My little girl 5th yr trainee doc came home for easter today to mom n pop with all the love that gives meaning to our daily travails. Plus she is a whizz at vital new social policy requisites
Good news from the High Court, where the science writer Simon Singh has won his court of appeal battle for the right to rely on the defence of fair comment in a libel action. Dr Singh had been accused of libel by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) over an op-ed piece he wrote in the Guardian in April 2008. All he suggested was that there was a lack of evidence for the claims SOME chiropractors make on treating some childhood conditions like colic and asthma. This sort of bullying behaviour by big organisations and wealthy individuals shows them all too ...
I have not reported on the result of the Haughley & Wetherden by-election result until now, but perhaps it is time that I did. First, the result; Rachel Eburne (Green) - 444 votes Samantha Powell (Conservative) - 176 votes Chris Vecchi (Liberal Democrat) - 51 votes David Hill (Labour) - 32 votes Christopher Streatfield (UKIP) - 25 votes So, an overwhelming win for the Greens, with their candidate benefiting from two key factors, firstly that she was the only candidate living in the ward, second that the successful county candidate last year, Andrew Stringer, has worked hard to represent residents. ...
A recent press release sent out in response to a bizarre invitation from local Conservatives to support them. I had difficulty writing this as I was shaking with laughter so much. TORY EMPTY PROMISES FAIL TO TEMPT LIB DEMS South East Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats have ridiculed overtures from local Conservatives to support them. Conservative claims to stand for Liberal Democrat principles are as empty as Tory policy pledges. Responding for South East Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats, spokesman Andy Crick said: "I am gratified that local Conservatives are worried about the election - they should be. I am confident that Lib Dem ...
I have just returned home from the Lord Mayor's Charity Auction at the Council House. Initial indications are that this event successfully raised over £4,000 for the Lord Mayor's charities.Each Lord Mayor of Birmingham chooses a number of charities that he raises money for during his year of office. The current Lord Mayor is Councillor Mick Wilkes (Lib Dem, Hall Green Ward) whose four charities
It probably isn't good for a PPC to disagree with their leader this close to an election, but as Jeff brought it up I thought I'd better put the record straight. As Jeff pointed out Nick Clegg said on his trip to Scotland today: "The truth is the SNP is as irrelevant in London as the Conservatives are in Edinburgh." Now I know Nick studied Archaeology and Anthropology at University so unlike myself or Jeff may not be as conversant in the numerate arts. But Jeff uses the mathematical argument to point out that at 16 seats to the Tories, ...
There's been a lot of discussion about Howard Dean, claiming the Liberal Democrats could win a majority, or at the least that Nick Clegg could be Prime Minister. Well, I've put my thinking cap on, about how we might actually reach that target. It's difficult really, because I don't know tonnes and tonnes about polling methodologies and weighting. But even a complete amateur like me can make a few diverting observations that are more fun than watching the news. The lowest (I know they have gone lower, but let's consider this the "normal" lowest for now) the Tories have gone ...
Part of the Eastrop ward is covered by Riverdene. As a private estate it is maintained by a gardener, funded by residents. Until last year the estate gardens team used to take garden waste such as leaf fall and grass cuttings from the estate to the allotments where it was either used by allotment holders or collected by the Council. Since the Council cut back on this, residents have faced the cost of skip hire. I have tried to convince the Council that as they maintain other estates out of tax payers money, they should support Riverdene tax payers in ...
Apparently, I am supposed to be happy, well that seemed to be the message from the BBC news reporting I was watching earlier! Happy, with the news that another court ruling has once again blocked strike action, this time for the RMT. Even the LibDems are happy, with our transport minister, Norman Baker, saying: "This is good news ...
In case you missed Lib Dem Voice's April 1st joke: Also available on YouTube here. We told readers this morning: We're going behind a pay wall. Just because it's Rupert Murdoch leading the charge to put news behind pay walls, that doesn't mean it's automatically wrong. In fact, having been poring over the details we're convinced here in Lib Dem Voice Towers that it's the right move for us. Why? Our hosting costs and the amount of time spent on moderation have been growing very sharply in the last 12 months. However, a very large part of that growth is ...
One of my supporters passed me a Labour leaflet this evening 'Vote Lib Dem get Tory' is the main message. They weren't impressed and they weren't surprised. It was clearly issued by Labour HQ in London. I read it twice and I couldn't find one positive reason to vote Labour on it - which you have to admit after 13 years in government and even more on the Borough Council is pretty pathetic. Locally the leaflets are not much better with the latest one featuring a nasty personal attack on me. This kind of campaigning is really depressing and is ...
