I tripped across this extraordinary piece of footage from 1970. The tensions behind the most gifted International football team in history are played out in this amazing piece of documentary. Watch and enjoy and remember what magic this lot served up a few weeks later!
Return Of Bruce Wayne 2 was a bit good, wasn't it? Almost a fifth issue of Klarion in look, with Frazer Irving getting to draw lots more grumpy Puritans, albeit this time living above ground and human, rather than the Sheeda we now have an 'infestation of Hyperfauna' – Cthuloid monsters attacking from outside normal ...
Tomorrow (Wednesday 2nd June) at 1.15pm, the Wighton Centre in Dundee Central Library will host a concert of medieval music, played on a beautiful decorated replica of the ancient harp of Mary Queen of Scots. Presented by historical harp specialist Simon Chadwick, the lunchtime recital will explore the connections between Scotland, Wales and Ireland in medieval times. The programme of sacred music from the 14th and 15th centuries - over 500 years ago - will include sacred airs from St Andrews Cathedral in Fife, and Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, as well as music from Europe's oldest book ...
This year is the 75th anniversary of the Jubilee Pool in Penzance. This art deco lido is a magnificent structure and rightly deserves to be commemorated. The event of June 12th will include art shows and exhibitions, music, fashion and performances. But whilst we celebrate Jubilee Pool, spare a thought for those in Launceston struggling with our own leisure centre. Built in the 1970s, the building has been repaired since then, but barely updated. Whilst Bude has the magnificent Splash centre, Launceston's leisure centre is a sad place. The staff there do a good job with what they have, but ...
With the first ever Dundee WestFest soon upon us here's details of the calendar photo competition! Has your photo got what it takes to be part of the WestFest 2011 Calendar? We are looking for 13 stunning photos of the Dundee's West End for a starring role in the first ever WestFest Calendar. Can yours be one? See http://tinyurl.com/westfest2011.
The BBC is carrying news today that Cornwall Council is paying £78,000 to consultants assessing the viability for a stadium for Cornwall. Needless to say, that's a lot of money. I'd be interested to hear the views of people in Launceston about what they think that such a facility could do for us. The current incarnation of the project would see a facility that could be used for football, rugby and for various indoor sports. It would also be able to host music and other events. Following concerns about it becoming a white elephant, the current plans would see capacity ...
"The stateliest and most impressive of churches in Leicestershire," says Pevsner. Malcolm Sargent was the organist and choirmaster here between 1914 and 1924. He is remembered by a window in the chancel.
Tonight, I had the pleasure of chairing the Logie Residents' Association AGM at the Lime Street Sheltered Housing Lounge - pictured right. Eight residents have agreed to form the new residents' committee and there was a very useful discussion about local issues. The next meeting takes place on Tuesday 13th July at 7pm at the same venue, where a representative from the City Council Housing Department will be invited to speak with residents about the housing improvements programme for the area.
Yesterday Downing Street published a letter from David Cameron setting out the Government's plans to open up data. Much of the letter is straight from the Conservative manifesto and very little is from the Liberal Democrat one. However, that is not a reason for Liberal Democrats to be nervous – for on these points the Conservative manifesto was more detailed and better than the Liberal Democrat one but laid out policies that could (and should) have happily sat in the Lib Dem one. The broad principle is one of making data open and convenient: Given the importance of this agenda, ...
I had a very constructive meeting today with Gerry Marr, Chief Operating Officer at NHS Tayside and Arlene Wood, Clinical Service Manager. I have received the following assurances : * Any proposed changes will not be based on financial matters but on improving patient care. * The rationale is to ensure that those elderly people who require rapid acute assessment do not have numerous trips by ambulance from Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) and Ninewells. * Patients who require rehabilitation will still receive this at RVH - at wards 4, 5, 7, and 8. * Gerry Marr is willing to meet ...
The Public Enquiry into the plans by private company Jack Allen holdings to put a waste plant in Garston (right next to some houses) is now less than a fortnight away. It's scheduled to run from 14th to 17th June (inclusive) at the Garston Village Hall on Banks Road. With the other councillors, I had a meeting recently with a Council officer to get an update on the process, so this post includes information from that meeting. The City Council turned Jack Allen's plans down. But the company appealed. This has led to the Public Enquiry. The Council is using ...
