Legislation passed last year requires Councils, as of 15th June, to have a system for allowing petitions to require debates at council meetings and to call officers to scrutiny committees. Later this year, councils will have to have an on line facility for petitions which will allow anyone to set up a petition on the council website on any issue as long as it is relevant to the work of the
Last Sunday over 100,000 attended an open air mass to celebrate the beatification of Father Jerzy Popielussko murdered by the Polish secret Police in 1984. Beatification is one of the stages towards sainthood. I find this remarkable not because the church wants to canonize him - he was martyred which is one qualification - it is the speed of it. Joan of Arc was martyred in 1431 but only beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. St Benedict took around 600 years also. Fr Popielussko is the first person beatified who I can actually recall being murdered. Up until now ...
This politicking nonsense of making things seem so much worse than they are is a ruse. We are being buttered up for some swinging cuts. Nick Clegg's pledge in the Observer that we won't go back to the kinds of cuts we had under Thatcher (okay so I wasn't quite old enough to remember most ...
Dear Ian, Yesterday I was proud to be at the Government Dispatch Box in the House of Commons moving a motion in support of a Queen's Speech that committed to delivering long cherished Liberal Democrat policies. Over the coming months we will bring forward legislation for much needed political reform and the restoration of our civil liberties. We will bring in a proportionally elected second chamber, strengthen the role of parliament, increase devolution to Scotland and Wales, regulate party funding and lobbysists, introduce the power of recall for corrupt MPs and give people a chance to vote to end First ...
A sharp-eyed resident reported the fact that a bin has gone missing from Preston Park - one specifically designed for the deposit of dog waste. It hasn't just corroded and been removed or been hit by a vehicle and needed removing. It has disappeared. Alan Lewis reported it and now a new one is on order but meanwhile the mystery remains - who would take such a thing? As Alan says, it's not
There is also a report in the Harborough Mail.
This morning, I was disappointed to hear from the City Council about vandalism to the paper recycling facility in Brook Street. The Recycling Projects Officer advised me : "I am writing to inform you that unfortunately a paper bin within the Neighbourhood Recycling Point on Brook Street Dundee was burnt out at the weekend, now for the second time. As you may remember was the case with the second act of arson to the NRP on Bankmill Road earlier this, that it is our standard policy to replace the burnt out unit for a second time. Any further incidents, however, ...
Callooh! Callay! Lynne Featherstone has won the Orange Digital Election Award for "the best use of digital campaigning by a candidate". Caron's Musings thinks that Iain Dale should get his own radio show and Helen Duffett should be a regular guest. Seeing Margaret Thatcher on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street made Spiderplant Land "feel sick to the pit of my stomach and re-awakened my anti Tory sentiment". Maybe I am mellowing, but to me it was just extending a courtesy to a former prime minister - albeit one she is reported never to have shown to Jim Callaghan. And ...
Back in 2007 Gordon Brown was roundly criticised for inviting Margaret Thatcher to 10 Downing Street. So, even though he is also a Conservative, will David Cameron receive the same criticism for inviting Margaret Thatcher to 10 Downing Street today? Photograph: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA
It was a galling sight that greeted me on my commute on the way home this evening. There I was enjoying carpet class and catching up on Twitter and what do i see before me? Margaret Thatcher entering number 10 Downing Street with David Cameron. It made me feel sick to the pit of my ...
Educational Maintenance Allowance is a forgotten area in Westminster. It seems no one really wants to talk about it and, if MPs do, students don't often hear about the discussions. As far as the system goes for learners, the buck stops with the staff in students service (whose role, I might add, is to simply ...
I have been embroiled in something of a to and fro debate on Twitter this evening with a Labourite who is intent on telling me that we should get rid of the monarchy in this country and bring about a true Meritocracy of power in order to restore democracy to this country. I find it ...
Whatever you think of Margaret Thatcher and let's be honest, this is a person who generates feelings from hatred to love, wanting to go back in time to assassinate her is not something you expect of a Labour leadership contender. John McDonnell had told the GMB union hustings event on Monday evening that he had been asked what single act he would do to improve the world if he could travel back to the 1980s. John McDonnell replied: "I said: 'Look, I was on the GMC that Mrs Thatcher abolished, I worked for the NUM and we had the NUM ...
