Having just watched the short adjournment debate on the Government's proposals to provide anonymity to rape defendants, I have to say, I think Labour's argument here is weak. I also thought that their behaviour was despicable, haranguing Crispin at the dispatch ... Continue reading →
The world's worst industrial accident in early December 1984, Forty tonnes of a methyl isocyanate leaked from the pesticide factory killing 3,000 poor people in the Bhopal slums. Perhaps there are now around 25,000 people dead according to campaigners. Over half a million people effected by the disaster. So after 25 years of trying to get justice there are finally some convictions for the the disaster at the Union Carbide plant. The eight Indian former plant employees are convicted of "death by negligence". What do they get 2 years and fines of 100,000 Rupees (£1,467). No conviction still of the ...
Last month, the Forestry Commission announced funding to improve urban woodlands, and it was great to see the grounds of Ninewells Hospital included in this funding package. Today I met the Forestry Commission's Policy & Development Officer at Maggie's Centre and was given a tour of the project. This will provide for new pathways and access for patients at Ninewells and Maggie's to be able to access the superb woodland to the south of the hospital. Above : The superb woodland in the hospital grounds. Above : New cycle path, funded by TACTRAN.
I attended the City Council Audit & Risk Management Committee today and asked questions about the extent of moves towards shared services given the financial challenges facing the council and on car parking income - seriously short of budget target. There is considerable concern amongst opposition councillors - including myself - about the lack of transparency and lack of preparation of the SNP administration regarding the budget and proposed cuts. In response to a question from me, the Director of Finance confirmed that a budget report will be on the agenda of the Policy & Resources Committee on 28th June. ...
This morning I had the pleasure of speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the residents' association for Sinderins Court and Pennycook Court. It was a very well attended meeting and I updated residents on a number of matters, including road and pedestrian safety, the move to digital TV and dropped kerbing.
Just had an idea for a film that would surely be a massive success, merging two things that are very popular in various media: Gladiators vs Zombies. Tattered corpses lurching through the streets of ancient Rome to confront the serried ranks of gladiators who stand waiting for them as the last line of defence before ...
[IMG: israelilunacy.jpg] http://www.economist.com/node/16264970
In a charming example of 'foot in mouth' syndrome, the BBC reported this afternoon that a new society of Daily Mail readers has been set up calling itself the 'Queen's English Society' and seeking to ape the woeful Academie Francaise in preserving our beautiful language in aspic so that it too can wither like the language of Moliere, rather than continuously evolving to become the force for unity that it has in the modern world - and in the process spreading its metaphorical wings to leave our shores for sunnier climes. Rather than waving it off proudly like a successful ...
Environmental campaigning these days is predicated upon imminent catastrophe to such an extent that it makes the natural world seem a threatening place. So well done to Springwatch for emphasising the beauty, richness and strangeness of British countryside. If it doesn't get you out of the house, nothing will.
Ed Miliband during the first Labour leadership hustings was today asked: "As Labour leader, would you invite Peter Mandelson to join your shadow cabinet?" He responded: "All of us believe in dignity in retirement." THWACK! Hattip to Michael Crick
The Department of Energy & Climate Change, headed by the LibDems own Chris Huhne, wants your views on the coalition policies. Knowing Chris, I think we can influence things for the better. Follow the link to put your case forward. Comments by 10th June, please.
Local Councillors David Dixon, Bryan Chalker and Cabinet Member in Charge of Transport Cllr Charles Gerrish met with Local Campaigners, First and Passenger Focus to discuss the cut to the 6&7 Bus Services. Simon Cursio, Commercial Director at First has offered to reinstate the Circular Service, however only with the same number of buses that this service was cut back to, this offers a 40 minute service in each direction. There would also be a wait for this to happen - not until September. Clearly the offer to reinstate the circular route is great, but there is still lots more ...
Mon 7th
21:25
Clegg makes "impressive" debut at despatch box as DPM, sets out radical political reform plans
Nick Clegg debuted in front of the House of Commons today in his new role (yes, it is still new: it's only a month since the election) as deputy prime minister. And he used the occasion to set out how the new coalition government will make good the political reforms radical political reform plans that languished neglected during Labour's 13 years in government. The government's plans include: * A referendum on the Alternative Vote * The right to recall MPs who break the rules * Fewer, more equal-sized constituencies * Making the House of Lords wholly or largely elected * ...
I made a point this afternoon of putting Nick Clegg's first Commons performance as a Minister on the computer as I worked and was actually very impressed with the way that he handled the experience. He was compelling in the way he put the argument for constitutional reform and brushed off all attempts to derail him, whilst also showing that he wanted to build consensus and work with the opposition to get it right. A more comprehensive account can be found here. It was almost a flawless performance except for one small mistake. When asked by Wrexham Labour MP, Ian ...