All, You may have guessed that I was having real problems working out how to make this headline interesting! EQCC is Stratford District Council's committee which looks out a wide range of things, from simply keeping the District clean, to reducing the council's carbon footprint to promoting energy awareness to the public. I attended my first meeting today, and have to say I learnt a lot. SDC has had quite good results with reducing its carbon footprint (although its not really able to say how). For example, a leisure centre's footprint might increase, not because it has become more wasteful, ...
If there is one thing that has got me absolutely fuming mad about the Flotilla deaths, it is the assumption, apparently at the behest of the US, that Israel will lead the enquiry into it. Polite words fail me. It is a disgusting disgrace. Barack Obama should be damn well ashamed of himself. The incident happened in international waters, for goodness sake. Surely it comes under the auspices of the United Nationas Convention on the law of the sea? Therefore the UN should commission the enquiry board. I'm with Turkey on this one. Isn't it strange? Israel has turned its ...
Following a challenge by text from Elspeth Finlay and Beverley Hope today I have entered a 10k run, in Edinburgh on 17th October. Sadly, neither of the girls were actually going to do it unless I threw my hat in the ring, such is my power. So, the gang of four - Elspeth Finlay, Beverley Hope, Fiona Lang and my good self will be hot footing around the gorgeously stunning Hopetoun House on the Cancer Research 10k run. Starting in front of the stunning Hopetoun House the 10k route takes in the roads and paths of the picturesque venue. Utilising ...
In the UK we have two types of military reserve, the regular reserve and the volunteer reserve. The regular reserve is made up of retired officers and other ranks, doesn't involve a training commitment but the individual can be mobilised if they're needed. Everyone has a commitment to it but the rules on the length ...
Over the weekend two swing seats in Lilliput Park were stolen for the third time in a year - they were only replaced in April. This follows just a few days after a brand new toddler springy horse ride, costing nearly a thousand pounds, was ripped off its foundations and thrown into the stream. There's also been serious vandalism recently at Woodchester Park, which has delayed the revamp. It's not just young children doing all this - this is adults trashing play equipment. Not to mention the posh wooden gate that's just been stolen from the Shire Way entrance to ...
Guido floats a number of conspiracy theories about "Whodunnit?" – i.e. who pointed the Telegraph in the direction of their bootleg CD and its unredacted details on David Laws (if they didn't just follow their own leads, of course). (I certainly don't buy the Cable and Hughes theories, by the way). One theory pivots around the moment when David Laws revealed the contents of the letter left for him the Treasury by Liam Byrne ("there's no money left"). Hindsight is a wonderful thing. But that note was a private one and it was a joke. OK, it was a great ...
So, continuing my monthly stat porn figures, the monthly summary of my visitor stats according to google analytics is as below for May 2010. The busiest day on my blog last month was in fact Monday 10th May and the story was about Jack Frew, the gay 16 year old who was tragically murdered. Last month I had 6,069 absolute unique visitors, massively up from 3,436 last month. They made 8,749 visits and 12,488 page views. So, my top 10 referring sites for the last month (with previous position in brackets) were; 1. Twitter (1) 2. Facebook (3) 3. Lib ...
Charlotte Gore bids farewell to David Laws and pops down to Ikea for a pitch-fork.Mick Fealty on why the anti-Laws campaign was ill conceived and anti-democratic. Amen.Tom Harris thinks Gordon Brown should take his share of the blame for the formation of the coalition and specuates about what could have happened if he had resigned 4 days earlier.Hopi Sen cautions against the idea that Labour will automatically return to power after the next election. The historical precedents suggest otherwise. Monday bonus. Via @ChristianJMay, here is an exclusive first picture of Danny Alexander's reaction when first shown the real state of ...
Tue 1st
19:45
Nick Clegg's Gaza 'non-statement' shows the need to keep the Lib Dem torch burning in the "new polit...
Nick Clegg is not normally reticent about commenting on the Middle East – see, for example, his public call for the international community to stop arming Israel 18 months ago. So why did it take more than a day for the Lib Dem leader to speak out against the "unjustifiable and untenable" blockade of the Gaza Strip? Why do his words appear only on the Press Association website, rather than the party's? It was at least tweeted by the official Lib Dem account, but that was the only communication via official party channels. The answer is clear enough: the Lib ...