In the course of a long and interesting interview with the East Anglian Daily Times, the former Lib Dem leader reveals something new: Paddy Ashdown will be 70 a couple of months into 2011. He's packed more into those years than most of us would manage in four or five lifetimes. Does he have any burning ambitions left? He rattles them off. "My garden, my grandchildren, my next book. I've just done my seventh book - off to the publisher now. (It's called No Perfect Heroes.) It's a thriller. It's got a little bit of Bosnia in it, a lot ...
This week sees Big Brother and the World Cup start - I am excited by both. I am a big big fan of Big Brother, in fact the only reason I am not entering the house tomorrow is because it clashes with the World Cup.
Liberal Democrat MPs Malcolm Bruce and Sir Alan Beith have been elected unopposed as Chairs of the International Development and Justice Select Committees respectively. The positions were confirmed after nominations closed earlier tonight for all posts. For the first time ever, Select Committees Chairs are being elected by a secret ballot of all MPs, after each Chairship was allocated to a political party in proportion to the number of MPs for each party. The committees allocated to each party were agreed by the House shortly before the Whitsun recess. On moving the new arrangements, Leader of the House, Sir George ...
Local Focus councillors at Yate Rocks - if the Core Strategy goes through, almost all the fields behind them would disappear under a sea of houses The Core Strategy - South Glos's new master document - was constructed under the last government's massive housing proposals. They're proposing 3000 extra houses for North Yate alone. But now the new government has now announced that local planning authorities can decide their own housing requirements. Where are all the 3000 families clamouring for a house in Yate? It's time for S Glos to go back to Square One and reassess the real need. ...
Everyone knows that tourism is a vital part of Cornwall's economy. As such, it is the responsibility of one of Cornwall Council's cabinet members. Carolyn Rule looks after the Visit Cornwall team - headed by Malcolm Bell - and the work that it does through the tourist information centres, providing information to visitors in Cornwall and promoting more visits. Carolyn has just set up a new panel of councillors from all parties and all parts of Cornwall to help with this work and today was its first meeting. As with any new group, the first meeting was more of run ...
The government has announced that it has ruled out plans to look into charging for the amount of non-recyled domestic waste and is instead looking to 'reward' people based on the weight of the waste they leave on the kerbside for recycling. In this article I consider this approach, both in effectiveness, cost, and motive.Go to article
Why would a woman from Scotland spend a Monday evening listening to a local London radio station? And why would she consider making it a regular date? Every Monday at 8, LBC has a bloggers' panel. Last night it was chaired by the one Jennie refers to as the Egregious Tory Tosser who was sitting in for the regular presenter who was sick. I hesitate to say anything nice about the King of the Tory Blogosphere, but he's unlikely to read this, nor is anyone who knows him and is likely to tell him, so I'm fairly safe, but actually, ...
I have so often blogged here about being nominated and/or shortlisted for an award - from Stonewall's politician of the year to Chanel 4 Rising Star. And have always been the bridesmaid - never the bride. Today Orange changed all that. At the launch of their Digital Report on the election authored by Anthony Painter, they also announced the Orange Digital Election Awards. Paul Waugh was there, Deputy Political Editor of the Standard and Rishi Saha, Head of New Media for the Conservative Party and Paul Farrelly, MP chaired were there to give the view from their perspective on the ...
Have I lost you already? No really, some reviews of council services can be very helpful and interesting. A team of experts is helping Cornwall's Fire and Rescue Service to assess what improvements have been made since the scathing report into the service last year. This team is made up of four uniformed fire officers from around the country including the chief officer of Kent Fire Service - acknowledged to be one of the best in the UK. Also with them is the lead councillor for Hampshire's fire service and an expert from IDeA - the body which organises these ...
I, stupidly, flicked my TV over to BBC One just as last night's Panorama special on the Derrick Bird shootings in Cumbria began. Seeing that it might actually provide a clearer time line of what happened (and that it did) I decided to watch it. Alas, interspersed with a run through of the time line of Bird's horrendous activities came BBC commentary on how the emergency services let people down. This came with on the scene witnesses understandable complaints along lines of "I can't believe the police didn't stop him." The emergency services do a necessary and sterling job. The ...
Last night the new Parliament had its first vote on the Queen's Speech; the government parties voted together of course. So there I was rubbing shoulders in the voting lobby with all these Tories, many of them new, most of them – through no fault of their own - from rather privileged backgrounds. Never before have I felt quite so aware of my state comprehensive / red-brick education – and immensely proud of it too. I was also made acutely aware that our new bed-fellows are not very much like us but that our Labour opponents will nevertheless work hard ...
