Two things are a bit odd about all the debate over spending cuts in the last week. One is that it seems to have been disconnected from the debate about the economy. The cuts are required partly because of the huge banking bail-out, and the abuses that led to that are still going on. Yet that debate seems to be happening in another universe somewhere. Worse, the BBC seems to have decreed that this is not an issue that might be tackled by encouraging local enterprise - which will require some kind of break-up of the big banks. Second, and ...
You can find these wonderful sculptures, the work of Dave Bytheway, in the grounds of the Longmynd Hotel.
For many years the Parish Council cherished an ambition to have beside the War Memorial a garden to complement the setting. Over the last year things have moved on and now, with plans drawn up, planning permission obtained and a contract almost ready to be signed for the work there are just 2 bits of the jigsaw to finish. The design of the interpretive plaque needs to be finalised in detail and
A footnote to our previous coverage of Lords McAlpine and Laidlaw, two non-dom Conservative members of the House of Lords. They had both for a long time been unmoved by criticism of their tax affairs, but ahead of changes to the law they have both decided to give up their seats in the Lords. Lord McAlpine's case was relatively straight-forward, but Lord Laidlaw's case had the added twist that he broke a promise he made on being appointed. Indeed, the Lords Appointment Commission was subsequently moved to say that they would not have authorised his peerage if they had known ...
Some of these reviews can also be found on Amazon.In May 2010 I read the following books: 1. Last And First Men, by Olaf Stapledon - Meh: 2/5 This is another of those supposedly great works ("science fiction's greatest ascent", according to Stephen Baxter) that is actually a load of pish. Sure, it's undeniably imaginative and even "epic". It's certainly a significant work - virtually none before and few stories since have been written on such a vast scale. But it is boring and repetitive, utterly lacking in humanity (even though it purports to be a history of humanity and ...
The BBC report that the Rural Affairs Minister has decided to suspend the cull on badgers in Pembrokeshire pending the outcome of the appeal by the Badger Trust, which is due to be heard at the end of this month: On Wednesday, Ms Jones said she was determined to continue with the cull, saying the assembly government had been advised that the appeal was not to be listed for hearing until between November and February. But she has now announced that the cull will be delayed after finding out on Wednesday afternoon that the Court of Appeal had agreed to ...
Just a reminder that there's an advice session on Saturday June 12th at the Eastlands Office (they seem to be abandoning the "Belle Vue House" thing) on Garratt Way, Gorton. 11 - 12. All welcome.
Last June, I chaired meetings at various sheltered housing lounges across the West End at which Digital UK updated residents about the digital switchover. With the switchover now imminent - in August - I held two more today at two lounges we were unable to visit last time - Sinderins Court in Hawkhill and the Lime Street sheltered lounge in Logie. On this occasion, I was accompanied by Colin Scott, Regional Projector Co-ordinator for the BBC switchover help scheme. Colin gave excellent presentations and answered residents' questions. If any West End resident has any queries about the switchover, please call ...
Further to the excellent presentations I referred to in my last update - from the Friends of Magdalen Green meeting last night, you can now download them as follows : Gillian Molloy : http://tinyurl.com/gillianmolloy Iain Flett : http://tinyurl.com/iainflett
Having the chance to put some of our policies into practise must not be squandered by loose lips.
I've just got home from a door-knocking session in my ward in which we were talking to constituents about the Coalition Government, as well as local issues. 100 survey forms were delivered last night. My ward colleague, Cllr Marilynn Ord, and I called back tonight to collect the replies. We got 25 back. Some more are likely to be posted to me.We had a similar response on Saturday when we were
Well its well under way now and I'm sure most people are relishing a month of football. Like many football fans, the choice of teams that I will be backing at this summer's World Cup is somewhat limited. Despite years of hiding behind the sofa as we get knocked out by penalties (again, and again) ...
Fri 11th
19:55
Just dropped off our son for his first ever cub camping weekend. Hope it all goes well!
Just dropped off our son for his first ever cub camping weekend. Hope it all goes well!
The Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for South Wales West, Peter Black, will be holding two advice surgeries next week. He will be in Glynneath Library on Friday 18th June from 3pm to 4pm. Mr. Black will then be available at Neath Central Library from 4.30pm to 5.30pm. No appointment is necessary.