The Snow in the Summer or So-So has the list. It is surprisingly long and contains many people - Robert Carr, Edward Short, Christopher Chataway, Edward Du Cann - you might not have realised were still with us.
Two news stories on the Referendum today that I figured I'd blog about, the first is that the Chief Legal Advisor believes the timeline to be too tight for a Autumn Devolution poll. The second is Nick Clegg's little slip ... Continue reading →
Hidden away in an interview with Clegg on the Guardian comment is free website is a most interesting revelation: On the Chilcot inquiry on the Iraq war, there was a major development: a clear commitment to make sure that the inquiry is able to publish a great number of documents: the current protocol on a presumption of confidentiality and secrecy will be changed to a presumption of publication, but most likely to coincide with the inquiry's report, whenever that may be.
Unbelievably, Labour has today demanded yet more delay on the issues of changing the voting system to the Alternative Vote (AV), House of Lords reform, party funding, recalling MPs and moves to prevent fraud by adopting individual voter registration. All are issues on which Labour has said they agree with the need to reform. Despite making considerable progress on constitutional reform in their first term, the Labour government soon became a byword for kicking things into the long grass. - They pledged to hold a referendum on electoral reform - only to abandon that pledge before suddenly being converted to ...
The whole world found out the worst kept secret in the universe today when Apple unveiled the new iPhone at the WWDC conference in the US. No surprise in that it now has over 100 new features including mutitasking, and face calls and looks even more new and shiny than the old models. I want ...
I have been fortunate enough to spend at the last two of my holidays in the fantastic state of Oklahoma in the USA with my best and oldest friend. I have seen some of the most beautiful scenery and sunsets there that I have ever seen in my life, but sadly I have also seen ...
About time too, as far as this blog is concerned. Well, not quite, but yesterday's Sunday Telegraph speculated that Winwood's daughter Mary-Clare may soon be marrying the Duchess of Cornwall's Ben Elliot. Meanwhile Revolutions, a four-CD review of Winwood's career, was released today. But an interview with the Aberdeen Press and Journal suggests that career is far from over.
I went in to Bradford just before 12 on Sunday to meet an old friend and fellow FFWer for lunch. Lunch was in The City Vaults, and it was good, and there was beer and conversation. And more beer. And giggling. And impressions of Christopher Lee. And non-sequitur quotes from Babe. And in the end my schedule went out of the window, and I didn't get into the actual museum until it was time for The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue. Tony introduced this with an anecdote about horror film geekery that touched a nerve with all of those ...
I heard a speech earlier by Tory MP Eleanor Laing in the Commons during the Queen's Speech debate. She focused on the referendum on AV and made it very clear that she was an opponent. She mustered a number of arguments against it including the cost of a referendum (she suggested £80 million - I wonder if many Tories would worry about the cost of a referendum on the EU!) amongst others. One of her arguments was that it is a "red herring" (or "yellow herring" as one wag shouted out) because AV can be less proportional and therefore not ...
Yesterday's Times reported the news that David Cameron has decided not to spend his political capital campaigning against electoral reform, whenever the referendum on changing from first-past-the-post to the alternative vote is to be held: Cameron insisted he remained a supporter of the present voting system: "I will not change my view that the alternative vote is not an improvement to first-past- the-post, so I will make that clear at the time." However, he also made clear he would not play an active role in the "no" campaign: "I will have other things to do as well." ... Some in ...
I took the decision on Saturday to go and see the Make-up Ladies in the museum foyer rather than braving the stairs to TV Heaven. One of them kindly slashed my wrist for me: [IMG: [personal profile] ] innerbrat and [IMG: [livejournal.com profile] ] purple_pen, who hadn't seen it before. It was glorious hearing all the familiar classic lines (My God! It's the Baggage Man! Monster? But we're BRITISH! and of course the wonderful exchange Miss Jones, I shall need your assistance Well, at your age,I'm not surprised! *shocked*With an autopsy! *cheerfully excited*Oh, well, that's different!). It's the film that ...
I occasionally drink Earl Grey tea, I vaguely know that Prosecco is a wine and ai regularly eat hummus. So, according to this test, I am posh (if you score three or more you are posh apparently). But just look at the vast array of criteria on which I fail the "posh test": -I don't go to the opera or ballet. I'd rather stick white hot pins in my eyes. -I (we) do not have a cleaner. -I do not wear Hackett or Barbour. I'm more a Primark man, me! -I do not have an interest in sailing or horses. ...
Nick Clegg has set out the Government's plans for electoral reform and the best news is that there is enough flexibility that a cross border 'Devonwall' seat seems unlikely to be foisted upon us. A bill to allow a referendum on changing the voting system to give electors more choice and to cut the number of MPs will apparently be introduced sooner rather than later with a referendum planned for next May. The change in the voting system - to the Alternative Vote - will ask electors in future to rank the candidates in order of preference - 1,2,3 etc. ...