Ref: 10/02199/FULParish: N/ARegistered: 25th May 2010 Expiry Date: 20th July 2010Location: Odd Down Post Office 59 Frome Road Odd Down Bath Bath And North East SomersetGrid Ref: (E)373737 - (N)162395 LB Grade: N/AProposal: Erection of a shop with two flats above it in the garden of 59 Frome Road (Resubmission)Officer: Victoria GriffinApplicant: Mr & Mrs J Rai Agent: John Page Architect59 Frome
[IMG: Elephant] Web Elephants Slow-moving - Web Elephants like you browse the internet at a stately, methodical pace - just like real-world elephants who rarely see a reason to rush things. Social - Real-world elephants and Web Elephants are both highly social. Real elephants are able to keep track of their own extended family trees and may even mourn love ones. As a Web Elephant, you often use social networking sites to keep track of your friends of family and are happy to rely on information from sites whose content is created by its users.Adaptable - Real-world elephants owe their ...
This goes back a few days, but makes some important points on schools, where Tory policies are potentially disastrous:
I was talking to Antony Calvert today, the Conservative candidate who narrowly missed out on toppling Ed Balls from his Morley and Outwood seat in the general election last month and he revealed something potentially interesting. We were discussing how successful his fund-raising campaign had been and he told me that one of the contributors to his fund had been Alastair Campbell. Now I am not certain that this is the same person as Tony Blair's former chief spin-doctor. It is not after all an uncommon name and Antony may have been yanking my chain. Perhaps for example it was ...
I don't watch vast amounts of television, but my attention was drawn recently to an advert for something called Wonga.com (no, there's no link, for reasons that will become obvious). Cheaply made, the advert explains how you can borrow small(ish) amounts until payday with little hassle and immediate decisions on whether or not you will be approved. Yes, another opportunity for people to get into debt and, as a concept, probably filling a niche in the market. However, such services come at a cost, and I was intrigued to find out what that cost might be. The answer was a ...
For reasons best known to the likes of Richard Samuel Thanet Council's Chief Executive, the public and press will be excluded today from a General Purposes committee meeting that will apparently discuss the appointment of Donna Reed as Shared Services Director. Despite the fact that a press release was sent out earlier 5 days ago on June 3rd, even quoting Mr Samuel, and pointing out that Leaders and Chief Execs from Thanet, Dover and Canterbury councils have already chosen "unanimously", Donna Reed to be the Shared Services Director, why the secrecy? Since it appears to be a done deal, what ...
[IMG: childwarsaw.jpg] Child smuggling food into the Warsaw Ghetto [IMG: childgaza.jpg] Child smuggling food into Gaza We hoped the world would never forget. How tragic that it is Israel that has forgotten most completely.
Welsh Liberal Democrat MPs Mark Williams and Roger Williams have today highlighted the need for fair funding for Wales in Treasury Questions, citing the Holtham Commission which found that Wales is underfunded by £300 million every year. In his question, Mark Williams asked whether the Government accepted the conclusions of Holtham that Wales is underfunded, and asked the Government to commit to fair funding across the UK. Responding on behalf of the Government, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander acknowledged the concerns raised by the Holtham Commission, but reiterated that dealing with the deficit is the Treasury's priority. He ...
This morning the Parliamentary Football team played against the USA Embassy as a precursor to the England v USA world cup game at the weekend. We had half a dozen new MPs playings, and a number of promising debuts. After taking a 2-0 first-half lead with a couple of goals from me, we gave a ...
Someone has written me a letter about Bilderberg My own view is that those who get overly worried about rich and powerful people meeting to forward their common interest, need to chill out. Of course they do that. It's just like Davos with added cachet from the thrill of being "secret". If it were public, I don't doubt you would find it's just as banal. Everything is not directed by Bilderberg, Freemasons, Illuminati, the Federal Reserve, the Rothschilds, the Prieure of Sion or any other grouping. Do the rich and powerful heavily influence western governments? Of course. Do they ...
Tue 8th
16:28
Election 2010 now over: my agent has handed in our election expenditure statement. Huge task compili...
Election 2010 now over: my agent has handed in our election expenditure statement. Huge task compiling all the receipts. (The legal limit is £11k on a campaign - 14p per voter!)