CHIPPING SODBURY FESTIVAL http://www.chippingsodburyfestival.org/
This morning I had the pleasure of unveiling the new sundial at Marie Louise Gardens which has been created with the help of the children of Moor Allerton School. The sundial marks a successful end to a project initiated by the Friends Group who wanted to create a feature that will symbolise our dependence on ...
Ha! Avoided paying too-posh over GBP10 for wine (tho only thx to Oddbins discount). Chilled Albarino, mmmm. # Main mission 2day accomplished: bought sunglasses that don't make head look stupidly thin/round/flat/buglike/weird. 1 prob: are Burberry. # Now find myself trapped in the porn end of Anne Summers ... Is it just me, or is it hot already? # @helenduffett Aha, my search for a special yellow #ldconf trilby can commence. in reply to helenduffett # @mssusieday Mmmmm roast. Oh, and don't forget #bgt [IMG: :)] in reply to mssusieday # The 'Rampant Rabbit Thruster Deluxe' – rated 10/10 by This ...
I have returned from Coventry this evening, and whilst I am too worn out from driving and too interested in settling down to watch the World Cup to write much now, I do think it's worth mentioning a bit of Royal Mail fabulousness which I have come home to. A friend of mine moved to New Zealand some time ago, possibly to escape me. Whatever his reason, he sends me postcards every now and againd from far flung bits of the far flung nation he now lives in. Don't be fooled by his international jet-setting though, for he is incapable ...
Thursday: Isn't great that Britain's biggest booby is back! What with their awkward flapping not to mention dangerously flamboyant mating habits making them all too tempting a target, it was once thought to be all over for Britain's answer to Big Bird. His habit of crashing and burning, a consequence of flying blind into electrical cables, didn't help either. But now, thanks to a programme of careful conservation, the bustard has been given a SECOND CHANCE! And for those of you NOT interested in BIRDS, Mr Simon Hugs has been chosen as the new Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats. ...
Today was definitely a day for the foodies in Launceston. Every local knows about the superb reputation of Warrens the Butchers and also of the fishmonger and The Deli - not forgetting Gillards Sweet Shop! But today was extra special. The French market visited the town with a fine range of cheeses, meat, salamis, soaps, bread and fruit. We also had two indoors markets today. The regular Friday market was happening in St Mary's Church Hall and was joined by a Community Market in the Methodist Central Church Hall selling local farm produce. One seller in the last of these ...
A very long and busy Thursday began by tagging along with the Planning Committees annual bus tour of Affordable Housing sites. The new development at Fountainbridge, on the site of the old brewery, was really impressive.The streets seemed narrower than normally agreed by the Council, to keep in line with existing tenements. The height of the buildings was also a noticeable. The results work really well. The brick finish - unusual in Edinburgh - really looked fantastic. This development was a mixture of high quality private homes and some housing for people with disabilities. The residence for people with disabilities ...
Becoming a parent (it transpires) involves a lot of paperwork, and logistics. 1. registering the birth 2. getting an EHIC 3. signing on at the GP 4. seeing midwives 5. seeing health visitors 6. claiming child benefit 7. setting up a savings account 8. applying for child tax credits etc. 9. childrens centres (if you want to, you could include the mothercare baby clubs, emma's diary club, netmums, library bookstart club). there is still a lot more to come....childrens trust fund (soon to disappear) etc. how about a passport god forbid. then there will be childminding - a total mindfield ...
This morning, a discussion with Dr N in haematology at King's. He said that apart from the low haemoglobin, the platelet count is raised, and the two together indicate a leakage of blood from the circulation system. The results hadn't come through from the samples left yesterday but the CT scan of the aorta showed that the aneurism had increased from 5.0 in January to 5.8 on June 1. At this rate of increase it would reach the level of 6.0 when surgery would be considered for patients over 80, but it would be for Mr R to advise when ...
St Laurence, Church Stretton, is currently undergoing extensive renovation to make it "more suitable for worship in the 21st century" - something to make any High Church atheist suspicious. Fortunately, the church's Sheela Na Gig has survived this transformation. As The Sheela Na Gig Project website tells us: Sheela Na Gigs are quasi-erotic stone carvings of a female figure usually found on Norman or to be more precise Romanesque churches. They consist of an old woman squatting and pulling apart her vulva, a fairly strange thing to find on a church. The carvings are old and often do not seem ...