[IMG: DEBill flashmob at UK Music] Filmmaker Obhi Chatterjee, one of the team behind the Lib Dem Spring Conference emergency motion on Freedom, creativity & the internet, describes the experience: It was while following #DEBill on Twitter on the train that, with just over an hour to go, we discovered where we had to be at 12:15. In front of London's Dominion Theatre, near Tottenham Court Road. Bring a police helmet and clipboard if poss. My father had struggled to understand how we could have left home knowing only that we had to be in central London at a certain ...
It's that day again and the #bbcqt Live Chat starts here at 10:30pm. This week I am unavailable during the programme so cannot host the chat myself but Lib Dem blogger Matt Raven (known on Twitter as @El_Cuervo) has again very kindly agreed to step in and take on hosting duties. The panel are Home Secretary Alan Johnson, the shadow business secretary Ken Clarke, the Liberal Democrat housing spokesman Sarah Teather and the broadcasters and writers Richard Littlejohn (Jesus H Corbett - a good one to miss then!) and Victoria Coren (Hurrah!). Join Matt from 10:30pm below: BBC Question Time ...
This will be (I hope) the last I mention any of this. I've had a couple of emails today from Aaron, relating to this post and saying a few things: Firstly, that he had not intended to defend Mike Power's threats of violence against me back in December. That's certainly not how his behaviour appeared at the ...
Interesting post by @Cllr Tim highlighting the frustration that public service workers often have when trying to run a council service that isn't the most popular. "I pay your wages, mate" is one of the things you hear. One of the things I get in casework letters is the demand that someone should be sacked for something – either in a case that has gone wrong (and councillors often get that because we can be the last line of recourse) or sometimes even when council staff have in fact been following policy but it has still lead to an outcome ...
This is almost more of a tweet than a Blog post but I got a link to this website from a friend and thought I'd post a link for it on my Blog. Its a site that suggest that actually our country is better with migration! So crazy it just might work (and actually has
Patricia's story: It had been a busy day -- several business meetings, a proposal to write, auditions to sit in, budgets to finish. By the afternoon and several cups of coffee later my heart began to palpitate. It's a condition I've been used to ever since my late teens and was normally able to deal with through breathing exercises. Except this time the palpitations wouldn't go away. Eventually my business partner insisted I go home and rest. The palpitations continued all through my drive home from Clerkenwell to Highgate. I began to worry, thinking the worst, thinking of what would ...
It's now been over a year since I came of Job seekers allowance, having spent far too long on claiming I have only just gotten round to writing up some of my experiences from it and perhaps this will share some light on what we could do to improve the situation. As anyone who has been
There is an ongoing debate in Hebden Bridge about car parking. Is there enough of it, do we have the right balance between short and long-term spaces, and are the charges correct? Late last year, a group of Human Geography and Urban Planning students from Leeds Met University undertook a project to survey car parking in ...
The Tories' pledged this week to reverse Labour's National Insurance tax rises by increasing the UK deficit. Today Labour's Lord Mandelson accused the Tories – seemingly without a trace of irony – of "peddling deception". The Lib Dems' shadow chancellor Vince Cable is having no truck with the Labservative approach: Labour and the Tories are as bad as each other. Under both their plans, public finances would be driven into the ground. Whether it's for tax cuts or filling in the deficit hole, both parties seem to be in a competition to see who can come up with the least ...
Been on a tour of Essex countryside to avoid traffic chaos in #chelmsford centre!
This afternoon, I called in on the planning pre-application exhibition at Blackness Library - relative to the proposed replacement St Joseph's Primary and Park Place Nursery and Primary Schools. Given the Councillor Code of Conduct relative to planning applications, councillors can attend but cannot give an opinion or view on the planning proposals in advance of the finalised planning application coming before the City Council's Development Quality Committee. The exhibition continues at the library on Saturday between 10am and 1pm.
A second major ballot on industrial action has collapsed in tatters. The RMT left the courts this afternoon with their strike plans turned to dust. Though Unite are engaged in a dispute at BA, their initial strike plans fell apart because of the sloppy nature of the ballot. Hopefully, the RMT members will take the opportunity to reject strike demands in the follow on ballot the union will hold
... We'd say a big thank you to the 58,552 'absolute unique visitors'* who read Liberal Democrat Voice in March. That's a huge 77% increase on our Feb. '10 figure of c.34,000, and we are up some 125% on the equivalent figure for March '09 of c.26,000. This brings our absolute unique visitor readership for the last year to date (1 April 2009 - 31 March 2010) to 345,223, over 45% higher than the equivalent figure for 2008-09 of 237,536. The 5 top-read stories during the month were: 1. Lord Clement-Jones on the Digital Economy Bill: web blocking amendment (246) ...