Why does Dave Cameron do so many policy presentations in the Open University Library in Milton Keynes? He was at it again yesterday with the 'we are all doomed' spending costs speech. It does make for a more interesting backdrop that the Imperial Pronouncements style of New Labour conferences hosted in imposing official buildings, but why pay good money for building hire, travel and security arrangements when the Government has a perfectly good venue already paid for and secured in the Palace of Westminter? Is there a logic behind these presentation occasions that might be explained, to coalition partners for ...
I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar. We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers so I know whose ass to kick. Right? President Barack Obama in conversation with NBC's Matt Lauer. It's a classic. Oh, and here it is on You Tube:
The Coalition Government has avoided the temptation to reorganise Whitehall departments. The Department for Children, Schools and Families has been renamed the Department for Education but there has not been the wholesale reshaping we saw under Blair - which led to the creation of such historical oddities as the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and a vast amount of anomalies, cost and muddle. ODPM, of course, could not by definition outlive the retirement of John Prescott. So it morphed into the Department for Communities and Local Government. The D then suddenly disappeared and now we have 'CLG'. This, ...
Monday: There's an excellent opinion-piece by Mr Ed Fordham, on Liberal Democrat Voice, about the Chief of Stonewall and the case of Mr David Laws. Back in 1997, when former Prime Monster Lord Blairimort received a million pounds from Mr Bernie Ecclestone - in return using his influence to get Formula One racing exempted from the ban on advertising tobacco in sport - he got away it, appearing on television with the excuse: "I'm a pretty straight kind of a guy" Clearly, that's not an excuse that Mr David was going to be allowed to use. Okay, that's a terrible, ...
It's not every day I climb the stairs of a Prestwich pub and find Ann Widdecombe lurking at the top of them, but that's exactly what happened the other day when I attended the 50th birthday party of Northern Air Hospital Radio, a charity which I have been involved with for over 10 years. As I got to the top of the stairs and looked over towards the function room, I heard an oddly familiar, slightly wavy voice. Its owner, pacing the stage delivering a well-received speech about the value of volunteering, was someone far more well-known that most of ...
The Taxpayers' Alliance has published today figures showing how much money was paid to MPs who departed the House of Commons, either voluntarily or through defeat, at the general election a month ago. As its report notes, departing MPs are entitled to a one-off Resettlement Grant of 50-100 percent of their annual salary, dependent on their age and length of service, the first £30,000 of which is tax-free and is in addition to their parliamentary pension. It's something of a relic of a system. For a start I would have thought any form of payment based on age is verging ...
The difficult issue of funding long term care is one which the coalition must address. The danger is that it will be kicked into the 'long grass' with another commission. The King's Fund, Joseph Rowntree , David Wanlass, White Papers and a wide scale public consultation-Caring Choices (a coalition of 15 groups)- have all considered the issue. Politicians have put forward suggestions -and now is the time for decisions. Living in Southport-which has one of the highest concentrations of older people in the country-I am increasingly aware of the distress and anger that this issue is generating -and it is ...
There was an excellent interview with new Tory MP, Jonathan Evans on Radio Wales this morning in which he defended Nick Clegg for his 'slip of the tongue' in the House of Commons yesterday. Mr. Evans confirmed that it is his general intention to vote 'yes' in a future referendum on enlarging the Assembly's powers but he stated what he thought is an important caveat. He is concerned at the way the Welsh Government interferes in local decision-making and expressed a particular concern at ministerial rulings on Cardiff schools. He said that instinctively he believed that powers should be devolved ...
As budgets are set to become tighter over the next few years, WAG Environment Minister Jane Davidson needs to rethink her decision to spend nearly half a million pounds on telling people that a levy will be introduced on plastic carrier bags. Many retailers already charge for their plastic carrier bags and this is not a new concept. It was revealed that the Minister was going to spend this amount of money during Finance Committee as she faced questions about the financial implications of the new scheme. While I am fully supportive of the Environment Minister's decision to introduce a ...
Yes, it's that time once again when one of the Party's least visible, yet most important internal bodies, English Council, gathers for the first of its two scheduled meetings in 2010. On Saturday, July 3rd, 125 or so representatives from the English Regions will gather in central London to hear speeches from the Party President, Ros Scott, and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government, Andrew Stunnell MP. However, the key business for debate will be the proposed ratification of the new Selection Rules for Parliamentary Candidates, and this will be the only opportunity to ...
Have been playing about with layout and stuff today. The main difference noticeable to the reader is going from one sidebar to two. There is some stuff still needs fixing (placement of header text and gaps bretween modules, f'r'instance) but I am basically happy with it. But don't expect it to be fixed very soon; I have to get ready for work now.
