I'm asking the question because the Highways Agency is switching off sections of lighting after midnight on our Motorway network until 5am in a bid to reduce carbon emissions (it also has the advantage of shaving a sizeable sum off the electricity bill ;)) So will this affect accident rates? In a word no. The vast majority of the Motorway network is unlit anyway. All road vehicles that are allowed to use the Motorways are equipped with headlamps that are powerful enough to do the job of allowing the driver to see and the vehicle to be seen. Between 12 ...
My letter to Francine Haeberling - the Conservative Leader of the B&NES Cabinet Dear Francine, On Wednesday you will be asked by your colleague Chris Watt to agree to the following decisions: 1. To support the hard federation link between St Gregorys and St Marks 2. To support an Academy at Oldfield provided it is as a co-ed school 3. To start a consultation on the closure of Culverhay. You...
The BBC Politics Show East today profiled Norman Lamb and his new role at the heart of government. As Norman says, "This is all extraordinary. We're conditioned to being on the outside, looking in." [IMG: Mark Pack on BBC Politics Show] It gives an insight into how the party is adapting to government, what Norman thinks the big challenges are in his role as Chief Parliamentary and Political Advisor to Nick Clegg and, er..., has a short clip of me talking. The piece is available on the iPlayer until just after noon on Sunday 25th July.
The Eden Project Big Lunch this year had a much better day than last years gale. I joined the picnic at the Roundhill along with over 20 others during the course of the picnic. After food, footy and chat the conversatin turned to Culverhay and the campaign to keep the school open and turned into a co-ed.oi
via guardian.co.uk Today's Observer has an interesting feature on how newspaper cartoonists are casting Nick Clegg as "David Cameron's fag", "Little Clegg Riding Hood" and so forth. I have long thought that such simple portrayals can be vital in defining how the public sees leading politicians. The cartoons become heurestics - quick and easy mental shortcuts that help voters, especially those who are not all that interested in the policies and issues, to identify and appreciate the characters in the big tv show of politics. The article recalls the way how, back in the days of the Liberal-SDP Alliance, Spitting ...
The next meeting of the Selly Oak Ward Committee is at 6pm on Thursday 22 July 2010 at the Selly Park Technology College for Girls (Pershore Road entrance). The agenda is now online.Bethan Flynn from the Environment Agency has kindly agreed to attend the meeting to discuss the flood modelling work that they have recently completed on the River Rea, the Bourn Brook and the Bourn. This will be an
One of the things about being a parish councillor is that you get a stream of information about things that you never really realised you cared about, or why you might want to care about them. However, our Parish Clerk here in Creeting St Peter, or Paradise-sur-Gipping, as I prefer to think of it, enthusiastically provides us with a folder of documents from various organisations, containing as much information as I could wish for. The one that really caught my attention is 2011 Census: Councillor Handbook, which "explains what the census is all about, why it matters and how you ...
Here is a selection of issues making headlines during the past few weeks: Local News Homes plan for borough halved - I very much approve of the reduction of home by 2000. However I believe its the number of affordable homes that needs to be improved and indeed social housing. Current plans far way too short. Royal Berkshire Hospital give £1m to fight bedblocking - 'Health trusts in Berkshire have given £1m to three councils to help them put more people in care homes to reduce the number of hospital "bedblockers".' Local Links Carocat Blogs about 'Raoul Moat and the ...
I'm frankly astonished by the approach Zac Goldsmith, Tory MP for Richmond Park, took with Jon Snow of Channel 4 news - judge for yourself! I suspect Goldsmith thought that by bringing up irrelevant rubbish he'd talk out Jon Snow, but it comes across dreadfully badly. Awful really. If he can justify and get away with not declaring the bulk of the cost of election boards to his campaign and off-loading some of the cost to local election candidates when the boards mentioned only one candidate's name (Zac Goldsmith) and one candidate's huge photograph (Zac Goldsmith), with absolutely no mention ...
This is the type of music I spent my youth listening to and when I was a DJ for a time spinning the discs.