Down at Third Man is lyrical about a Leicestershire village cricket ground: On the roadside, in the gloaming, between high trees, he spots the spectre of an enchanted cricket ground. Passing by in an instant he is certain that he has seen the mythic cricket ground that all lovers of the game believe one day they will stumble on.The only thing to add to this account is the information that the ground was given to the village of East Langton by this blog's hero J.W. Logan. My photograph shows it, not in the gloaming, but in May sunshine.
Lobbydog has an excellent post regarding the shambles that is the regionalisation of the fire service and government spin. The full posting is well worth a read but here is a little teaser.... What the report really said was that FireControl was "inadequately planned, poorly executed, and badly managed". In fact, it was such a hideous, abomination of a financial fiasco, the report says, that it would now be more expensive to scrap it than to continue. You can read the post here H/T Iain Dale
I love Tim's efforts to keep the peace. What a nice chap. Here is his summary of Red Tory. Give employees ownership of public services; Scrap school catchment areas to enable real choice for parents; New small regional banks; New economic model for the poor; Scrap pensioner tax relief for the poor and redirect money into asset creation programme ...
In case you missed Lib Dem Voice's April 1st joke: Also available on YouTube here. We told readers this morning: We're going behind a pay wall. Just because it's Rupert Murdoch leading the charge to put news behind pay walls, that doesn't mean it's automatically wrong. In fact, having been poring over the details we're convinced here in Lib Dem Voice Towers that it's the right move for us. Why? Our hosting costs and the amount of time spent on moderation have been growing very sharply in the last 12 months. However, a very large part of that growth is ...
An open letter to the leaders of Camden Council's political groups - 1 April 2010 Cllr Nasim Ali, Leader, Labour Group Cllr Alex Goodman, Leader, Green Group Cllr Andrew Marshall, Leader, Conservative Group Cllr Keith Moffitt, Leader, Liberal Democrat Group Dear Nasim, Alex, Andrew and Keith, At the final Camden Council all-party Sustainability Task Force meeting, which took place last night, I was asked to write to the leaders of all Camden Council's political groups on behalf of the Task Force to seek your support for seven measures should you be in a position to form the new administration after ...
We've covered before how Power2010 is pushing for a set of political reforms and targeting specific MPs who have abused the system. Now it's the House of Lords that is getting its specific attention, with a petition for a fully elected upper house. You can find out more about the campaign and sign the petition over on the Power2010 site.
After reading an article the other day about the Tories wanting to remove Ofcom's power to restrict and control the virtual monopoly Sky have in the pay tv sector in the UK, I wrote about the squalid deal the Tories appear to me to have done in order to get News International's support. Now with Ofcom making recommendations on Sky and the fact that they must cut the wholesale prices of their sports content, one wonders if political parties will take the issue on and fight against the Tories plans for a "Sky tax". After all, if the Tories have ...
There are rather more 'legal highs' out there than the currently controversial mephedrone. Shooting down one named 'drug' will not solve a much wider complex of issues. As an article on the US site SLATE noted back in 2007. over the last two decades, the pharmaceutical industry has developed a full set of substitutes for just about every illegal narcotic we have. Avoiding the highly charged politics of "illegal" drugs, the pharmaceutical industry, doctors, and citizens have thus quietly created the means for Americans to get at substitutes for almost all the drugs banned in the 20th century. Through the ...
Is the government making fools out of us with the Digital Economy Bill? Join us on Thursday evening in Manchester City Centre for a flashmob protest against this ill-conceived legislation! Just bring yourself and some black tape to censor yourself with. The exact location will be announced (at 5pm) just before we begin, sign up for a ticket and we'll let you know http://debflashmobmanchester.eventbrite.com/ What is the Digital Economy Bill? The DEB is a new piece of legislation that's being forced through parliament without debate. The DEB's aim is to stop copyright infringement on the internet, but it does so ...
BBC News is reporting that Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, is blaming UN diplomats for the poll fraud which mired his re-election last year. At the time, international observers, including the UN, reported widespread fraud. As a result, President Karzai's claimed first round win was quashed and he had to face a run-off vote against his nearest challenger. In the event, that challenger withdrew citing the likelihood of further fraud which, he said, would make it impossible for a fair poll to be held. President Karzai is using these claims to justify a move to take control of the election ...