Labour Party man Brian Barder on how to salvage his party: The positive way to signal a radical change of policy on the resort to military force, implying (but not necessarily stating explicitly) a promise never to repeat the Iraq criminal blunder, would be to declare formally that no future Labour government will ever again send British forces into action overseas unless (a) in response to an armed attack on sovereign British territory (as permitted under the UN Charter) or else (b) to participate in peace-keeping or peace-making operations expressly authorised by the United Nations Security Council. Labour would also ...
David Willetts has been in the news for saying that cost of students is "a burden on the taxpayer" and that they should consider tuition fees "more as an obligation to pay higher income tax" than a debt". I have a lot of sympathy for the view that Labour's 50 per cent target was arbitrary and not well thought out, but two things about Willetts' comments occur to me. I am not sure if they are contradictory, but here they are. The first is that if we had a more progressive taxation system then it might be possible do away ...
It has been a while since I last posted in the Mobile Badvertising section. Mobile adverts are slowly improving. By every once in a while, I spot an advert of such mind numbing ineptitude that I am compelled to post. Orange Take a look at the latest offering from Orange – a large UK mobile network operator. [IMG: Orange Advert on Guardian] Orange Advert on Guardian Spot it? It's the microscopic banner hidden away on the mobile site of the Guardian newspaper. The advertiser has little choice in the poor placement. And it's not their fault if the Guardian has ...
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. Here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week 1. Do you pass the Lib Dem test? The 13 Yes/No questions that will give you your answer (45) by Stephen Tall 2. Opinion: I'm no longer prepared to support Stonewall under the leadership of Mr Summerskill (36) by Ed Fordham 3. Redundancies announced at the Parliamentary Office of the Liberal Democrats (21) by The Voice 4. Opinion: The coalition's education policies are seriously flawed (51) by Peter Downes 5. Want to know who the most liberal ...
Flowers have been planted in newly installed flower towers, planters and lamp post boxes across St Albans as part of St Albans City and District Council's project to make the District bloom. Local businesses and other organisations have been invited to get involved with the Council's District in Bloom project by sponsoring flower baskets or planters within the City centre. As the project develops, it is hoped that they will commit to making the City bloom on an annual basis. If you would like further information about how to sponsor a planter please e-mail: Nikolas.Khan@stalbans.gov.uk or telephone: 01727 819369. The ...
Regular readers of this blog will know that I am looking forward to taking part in the "Cabled" electric car trial, which involves a number of car manufacturers providing electric cars for a range of ordinary drivers to use for a year. I have been allocated a Tata Indica EV - the electric version of Tata's small family car - already popular in its petrol version in India and shortly to be launched in Europe. I was initially due to test drive the car last weekend and pick it up shortly after. However technical problems (to be fair it is ...
Yesterday the Government announced that it was cutting almost £4million from Cornwall Council's budget. This isn't from core funding but from the additional monies provided to support additional work. At the same time, they said they were relaxing the 'ring fencing' which means that a lot of the money given to the council can only be used for named projects. Relaxing the ring fencing is good as it means that councils have more discretion to spend money on services which local people need most. When asked about the cuts, Council Leader Alec Robertson said that he would be looking to ...
The contest to replace Jenny Chapman MP as councillor for Cockerton West ward on Darlington Borough Council will be a four-way fight with the BNP putting up against the three main parties.The Lib Dem candidate will be Cockerton West resident Brian Jefferson, former teacher at Branksome School, in the ward, and currently Chair of GOLD (Growing Older Living in Darlington). Brian is the only
My colleague Mario Fonk has proposed a motion for Full Council on Tuesday about the new Homechoice system. The issue is that the current rules mean that local applicants have no precedence in the allocation of council housing and sometimes people are forced to move to the other end of Cornwall to get a home, even if they want to stay where they were born and grew up. But the controversy over this motion is that the rules state that such proposals are not debated and voted on by all councillors at the council meeting. Motions are referred automatically by ...
Nominations are now sought for the 2010 ALDC Campaigner Awards. These awards celebrate Liberal Democrat campaigning achievements - it's the second year the awards have been organised by ALDC. The awards are sponsored by Midshires and RISO, which enable us to award cash prizes to local Liberal Democrat parties. This year nominations are sought for: - 1st Prize (Overall winner) £500 FIVE Runners Up Prizes (£100 each) - Best FOCUS Leaflet - Best literature by a volunteer campaigner - Best ward campaign - Best direct mail - Best membership literature Please send in your nominations to: awards@aldc.org (PagePlus11 and PDF ...