At 654 numbered pages, this is the longest volume of the ten so far (and also, incidentally, marks more than a halfway point in the whole report, as Volume X is largely taken up with legal appendices). Whereas Volumes III and IV covered the events in the carpark of the Rossville Flats, where one person was killed and six wounded, Volme V takes a rather shorter time to deal with the events of Rossville Street to the west and north, in which six people were killed and one wounded. It's easier to do in that all of the killing shots ...
Young, innocent and exposed to the wiles of old Europe, Scott Walker resembled a Henry James hero. He first came to prominence as a member of the Walker Brothers, a band manufactured in America (they were not brothers and none of them was originally called Walker) to succeed on the other side of the Atlantic. He later emerged as a considerable artist in his own right. He was known for popularising the songs of Jacques Brel to the English-speaking world (we heard him singing Jackie in one of my first Sunday music choices), but he also composed many songs of ...
I attended the launch of this slim publication from 21st Century Councillor about the influence of social media on the last general election. Fascinating reading.
It's far too early to say whether Murdoch's paywall is shaping up to be yet another cash cow for the Digger's NewsCorp meat processing plant or that rare occurrence that is Rupert backing a loser, but having noticed the latest year-on-year set of circulation figures over on pb.com they don't look that great. That said, nor do those of any of the nationals. To spare you sifting through the bear garden that is that site and its comments here they are; Newspaper May 2010 figures Year on year change (%) The Sun 2,936,099 -1.61 Daily Mail 2,096,074 -3.86 Daily Mirror ...
I looked at the Liberal Conspiracy website/blog today. How do you report a blog for misrepresenting itself ? Articles by Chukka Ummana (Labour MP), Ed Balls (Labour MP), Jon Cruddas (Labour MP), Diane Abbot (Labour MP) and numerous other articles about Labour. Where is the Liberal content ? I would link to the site, but I wouldn't want to give it any credit.
This might seem a little extreme putting a veil against a tabloid, however the comments on this article really beggar belief! No I don't like the burqa or the niqab. But do these garments or the people wearing them do me harm? NO, not at all. Therefore as a Liberal I will defend the rights of people who choose to wear either the burqa or niqab in public. (As do our Government. GOOD ON THEM!) On private property, such as a bank then there may be rules, set by the owner of the property that require the veil to be ...
Not surprisingly, the sequel to Ask Simon Hughes a question is ... Simon Hughes answering the selected questions. His video answers are now up on Yoosk for you to watch. (Click on "Your Questions Answered" under the scorecard.)
We had a lovely family party yesterday, and I'm about to set off for King's, to spend the night there before the operation tomorrow. Lindsay will post a bulletin afterwards, but from tomorrow onwards she will only post if there's something to report, like my discharge.
It is only a few months ago that my whole life, as Lib Dem PPC for Streatham, revolved around knocking on doors, meeting with community and tenant groups, delivering leaflets and doing casework. Nothing could seem more distant from the world I now inhabit, as Director and Chief Executive of CentreForum, of think tanks and discussions on reforming welfare or what the Big Society means. But one thing which was clear from the election result on May 6th was that knocking on doors and putting hundreds of thousands of leaflets through letterboxes is not enough to win. Yes, 'where we ...
I make no apology for another Florence and Precious post. If you're not familiar with their story, Florence Mhango and her 10 year old daughter Precious are in great danger of deportation to Malawi. They came into the country in 2003 with Florence's husband who was violent towards her. They fled to Scotland where they have lived ever since. If they are sent back to Malawi, the likelihood is that Precious will be taken by her father's family and permanently separated from her mother. They will be powerless within the legal and cultural system. If you think that Malawi is ...
Answers to yesterday's questions: 1) salted meal, sacred salt, great laurel, father river - Lavinia, by Ursula Le Guin 2) punishable assault, marrow wound, notice that the suit, full outlawry, fifth court, old beardless, nine neighbours, lesser outlawry, lawful notice, lawful request, property forfeit, quarter court, named witnesses, forfeited property, same bloodline, brain wound, greatest lawyers, internal wound - Njal's Saga, identified by londonkds 3) grave handbook, word shaker, swampy eyes, standover man, dream carrier, duden dictionary, drop sheets - The Book Thief 4) most different climates, temperate productions, arctic productions, transitional gradations, modified descendants, naturalised plants, consecutive formations, sessile ...