I thought that it might be nice to cover some of Ros's work here, so there follows her piece for last week's 'Liberal Democrat News'... The phrase 'rollercoaster ride' is barely sufficient to describe the events of the past seven weeks. The apparent surge in support following the first Leaders debate, the euphoria of genuine three-party politics, followed by the disappointment of election night itself was the cause of enough emotional turmoil, but the subsequent negotiations and the entry of our Party into government for the first time since 1945 had its share of heart-stopping moments too. It was, I ...
I did hope that I would have more time for this sort of thing. But I only have one or two hours a day to myself these days, and the thoughts that occurred to me earlier seem to evaporate. I like looking after Matthew and cooking. We need to find more places to go as we seem ...
There was a report last night on Channel 4 news last night about how an urban fox had got into a house and attacked two 9 month old twin baby girls. The girls were injured but thankfully survived and are now being treated in hospital. The thing I wanted to focus on though was a particular aspect of the reporting. It's only a minor thing (in the grand scheme) but it is reflective of how reporting often happens nowadays. Normally Channel 4 has very high standards but even they can slip a bit sometimes. The report covered the initial story ...
As the prime minister, David Cameron warns of the need for massive spending cuts to bring down the UK's huge public deficit, the coalition is citing the experience of Canada's Liberal government during the 1990s. In 1992, Canada had a budget deficit of 9% of GDP. By 1997, they were showing a surplus. When they were in opposition, senior Conservatives studied the Canadian experience in some detail. At the weekend, deputy PM Nick Clegg praised the way the Canadian Liberals consulted the public over where to make cuts - "taking the people with them". This is a political version of ...
Last week, Lib Dem Voice commented on Lib Dem candidate Elwyn Watkins' election petition against Oldham East and Saddleworth's Labour MP, Phil Woolas. Watkins, who lost to Woolas by just 103 votes, believes that false claims were made in the leaflets, including allegations that he was trying to woo Muslim extremists, and claims about the financing of his campaign by a wealthy Saudi businessman. Now the Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has entered the row about the literature published on behalf of Woolas during the general election campaign. Former Labour politician Trevor Phillips described some of the ...
Further to my news item last week about parking at St Joseph's Primary School, I have this morning received this from the City Council's Head of Primary Education : "The working group responsible for the monitoring of the project met on Friday 4th June. They reported that awareness of the project in and around schools is very high. Leaflets have been distributed to parents in schools involved to date. In addition, two travel specialists have been hired to advise schools and parents about all aspects of safety/travel routes etc. around schools. The travel specialists will visit St Joseph's RC Primary ...
I'm on the lookout for a simple method of backing up my contacts list. I have basically one core address book, synced between my Blackberry and my work Outlook, with about 4000 contacts on it, professional and private; I regard both the Blackberry and Outlook as potentially fragile and would like to be able to back up somewhere more robust, as (obviously) this is worth a great deal to me. Alternatives which I have tried and rejected include: Gmail: address book management is one of Gmail's worst features. It is easy to add addresses, so I can at least back ...
A while back I noticed this interesting article on the effect of incumbency on the general election result on politicalbetting.com. It highlights the results of the two Luton seats as strong examples of where it believes this played out: "Striking differences can be seen in the same towns, between incumbents and non-incumbents. For example, in Milton Keynes North, where the incumbent was a Conservative, the swing to the Tories was 9.2%; in Milton Keynes South, where the incumbent was Labour, the swing was 6.2%. In Swindon North, where a new Labour candidate stood, the swing was 10%. In Swindon South, ...
I have today launched my June 2010 update to West End Community Council. Subjects covered include : • Sinderins Junction • Dropped Kerbing - Peddie Street • Proposed Riverside Nature Park • Hillside Road pavements • Allotments • Bus changes from 27th June • Pennycook Lane Car Park The Community Council meets tonight at Logie St John's (Cross) Church Hall at 7pm. You can download the update by going to http://tinyurl.com/weccJune10.
Ask any football fan what type of player they want for their club and one of the key charicteristics you'll hear is "someone who is proud to play for the club and gives it their all". In fact it's more common a complaint about the current players, "sure he has some amazing skill but sometimes ...
Tue 8th
12:50
Why does the government want 15 year olds to get parental approval before commenting online?
That's the curious implication of this moderation policy, which states: If you are aged 16 or under, please get your parent/guardian's permission before submitting a comment. Users without this consent are not allowed to participate or provide us with personal information. A very curious policy, but perhaps there's a good reason for it that I've missed. Any suggestions?