Iain Dale deserves applause and support for taking on the appalling rich man's thugs, Schillings, and publishing John Sweeney's Rooney's Gold. You will recall it was Schillings who had this blog - and several others - taken down temporarily (permanently if they had their way) at the behest of convicted gangster and racketeer Alisher Usmanov. Just as Schillings had Rooney's Gold cancelled by Random House on behalf of Wayne Rooney, so they had The Catholic Orangemen of Togo cancelled by Mainstream (50% owned by Random House) on behalf of mercenary killer Tim Spicer. Yet not a word of libel ...
From the Press Association: Police saw Derrick Bird on his killing spree but did not pursue him because they were unarmed, according to reports. Three uniformed officers saw the father of two opening fire during the early stages of his shooting rampage last Wednesday, it has been claimed. I do hope no-one gets terribly worked up about this. If they do, perhaps they should read what happened to the poor Police Constable who was first on the scene at the 1987 Hungerford shootings: Ryan (the killer) fired 23 rounds at PC Roger Brereton, a police officer who had just arrived ...
I visited an Apple store during my lunch hour to take a look at the new I-Pad. I have to admit I am tempted. As the store only had the most expensive models in stock checked my impulse buy and a period of reflection. I like the way that Apple stores are set out to actively encourage you to play with the products. From the age of 1 4 when I started to take an unhealthy interest in technology Dixons shop assistants we constantly discouraging me from teaching myself programming on Saturday mornings in the very early '80s and so ...
Labour are looking for a high profile candidate that the people like. Then Labour MP's should look no further than Diane Abbott MP. She is popular with the public and increased her majority to one of Labours highest. Diane Abbott comes across as a 'real person' with strong views and not a career politician despite being an MP for 23 years. It is a real shame then that Diane is unlikely to even get passed the first phase. Many of course would of had their favourites of the expected candidates and would not of expected Diane to stand which would ...
Feminist Hulk, whom I have been following on twitter with great delight for a while now, has been interviewed in Ms Magazine. If you want to know why I love Feminist Hulk, the following quote tells you everything you need to know:PATRIARCHY NOT WORK ALONE. SEXISM, RACISM, CLASSISM AND HOMOPHOBIA REINFORCE EACH OTHER. HULK SAY TO FOLLOWERS: SMASH ON MULTIPLE FRONTS. AND, JUST IN CASE YOU STUMBLE, BRING EXTRA PAIR OF PURPLE SHORTS.♥ That is all.
Here is a link to David Ward's maiden speech to parliament. It is thoughtful and thought provoking and is particulary concerned with the topic of education. David Ward's maiden speech Acknowledgements to Liberal Democrat Voice
[IMG: 297676513_a3210819d6] International development invariably raises some complex issues but periodically we come across an example of the international community acting in a totally indefensible manner. No shades of grey here- this is morally and politically abhorrent. I am referring to the United Nation's decision to continue with a controversial prize established in "honour" of Equatorial Guinea's notorious dictator Obiang Nguema. If the government wants to get serious about development it must be seen to be outspoken and forthright about such travesties. Furthermore, the Liberal Democrats must not shirk their responsibility to make their voices heard on issues like these ...
Jack Straw is not a man who doesn't understand things related to the constitution. Yet his speech today in the House of Commons was either one of the most constitutionally illiterate speeches he's ever made, or if not, one of the most disingenuous. He repeatedly made the ridiculous mistake of confusing confidence votes and votes ...
Simon Hughes (the favourite for the Lib Dem deputy leader position) has issued 10 proposals for Lib Dem MPs under coalition (see Lib Dem Voice for details). Most of his points seem to revolve around the Lib Dems have spokespeople outside government for various departments and ensuring they get a fair hearing. I have been wondering for a little while now how the independent voice of the Lib Dems is going to be maintained but I wonder just how these proposals would work in practise. I am not sure how viable it is to be part of the government and ...
Later this month (26th June) there's a fun day on Garston Park (Long Lane Rec) Running from 11 am to 2pm the day includes lots of activities for adults and children plus stalls and displays run by local organisations. The events on offer include an inflatable assault course, face painting, bird box making and a demonstration by the fire bridgade. Groups involved incluyde Long Lane Church, Bridge Chapel. All Souls Church, Garston Park Church, Friends of Garston Park, Rotters Community Composting, Marie Curie Cancr Care and the Five Families trust.
Bradford Labour Group have formed a minority administration on Bradford Council. They will need support from other parties to get any measures through. The Lib Dem Group of fourteen councillors have not backed either the Conservatives, who ...