Here is the spreadsheet. As with so many matters, this started with reading some Dillow post or other. This is like some embarassing instance of an academic expanding 2 lines of poetry into a thesis. But Chris quite casually wrote: And Keynesians would assent, because fiscal policy has little influence on the deficit as spending cuts ...
As infotainment and edumation continue to draw closer, one day to merge like Hermaphroditos and Salmacis in a pool of 0s and 1s, it becomes increasingly harder to distinguish news from fiction, and all the more so on this day of the year. I, for one, do pride myself upon not suffering from Czech Neck, and thus have a fair idea as to knowing Stork from butter, and here are the best three April Fool stories of 2010; In third place, Labour's new campaign strategy in the Guardian. It's a winner; ex-comrades, you really, really should have gone with this! ...
Four blogs have recently joined Ryan's Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator: Andreas Christodoulou - www.andreaschristodoulou.com, who's already got a record of spotting good stories Chris Wilson - chrisjw133.wordpress.com, who last month explained why he's joined the party Jonathan Mitchell - http://www.jonathanmitchellsblog.com, who is our candidate in Dulwich and West Norwood (South London) and nicely demonstrates how a string of small photos adds hugely to the messages you get from glancing at a site Kui Kihoro - http://beginsathome.com/, who brings a welcome dash of African perspective to the Lib Dem blogosphere Good luck to all the new bloggers, and why not take ...
I know those of you reading the last few postings have been thinking "Aye, Aye, Fekri's being all Fotherington-Thomas with his 'hullo clouds, hullo sky' offerings, but where's the politics?" Well, gentle readers, I hesitate to jar your gentle nerves, ...
The extent to which this country has become centralised is, for me, best summed up by one fact. According to evidence collected through the 'Total Place' pilots - a series of initiatives aimed at delivering better public services at lower cost by reducing overlap between organisations - only £350 (a mere 5%) of the £7,000 spent per head on public services each year is discretionary spending by local councils. This is the stark reality of localism after 13 years of Labour government. By contrast, localism is at the heart of everything the Liberal Democrats stand for. It is part of ...
I loved the annual article by Olaf Priol in today's Guardian. But it's not as funny as this story - which is true!
Apparently New Year used to be celebrated on 1st April, and when that was changed to 1st January the people who kept to the old tradition were called "April Fools". I think it's rather a pity that we don't still celebrate New Year on 1st April - a much better time of year for a bit of a knees up and in tune with the old Persian tradition of New Year on the first day of spring. Anyway in our family it is a special day after all because it's the birthday of one of my nieces. Happy birthday, dear ...
Have you tried out www.VoteMatch.org.uk to see which political party best fits your views? My Lib Dem Voice co-editor Mark Pack reviews the site here on LDV, and gives it the thumbs-up (though he's yet to declare his own score ...). You want to know how I did? Thanks for asking, and here you go: [IMG: votematch] So it turns out I'm a Lib Dem. I wasn't wholly surprised by that. I am quite startled that the Greens should show up as my second preferred party: given their general authoritarianism, I would have placed them joint bottom. A bit of ...
We didn't have snow yesterday in Gateshead but it was very cold. And typically, it had to happen on a day when we were doing a tour of Whickham village centre. We started in the car park behind the library, then went over to Chase Park, and then walked down to the Hermitage Community Garden. When that was done, we headed in to the Community Centre for a meeting of the Inner West Forum. Park
It was the percentage that struck me. Twenty-eight people, who had been arrested by Sussex Police but were later found to have committed no crime, applied for their DNA to be expunged from the police database. Only one request was granted, a rate of 3.6% that put Sussex Police bottom of a national league table of police forces. So I wrote to the chief constable, asking for an explanation. I made it clear I wasn't seeking to undermine the great job the police do, but that there were civil liberties at stake and I found the statistic alarming. That led ...
The line above is spoken by Roxane towards the end of the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand and translates as "I loved but once, yet twice I lose my love!" It's a beautiful play full of charm, derring-do, and panache but ultimately about ...
Jock's blog has concluded, not without cause, that I am a spambot, so rather than waiting for release I thought I'd reproduce my comment here, because it has several wider implications. Jock is wondering (as he does with increasing frequency, I think) whether or not to leave the party which, to him, is a travesty to ...
The Reading Evening Post has picked up on Shelter's campaign to highlight the dire shortage of affordable housing across the UK , including here in Reading. But as I pointed out to Anna Roberts who penned the story - the true picture in Reading is actually even worse than the one Shelter describes. A recent report I commissioned as Chair of the Housing, Health and Community Care Scrutiny panel investigating the problem of overcrowding in our Borough revealed the number of people on the Council's housing waiting list has risen from around 4,400 in April 2008 to approximately 6,000 in ...