I have been following the debates on BP and noticed a few of points that have not really been pick up on. Contractors Why are BP using contractors so heavy to a point where almost all the work is done by contractors. It would appear that this does not absolve you of any blame so why not do the work yourself. BP appear to of lost some of their knowledge and have to reply on contractors not only because they don't have all the resources required and can't do all the work themselves but because they no longer have some ...
The London Assembly has unanimously passed a motion calling for an investigation into how polling was conducted for the general and council elections in May. From the BBC: The review comes after hundreds of Londoners were unable to vote and left queuing as polling booths closed. About 300 people were turned away in Lewisham and another 150 were unable to vote in Hackney. Long queues were also seen in Vauxhall and Brockley. The review will look at the issues of overcrowding and as well as allegations of electoral fraud. The review will be conducted by the Business Management and Administration ...
As the years have gone by, I have to admit I've moved ever so slightly more... pragmatist... when it comes to the issue of benefits. In the late 90s, when Frank Field was appointed by Tony Blair to "think the unthinkable" about benefits, I was deeply sceptical. Even then, despite being in short trousers and ...
Many would agree with me that Kent's education is a divisive mishmash of privilege and discrimination which is not just about the flawed grammar system. It's long been known that in West Kent, grammar schools actively discriminate against the interest of local children who have passed the Kent Test and instead, favouring kids from affluent families across South London. Last week the "Thanet Heads Group" were suggesting that foster kids are no longer welcome in Thanet's schools, apparently, so upset they penned a letter to KCC referring to "considerable problems" and suggesting "enough is enough". According to an article in ...
This coming Sunday is the retirement service of Father David at St Barnabus. After several years of service to the Anglican community and beyond in Southdown Parish he is now retiring. We wish him and his family well in their retirement and thank them for their service in Southdown. The service starts at 10am on Sunday.
We have just met with the Changes group and discussed how to take forward ideas for improving the Rosewarn Field. A really positive meeting with lots of good ideas coming forward. Thay have invited Nathan Hartley from Peasedown St John to come to the next meeting to explain how he got Party in the Park going so successfully in Peasedown last year. Changes are a group...
Eamonn Butler has a piece today on The Spectator Coffee House where he suggests that the Star Chamber approach the government is currently taking to help focus scrutiny on departments diffuses responsibilities and may not be the best way to improve government efficiency. He then goes on to suggest that there should instead be one person in charge of reforming government and says Phillip Hammond could be the best man for the job. Can I just issue a plea though? In the last decade or so there have been numerous restructurings of government. Tony Blair seemed to think it was ...
I took part this morning in a panel chaired by Rory Cellan-Jones titled "Networked Journalism & Political Reporting" at the Value of Journalism conference. Also on the panel were MORI's Robert Worcester, Rishi Saha of the Conservative Party, Labour MP Douglas Alexander and BBC journalist Laura Kuenssberg. You can watch the session via UStream. My main comments come at around 26:25 in.
I am watching the World Cup opening ceremony, and it is absolutely breathtaking. The sheer scale, the grandeur, the majestic sweeping order, the colour, the spectacle, of those ranks upon ranks, rows upon serried rows, of absolutely empty orange seats! Bank upon bank, line upon line of starkly empty, glaringly orange seats! It is grandly symbolic, it is conceptual art, it should get the Turner Prize! Oh sorry, it's just a huge cock-up that shows the stupidity of taking an event this size to South Africa.
Great news this morning - the new coalition government has decided to review every transport scheme that was in the pipeline. This is great news for Bath as it means the BRT and the Meadows P&R are now delayed until at least after the Autumn review. That gives us time to develop some sensible alternatives to these two madcap proposals.
St James Investment have put on a public consultation at teh Bath Press Site on the Lower Bristol Road for the public to comment on the outline proposals for the site. Proposals contain a Tesco store, an office/work unit block, a second block and 10 houses. The scheme is described in detail at this link BathPressLink I will post my comments both on their website abnd here when I have studied the proposals in more detail.
Right, shall we try and get back into this habit again? Whyever not. I've been thinking about getting a tumblr... oh, who am I kidding? I have signed up for a tumbler, but now I'm just squatting on the name while I try and figure out what I want to do with it. I just like the short format and the verslity and the reblogging feature of it. It looks like a cross between Twitter and a Real Blog™, which is how I view this thing nowadays. Plus, there are some really cool comics related tumblers such as DC Women ...