Ok, so West Lothian Council aren't calling them cuts, they're calling them tough choices, or savings. The growing lexicon of budget reduction will rarely include the C-word, preferring its more comforting sounding options. The public aren't stupid. We know that the country is in an economic fix that can't be wished away. We know that unless we take action to reduce the deficit, we'll be in big trouble. Nick Clegg earlier this year compared and contrasted what's happened in Greece with the way Canada dealt with its budget deficit in the 90s, by properly consulting with the people, asking for ...
One planning application last week in King's Hedges for the "installation of a dropped kerb and tarmac from kerb to driveway" at 21 King's Hedges Road (reference 10/0363/FUL). For more details go to the development control pages of the City Council website. In case of difficulty contact one of the team.
In the past I've praised the work done by the Launceston Road Safety Partnership to help plan works that will make our town a better and safer place to live. Today I had a meeting with a Council officer to see what can be done to make the necessary works happen. The answer, sadly, is that it is unlikely that many of the much needed works will be happening for some time. Each Cornwall Councillor has a budget of £8,000 for highways improvements. This might sound like a lot, but the costs of each bit of work are horrendously high. ...
Sunday started in a pleasantly bland way with Secret Rites; a 1970s faux-documentary about witchcraft starring Alex Sanders and following various initiation rituals. As an informative piece, it was alright, but ruined by the obvious falsification. If I'm going to believe a documentary about a religious ritual, I want the set to be built of something besides tin foil. The rituals it documents aren't such a secret any more, and I'm pretty sure that the wiccans in my acquaintance don't follow a practice quite as patriarchal and heteronormative, so in that way it was a sign if its time. Enjoyable, ...
The 2010 general election will live long in the memory for a variety of reasons – the end of New Labour, a surprising Con-Lib coalition, the first TV debates – but one crucial aspect of the campaign that had politicians and commentators chattering with excitement was the entrance of a new political player – the internet. Social networking and Web 2.0 opened the floor of the political debate to everyone, from satirical photoshoppers to cynical bloggers and, of course, let us not forget Twitter gossip worth its weight in retweets. Whilst the political parties did their best to tackle new ...
Tonight is a meeting of the Bury Liberal Democrats, our first official members' meeting since the general election. It would be a nice reflection of the austere times we now live in if the numbers of these meetings were cut, but sadly I have yet to hear of such plans. Resultantly I will go to Elton Liberal Club tonight to reflect on what I've been silently reflecting on for the last four weeks - namely my third place finish in a two horse race up in Bury North. It won't all be in vein though, as I'll meet up with ...
On Friday, I joined Manchester Friends of the Earth outside Manchester Town Hall for a rainforest-free lunch, to show my support for their 'Fix The Food Chain' campaign. Along with many other Liberal Democrat MPs, I am very concerned about the effect that the way in which we raise farm animals in this country is ...
Some people like regularly visiting a site to see if there's new stories of interest. Some people like subscribing to its news feed (RSS) and checking that way. But if you prefer email, you can instead sign up to get a daily early morning email with a summary of the previous day's posts from Lib Dem Voice, complete with convenient links to click on if any take your fancy and you want to take a read. Just go to our email sign up page to start getting these emails. You can also sign up for a special once-a-week email, bringing ...
My husband came excitedely through with the Sunday Times yesterday, keen to point out this article in one of the magazines, written by a dad, Matt Rudd, about how and his wife had chosen to do without the copious advice of self styled childcare experts and do what comes naturally. This is very much what we decided to do when Anna came along 11 years ago, although what came naturally for us wasn't what came naturally for the Rudds. There was no way either Bob or I could have coped with ditching nappies, for example,although I know a few families ...
David Cameron has today announced that the finances of the country are much worse than was originally thought now that the new government has had a chance to look at the books. Whether it is true or not, this is a time-honoured tactic from incoming administrations. They claim that things are worse than expected and blame it all (not unreasonably) on the previous lot. It gives them political cover for doing things that were not necessarily signalled in advance of the election. One of the reasons why there was so little talk about what the parties would actually do to ...
As today's Evening Standard reports, the government is planning to put both an AV referendum and reducing the number of MPs in the same Parliamentary bill, thereby making it harder for any possible rebels to unpick this part of the coalition agreement compromise. For many the Conservatives, reducing the number of MPs and accompanying that with a speeded up boundary review which is completed before 2015 is an important consolation for the risk (as they see it) of the voting system being changed. That's because on many estimates the net effect on the proportion of Conservative MPs of the boundary ...
Mehdi Hasan has recently brought into focus a survey that showed that 58% of people associate Islam with extremism, 50% terrorism and yet 60% say they don't know very much about Islam. This does definitely show that some people who associate Islam with terrorism and extremism admite that they don't know much about it, however ...
Wrong. Its exactly what leadership hopefuls David Miliband and Ed Balls cried tonight when Prime Minister David Cameron warned that the cuts the UK is facing would be far worse than feared. Thought Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg tried to calm fears by proclaiming that there would be no return to the cuts of the ...
