson; Bangle £180, by Stella McCartney; Vest £400, by Jason Wu; Alexa bag £695, by Mulberry; Sweatshirt £29.50, by Gap. Think I'll be sticking to the Matalan range.
Can lessons about conflict resolution be applied in different parts of the world? That's a question that has perplexed many of us who work in this field, whether as politicians, journalists or civil society actors. İt was the motivation for the conference whıch İ have been attending at the Sumer Park conference centre in Diyarbakır ...
George Osborne has just been asked a simple question on The Andrew Marr Show, "How are you going to be able to afford this change." Now for years the Tories had been telling us that they wouldn't be giving us specifics as it wasn't the time until we were in an election. But remember back at the start of January when David Cameron fired the starting pistol on the election campaign. Well now we are even 2 months closed to the inevitable election that is coming before June. So how did Osborne respond? "Well you know our values." Actually as ...
What a happy band of campers the Liverpool Labour Party are - not! Have a look at this spat between a senior councillor and Labour MP Peter Kilfoyle over the selection of Luciana Berger as Labour candidate for the marginal seat of Liverpool Wavertree, where Liberal Democrat Colin Eldridge came a close second in 2005 and has been working tirelessly for local people since. It might be easy to dismiss Kilfoyle's attack as just another sexist old Labour dinosaur having a go at a young woman - except that it's not so much inexperience that Luciana Berger shows, it's blatant ...
I have just come back from a break in Spain visiting my mum who lives there. While I was in Spain I got into an argument in an English bar with almost the everyone in there (A shame as I was trying to watch the Reading FA Cup game). I was over hearing about how services in Spain are not very good and also complaints about the Spanish and how some of them don't speak English when dealing with the Spanish over the phone (for say utilities or phone nd internet connections) and at the same token how England is ...
The BBC today reports that David Cameron will declare in front of the Conservative Spring conference that it is his 'patriotic duty' to remove Gordon Brown as the country is 'a complete and utter mess'. This is a fascinating formulation and it will be interesting to see if he goes through with this. It is fascinating because Mr Cameron has encapsulated in a single phrase the essence of Conservatism, which has in the past often tended towards an arrogant expectation to rule with little or no regard to the wishes or priorities of voters. If he does indeed deliver the ...
Oh, so David Cameron thinks it's his patriotic duty to get rid of Gordon Brown. That makes me feel really uncomfortable. In fact it makes me shudder. Far be it from me to ever defend the Labour Party. You'll find evidence of them getting things very wrong on any page of this blog you care to look at. Not ever, though, would I ever suggest that any one of them has a lack of devotion to or love for our country. It's quite poisonous, and completely disingenuous, to suggest that about political opponents. We've seen that sort of slur in ...
It's Sunday. It's 9am. It's time for the latest news from Ethiopia, but first the blogs from the UK. Today we also have a special Luciana Berger update (never let it be said she's going for the quiet competent candidate approach). It's also good to note that Liberal Democrat MPs have not been remiss in keeping up with the latest Twitter craze. Step forward and take a bow, Mr Rennie. 2 Must-Read Blog Posts What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here's are two posts that have caught the eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator: Chris Huhne says the ...
There is a YouGov poll reported in The Sunday Times today which has the Tory lead over Labour narrowed to 2 points. The percentages are: Con 37%, Lab 35%, LD 17%. Here, according to UK Polling Report's Swing Calculator is what would happen if there was a uniform swing of this nature across the country at the election: Now I know that this does not take into account the story in the marginals which could tell quite a different tale but even so according to this Labour would be 54 seats ahead of the Conservatives. It is unlikely that the ...
I warmly welcome Nick Clegg's recent pledge of a week's funded respite care for the million carers who currently provide more than 50 hours of care per week. I am filled with admiration for all carers, including those who do it for more than 50 hours a week. The least they deserve is a week's break each year, with respite care funded by the Government. We would fund this by scrapping Labour's botched care proposals and re-allocating the money to this Lib Dem respite care proposal. This could mean a great deal to many carers living locally in Hendon constituency. ...
Double media bursts today. The Politics Show at lunchtime are looking at the issue of airbrushed and digitally altered images and the effect they have on our sense of well-being. The Liberal Democrats have led the political field on this one - and we are calling for honesty and transparency on advertising. Altered images need to show clearly that they are just that - altered. The Royal Society of Psychiatrists has joined us in the call - for a label on these images that says whether they have been altered - and not in such tiny type as to be ...
Stockport's first 'Enterprise Centre' has been launched as part of the Stockport Boost programme, offering free help and guidance to new businesses or those thinking of setting up a business. The Centre is located in the Business Incubator at Broadstone Mill in Reddish, Stockport Enterprise Centre and offers companies up to three years of free one-to-one advice, general awareness sessions, assistance with business plan generation and networking opportunities. The Centre will act as a focal point for business start up support and assistance across the borough. Business Link's Intensive Startup Support Programme (ISUS) is also available through the Centre. ISUS ...
In the interests of fairness, I should report further to this posting from the other day that all may not have been what it seemed. The Bristol Evening Post is now reporting that the bus's CCTV footage told a different story which exonerated its driver, who apparently didn't even speak to Amy Wootton. If any good comes from this, it's that any First customer across the UK now knows beyond any sort of doubt that women are welcome to breastfeed their babies on their trains or buses. Another couple of points, though. Virtually every media outlet has covered this story ...
It's coming back to a computer near you. The classic rock show with yours truly. Friday 5 March 2010 at 21.00 to 22.00 GMT Requests in advance and feedback during and after very welcome.
They're talking about it on PB and UK polling report. Tory lead now down to 2 points. I think this just illustrates that although nobody likes Brown, nobody much likes the alternative either. This is clearly a once in a lifetime opportunity for a third party to make headway if they have policies the voters like. And we have those, due to the unique way we make policy. So what are we going to do to seize this election by the bollocks, fellow Lib Dems? Let's call an urgent meeting... My February Sponsor is To view this post with minimal ...
Congratulations to Launceston Amateur Boxing Club on putting on another superb show, this time at the White Hart in the centre of town. The place was packed to the rafters and the atmosphere was incredible - especially for the last two fights of the evening featuring Tom Ware and Jordan Platt, both home club boxers of great potential. I was surprised but very happy to be given the chance to pick the bout of the night and gave it to the match between Tom Ware and John Welshman of the Pilgrims Club in Plymouth. But there were some great fights ...
Mark Thompson who stood for the Liberal Democrats in Owlsmoor has blogged on this experiences of standing as a candidate, Please do have a read My experiences as a first time council election candidate. I would like to thank Mark for doing so much work trying to win this seat and running the join blogs. I would also like to give my best wishes to all the activists and candidates I meet at the count from all the parties and wish everyone luck in whatever election they are standing in next. People from all the parties may not all agree ...
Democracy is good. It might be difficult to define but we know that it is better than a dictatorship because it could be an evil dictator. It has to be better than anarchy, and as for communism well we know that it collapsed in Europe and there is no support for it here anyway. Winston Churchill thought that we would accept democracy with all its faults because it is better than anything else that has ever been tried. There are problems with democracy and many changes have occured to improve it. Before the Reform Act of 1832 we had rotten ...