Sorry not to have written for the last fortnight. The week of 24 May was a Parliamentary recess week, during which I represented Parliament's Liberal Group at a conference in Beijing at which 100 parliamentarians from across the EU met the Chinese Communist Party; and the week of 31 May was a UK school holiday week during which I sailed a 28' boat from Plymouth to Brest with my fifteen year old son. This week I have been in Brussels and in Cyprus, the latter in my role as a member of Parliament's contact group for relations with Turkish Cypriots, ...
In case you hadn't noticed, today a certain football tournament kicks off in South Africa. Thankfully this fact hasn't escaped the attention of our Food Standards Agency (FSA). No, indeed not. Such was the concern about our wellbeing at the FSA that someone has generously spent tax payers' money preparing a guide on how and what we should drink during the festivities. How kind. Never mind that Homo sapiens have managed feed and water themselves for around 200,000 years now, what we've always needed is a ten-year-old government body to help us through the trauma of mealtimes. A full copy ...
Here are some big figures to wrap your brains around. The University of Cambridge has today announced its fundraising campaign, started in 2001, has just passed the £1 billion mark. That's a phenomenal achievement: it is the first university outside of North America to raise such a sum. Here at the University of Oxford, my employer, our Oxford Thinking campaign, started in 2004, has just reached the £875 million mark. The £1 billion beckons. But then we look over the pond, to the US ... Harvard had what it labelled a "disappointing" fundraising year in 2009 – the University raised ...
During the election campaign a Bradford woman asked then leader of the opposition, Dave Cameron, what he would do about the "big holes" of Bradford created by Bradford Council's Conservative administration. (To be absolutely fair a lot of this problem was caused by the Yorkshire Forward Quango, appointed by the then Labour government and totally unaccountable to the people of Yorkshire.) This week a local TV reporter interviewed David Ward, newly elected Bradford MP, what he would do about said demolition sites in Bradford, what with him being a member of the coalition "government". (He's not actually a member of ...
A judge has ruled that three former Labour MPs and a Conservative peer may not avoid trial for expenses fraud, rejecting their claims to parliamentary privilege. Parliamentary privilege is a 300-year-old immunity from legal proceedings arising from actions within Parliament; however the judge ruled that individual expense claims are "not covered by parliamentary privilege and... triable in Crown Court". From the BBC: Mr Justice Saunders rejected arguments by Elliot Morley, David Chaytor, Jim Devine and Lord Hanningfield that only Parliament could hear their case. There was no bar to a trial, he said. The four, who all deny charges of ...
Israeli Attack on the Mavi Marmara, May 31st 2010 // 15 min. from Cultures of Resistance on Vimeo. Lara Lee managed to hide this footage from the Israelis when they confiscated all the evidence from passengers. This video shows plainly a bloodstained ship before any commandos boarded, and that the passengers were not teroorists preparing for a fight.
Fri 11th
12:54
Proof: An unknown candidate, first on the ballot, can win a major election without campaigning
A very curious case indeed from South Carolina: An unemployed military veteran has stunned Democratic Pary bosses by winning the nomination to stand for South Carolina's senate seat - despite not even running a campaign. Alvin Greene, 32, lives at home with his parents, raised no money and had no campaign website, staff, leaflets or signs. His opponent Vic Rawl, 64, a veteran South Carolina politician and judge, had been considered certain to get the nomination, only for Greene to win by 59 per cent to 41 per cent. ...The candidate lives in the small, rural town of Manning, South ...
The use of stop and search by the police, particularly in London, has often come under criticism. Most often it's been about ridiculous cases where someone has been stopped or, more seriously, the deeply held suspicion amongst many communities that their members are irrationally singled out by the police for far more searches than their numbers or crime rates justify. This argument about what is sometimes called disproportionality should not only be of concern in terms of wanting to see the police free of discrimination, but also of concern in terms of wanting the police to be using their time ...
The Prime Minister has said he wants us all to 'revere and support' British forces for the work they do in Afghanistan. This is an interesting phrase and it is highly dangerous as only language, that most terrible of weapons, can be. There are very few of us who do not strongly respect and support the work of British forces abroad. I couldn't do what they do and I can't imagine the stress it puts on them and their families so they deserve the highest respect and regard. However, we should not 'revere' an army. One of the most striking ...