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Appeal upheld in Singh vs BCA - a significant victory for Simon, the libel reform campaign and free ...
As widely reported, Simon Singh has won his appeal against the pre-trail judgement on meaning in his defence against a libel suit brought by the British Chiropractic Association.In a judgement welcomed by his lawyers asa resounding victory before such an impressive court,three of the most senior judges in the land dismissed the way in which the BCA reverted to libel action instead of accepting
Or what Policy Exchange were going to call their latest piece of research, until a last minute change of heart. UPDATE: I would want to point out that anyone reading Andrew Lilico's excellent submission to the SMPC can tell that he can produce interesting empirical stuff. As readers of this blog will know, there are Keynesian effects ...
Reposting a message from Lewisham Council Lewisham Council is warning residents about a bogus recruitment agency offering fake council jobs to extract job seeker's personal information. People using legitimate job search sites to find work are being targeted by an agency called Haines Employment which claims to be recruiting for council positions. The hoax organisation may have a link on genuine recruitment sites which asks people to submit their details via a CV. Individuals are then sent an email from 'hainesemployment@googlemail.com' to say they have been offered a position as a receptionist or office assistant at their local council. The ...
On the day after tomorrow, we'll have a new Doctor Who episode and a new Doctor. Are you as hugely excited as I am? And as desperate to avoid spoilers (though the 70-second preview on Freeview 301's OK)? Then why not distract yourself with the other Doctors instead? The last time the most popular Doctor ever left he was Tom Baker in 1981, and to ready you for the youngest Doctor ever when he was Peter Davison the BBC mounted a repeat season, The Five Faces of Doctor Who. Here's how to spend your Easter holiday weekend doing the same. ...
News that science writer Simon Singh has had his appeal against a libel action brought against him is welcome if you support free speech. Mr Singh criticised the claims of some chiropractors about the range of problems their treatments can help and he was subsequently sued for his comments by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA). Today's Appeal Court ruling found that the comments of Mr Singh were 'opinion' rather than 'facts' so the claim of libel was not correct. I have used a chiropractor in the past and I am very happy with the treatment I received so I would ...
Following its British debut in the London and then European elections, Votematch is now up and running for the 2010 general election. The idea is a simple one – you answer 30 questions about different policies (less in Scotland or Wales because of devolution) and the site then tells you how closely your answers match those of different parties. It's got quite a few nice touches which show how the team have learnt both from experiences elsewhere, particularly the phenomenally successfully version used by one in three voters in Holland, and from their past experience in Britain. For example, you ...
London' s Mayor, Boris Johnson, has accepted that 4,300 premature deaths a year in London are linked to long-term exposure to dangerous airborne particles at an annual cost of up to £2 billion. He's now joined Parliament's cross-party Environmental Audit Committee in calling on the government to commit the resources necessary to reduce the enormous burden air pollution places on organisations such as the NHS and to implement national measures where they are most effective. Diesel particles not only cause lung diseases but they also get into the bloodstream because they're so minute. Prof. Frank Kelly of Kings College London, ...
Cllr Roger Gough and Cllr Arian Naylor (the elected member representatives from the Total Place Kent and Bradford pilots) would like to invite you to the national members event at Westminster Central Hall on the 21st May 2010. This is a national event where leading figures from national and local government will be setting out their thoughts on where Total Place takes us. Members from across the Total Place pilots, parallel places and other areas interested in this type of work will have an opportunity to hear feedback from the final reports and what we have learned, particularly about the ...
Birmingham's ICC was the venue for the Party's Federal Spring Conference. ALDC had a busy programme highlighting the forthcoming local elections and a number of issues which we have been working on. Once again our stand was co-located with our colleagues from the LGA Liberal Democrat Group and the IDeA creating a "councillors area" in the exhibition hall. Staff were busy during the weekend providing advice to campaigners and councillors and information on ALDC and its services. Our fringe programme included a joint event with Liberal Yourh on Climate Change: Keeping up the Pressure. Speakers included Simon Hughes MP and ...
Good news - because we're all so busy with something called the election - we've extended the deadline for cheap "early bird" registrations for the 2010 Liberal Democrat Local Government Conference to TUESDAY (6th April) - giving you the whole bank holiday weekend to register. Registrations start at £35 (that's after a £5 discount for ALDC members). After next Tuesday these will go up to £45 for ALDC members and £50 for non-members. Council Groups in Group Membership of ALDC can take advantage of our "buy two, get one free" offer - get in touch if you want to take ...