From the Council: With the help of the Stockport Boost campaign, 1047 families across Stockport have been able to take advantage of the national 'Home Access' scheme which provides free computers to help support learning and development. The scheme has helped around half of all eligible low-income families in Stockport gain access to a computer and get online at home. This is an exceptionally high rate of successful applicants compared with our 'near neighbour' Local Authorities of a similar size. For more information about the Stockport Boost campaign visit the Council Website at www.stockport.gov.uk/boost.
Well there you go, I admit it, the truth is out! I can almost feel the local Labour hierarchy reaching for their laptops/mobiles in a fit of "we told you so, they're all tories really", despatches to whoever is prepared to listen. So perhaps I should clarify a bit before they start writing the Labour Rose headlines. Just one of my friends is a Conservative party member and lives in Devon. But I must confess to having friends and family friends who are either conservative by nature/tradition or yes, even vote Conservative. And, as a councillor, I have many friendly ...
The papers are full of talk of cuts, be they 'progressive' or 'radical' but somehow I'm not convinced by the rhetoric. There is no doubt that we are in a bind. There is no question that severe savings are going to be needed. There is also no question that the commentators are more excited than they ought to be by the amazing return of 'politics', that poor relation to celebrity in the modern world but an old friend that many of us welcome back with warm affection. However, my problem is that we have heard all this before. Pick a ...
We've begun to see how the cutbacks in the Transport Department's budget are going to affect Britain's railways. There were always going to be some projects that would need to be delayed, but we should be careful that Transport Secretary Philip Hammond doesn't just look at the impact on his own budget but also the impact on the industry and communities that build and maintain Britain's railway network. He should also look forward beyond the end of this Parliament. At the moment, after years of cuts and rationalisation by the previous Conservative and Labour regimes, Britain is now down to ...
I had chance to wander around Margate seafront, Saturday and without an big attraction this last weekend, it seemed busy in way it wasn't a year or two back. A regular reader sent me this clipping from the Times, apparently Margate has recently been listed as one of the nations top 40 beaches "Margate Kent The childhood home of Tracey Emin is turning trendy. Earlier this month Emin unveiled a work in neon lights saying "I never stopped loving you" at Droit House on the town's seafront. There are lots of quirky cafés, retro clothing shops and old furniture shops ...
Good morning and welcome to World Oceans Day. Apologies for having missed last Tuesday's Daily View - I was over-excited as it was my birthday - and half term! On this day in 1999, disgraced ex-cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken was given an 18 month jail sentence, after he admitted lying during a failed libel action. The former Conservative MP admitted both charges earlier in the year, following the collapse of his libel case against The Guardian newspaper and Granada TV. Passing sentence at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Scott Baker told Aitken he had woven a web of deceit and ...
One of the most interesting geo-political developments in recent months is Turkey's increased prominence on the world stage. The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, came out strongly against Israel's Operation Cast Lead 18 months ago — winning plaudits not only from his own population but from the Arab world as well — and he has ...
Not much time for blogging at the moment, but here's a quick drive-by post - I've just written a work update on this, so I may as well share it with you (slightly tweaked) :-) You may have seen this story about the Government's intention to return child asylum-seekers to a "reception centre" in Afghanistan. This actually relates to a tender which was issued by the previous Labour Government back in March for the construction of, effectively, a children's home in Afghanistan to which refused child asylum-seekers could be returned. This would allow the return of a number of young ...
The piece from me appeared in Liberal Democrat News last week: Europe is one of the policy areas where the instincts of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties are furthest apart. It is also one that has torn apart past governments, most famously John Major's administration. It was also at the heart of many of the heated and personal divisions between Blair and Brown in the early years of Blair's premiership. Contemporary circumstances have eased somewhat the practical divisions over Europe between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The Conservatives may be opposed to the euro on principled grounds which the ...
I was on a judging panel a few weeks back for the Orange Digital Election Awards which seeks to recognise the best (and worst) of the digital contributions to the recent general election campaign. The awards will be announced formally later today an event in Westminster but I am pleased to be able to give a sneak preview of the winners now: Best use of Digital Campaigning by a Political Party: Conservative Party.Merit Award: Labservatives campaign by the Liberal Democrats. Best independent use of digital campaigning: The Straight ChoiceMerit Award 1: YoufundmeMerit Award 2: HopenotHate Best use of Twitter: #Nickcleggsfault ...