Come along and vote for local projects at the next meeting of the ODCA on Tuesday 15th June, 7.30pm at the Community Centre - refreshments will be provided. At the meeting which will be attended by local councillors, community groups will be invited to present their statements to apply for money from the Clark's 106 fund and the results of this will be used to allocate funding. If you
Over at The Guardian, Dr Tim Leunig, a Lib Dem member and economist, argues for speedy due process to determine any future MPs' expenses controversies to avoid unnecessary ministerial resignations driven by the demands of rolling news: The public need the independent parliamentary commissioner for standards, John Lyon, to judge MPs' conduct. But the public also need the best people in government. Rules must apply to ministers, but we need the parliamentary commissioner to act expeditiously when a minister is referred. ... When the facts are clear, should it really take more than 24 hours to make a decision? ... ...
Running late again This was a day when I felt blinded ny anger.
I'm back at work today after a long weekend as are our politicians. I fully expect that the Times today will be getting a request for the original of Peter Brookes cartoon from the Treasury. People in the public eye used to say that if Spitting Image didn't have a puppet of you you'd yet to make it. So the cartoon (I'll not link as I'm sticking to refusing to link to future pay-walled site) has George Osborne shoes off feet kicking behind him on the chair, having crayoned in with primary colours 'BUDGET' at the top of a blank ...
In the Labour leadership battle, should the "socialist brothers and sisters" go for a candidate tainted by the failure of the last government, or someone from the not-very-electable left? That is the choice they are facing with the six candidates on offer.The chances are that their choice will be reduced to only one of tainted characters. Diane Abbott and John McDonnell are up against a system
I have just received an invite to a parade and the presentation of medals to our brave troops. This has come as a complete surprise and is in recognition of operation Christmas Goodie Box or as the forces call them care packages which we organised last year and had a phenomenal response. I am going to attend and I will be representing every single person that donated to this great cause. The invite was from Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Lock: Dear M Priestley I am writing to thank you for the care packages you organised whilst the Battalion was deployed on ...
Last week I mentioned that I had been invited to speak at a debate on "A Crisis in Local Democracy" at Canterbury Christchurch University, now many of you will think that this stuff, when I get around to posting, is just thrown together, purely based on middle-aged prejudice and a blatant disregard for facts, and you might have point. I have a theory that either through accident, design or manipulation, we here in Kent are treated a bit like mushrooms, in that the establishment, like to keep us in the dark about what goes on, lest we worry too much ...
Police are investigating allegations of electoral fraud in Halifax after unusually high numbers of postal ballots were hand-delivered to polling stations on May 6. From the Independent: More than 4,000 ballots arrived in the West Yorkshire town on 6 May, with the majority being delivered directly to polling stations. Although there are no rules forbidding the delivery of postal ballots by hand, such a large number arriving on the day of the election itself is considered unusual and risks overwhelming the already-stretched safety checks aimed at minimising fraud. Local Tory officials raised questions over the validity of some of the ...
If you need any more proof that Robert Mugabe's is crazy this is it. As Zimbabwe is to send pairs of endangered animals to a zoo in North Korea, as a Zimbabwe Noah's Ark. It's not as if North Korea can feed it's own people let alone large endangered animals. Full story here
Speaking this weekend, Tom McCann, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for North West Hampshire, welcomed a new era for British politics as shown in the bills announced in the Queens's speech to parliament While thanking all those people who voted for him, Tom said he was delighted to see that Liberal Democrat policies will shape Britain for good. Tom also congratulated Sir George Young on his election success and his role in the new government. The new Government has pledged to enact key Liberal Democrat promises - Fairer taxes, with an increase in the income tax threshold to benefit those on ...
The Fink asks an interesting question today over on Comment Central: "Who will step into Danny Alexander's shoes?". His point is that Danny Alexander was not previously just Scottish Secretary but also Nick Clegg's point man on maintaining the cohesion of the coalition from the Lib Dem side. he elaborates: His job was to sit on Cabinet committees and work with Oliver Letwin on smoothing over policy differences and enforcing adherence to the agreement. Who does that now? Alexander's was a real job, one that takes time, and he won't be able to combine it with being Chief Secretary. So ...
... We'd say a big thank you to the 136,557 'absolute unique visitors'* who read Liberal Democrat Voice in May. That's over 20% higher compared to our April 2010 figure of c.112,000, and we are up some 227% on the equivalent figure for May '09. Anyone would think there had just been a general election. In fact, the site passed 100,000 unique visitors by 14 May ... which suggests traffic has stabilised since at c.2,500 absolute uniques a day. This brings our absolute unique visitor readership for the last year to date (1 June 2009 - 31 May 2010) to ...