Heading out on Friday afternoon to view a flat gave me the chance to get out an about for the first time in ages and took me along the lovely towpath along the Basingstoke Canal near to where I live. I love going for walks along the canal and river here in Woking. It's a ...
Yesterday afternoon, after much bickering about what we were going to do, we ended up at Linlithgow Loch. There we saw some very cute baby ducks all cuddled up together until one got adventurous and decided to go for a swim - but once it had got in the water, it found getting back out was a much taller order. Then there were some cygnets. Their parents were more interested in eating whatever bread was thrown at them rather than feeding their babies. Anna had a lesson that nature is not cute and fluffy when Mama swan attacked an approaching ...
The Observer lists today a number of things that we are implementing, as part of the coalition, that I cannot see anyone taking pride or pleasure in, unless you are a right wing Tory. It's worth a read HERE.
The story of Florence Mhango, and her 10-year-old daughter Precious is a tragic one. Florence Mhango arrived in Britain with her husband who was studying here. When her husband became violent towards her, Florence fled for her own safety and now lives with Precious in Scotland. However, the Home Office has decided, for reasons best ...
I've got a motion down for Full Council on Wednesday (21st). It may seem odd to want to discuss snow etc in the middle of summer but I'm thinking back to the bad snow and what happened as a result last winter, and how we might do better this time. We don't know yet whether this motion will be discussed on Wednesday nignt (only five get picked) But if it isn't it'll either be discussed at Committee or the Cabinet members will respond. PLANNING FOR EMERGENCIES BY COUNCILLOR PAULA KEAVENEY Council notes the review work already done by officers who ...
In recent weeks, LDV has been bringing its readers copies of our new MPs' first words in the House of Commons, so that we can read what is being said and respond. You can find all of the speeches in this category with this link. Alert LDV reader and bureaucratic blogger Mark Valladares, himself a husband to a Lib Dem Peer, our party's president Ros Scott, has drawn to our attention that we have more new parliamentarians in the Other Place, who are also making maiden speeches. Earlier today we brought you the words of Baroness Hussein-Ece; and Baron German's ...
Saturday was the first of our Friends of Garston Park "litter picks". A small group of us set out from the Leisure Centre to clear the park of any litter lying around. First impressions - no much litter at all. Second impressions - fly tipping central at a couple of areas near Garston Old Road. We wanted Friends of Garston Park to be more than a talking shop. So we've got a commitment to do some litter picking every two months. If you want to get involved - either in the litter picks or our meetings - please get in ...
I know the details of both of the cases to which he refers in this article and he is right about them.
When Iain Dale asked if Lib Dem Voice would once again co-sponsor Total Politics' Best Blog Poll 2010, he also set me some homework: to write c.1,500 words on 'the State of the LibDem blogosphere' by the end of the month. As you will see from the date, my deadline is fast approaching. I've got a few ideas of what I intend to write, but I'd greatly appreciate the assistence of Lib Dem Voice readers - as well as Lib Dem bloggers - to ensure my analysis is suitably rounded and informed. I've come up with seven questions I want ...
Despite my misgivings about the Coalition, I have to say they keep saying a lot of nice things about civil liberties (except on the 28 day detention extension, which makes me quite angry). Damian Green has made clear the Government's stance on any proposed ban of the burqa: "I stand personally on the feeling that telling people what they can and can't wear, if they're just walking down the street, is a rather un-British thing to do," he said. "We're a tolerant and mutually respectful society. "There are times, clearly, when you've got to be able to identify yourself, and ...
I have been persuaded that it is worth experimenting with twitter. So if you are that way inclined you can follow on onebsquared. Before beginning I had a look around at what others were saying. Leaving aside the obscene and crude it is amazing what meaning you can pack into so short a message-well in truth the obscene and crude manage that as well.I was interested that on 14 July Jo Swinson thought it worth sharing that a :new term coined for Labour MPs "deficit deniers". We have been using that term on this blog for some while. In fact ...