I thought I would warn people who maybe didn't know already, that my car was broken into on Wanstead Park Road yesterday during the day. Fortunately nothing has been stolen because I don't leave stuff in my car but I gather there have been quite a few car break ins along this road and would warn anyone parking there to be careful. The person who broke in clearly smashed the front passenger window and leant in to check the glove compartment and the arm rest storage area but didn't unlock the car or get in. They may have been disturbed ...
It sounds like it should be the name of a hairdressing consultant, but, apparently it's what we're all going to be subject to in the coming months. I'm on the fence about this for two reasons. One, this a new government, with a good mandate from coalition. It has political capital to spend, and if ...
That's the question asked today by Lib Dem blogger Andy Hinton in an article titled, If you want to keep something secret... Andy highlights the mangled reporting of the BBC in claiming that Nick Clegg is back-tracking on the coalition government's commitment to fixed-term parliaments by fleshing out further details on the proposed 55% dissolution rule – as he points out, Nick was simply repeating what the Lib Dems' deputy leader of the house David Heath had said a fortnight ago in the House of Commons. This chimes with the general media reporting standard that unless something is said live ...
That's the question asked today by Lib Dem blogger Andy Hinton in an article titled, If you want to keep something secret... Andy highlights the mangled reporting of the BBC in claiming that Nick Clegg is back-tracking on the coalition government's commitment to fixed-term parliaments by fleshing out further details on the proposed 55% dissolution rule – as he points out, Nick was simply repeating what the Lib Dems' deputy leader of the house David Heath had said a fortnight ago in the House of Commons. This chimes with the general media reporting standard that unless something is said live ...
Absolutely brilliant
I have been approaching the forthcoming month long football fest that is the World Cup with an air of resignation. If it's not about Inverness Caley Thistle, then, frankly, my dear, I really don't give a damn and it annoys me that every four years this one sport dominates our national lives in the way that it does. It winds me up, and nobody in our house even likes the sport that much. It must be a nightmare to live with a fan who will hog the tv at all hours to watch the most insignificant matches. I really have ...
This extraordinary passage is from the State Department's Daily Brieifng yesterday: QUESTION: Mr. Crowley, it is the Israeli's actions that need to be investigated. So how can Israel, too - best investigation - why is the United States opposed to UN investigation? MR. CROWLEY: As we've said, we are completely supportive of an impartial investigation that helps us understand what happens - what happened on these ships, and more importantly, working collectively, how we can meet our common objectives of increasing the international support for the people of Gaza, and at the same time, supporting Israel with its legitimate security ...
I've been following a bit of the mini-Twitter scandal about the Greencoat Boy. If you missed this read this report to get the gist. While the reported homophobia is of course appalling, and it is good to see another example of new media being used as a weapon to fight bigotry, my main reaction to this story was to start reminiscing about my time working for the Commission for Social Care Inspection in 2008. The Commission had its headquarters just round the corner from the Greencoat Boy so the pub became a regular after work haunt for a time. As ...
There were three interesting presentations at yesterday's public meeting of the Fox Hollies Green Neighbourhood Forum meeting, held in Oaklands Primary School. The presentations were given by: Naluda Kauser from the NHS Primary Care Trust (there are currently three PCTs in Birmingham but they are shortly to be merged into one) - Naluda was keen to encourage residents to get involved in the variety of public consultation events the Trust organises and have their say about the development of this part of the NHS. For more information see http://benpct.nhs.uk/ Grace Welch, the Manager of the Fox Hollies Childrens Centre - ...
McGowans (formerly The Great Northern) 172 London Road, St Albans, Herts, AL1 1PQ is seeking a licence variation allowing opening to 3am. Representations should be made to: Lucy Annetts Licensing Admin / Hearings Officer St. Albans City & District Council District Council Offices Civic Centre St. Peter's Street St. Albans Hertfordshire AL1 3JE Tel: 01727-819541 Fax: 01727-819433 E-mail: lucy.annetts@stalbans.gov.uk Website: http://www.stalbans.gov.uk Last date for representation is: 18th June 2010. For further information click here.
Yesterday I went along to the Conservative Home post election report meeting with Ben Surtees, Simon Whelband and Claire French. I had been intrigued to hear what the inside perspective for why the conservatives didn't win an outright majority was and to be honest I was a little disappointed. I had expected to hear some new and ...