I know that this is the second post today regarding the badger cull in North Pembrokeshire but I thought it was important to draw attention to this article by a local farmer in today's Western Mail, which alleges that the Labour-Plaid Cymru Welsh Government are using anti-terrorist legislation so as to enforce their policy of exterminating badgers in North Pembrokeshire: THE Welsh Assembly Government's badger slaughter programme is, in the words of local police, "getting out of hand". The international news has shown coverage of riot police assisting two masked WAG officials entering land without the owners' agreement. Police were ...
Well no, actually. Patrick Wintour of the Guardian says: It is thought the shortest cabinet career was that of George Nugent Temple Grenville, who was foreign secretary for three days in 1783 before resigning after a dispute over whether or not there should be an immediate dissolution of parliament. In terms of ministers generally, unless someone else knows differently, the record seems to be two days, held by Derek Foster as related by Wikipedia: ..when Labour won the 1997 election, Foster was appointed to the relatively junior role of Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office, under David Clark. After giving ...
Who was the first deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats? Until I had cause to look it up recently, I had assumed that it was Alan Beith, who lost the leadership election to Paddy Ashdown in 1988. But in reality it was Sir Russell Johnston. This suggests that the post does not much of a media profile. But that has not stopped the two declared candidates having extravagant ambitions for the post. Simon Hughes' plans were described by the Guardian as follows: In proposals that might alarm some Tories, Hughes wants the Lib Dems to have shadow spokesmen in the ...
Clegg speaks out on Gaza flotilla crisis Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has called on Israel to lift its "unjustifiable and untenable" blockade of the Gaza Strip. Mr Clegg said that the storming by Israeli commandos of a ship carrying aid to the Palestinian territory underlined the need for the blockade to end. The United Nations Security Council called for a "prompt, impartial, credible and transparent" investigation into the raid, which left at least nine civilians dead and more than 30 people injured, including one Briton, according to the Foreign Office. Mr Clegg said the situation in Gaza had become ...
As I reported a few days ago, on Sunday the controversy over Harborough District Council's handling of its waste collection contractors Focsa was the subject of a report on the East Midlands version of The Politics Show. The report has no new revelations, but it confirms that situation is as it has been presented on this blog. You can watch it on BBC iPlayer for the next few days. The report begins at around 43:30. The interviewees include local Lib Dem councillors Sarah Hill and Phil Knowles, Alex Blackwell from the Harborough Mail and our MP Edward Garnier, who is ...
I felt a bit sorry for poor old Gordon during the election but really one shouldn't. Outside 'the dismal science' of economics he really was hopeless. How on earth did he think Sir Ian Blair was worthy of a peerage in the dissolution honours?
Some of the new intake of MPs have been talking to the BBC about their first weeks at Westminster. It's interesting to read about their different experiences of the place. Rory Stewart takes over from David MacLean in Penrith and the Borders. Mr MacLean was one of the prime movers in trying to keep MPs' expenses secret. He also stood in 1983 in Inverness against Russell Johnston which is when I first heard of him. Anyway, his successor will I hope be prepared to be more open and transparent than his predecessor. He described the first meeting of the 1922 ...
My daughter & granddaughter have the 'flu. Attempting to buy some paracetamol & other palliatives I'm told that I can only buy two packets of such items. Of course I can go back round the supermarket & turn up at a checkout at the opposite end of the line with two more, and then trot round a few chemists and so forth. We may have scrapped ID cards but there is just so much of this trivial, irritating & totally useless legislation that I doubt we will really see much by way of a return of common sense. I did ...
Our Foreign Secretary ' -- deplores loss of life'. Whoppee doo. The State of Israel is not going to rejoin the ranks of civilised nations until its' friends muster the guts to give its political leadership a good hammering. The present action should be roundly and unequivocally condemned. No ifs buts or other qualifications.
Lib Dem Voice has been conducting a survey of party members registered on our members' forum asking them for their views of the coalition, Labour leadership and the party's general election result. Over 400 have responded, and here's part five of what you've told us ... LDV asked: The coalition government is proposing that in order to legislate for fixed-term parliaments it should take a vote of 55%+1 of MPs to dissolve Parliament. (NB: this does not affect a vote of no confidence in the government which can still be carried by a simple majority of 50%+1). What is your ...
I am relieved to read on the BBC News website that David Laws has now confirmed that he wishes to remain an MP as long as he retains the confidence of his constituents which he will try to ascertain in the next few weeks. It is clear that he is very bruised from the events of the last few days but as I blogged at the weekend I was worried from his statements that he was thinking of bowing out of politics altogether. I am very glad that he has instead decided to try and remain an MP and am ...