17 people (which I shall now consider a very representative sample of the UK population with no bias whatsoever [if the Daily Mail can do it, so can I!]) answered the question: WILL YOU BE PROTESTING THE POPE'S VISIT? 5 people, 29%, said they'd be there protesting. 6 people, 35%, said they'd support the protests but not be there in person. 2 people, 11%, didn't care about it. 4 people, 23%, said they thought it would be wrong to protest the Pope's state visit. So a clear majority of self-selecting passers-by oppose the state visit. Less than one in four ...
Alison and Haydn did us proud at the Ainsdale thank you party yesterday. I arrived at 3pm and left in the early evening and still people were still arriving. The food was excellent-a cut above what we are used to on such occasions. There was also a barrel of the Southport Brewery's award winning ale 'Golden Sands' complete with hand pump! Rumour has it that the burgers were from Brough's a sign of quality and coalition compliant. I was particularly pleased to see so many people from Ainsdale including Roy and Beth Connell.
Getting ready to make a brief return to Reading #fb # I'm at Leagrave Railway Station (Leagrave, Compton Avenue, Luton). http://4sq.com/aWmH6i # I'm at St Pancras International Station – Domestic Lines (St Pancras International Station, Pancras Road, London) w/ 4 others # I'm at Oxford Circus Underground Station (Oxford Circus, London). http://4sq.com/44OTbV # I just unlocked the "Crunked" badge on @foursquare! http://4sq.com/annbNr # I'm at Paddington Underground (Praed St, Westminster). http://4sq.com/9Qdeq6 # I'm at Paddington w/ 4 others. http://4sq.com/clh5sJ # I'm at Reading Station – Platform 4 (Reading Station, Reading). http://4sq.com/csAwkZ # I'm at Earley Station. http://4sq.com/arJhiq # I'm at ...
Well for those of you who are interested Mark Wallace (of Taxpayers Alliance fame) has set up a new blog. Since the Taxpayers Alliance's raison d'etre seems to be that we shouldn't pay any tax and that the government should provide us with virtually no services at all I can't imagine myself agreeing very much with the content of this blog!
In Media Observer, Peter Preston discusses how Nick Clegg has come as a gift to cartoonists. He speculates as to whether they will do similar damage to Nick Clegg as Spitting Image did, allegedly, to David Steel. There's an excellent chance to see my cartooning hero, Chris Riddell, discussing his art. He depicts Clegg as "Little Clegg Riding Hood". He makes a very thoughtful point: I think one can be more devastating by being gentler and kinder. I think it's one of those 'more in sympathy than anger' approaches which can be – can be – something that politicians find ...
My LibDem blogger colleague Caron Lindsay has blogged recently about the plight of Florence and Precious Mhango - a mother and her 10 year old daughter from Malawi - who are currently living in Glasgow. Her blog article is well worth a read. Florence and Precious have been turned down for asylum after suffering domestic violence and are nearing the end of the legal process and face deportation despite the fact that if this happens, it's likely that Precious will be taken by her father's family and will not be allowed to see her mother again. At the moment she ...
Amongst the community learning events taking place in the West End later in the summer/early Autumn in the Mitchell Street Centre are : * "Just the Job" - to assist people for whom English is their second language with job-hunting through improving CVs, application form filling and interviewing skills. The course runs at Mitchell Street from 26th August to 30th September and further details are available on 435872 or 436415. * "Reiki 2" - A follow-up course for those who have attended the first course on Reiki (natural healing) - again more details are available on 435814. You can read ...
Sun 18th
12:08
2nd highest paid councillor in the country, a Conservative, in public spat with Tory minister
Those who have followed the shenanighans of Brian Coleman of the London Assembly (I can't say I've paid particularly close attention) may no longer be surprised by what he gets up to. But getting into a public row with a Minister from his own party is a new one. From today's Telegraph front page where the headline was: A £100,000 councillor, a millionaire Tory and a row over politician's pay A Conservative councillor paid more than £100,000 a year has become embroiled in a bitter row over politicians' pay with a multi-millionaire Tory minister. Brian Coleman, an outspoken member of ...