This morning I've had two pieces of local good news. The first concerns Launceston Post Office. Tim Nickolls has been in touch to say that the landlord has agreed a three month extension to the lease for the current operators and so the threat of a temporary closure over the summer months has been lifted. The second concerns the 90 year old lady who is being made homeless and the Council did not rate as being a top priority. The new Homechoice system has now kicked in and under the new grading (A-E) system she is now rated as A ...
In case anyone was wondering what I look like, here is a photo of me and now for the news on 1 April Iain Dale had an exclusive today on the possible strike by Returning Officers Google launched a new app for its Android technology - now we can all talk to the animals, well maybe not The Guardian revealed Labour's campaign thinking And Rory Cellan-Jones showed off his iPad
Having been brought up in Dalmellington and educated in Ayr, James is proud to have been chosen to represent the people of Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock for the Scottish Liberal Democrats. James built his successful business from Ayrshire and is committed to working with the Lib Dems' Vince Cable in supporting local businesses. By directing his ...
Today David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, is visiting Luton. Here are some of the questions I'd like to ask him: Why will Margaret Moran's pension be more than the salary of some of our front line Armed Forces?Why do we have the money to pay bankers bonuses at a time when families are struggling to get by?Why did the Labour Party never call for Margaret Moran to resign?Why did the Government take us into an illegal war in Iraq with no evidence?Why don't Labour support raising the income tax threshold to £10k to help those on low and middle incomes?Why ...
With just a fortnight until the Government's mephedrone ban comes into effect, Lib Dem MPs Chris Huhne and Evan Harris have challenged the legality of the move (though the party has supported the ban itself). Today's Guardian reports: Dr Evan Harris, the Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, said the six resignations from the government's advisory council on the misuse of drugs had left it inquorate and legally unable to issue formal advice to the home secretary. He also questioned how a decision to ban mephedrone without first publishing the council's report on its potential harms complied with ...
As the time has now drifted past 12:00 and I'm looking to see if various news stories are actually revealed as being April Fools I'd like to turn to a serious matter. Let us assume that Gordon Brown next week calls an election for the 6th May. I'm not the only person making such an assumption the West Lothian and Falkirk election teams used just such an assumption last Thursday at the candidates and agents briefing. What that mean about registration? Well you have until 20 April to register to vote. If you have moved house recently you may want ...
Want to know what the Lib Dems will do to boost the enterprise culture here in the UK? Well, Nick Clegg and shadow business secretary John Thurso this week launched their programme in keeping with the party's campaign emphasis on fairness, Enterprise in a fair society. Here's the party's news release announcing the programe ... The proposals include: * Restoring a public interest test for regulatory authorities to consider when takeovers are proposed and changing the rules on which shareholders can vote on takeover proposals * Ensuring affordable access to credit for businesses by creating new mechanisms to provide equity ...
Love it or loathe it, many clients instinctively try to evaluate social media in ways similar to advertising. Whether it's because you want to justify social media on those grounds - or because you want to persuade the client why that isn't appropriate - you need to know the lingo. This three part mini-series introduces you to the main acronyms you might come up against. Part 3: ROI [IMG: Calculator and notepad] Parts 1 and 2 of this mini-series went through some of the issues involved in trying to use OTS (opportunities to see) and AVE (advertising value equivalent) calculations. ...
And no, this is not an April Fool joke, for those of a mischievous mindset – the former Democratic Presidential hopeful and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee has publicly stated he thinks the Lib Dems could win the election. Here's how the BBC reports it: Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg could be the surprise winner of the UK's general election, former US presidential candidate Howard Dean has said. Mr Dean praised Mr Clegg as a "young, dynamic leader". And he said he could be the big winner from Britain's first televised election debates, capitalising on disillusion with the ...
The national Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) have announced strike action for four days, from Tuesday 6 to Friday 9 April. This means that Network Rail signallers and maintenance union members will not be working during this period. This will have a significant affect on the ...
There is a striking piece on the BBC news website in which former US Presidential candidate Howard Dean says he believes that Nick Clegg could win the election on May 6th. Well, that's pretty much why I'm doing what I am doing so it is wonderful to hear such an endorsement from someone with a good political pedigree who is outside of the debate. Dean compliments Clegg as a 'young, dynamic leader' and says he believes that there is such uncertainty that the LDs could come out on top at the election, especially if Clegg is boosted by the televised ...