Last July two Wolverhampton City (Conservative) Councillors were arrested, earlier this week the second of the two was found not-guilty of any crime (the first was found not guilty earlier in the year). The prosecution offered no evidence in the case and I wonder quite how much money was wasted bringing this prosecution when there was no evidence.
Two incidents in one day have sparked a warning from the council's trading standards team for people to be on their guard against doorstep criminals. The incidents both happened on June 3 but at opposite ends of the borough, one in Prestwich and one in Ramsbottom. Interestingly, although the descriptions of the men involved in the scams were different, both told the residents that they were working on a neighbouring house and they needed to turn off the water supply to prevent a flood. Whilst distracted with the first offender, another male entered the property. In Ramsbottom the second male ...
Cornwall Council has set up a new Culture Board to deliver high profile projects in the Duchy. I have been nominated to be an observer on this Board to scrutinise their work. Cornwall is showing huge ambition in trying to promote our culture and arts to both local residents and to the wider world. This is not simply with the aim of attracting more tourists, but also to build up some of our biggest exporting industries. Although Cornwall was not successful in winning the UK City of Culture status, we are also in line to bid to host the Manifesta ...
Regular readers of this blog will know that I have thrown an occasional strop because my GP surgery has an 0844 number. This means that calling to get an appointment or a prescription costs me an absolute fortune. There was one month when the costs purely of contacting the surgery were over £15. Now, I can afford to take that hit, but there are many who can't. Most landlines don't include 084 numbers in their free calls, nor do mobile companies who charge a fortune for them. You also have to bear in mind that many of those on the ...
A judge has just ruled that Parliamentary privilege will not prevent Jim Devine, Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Lord Hanningfield from facing trial in court over this expenses abuses in court. The defence was being used by the three former MPs to try and keep it within the Parliamentary disciplinary structure. But the judge has rules that their case of false accounting has been correctly brought under the Theft Act and is not covered by privilege protected what MPs can say or write in the house.
With growing pressure on local Councils to make efficiencies and to live within decreasing means, whilst at the same time preserving front-line services, one could be forgiven for thinking that Council Leaders and Cabinet Members need to be proven miracle workers before getting the job. This is especially so when the local priorities they have been elected to deliver on are made more difficult by national directives dressed up as policy initiatives and when those initiatives are not properly funded. Centralisation and control-freakery on the part of Welsh Ministers has been a common theme in these articles however the one ...
Back in May, I reported that the consultation for New Roads proposed Access Only restriction was finally happening, after many months of uncertainty. Last night a report came to the Traffic Management and Advisory Panel (TMAP) and Officers recommended that: "In view of the objection by TVP, who are responsible for enforcement action it is not recommended that the prohibition is implemented. However, due to the support expressed by residents during the statutory consultation period and during previous meetings it is recommended that the prohibition is introduced on an experimental basis for 12 months and further feedback sought from the residents ...
Feel free to treat the below as meme and share your own if you want. First World Cup Memory It was 1978 and the World Chart being hung on the cork tiling (hey it was 1978 that was the trend) in the kitchen amongst me and my brother's paintings. It was of course the World Cup of Ally's Army taking on the Argentine. The first memory of an actual game was the Scotland v Netherlands game. Having lost 3-1 to Peru in the opener and then drawing with Iran 1-1 in game two, they had to face the 1974 finalists ...
Ipsos MORI has just published a digest of polls conducted during, and just prior to, the 2010 election. Their findings are interesting and offer some explanations for the Liberal Democrats' disappointing performance. Here are the main points that I have taken from the Ipsos MORI material. · The Liberal Democrats won the "young women's" vote. The Lib Dems were the preferred party of women voters aged 18-24, where we had a 4% lead over the Tories. This is the only demographic group in which we clearly prevailed; our support from younger women was 8% up from 2005. Conversely, older men ...
Fri 11th
11:20
Opinion: Cuts, minority partnership, and the continuing importance of constructive criticism
Simon Hughes caused quite a stir by setting out his priorities for how Lib Dem MPs should behave if they are not in the government. Clearly there is a balance to be struck between supporting our party's attempt to deliver strong-yet-compromise government in a time of national, and indeed global, emergency, and living our principle that dissent is not weakness. The push-and-pull of coalition government is not the time for hiding our values in the name of unanimity, but voicing them louder than ever to strengthen Nick's negotiating stance and affecting change that we want to see. Despite our leader's ...