Of course, as a jobbing bureaucrat, weapons training is not part of my day to day activity. However, one should never turn down an opportunity to gain new skills. And so it was that I found myself in the Elveden Forest on Saturday afternoon, with a crossbow in one hand and a bolt in the other. My stepdaughter Sally and her fiance, Brij, had graciously invited Ros and I to spend a day with them at Centre Parcs, with some activity involved, and they thought that some archery would be nice. So, into the car we got, and Ros drove ...
I posted a little piece of cricketing whimsy on The Corridor last night.
Market volatility, especially in equities and currencies, has once again become an issue. Questions over the stability of the Eurozone come on top of indications that the Chinese economy may be overheating. The sabre rattling by North Korea has only added to the sense of unease. To an extent I see a certain folk memory of the Great Depression driving this unease. After the Wall St crash of 1929, a short term stability was restored, but over the next two years the original liquidity crisis, caused by so much stock being bought on margin, became a solvency crisis, as those ...
So David Cameron is warning that the cuts in the forthcoming budget will be the most drastic in a generation, so severe that they'll change our whole way of life, and it's all the fault of the previous administration who've left an even bigger financial mess than anticipated. There's nothing "new-politics" about this. Blaming the last lot is the oldest political cliché in the book, rivaled only by a softening-up processes so that the cuts, when announced, don't seem too bad after all. I'm quite sure that most people who take only a casual interest in politics will see this ...
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 →
...have David Heath state it quite clearly and explicitly, on the record, in the House of Commons. Tonight, the BBC website is displaying the headline "Clegg says dissolution plans must avoid 'limbo'", bringing us the extraordinary revelation that the Beeb's (generally very good) Laura Kuenssberg detected earlier in the afternoon, that Nick Clegg might be ...
Dear All, Its time to do a bit of something completely different, I am cycling for WaterAid this weekend on the 'Wrong Way Round' cycle ride, so if you would like to sponsor me please do and help me support my favorite charity next to the Portishead Lifeboat! Please click on the link below and give what you can by clicking on the link below: http://original.justgiving.com/brianmathew Best wishes Brian Dr. Brian Mathew Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesman for North Somerset www.brianmathew.org.uk e-mail: brian@brianmathew.org.uk
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 blegging will continue until morale improves by/at: KN@PPSTER Surprising admission by/at: Mark Wadsworth Nanny State by/at: Instead of a Blog » Paine Remains Bans, discrimination and jerky knees by/at: Al Jahom's Final Word Light in Darkness: Mondragon and the Global Economic Meltdown by/at: The Distributist Review After the election: where now for social ...
Next week here at Oxford Brookes University, they're hosting a conference entitled "Sharia and Legal Globalisation". I should stress that from what I can gather from the program this is not a conference about how to implement Sharia alongside say English Common Law within Britain but about how Sharia as a legal system in use in many countries in the world can co-exist with other legal systems in a globalised world. My interest, however, is how different ideas of justice and the legal systems used to implement them can co-exist at any scale. At an international scale law is, by ...
As promised, May was a bumper month here at 'Liberal Bureaucracy'. Readership was up dramatically, with 3,653 visits during the month, compared to 2,255 in April (down 62%, or 56.8% adjusting for the uneven number of days), and 1,853 in May 2009 (up 97.1%). Income from advertising has increased again, to £2.01, up from 31p last month, and from last May's £1.15. As a result, my first cheque from AdSense is now expected to arrive in September 2014. Oh yes, my Wikio ranking is 210 (General), 107 (Politics), so I'm drifting further from the big league...
We may be hearing more about AV in the near future so it is worth knowing what it stands for. The Alternative Vote system is system in which voters list their favourite candidates in order. This is fairly easy to understand even if it is more complicated to count. However there are some first-past-the-post winners who would win in exactly the same way with AV, and that is those who have achiever over 50% of the vote. If this is not the case then the candidate at the bottom of the list gets their votes redistributed to the other candidates. ...
Saturday: Normally, when you put the words AWESOME and DOCTOR and VINCENT together, a Liberal Democrat will jump to a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT conclusion than that you're talking about the week's Dr Woo. Last week Daddy Richard was a bit DOWN on visiting HISTORY; does he still think that? Well, that'll teach me to be cynical about the "celebrity historical" as an overused sub-genre of Doctor Who. This was a wonderful, emotional exploration of a very creative yet very troubled life, not afraid to show us glimpses of that life's dark side while keeping it appropriate to a Saturday teatime audience. ...