There was a good interview on the Today programme this morning in which Conservative leader David Cameron gave as good as he got on the issue of budget cuts and the National Insurance proposals from the Tories. This was one of those interviews which was well balanced and Sarah Montague is to be congratulated for addressing Mr Cameron's responses rather than simply continuing with pre-prepared and lengthy arguments which some of her colleagues tend to resort to. Two points struck me about this interview. First, Cameron's quote from last year, read back to him, that 'efficiencies' were not a serious ...
What with an election pending I knew things were tight money wise but Lib Dem Voice have gone too far with their pay wall.So much for the voice of liberalism on the net. What's good enough for Murdoch shouldn't be just followed so gliberally. Apparently it was the doing of the new party internet geek De-dwass van April from Rotterdam as Stephen Tall editor at large explains all here.
Last night's polling was pretty dramatic, it has to be said. ICM released a poll, conducted on Tuesday, showing the Lib Dems at 29%. The YouGov tracker also showed the same response, the Lib Dems shifting up nine points to 28%. As an avid follower of polls, I would normally exercise caution; but just this once ...
David Cameron seems poised to open an old set of wounds if he wins the General Election by revisiting that divisive old chestnut of fox hunting. He has re-stated his intention to allow a free vote in the House of Commons if he becomes Prime Minister and, given that there would most likely be a ...
When I lectured at Palacký University in Olomouc in the 1990s, I co-taught a class in translation with my good friend Václav Řeřicha. One of the authors we used to study was Milan Kundera, whose birthday it is today, mostly his short stories from ...
I have often been critical of the Taxpayer's Alliance for knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing and I am not about to retract that judgement now. However, their latest offering listing 51 high-flying Council executives taking home more than £100,000 a year does give pause for thought. We are of course in a free market. These sort of jobs may be sought-after but to get good quality you have to pay the going-rate. Nevertheless, there are legitimate questions as to why two medium-sized Councils in Welsh terms, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire, are paying their Chief Executuve more ...
Do Turkeys vote for Christmas shopping? The fact that Tories like M&S boss Sir Stuart Rose agree with Tory policy (Shock horror!) is hardly news. What's more interesting is that there wasn't a word about the extra amount of profit and employment with the £700 tax refund for low and middle earners. The Tories are great at ...
The Sun has dubbed Gordon Brown as The Invisible Man after a short analysis of 120 campaigning leaflets and letters by their reporters found that 93 per cent of Labour's General Election candidates omitted his photo from their leaflets. They add that in a clear sign that sitting MPs and new Commons hopefuls believe the Prime Minister is a liability, 86 per cent have no written mention of his name. The bigwigs in the group whose literature was included in the survey includes former-Cabinet minister and Olympics supremo Tessa Jowell, Mr Brown's former spokesman at Number 10, John Woodcock who ...
http://debflashmobmanchester.eventbrite.com/ The Open Rights Group and Pirate Party are organising a Flash Mob against the Digital Economy Bill today, at 5PM in Manchester city centre. I won't be able to go because I'm working til 7:30ish, but if as many Lib Dem types as possible could get there, it would help counteract the recent image problems ...
Totally unannounced Jon Jacob walked in, he was holding a camera. Why are you doing this? He kept asking, over and over again. I was evasive. Read more on Thoroughly Good. Tagged: community, Hither Green
What a marvellous own goal – when both the Labservative equivalents to Lib Dem Voice remain open and free to all our own one starts to charge. What an excellent time to start such a thing – not!
When you are in local government you eventually get used to taking the blame for all sorts of things that you don't control. To a large extent I can understand this. Various reorganisations (and privatisations) have left many people confused as to where responsibility for many functions actually rest. You will be surprised, dear reader, as to how many people still think the corporation run the buses! There is no excuse, however, for professional organisations not to know who is responsible for what. This is doubly so when this organisation is responsible for said service. I am of course referring ...
These are the revised refuse and recycling collection dates over the Easter bank holiday period: Good Friday 2 April –> Saturday 3 April Easter Monday 5 April –> Tuesday 6 April Tuesday 6 April –> Wednesday 7 April Wednesday 7 April –> Thursday 8 April Thursday 8 April –> Friday 9 April Friday 9 April –> Saturday 10 April Back to normal on Monday 12 April.
David Cameron will today announce a shock shake-up of his frontbench team as the general election draws ever nearer. The Conservative leader is reportedly concerned at criticism from senior backbenchers that his Shadow Cabinet is 'too callow and inexperienced'. Many political commentators are speculating that George Osborne's performance in Channel 4's 'Ask the Chancellors', widely regarded as weak and nervous, also played a part in Mr Cameron's decision. The Tory leader is expected to appoint Kenneth Clarke as his new Shadow Chancellor as part of the reshuffle, citing his 'economic experience, manliness and love for real ale'. John Redwood is ...