In a recent arbitrary time period, a number of people visited this blog. Some people just visited once, others did it repeatedly. Some followed links from elsewhere, including Google searches, others either have it bookmarked or typed in the address themselves. Certain posts were more popular than others. Am I meant to repeat this statement on ...
From the Guardian: David Laws could play an informal role in advising Danny Alexander - who replaced him in the Treasury after Laws' resignation over revelations about his expenses - in the run up to the June budget, Downing Street has confirmed. This is very good news. I hope such a role will demonstrate to David Laws how highly he is thought of and help persuade him not to leave politics. There is a very good chance that the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner will find David Laws innocent of any wrong-doing. Iain Dale explains such a scenario: It's amazing how many ...
This month's headline figures, then:6792 absolute unique visitors (382 mobile) (NB: this does not include people who read via RSS or LJ/Dreamwidth friends pages)Busiest day: Wednesday 12th of MayMost-clicked-through-to entry: Ashes to Ashes Finale; 1,149 pageviews( more Google Analytics statporn under here )
Special advisers (or "spads" for short) tend to have a bad press. Alastair Campbell was a spad, as was Jo ("good day to bury bad news") Moore; Andrew Blick's book on the topic was called People Who Live in the Dark ; and a contributor to a recent Lib Dem Voice exchange observed that "We made so many breaks with New Labour, why did we have to adopt their spad culture?" Actually special advisers have a much longer history than that. One can trace their origins right back to Lloyd George's period as Chancellor of the Exchequer, though the first ...
I am waiting for the publication of the Film Festival Program due tomorrow. I am a Board Member and as an avid cinema goer the Festival is one of the highlights of my year. The quality of film on offer is always very high. Every year I find myself wowed by an off beat picture that I would probably struggle to come across in a multiplex. By far the best film I think I have ever seen was such a screening. Deepa Metha's masterpiece Water completely blew me away. She is one of India's most controversial film makers and indeed ...
Regular readers will remember that I organised a meeting for residents of Trajan Walk and Hadrian Road in April. The meeting was to discuss vandalism and anti-social behaviour in the area and was attended by local police and our mp Sir George Young. At the time it was agreed to hold a follow up meeting in June. This has now been set for 5:00 pm on Saturday 12th June. Sorry it could not be held any earlier in the day but it will definitely be finished before the football starts at 7:00 pm. As before the police and local councillors ...
Blogging has been quiet this last few days simply because there's been very little happening round here and most news events have been both depressing and covered better elsewhere. I may spout forth further later on, or I may not; but right now I really can't be bothered and anyway I have a shedload of parcels to post before heading into town to do a spot of recording and editing, as well as finding somewhere that sells camera batteries in order to bring back to life this old Canon AE1 that I picked up on freecycle last week. Yes I ...
I really like @Labourcat on Twitter. She is kind and sympathetic and interesting and we have lots in common but she ruined my day before I even got out of bed this morning, with this tweet about a snake that's escaped in Falkirk. I really can't abide anything that slithers along the ground on its belly and snakes really scare me. When Willie Rennie ended up with one round his neck during the election campaign I couldn't even look at the pictures. The thought that a 6 foot boa constrictor is on the loose 18 miles from my house does ...
I'm sorry that blogging has been a little light over recent days, weeks even after the end of the election period. Those of you who follow my Twitter feed will know that I was back in Ireland for the weekend which affected the speed of my response to some of the big stories but that is only part of the story as to why my blog has remained a little bit neglected since the end of the General Election campaign. There is more and I will let you know in due course. Meanwhile I do apologise for the inconvenience and ...
Welcome to the thirteenth in a series of posts going through the full coalition agreement section by section. You can read the full coalition document here. The jobs and welfare section of the coalition agreement is one of the least important – not because the policy area doesn't matter (it certainly does) but because it says very little beyond, "we want to make the welfare system better". Quite what better means and whether it can really be done is all down to how Iain Duncan Smith in particular does his job, the choices he makes and the degree to which ...
I have not published my stats before but, inspired by Caron's Musings, I am going to do so this time. May was the best ever month for visitors to this blog. According to Statcounter, there were 31,450 pageloads from 25,149 unique visitors. Because, unlike Caron I do not use Google Analytics I cannot tell you which posts were most popular in any detail. But the ones on the Liberal Democrats do much better than the ones on Leicestershire churches, I am afraid. One interesting point is that the peak readership during the general election campaign came about a week before ...