I'm in the closing stages of putting together PEP! issue 2, as well as (FINALLY!) getting issue 1 out in print form (1 and 2 will be coming out simultaneously in print). It will contain: Bill 'P(il)lo(c)k' Ritchie on Thomas Kuhn, synaesthesia and peer-to-peer sharing Gavin Burrows also on peer to peer sharing Gavin Robinson ...
Freedom-loving writers published in print or online have until the end of June to enter the Bastiat Prize. The think-tank, International Policy Network, is accepting entries in the form of print or online articles and blog entries. The Bastiat Prize was created to celebrate witty and original opinion journalism by those who defend the principles of a free society and the importance of liberty. The total prize fund is $18,000 and there are two competitions, one for journalism and one for online journalism. Last year's competition attracted over 290 entrants from more than 50 countries. The winner was John Hasnas, ...
Good progress has been made in cutting Birmingham's carbon emissions during the past year. A total of 120,745 tonnes of CO2 recorded savings were made in the 2009/10 financial year, up from recorded savings of 103,039 tonnes in 2008/9. With current energy prices, the Carbon Trust estimates that saving a tonne of CO2 equates to a cost saving of £100, so last years carbon emission cuts have saved Birmingham's residents, businesses, voluntary and public sector organisations around £12m. The biggest element of the saving come from the domestic housing sector at 83,000 tonnes, this is followed by Birmingham City Council ...
As the World Cup approaches and the flags come out across England, we face the niggling annoyance of a whole section of Britain actively demonstrating their antipathy towards us through their senseless opposition to our football team. This happens at every sporting event so it is no surprise and such sporting hostility can be a source of fun. The difference with regard to Scotland and England is that the cause of this antipathy is ancient history. This overt hostility to England is simply out of date and ignores a range of straightforward truths which suggest a somewhat skewed relationship in ...
The General Election is beginning to feel like it was quite a while ago, since then we have had a by-election victory in Ross-on-Wye and there are five pending, the first two will take place on 1 July. The ones, I know about are:
There is a planning application to have a taxi call centre at 15 High Bank. I objected to this on the grounds that it is surrounded by residential houses which would be seriously inconvienced by a 24 hour business, that this junction is very congested at the best of times, with residents' parking and the buses trying to turn a tight corner and there are no parking facilities unless the residents of the paved part of Cross Lane end up finding their attractive paved street turned unto a car park. In fact, adding it up, it is hard to find ...
This just popped into my inbox. Pretty much word for word the same as the statement on their website, but you have to give them credit for trying. Pretty much word for word, but not exactly - for example the e-mail doesn't mention the deputy manager at all. Mistakes happen in every company, unacceptable mistakes - and what happened on Saturday night was completely avoidable. There are no excuses. Punch Taverns have recognised that and at least they are trying to make amends. Certainly choice was not part of the equation. Here's the e-mail: Dear Ms Lindsay Thank you for ...
Mark Pack has the new list. There are now 17 Liberal Democrat blogs in the top 100 political blogs in Britain. Well done everyone.
I'm quite excited about goings on back home in Northern Ireland today. The first Northern Irish Justice Minister, the Alliance Party's David Ford, is going to make a keynote speech outlying his plans. Seeing as this will be first keynote speech by a devolved Northern Irish Justice Minister in my lifetime that is quite a landmark. David has been in post for eight weeks but has described today's speech as a "platform to outline the opportunities that devolution has provided". I was living back home when the excitement of the devolution settlement was fresh in people's minds. I had friends ...
On Friday, the Daily Mail, with its usual talent for profound social commentary, published a quiz which proclaimed whether you were posh or not. Apparently you only had to score 3 to consider yourself posh. Well, I, much to my disgust, got 5, or maybe even 6 if you consider that I quite often buy £10 bottles of wine when they're on offer much cheaper.... I'm not sure that my talking about where I went to school (Bishop Eden's Primary School in Inverness and Wick High School, seeing as you asked), drinking Earl Grey, doing the cheek kissing thing, although ...
Saturday's Film offerings started with Horror Express, which to the great shock and surprise of everyone with me, I had never yet seen. It's amusing to be the only one in a group of people who all share a cultural childhood I didn't. I spent my childhood reading Swallows and Amazons and Narnia, not watching classic horror, which is awesome, cause I get to watch them all now for the first time. Horror Express, for example, is an amazing film, and the experience of watching it for the first time on the big screen was one I wouldn't trade. Christopher ...