You may remember that in March several Parking schemes were advertised throughout Redlands. These have now had there consultations and last night went to the Traffic Management and Advisory Panel (TMAP) and here are some of the items discussed and what the panel decided: Elmhurst Road - "The residents who have objected are content with the status quo, and perceive the problem only during university term time. The restriction will be removed from the programme and further investigation carried out." i.e. this has been dropped, and an investigated in a wider sense will be carried out. There are a number of issues ...
Last night I attended the Prestwich Festivals' Prestwich has Junior Talent Contest. This year it was moved from St.Mary's Park, with a small makeshift stage, to the Longfield Suite. When I attended last years event there were perhaps 100 people at best, this year I was almost blown away when I walked in to find 300-400 and the place was packed. There were a number of acts from local schools interspersed with performances from High School students. I have to say I was amazed by the standard of all those performing. It was great to watch and a great entertainment ...
I mentioned 'hybrid bills' in passing the other day. For those of you who wondered, "What is a hybrid bill, then?", the answer is; "public bills which are considered to affect specific private or local interests, in a manner different from the private or local interests of other persons or bodies of the same class, thus attracting the provisions of the Standing Orders applicable to private business"
Interesting article in this morning's Western Mail reporting on the views of education expert, Professor David Reynolds that the schools funding crisis in Wales will not be solved unless we slash the number of education authorites. Although I don't believe that such a reorganisation should be driven by cost pressures alone, I believe that the Professor is right. I have written in more detail on this issue here. Many of our local Councils are too small to deliver the functions required of them. More importantly reorganisation could be used as an opportunity to give Councils more responsibilities and powers as ...
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This is from the record of proceedings fof the Assembly on Wednesday for questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs, Elin Jones: Peter Black: Minister, you will be aware of the huge concern in north Pembrokeshire at the activities of your contractors and officials in visiting farms and intimidating elderly people and pensioners in particular, wearing masks and being escorted by large numbers of police officers. How does that activity fit in with your vision of a rural Wales that is socially and economically well-off, and what impact will that sort of activity have on tourism in that part of ...
The Liverpool Daily Post reports on the latest incident of a councillor landing themselves in hot water as a result of a posting on social networking site Facebook. Lib Dem councillor Sharon Green is alleged to have posted a photo of disabled people "with text comparing them with the city's Labour group": Cllr Sharon Green, who represents St Michael's ward, will face an inquiry despite city Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Warren Bradley deciding against launching a probe. The national Lib-Dems have now intervened and asked their regional standards chiefs to get to the bottom of the affair, which caused widespread ...
Our Cappello, Who Art in Durban. Football be thy name, Thy Tournament come, The world cup be won In South Africa as it was in Devon [this is referencing the tiddly winks world cup of 1848] Give us this day our daily nutmeg And forgive John's trespacies as we forgive those who score against us. ...
As I mentioned yesterday, I recently upgraded to the Nokia X6 16GB and as when I reviewed the N900, I'm posting my experiences of just over two weeks with it so far. All from the perspective of being a Linux user of course. [IMG: [Nokia X6 16GB]] I am loving the X6 on the whole. The 'X' range is targeted at entertainment based users but, running Symbian^1, it's fulfilling my Smartphone requirements. There's an irony in that my reflection on the N900 was that I had to keep reminding myself that it was "a tool not a toy" whereas with ...
With all government departments having to look at huge cuts, I thought I would write about what I know. These are the steps I would take to cut back radically on the FCO budget. 1) Make all Directors-General and Heads of Department Redundant Diplomats alternate in their careers between Whitehall and postings to Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates abroad. In the FCO in Whitehall, the chain of command goes like this. Ministers PUS Directors General Directors Heads of Department Assistant Heads of Department Heads of Section Desk Officers Assistant Desk Officers Clerks The nomenclature changed several times when I was ...
Fri 11th
09:55Horwood: coalition deal on nuclear power creates possible "win-win situation" for Lib Dems
Part of the coalition deal between the Lib Dems and Conservatives allowed for Nick Clegg and colleagues to abstain on three key issues which divide the parties – raising student tuition fees, the Tories' marriage tax allowance, and nuclear power. However, written into the agreement, too, was the pledge that no new nuclear power station will receive a public subsidy – which, as Mark Pack has previously noted, means that if the figures don't stack up, they won't happen. It's a point Cheltenham Lib Dem MP Martin Horwood re-inforces today in an article on politics.co.uk, Lib Dem hopes for 'win-win' ...