Oh Israel. I want to like you, I really do. But you make it so very difficult. No-one here disputes your right to freedom from oppression, freedom to practise your religion, freedom from violence and terror but you have to ask yourself - have you now lost all perspective? Can you tell what is right ...
Over at The Independent, Lib Dem Voice Co-Editor Mark Pack takes a look at the Telegraph's pursuit of David Laws and Danny Alexander. On David, Mark notes: ... for me, the dividing line between reprimand and resignation in matters of personal financial affairs should be whether or not you have personally gained from a breach of the rules. ... in this ironic situation where a politician gets into trouble for claiming less money than he could have done, I regret that he has decided to resign. And on Danny, he writes: It's an odd form of morality to criticise someone ...
There is a strong case that, given the Gaza conflict, any military exports contravene EU licensing criteria. Reports, though denied, that Israel is using illegal cluster munitions and white phosphorus should heighten our caution. I want an immediate suspension of all arms exports from the EU, but if that cannot be secured, Brown must act unilaterally.
My work colleague has broken her toe, and so I am doing more hours at work up untill Friday, when the Fantastic Films Weekend begins, and blogging will be light because I will be at a film festival. Just so you know why I have gone all quiet.
Should the Civil List be increased? In my view the answer to that is no. Today the Government has just published details of civil servants earning more than the Prime Minister. It seems to me that the civil list needs a thorough review and analysis of its expenditure and costs and also on the value that it brings to the country. If the monarchy is to maintain its public support then in an an age of open government and accountability the public need a full understanding of its costs. Why, for instance does the monarchy have so many estates and ...
I generally try to keep quiet over this issue, not only because it's divisive but also because it's so strewn with lies and half truths from both sides that it's incredibly difficult to clear through the rubbish and actually discover the truth. I've still not entirely decided my own position on the entire issue, but one thing that always strikes me is the complete abandonment of the belief in due process that occurs whenever this issue comes up. And this is exactly what has happened in the last 24 hours since Israeli forces boarded a ship trying to break the ...
Last night David Laws issues the following statement to the local media in his constituency (source): The last few days have been the toughest of my life, and I would like to thank all those friends, family and local residents who have sent me messages of support. It has been a very emotional experience to find so many people willing to stand by me at this difficult time. My problems have been caused by my unwillingness to be open about my sexuality, and not by any intention to exploit the MPs expenses system. James Lundie and I were aware that ...
One of the things I am very glad has been written into the national Coalition deal is proper compensation for former Equitable Life policy holders. I must declare an interest here as I had an Equitable Life pension for a few years. In fact its unlikely to be much of an interest as the compensation scheme I have seen proposed is unlikely to give me anything, basically because my loss was relatively small (though painfull nonetheless) and I have time to make alternative provision before I retire. However the experience has illustrated the unfairness of what happened and made me ...
Finally its all over. The votes have been counted and Andover has its own parish (town) council. The results saw the Conservatives win just nine of the nineteen seats with the electorate rejecting the two county councillors who stood. Liberal Democrats won five of the seats and the remaining five went to Labour or independent candidates standing under the Campaign for an Andover Town Council banner. The share of the vote was Conservative 39%, Lib Dem 30%, CATC 29% and others 1%. This means the share of seats reflects reasonably well the share of votes although the Conservatives do still ...
We are delighted to report that the litter bin at the Mount Road bus stop opposite the Junior school has at last been replaced. The bin was stolen several weeks ago and the base that was left was a trip hazzard. This is a well used bus stop and the litter bin is also well used. The other stolen litter bin in Southdown was also replaced at the same time. We will be continuing to try and get more...
If armed Somalis stopped and boarded a vessel in international waters, they would be considered pirates. If the people on board that vessel sought to defend themselves with any weapons they could lay their hands on they would be considered heroes. If the Somalis killed 10 people on board that vessel that would be considered a vile act of murder. If they then took the people on that ship to Somalia they would be considered to be hostages. Somalis are involved regularly in acts of piracy in international waters and their country is considered a lawless, rogue state. Isn't international ...
AT the recent committee meeting of Friends of Roundhill a comment was made that Local Groups could not use Council noticeboards to advertise their community events. We are now following this up as apparently the only exception is for circuses and trying to get this rule changed or check that it is correct. We think that boards such as the one at the end of Englishcombe Lane could be used quite...