Winning Candidate John Griffin at the Site of his Winning Opposition to a New Housing Development Whilst June 3rd was a good day for by-election watchers this year, it suffers from a relative lack of whimsy in its anniversary celebrations. One interesting tidbit however is that it was 54 years since British Railways renamed their 'Third Class' carriages to 'Second Class', arguably a greater victory for mass social mobility than has been achieved at any point since! In by-election terms there were three principal council contests fought on Thursday, we were defending two in St Albans and pushing for a ...
Here are the Liberal Democrat entries in the top 100 political blogs as ranked by Wikio: 1 (5) Liberal Democrat Voice Rises 1 2 (16) Mark Reckons Falls 1 3 (35) Craig Murray Rises 2 4 (44) Mark Pack Rises 2 5 (45) Liberal England Rises 11 6 (52) Caron's Musings Rises 3 7 (58) Liberal Vision Rises 3 8 (61) Stephen's Linlithgow Journal Falls 8 9 (64) Quaequam Blog! Falls 1 10 (65) Freethinking Economist Rises 8 11 (69) People's Republic of Mortimer Falls 1 12 (71) Miss S B Rises 9 13 (74) Lynne Featherstone Rises 22 14 ...
[IMG: Dilbert.com]
Mon 7th
11:36
But I Could Have Told You Vincent, This World Was Never Meant for One as Beautiful as You
I'm going to blog the rest of the FFW later, but right now I just watched Saturday's Doctor Who and Richard Curtis, damn him, has pressed all my buttons and made me bawl like a toddler. He's a bugger for that. I could pick holes, and probably on second watch I will do, but right now I don't want to. Bill Nighy was Bill Nighy, which is always lovely. The scene in ( SPOILER! ) had me crying along with ( SPOILER! ) as the Doctor showed him ( SPOILER! ). And the ( SPOILER! ) scene was amazing, with ...
I can't find now in my news reader whose blogpost over the weekend pointed me to this video of "Yes, Prime Minister" entitled "Power to the People" but I went and watched it again - I have all the series on download - and noticed that the system of democratically accountable small scale government proposed by the academic in it that sets so many cats amongst Whitehall and Town Hall pigeons is in fact very close to the idea of Fred Foldvary's that I support called "Cellular Democracy" (as you will see in the comments, h/t goes to Witterings from ...
Mon 7th
11:20Opinion: I'm no longer prepared to support Stonewall under the leadership of Mr Summerskill
David Laws has resigned and the story has more or less moved along. For my part I know and like David a lot and his loss is a real blow to the Liberal Democrats, the Government and the country. But most of all this was a personal story. So I was appalled by the decision of Stonewall's Chief Executive Ben Summerskill to take the airwaves and print media to launch his own mini-campaign against David. The very organisation that you would expect to have the courage to stand up and explain the moral realities of being gay and struggling with ...
Set out below are the areas with most unsatisfied demand as at the end of last month The number is the 'non-ranked allocation': ie where parents have been allocated a school they did not want. There are incidentally already 250 mobile classrooms in the county - a testament to poor planning down the years. 65 - St. Albans 64 - Watford 42 - Welwyn Garden City 41 - Elstree and Borehamwood 35 - Harpenden 28 - Hemel Hempstead 25 - Watford Rural 17 - Potters Bar 15 - Hatfield 14 - Bushey 12 - Abbots Langley
The BBC reports that a document produced by the Assembly Commission's chief legal advisor, Keith Bush has backed the Secretary of State for Wales' contention that an autumn referendum date on giving law-making powers to the Assembly would be very difficult to achieve. In the document Mr. Bush outlines the difficulties for completing the process in time for the referendum this year. He says that the summer recess of parliament, as well as the time needed to agree wording of the referendum, are key obstacles for an autumn referendum. He also sounds a note of caution over speeding up the ...
Well, Anna did eventually wake up on her birthday. She has never been one of those children who are shaking you awake in the middle of the night at birthdays and Christmas and this was no exception. The photo shows what, or rather Who, she saw as she went into the lounge. I have to confess that I couldn't believe that my husband had blown £30 on what is basically a bit of cardboard box, but hearing Anna's squeals of delight, hysterical laughter and shouts of "cool" and "awesome" made it all worthwhile. She loved all her presents, but the ...
I missed this on the news - but caught it on the BBC website this morning. Over 40 consultants have apparently signed and handed over a letter of no confidence in the CEO and senior management of Great Ormond Street Hospital. Ever since I got involved with the excellent child paediatrician, Kim Holt, who tried to raise concerns over the management and processes in Haringey's child protection health team (which was managed by Great Ormond Street and included the doctor who failed to recognise Baby Peter's condition) and who has been on 'special leave' ever since for her trouble - ...
I've blogged before about the lack of understanding among Cornwall Council's Conservatives about what localism means. I am concerned at their centralisation of decision making in Truro and lack of understanding that a lot of decisions are better taken by the communities they affect. But the central planning mindset of the Tories also extends to Government. Today we see the news that Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles is scrapping plans to introduce 'pay as you throw' schemes to charge householders for the amount of rubbish they throw away. The truth is that Labour wanted to pilot such a scheme but ...