My House Points column from today's Liberal Democrat News. Instinctively I am rather in favour of Gove's ideas, but it becomes harder to defend them when you have to set your views down in writing. A mixed report How do you know when the delegates for a teachers' union conference have flown in? Because the whining noise continues after the jet's engines have been turned off. Unfair no doubt, but you have to admit the educational world is infected with a terrible negativity. Reading the Guardian education section on Tuesdays, which ought to be an uplifting experience, leaves you looking ...
I've just watched Ed Balls' being interviewed by Andrew Neil on The Daily Politics yesterday and my goodness does he wriggle? Here are a few highlights: When cross-examined about things that people have said about him and his tendencies he keeps demanding that Neil "name them". He offers both Jackie Ashley and Alastair Campbell as examples both of whom he then tries to dismiss out of hand.He tries breathtakingly to claim that he does not need to talk about what cuts he would make as he is not in government! I never noticed his mentor Gordon Brown holding back on ...
Liberal Democrat policy is not to replace Trident with a like-for-like system, but the price of sharing power in the coalition is becoming clear.The coalition agreement approved by the conference in Birmingham said: "The parties commit to holding a full Strategic Security and Defence Review alongside the Spending Review with strong involvement of the Treasury. The Government will be committed
A couple of days ago I was (again) wrongly given credit by someone for an astute blog post. After bluffing for a little while, thinking "Did I really write something about that?", I realised it was another case of mistaken identity - someone had read a post on Mark Reckons and thought it was by me. So in case you don't know: Mark Reckons is actually written by Mark Thompson - no, not that Mark Thompson but this Mark Thompson. Neither of whom are Mark Pack, Mark Pack or indeed Mark Pack . All clear? Good.
A few views of the Grand Union and Stratford canalsSadly "New technology defeated old hack" when I was on the canals last week. Couldn't get camera to talk to laptop, nor laptop to internet whilst actually travelling.
Sssh! Don't tell @johnrentoul but Vince Cable is cutting quangoes http://bit.ly/bbMBjS None are Cabinet Cttees do don't count I guess [IMG: :)] # @currybet Excellent piece - and great concept in reply to currybet # @simond Timing is smart - get data out before govt gets too used to being in power. Like with FoI - important to make major moves early in reply to simond # @martinuttley @laurenceparkes Actually - that's not such a bad idea; ie finding out someone else on plane might want to chat with? in reply to martinuttley # @laurenceparkes I'm going to take a ...
The Welsh Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson, Peter Black has called for more details after the Health Minister told an Assembly Committee that she is planning for a billion pounds worth of cuts from the health service over the next three years. In a written report the Minister told the Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee that her planning assumptions for the next three financial years from 2011-12 will require NHS organisations to reduce their costs by 7% per annum, or 19.6% over this period. This equates to a reduction of £1.1bn on the current revenue budget over the next three ...
View Poll: World Cup 11 June Current FIFA rankings: France 9th, Uruguay 16th, Mexico 17th, South Africa 83rd but with home advantage. And don't miss Dave Barry's thoughtful analysis.
Yesterday I attended a lecture by Richard Wilkinson, joint author with Kate Pickett of The Spirit Level:Why Equality is Better for Everyone. Their thesis is that, whilst a rising physical standard of living obviously improves the quality of life in poor countries, in rich countries, growing even richer doesn't. The key factor is the level of equality. In the more unequal countries (which include the US and the UK) levels of a whole range of factors:infant mortality, homicides, imprisonment, teenage births, obesity, mental illness, trust, social mobility and even literacy and competence in mathematics, are worse than in the more ...
For those of you who are interested in my appearances elsewhere, I have a guest post up on Geeka Chicas (again) about the FFW, and I have a three minute speechy bit (and lots of mentions) in this week's Eleventh Hour podcast. They also go on about how brilliant my lovely sponsor is, with which I can only agree...
My opinions on Morecambe Town Council and the dominance of a party called Morecambe Bay Independents are well documented. Firstly, I am concerned that this party has not published its constitution. It acts like a party but gets elected partly because it opposes party politics. Secondly there is no effective opposition on the Town Council to this party with no coherent policies. Thirdly, the council has been very slow in getting its website working. On the 19th December last year I wrote a blog about the Council's website as I was picking up requests for information as I had written ...