Today I received an invitation to the following: "Paradigm Shifts in Investment Management: Why Risk Management Adds Value in Asset Management", Felix Goltz, Head of Applied Research at EDHEC-Risk Institute, will be giving a detailed and reasoned summary of the institutional investment research carried out by the research centre in recent times and pointing towards the developments that can be expected over the next few years in the light of advances in academic research. It's safe to say that I won't be travelling to any of the five venues across Europe (the closest is Edinburgh) to hear these pearls of ...
Many months ago, I wrote a piece on immigration policy for Lib Dem Voice in light of the calls for a variety of illiberal measures from caps to quotas. It is with some regret that I return to this issue now to view what you could call a radically changed landscape. We are now in coalition with the Conservatives, in agreement with the need for a 'cap' on 'non-EU migrants' and in favour of harder, tougher and nastier barriers against 'foreigners'. This rhetoric is both disappointing and damaging, not only for myself but also for the thousands of other Commonwealth ...
On the first of every month I see lots of other blogs unveil their stats for the previous month and I've never done it before. What's prompted me to do it today is not entirely that I've had the most successful month on my blog ever, by a long way, with, according to Google Analytics, 5,268 absolute unique visitors, but what they read. Here's me, thinking that it would be the discussion of the election, the subsequent forming of the coalition or something political at least that would have been most popular but no. Well, actually, it was the post ...
It is some time since Welsh Ministers faced protests on the Eisteddfod field but this week it is business as usual. The BBC report that parents will be protesting at the Urdd Eisteddfod in Ceredigion over a decision to reject school reorganisation in Cardiff: A statement released on behalf of the protesters, which includes members of the Welsh Langauge Society, said Treganna's sister school Tan-yr-Eos was opened in 2007 on a site shared with Ninian Park School with the promise it would only operate for two years while a permanent solution was found. It said Mr Jones's decision "gives no ...
With the disaster in the Gulf in full, inexorable, flow, the blame game is well underway. BP. Obama. The whole US administration. Transocean, the actual owners of the rig. Even Dick "Dick" Cheney's old friends Halliburton have some involvement as a sub-contractor. It's a perfect storm for us lefties. The oil spill can no longer ...
Well it tickled me. Eat your heart out Benedict Brogan. New LibDem MP in Expenses Revelation Iain Dale 11:21 PM The world of politics was left reeling last night after the Daily Telegram uncovered the astonishing revelation that Liberal Democrat Minister Tarquin Boothby has an overdue library book at Ashby-de-la-Zouche town library. Mr Boothby immediately issued a statement explaining that he was unable to return the book due to the inordinate time it takes to write a Focus leaflet urgent parliamentary business. He went on: "I shall of course take immediate steps to return the book and will in future ...
Tue 1st
09:20LDV members' survey (4): 86% of party members happy with coalition agreement (and most think LibCon ...
Lib Dem Voice has been conducting a survey of party members registered on our members' forum asking them for their views of the coalition, Labour leadership and the party's general election result. Over 400 have responded, and here's part four of what you've told us ... LDV asked: The Lib Dem / Conservative coalition government published its full partnership agreement last week. Based on what you have read, seen and heard how would you describe your view: Here's what you said: 27% – Very happy, I agree with almost all of it 59% – Moderately happy, I agree with more ...
I freely admit that my opinion of National Express East Anglia's management is a pretty low one, although they do seem determined to reinforce that at every opportunity. And so, the fact that they were holding a 'Meet the Managers' event at Stowmarket this morning seemed too good to miss. My suspicion that it wasn't going to be a blazing success was highlighted as I walked through the station past the booking office - which was closed, in mid-rush hour. From a personal perspective, having to collect my ticket from the machine, that meant queuing behind people relatively unused to ...
Not beautifully crafted, but the situation was somewhat hectic. This is not just a blog, which is perhaps why this blog had 81,490 unique visitors in May. I have the Financial Times delivered every day in deadwood form. It has an absolutely brilliant editorial today. As I pay them a fortune for my subscription, I am going to reproduce it in full without feeling guilt: Israel is lost at sea With Monday's brazen act of piracy, Israel dealt a blow to the legitimacy of its own struggle. The killing of activists aboard the captured ships sent Israel's way of defending ...
I have received an update of the figures I previously published on this blog concerning the number of incidents of TB in cattle in WAales which I reproduce below: I have been looking into the stats for bTB in Wales and have noticed a substantial fall in the bTB figures starting around April2009. For example look at herds under TB restriction. My sources are all DEFRA statistics and I have attached copies. April 30th 2009 (Wales) Herds under TB restriction 1,983 February 28th 2010 (Wales) Herds under TB restriction 1,117.These figures are actual and 'on the day.' They do include ...