I have had some very strange dreams recently. One in which the lovely Mr Dr Chocalholic wouldn't let me leaflet a favourite village from my childhood until I'd done about 10 other deliveries first. The same week I dreamed about Boris Johnson and most recently Hugh O'Donnell MSP. All dreams were entirely election related. As was me waking up from a deep sleep with a start the other day because I'd dreamt that I wasn't on the Electoral Register. The thought of not being able to cast my vote for Charles Dundas was so horrendous that I actually rang the ...
It's taken me a while to find it, but I have finally found the opening sequence of the Sale of the Century complete with the late lamented John Benson saying: ""And now – from Norwich, it's the quiz of the week". I should have looked on YouTube earlier – it's been there since 2006. It's amazing how a bit of tin foil (forming a knight on a horse), some trumpetty ident music and then "And now – from Norwich" – sounded and looked so glamorous at the time. These days, perhaps, some would snigger. Anyway, here's the opening titles and ...
The Guardian has an exclusive look at Labour's election posters ... here.There are also rumours this morning that Lord Ashcroft is moving his holdings from Belize to the Indian Ocean republic of San Serriffe.
I am going to continue the monthly summary of my visitor stats according to google analytics now I have mended the broken link, so preventing me for the last two months doing so. So here are the results for March 2010. The busiest day on my blog last month was in fact Tuesday 30th March when the story about Aberdeen South Conservative candidate Mark Jones resigning broke. Last month I had 2,702 absolute unique visitors, up from 2,549 in October and way up from 1,311 in September. They made 4,010 visits and 5,327 page views. So, my top 10 referring ...
Welcome to Daily View on this auspicious date, which in most Western cultures is considered a day of pranking and merriment. Of course we at LDV have no truck with such levity, and everything we write today is the honest truth. Happy birthday to Gmail – 6 today! 2 Big Stories Hadron Collider II planned for Circle Line The Independent reports: London Underground is in talks with the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) about the possibility of using the 23km tunnel of the Circle Line to house a new type of particle accelerator similar to the Large Hadron Collider ...
Here is some footage of Stephen Fry unpacking his shiny new iPad in the States whilst us poor Apple Fags in the UK have to wait that little bit longer. Not content with simply showing the iPad itself, he has also gone and bought the case, dock, charger, keyboard and everything he can get his ...
Insomnia does the weirdest of things to you and I feel compelled to surf the web at 4.30am in the morning to bring you the best of this mornings front pages and best April Fool's gags from online media. Enjoy – some of the them are pretty darn convincing.... First up its this genius one from ...
News from the University of Glasgow (as passed on to me by their University Rector over dinner this evening): Preserving the fabric of the nation's treasures for future generations, a new textile conservation centre is to be established at the University of Glasgow. The Textile Conservation Centre Foundation (TCCF) and the University of Glasgow have agreed to found the new teaching and research facility - the only resource of its kind in the UK - in the University's Robertson Building. Peter Longman, Deputy Chairman of the Textile Conservation Centre Foundation said: "There was such concern over the closure of the ...
West Hampstead library is soon to have a facelift and a spring clean!It will close for a couple of weeks from 10 May to 24 May. Our local library is very busy and poular. It is open six days a week with 2 regular Rhyme Time/Baby Bounce sessions a week, a once a month social club for older people and many other events. Believe it or not, 93,000 people visited West Hampstead library in 2009 and borrowed 73,000 items! They also used 20,000 hours of computer time! These numbers continue to go up partly because since January last year the ...
The Queen on Easyjet? Well, times is hard............... Full story here
I watched the "Ask the Chancellors" programme on Monday evening and I was pleased with the way that Vince compared to the other two. He gave clearer answers. I know that he has a deeper understanding of the economy than the other two but it also looked like he did. Vince gave more specific answers. He mentioned areas where cuts in government spending would be made, including the defence budget, ID cards, biometric passports, the child trust fund, local government bureaucracy. His list was extensive. I thought it was particularly poignant when Vince attacked the Tory position on cuts. He ...
After his visits in Cornwall today, Nick Clegg recorded this message: Oh and it's not just Nick who thinks the Lib Dems will win all 6 in Cornwall. Electoral Calculus is also saying we are most likely to win each seat.
In my day job I came across the careers advice website on which has a fantastic Job Profiles section.