Mon 7th
10:30Coalition to rule out 'pay as you throw' waste charge - but why do they think it's their job?
The Guardian reports: Ministers are expected to announce that they are scrapping Labour plans to introduce "pay as you throw" rubbish schemes. Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, and Caroline Spelman, the environment secretary, will confirm that they will end schemes in which people are charged for household waste collections or for producing too much rubbish. In one sense this is a bit of a non-story. Labour didn't, despite the Guardian's misleading report, plan to introduce 'pay as you throw' rubbish schemes – what they did was enable councils to pilot such schemes if they wished. Unsurprisingly, not least given the ...
It is no real surprise that Ed Balls has sought to distance himself from his former mentor and political ally, Gordon Brown in his quest for the Labour leadership. What is surprising however is the issue he has chosen so as to define the difference and the consequences of his suggested alternative. Balls claims that Brown blundered by ignoring the immigration issue during the election and yet my recollection is that not only did Labour use this issue quite heavily but that it also featured strongly on the telephone, in leaflets and in face-to-face contact as part of their counter-attack ...
From the Council: Stockport Air Raid Shelters has gained a prestigious award for Small Visitor Attraction of the Year at the Manchester Tourism awards 2010. The panel of judges said that 'the shelters are truly unique and a great asset within Stockport's visitor attraction offer.' The Manchester Tourism awards were organised by Marketing Manchester, the agency charged with promoting Manchester on a national and international stage. The awards are supported by the Northwest Regional Development Agency. By winning this award Stockport Air Raid Shelters will in the autumn represent Greater Manchester in the England's North West Regional Awards competing against ...
I remain grateful to emptywheel for the perception that the US defence of the Israeli killings is of a piece with its own claim to the right to murder anybody, anytime, anywhere. This is starkly illustrated by the news that the US killed 35 women and children in a cluster bomb attack on the Yemen. This policy is the apogee of what I named in "The Catholic Orangemen of Togo" the "Good Guy, Bad Guy" school of foreign policy analysis. In this view, conflicts are not born out of competition for resources or present or historical injustices, but ...
you have transport for london journey planner book marked on your desktop. It's more true when you know that the time it predicts for you to get across london on the underground is almost always wrong.
Mark Pack has written an interesting article on the payments made to general election returning officers for their work. The issue arises because many returning officers are very well paid council chief executives who took their post knowing they would be likely to be returning officer. Should they therefore be paid up to £25,000 for their work on the election? As ever, the facts are not as simple as the Telegraph might have us believe. This is not payment for simply turning up at the count and reading out the results. Returning officers undertake a lot of work in the ...
The tedium of politics in the last year or more has been the fact that everyone has been going round saying cuts are inevitable and yet nothing has actually happened. Well, it sort of has with the £6.2bn cuts this year that the Coalition outlined, though we won't know till afterwards if the targets for ...
One of the great strengths of the polling firm MORI is that they have consistently asked the same questions over decades, making comparisons across elections, decades and even generations possible.* One of these comparisons over time that has caught my eye is the level of public interest in elections: Thinking back to the campaign, how interested would you say you were in news about the General Election? 1992: 52% very or fairly interested 2010: 75% very or fairly interested That is a big increase in the level of declared public interest in election news. Turnout, however, was 78% in 1992, ...
As part of an attempt to do more non-Party stuff, I took Friday afternoon off to attend UEA Court, one of those ceremonial things that we do so well in this country. Given that both Ros and I are UEA graduates, it seemed to be right that we accept their invitation. Unfortunately, not far beyond Stratford, the NXEA curse struck. A train in front of us had broken down, blocking the line. An obvious solution would have been to switch the points to allow us to travel around the blockage but, in one of those coincidences that drives people off ...
Below is the text of the latest monthly newsreport from our local Chief Superintendent of Police for your information. Please note the OPEN DAY at Manvers Street on Sunday June 20. Two articles in the Bath Chronicle at LINK and LINK News letter from CS Gary Davies Dear Colleague Crime Reduction = - 4% Crime Detection...
Labour everywhere are looking for anything and everything to throw at the new coalition government in an attempt to discredit them in an orgy of indiscriminate negativity, however one group came unstuck this mornning. Tweet4Labour, who specialise in 140 character attacks, quoted a BBC news item this morning and in doing so implied that the new government had wasted £32,000 on an "executive" range of recycling waste bins to impress visitors. However, closer reading of the item reveals that the internal report referred to was in fact published in 2007 and that the bins were purchased by the previous Labour ...