Crystal Palace are, it seems, on the brink of going out of business. Despite Palace not being my team (and we had to share their ground for a number of years during which time we came to dislike them and their stewards with a passion), it is clearly not in the interests of football as a whole for the club to go into liquidation. Palace are horribly in debt and need to be sold. A consortium has come forward wanting to buy the club but the ground - Selhurst Park - is owned by Bank of Scotland and a separate ...
I have to say that I've been quite astonished to see the BBC joining in the attacks on Danny Alexander that have been initiated by two right wing non-doms. Let's be quite clear here. Danny Alexander has done nothing wrong, so any mileage given to the story is clearly in the territory of smears. To see the BBC jump so enthusiastically on the Telegraph bandwagon leaves a bad taste in the mouth and is yet another example of what seems to be a growing trend on the BBC's part to make the news rather than just report it. For the ...
One of my good friends on facebook posted this link on to the site, It didn't take me long of reading it to see that it is pro-Israeli and that the international terrorist council is an Israeli group as well and doesn't seam to be too international. Having said that it is quite good to see the differences between reports as ... Read more
For those interested in what are now known as 'heritage railways', Suffolk is a bit on the barren side. Much of its old railways are now closed and, at least as far as passengers are concerned, long gone. Amongst those lines lost; Cambridge to Sudbury via Clare the Eye branch from Mellis on the London to Norwich line (Mellis itself was closed years ago) the Framlingham branch from the East Suffolk line the light railway to Southwold the Aldeburgh branch from the East Suffolk line, partly retained to serve Sizewell B the Waveney Valley line serving Bungay the Snape goods ...
Here is a selection of issues making headlines during the past week: Small firms group backs coalition Government MP Phillip Lee among first to be sworn in Gypsy site given go ahead - My comment on this story can be found here 'Council split on Travellers site' If you know of any other local political stories then please add them in the comments below. Todays bonus is Alvin's Stuff's story Mathematics, democracy, paradox and pitfall about "The mathematics of democracy turns out to be so fraught with pitfalls and paradoxes that complete fairness is probably unattainable."
Both Nick Clegg and Vince Cable give the economic problems of Greece and the eurozone as the reason for Liberal Democrat support for public spending cuts now rather than when the recovery is assured. In an article in the New Statesman David Blanchflower, the former member of the Monetary Policy Committee and the one who got things right, sates bluntly: "The deteriorating conditions in the eurozone have made it even more dangerous to cut (public) spending now." The Conservative argument for cuts now is that they will boost confidence in the financial markets, floating on this bed of confidence industry ...
The decision of the Welsh Conservatives not to accept the resignation of Alun Cairns from the Assembly means that they have effectively abandoned Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot and Bridgend. Instead they have asked him to stay on both as the full-time MP for the Vale of Glamorgan and as an Assembly Member for a completely different area, seven times its size. This is despite the fact that there would have been no by-election if he had resigned his Assembly seat due to him being a list member. The fact that Alun Cairns has decided that he will not take his ...
I was walking past my local hospital last week and I saw someone carrying three computer monitors. I don't know how often he drops things but I thought he was taking a risk with expensive equipment. A much greater expense is the need for this technology in the first place. I remember one IT goal was to allow anyone to walk into an A & E anywhere in the country and their records could be instantly accessed. If you are that person then please post a comment. Unfortunately I am still hearing about hospital appointments going to people who have ...
When we picked Miss Holly up from her dad's tonight she was a bit down, and was reluctant to tell us why. Eventually, I got out of her that the end of this week's Doctor Who had upset her. ( spoiler! ) was the problem, not in itself, but because she really identifies with Amy, and she is worried that she will ( spoiler ). We talked about it for a bit, and she seemed a bit better, but still worried. I asked her if there was anything I could do to cheer her up. She asked if she could ...
Saturday: Saturday was a bit of a WRECK, what with one thing and another, but at least we had Dr Woo to cheer us up, eh? Well, except it was a bit SAD. And a bit SLOW. Though with a sort of PONDEROUS GRACE. A bit like a HIPPOPOTAMUS ballet-dancing the SWAN LAKE in SLOW MOTION! And if it was STUPID, at least Mr Chibbers was finding entirely NEW and ORIGINAL ways to be stupid! A story using the Reptile People, and using so much of the Pertwee back-catalogue that goes with them, really ought to be cleverer than this. ...