The Bath Rapid Transit public enquiry is geering up now when in fact it should be abandoned. The Conservative administration have repeatedlly refused to consider the more sustainable options proposed by the Liberal Democrats and are steamrollering ahead with this absurd plan to create a 1 mile bus superhighway along the back gardens of Newbridge. This will do very little to relieve congestion, create big environmental problems and is a waste of public money. email from Response 2 Route As you are probably aware, there will be a pre-inquiry meeting to arrange the time schedules for the CPO public inquiry. ...
Well, I guess this is something from Punch Taverns, owners of the Greencoat Boy pub in Westminster where LGBT Labour were refused service on Saturday night in what has to be one of the stupidest and most ignorant blunders by a pub manager ever. This is the full statement from their website: "Punch Taverns seeks to provide open and welcoming venues to everyone. We are shocked and saddened that the Labour LGBT did not experience this at The Greencoat Boy last night and apologise unreservedly. "Across our estate, diversity and inclusion are a core part of our ethics and are ...
From 1pm today, Wood Green Front Counter Service is moving to the Fishmonger's Arms which is next door to Haringey Civic Centre. Sensibly - this is much nearer the heart of Wood Green where there is a high foot fall. It is literally a couple of hundred metres from Shopping City, the excellent transport links and the bus garage. What is so much better is that the interview areas are separate from the waiting area - so privacy is maintained. There is also a hearing loop facility and low level counter - compliant with Disability Discrimination Act legislation. Its actual ...
From Simon Hughes' website: In a letter to Lorely Burt MP, Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons, Simon Hughes has set out his proposals on how Liberal Democrats should organise themselves in this parliament in order to provide the best supportive but independent voice in a parliament of coalition government: Dear Lorely, As you know, I warmly welcome the review which you proposed and which the parliamentary party agreed on 26th May. Thank you also for meeting me to discuss the progress of the review. I write this in the hope that it may ...
Yesterdays Guardian ran with the story that Nick Clegg had promised not to return to the savage cuts of the thatcher years (it is interesting he used the term savage cuts, the same phrase he had used at last years Lib Dem Conference). However today it appears that David Cameron is going to announce that ...
The Daily Express has a story criticising the advice that the new MP for Luton South Gavin Shuker gave to his predecessor Margaret Moran about the Commons Communication Allowance. I am not sure there is really that much in this story, but then the news that Moran sought to gain maximum poltical advantage out of her use of the Comminications Allowance is not news to me. It will interesting to watch what Shuker does with this money.
The 2010 general election demonstrated that the British public will not be converted to Liberalism/Liberal Democracy in a three-week election campaign, even if we are the centre of attention for much of it. I believe this would have been true even if Nick Clegg had been preaching the milk of unsullied social liberalism as exemplified by the teachings of Jo Grimond via Alan Beith and Simon Hughes through to Tim Farron, and totally free from monetarist influences. What we fail to do is prepare the ground by propagating our principles and policies "all the year round." The founders of AL(D)C ...
List of links: Today's list of news, stories, blog articles and so on that I have tagged as particularly interesting or excellent in my news reader. As ever, clicking on the titles should take you to the full version of the story on its home site... The Cost of Making Exceptions by/at: ThinkMarkets Governmental financing externalities by/at: The Foldvarium Cuddly Cuts? by/at: Liberal Vision Agoraphobia by/at: Counting Cats in Zanzibar Break the Ice... by/at: Old Holborn Thatcher's "axe" by/at: Stumbling and Mumbling The burden of regulation by/at: The Adam Smith Institute Blog Philip Blond's red Toryism by/at: The Adam Smith ...
Wooooound Originally uploaded by innerbratI spent most of yesterday with a hurty left arm. Now, before you panic (and OK, I did deliberately make you panic there, but let's be honest, you guys once believed me when I said I was going to get my hand amputated) that is just make up in the picture. For two days during this weekend, there was a stall camped out in the museum foyer offering quick DIY wound makeup tutorials, so I stuck a stab wound on my arm. And then spent the day with a small amount of phantom pain. It was ...
Dear Nick, First, a big thank you for the way you are both leading and serving our party in the coalition government. I wanted to take an early opportunity to contact you - particularly following your comments in The Independent newspaper on Wednesday, and further comments in The Observer today, about the need to support ...
I must have had my head in the sand as i missed this when it came out originally until someone pointed out to me that I was at number 136 in the list. When i paid closer inspection, vanity and ego got the better of me and i watched every couple of days as I ...
I drove to Manchester yesterday and saw many cars breaking the speed limit. I saw one cyclist who happened to cycle past red traffic lights but for the first time in many months of driving I was not affected by motorway roadworks. I came home in the late afternoon and as I was on the m60 passing the junction for Old Trafford I noticed a huge queue on both exit slip roads. This was nothing exceptional as there was a match on. However one sports car drove past me at roughly 100mph but then had to join this queue. I ...