An advantage of having a blog is having the chance to grumble and, to prove I don't always talk about politics, the subject of my grumble today is radio stations. Now I like listening to music while I'm driving or typing or whatever, but I always play my own CDs rather than put the radio on. The reason - radio stations NEVER PLAY ANY MUSIC! I can understand that smaller stations need the income from advertising but it is all the other bits that I object to. For example: let's take an example of a 30 minute car journey where ...
As I wrote at the start of my Tour de France coverage is marking the centenary of the grand mountains hitting the tour. Tomorrow is actually the repeat of a 100 year old stage. On Tuesday we climb two famous two Pyreneean peaks the Col d'Aubisque and the Col du Tourmalet (which gets an encore on Thursday) 99 years and 363 days after they were first climbed. However today is the first of four tough days in the Pyrenees. Today after what has been an most strenuous transition phase between the Alps and Pyrenees the peleton has set out from ...
il [IMG: Posted by Picasa]
Sun 18th
11:17
July Books 10) The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vols I & II, by Edward Gi...
I've finally, after more than ten months, made it to the end of the first of the three blockbuster Penguin volumes of the complete Decline and Fall, so I'm logging it here as a book finished in July (if started in September 2009). Just for reference, the chapters here are: Preface; geographical introduction; the Empire in the age of the Antonines; the constitution of the Empire; the cruelty, follies and murder of Commodus [with added Pertinax]; Septimius Severus; Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus and Alexander Severus; and taxation; the Year of Six Emperors, and Philip the Arab; Persia; Germany; Goths; Aurelian; the ...
Nick Clegg attempted to to sell the idea of the coalition to Lib Dem members on the basis that the Lib Dems would be a moderating influence over the excesses of the Tory right, but it seems clear that far more policy coming from the coalition is Tory, and only a tiny party of it is in any way Lib Dem. This week we have seen the Tories announce a major overhaul of the NHS. Indeed the plan has been described as the most radical overhaul of the NHS since it was created. It essentially removes any democratic control of ...
Paddy Ashdown is one of the people I most admire in politics; I voted for him as Lib Dem leader, was a candidate and election agent for the party in Cambridge in 1990 and 1991, and then was the head of the local branch of the Lib Dems in Northern Ireland for several years (a position in no way incompatible with my Alliance Party activities). A few years later I found myself running the major source of informed but critical commentary on his tenure as High Representative in Bosnia. So I felt that I knew him a little, through politics ...
The attraction to a solution focused approach is that it is strengths based, collaborative, and relatively simple which produces good results. There is a lot of research on solution focused brief therapy where it originated and I do not intend to do a literature review of this as this can be found elsewhere. A good ...
In recent weeks, LDV has been bringing its readers copies of our new MPs' first words in the House of Commons, so that we can read what is being said and respond. You can find all of the speeches in this category with this link. Alert LDV reader and bureaucratic blogger Mark Valladares, himself a husband to a Lib Dem Peer, our party's president Ros Scott, has drawn to our attention that we have more new parliamentarians in the Other Place, who are also making maiden speeches. So today, Baroness Hussein-Ece's words are reproduced below. Baroness Hussein-Ece: My Lords, it ...
Nick Clegg recently created some working peers, one of whom is Meral Ece, a former health and social care cabinet member in Islington. She made her maiden speech on Thursday on the subject of criminal justice, which you can read in full here. In it she perfectly expounds the liberal approach to criminal justice, arguing that it's much better to invest in ways of supporting those with mental health or drug and alcohol problems than keeping them in prison. Her concluding remarks sum it up: I believe that instead of expanding prisons we should be looking at meaningful ways to ...
Attracted to this graphic novel by the glowing blurb from Time (which I have found trustworthy in the past); it's a combination of a) the coming-of-age story which I have enjoyed in the form of Fun Home, Blankets and Persepolis I and II, and b) the liminal fantasies of Neil Gaiman. The teenagers of mid-70s Seattle find strange things happening to their bodies: one grows an extra mouth on his chest, another takes to shedding her skin, a condition transmitted by sexual contact. Small groups of them form and dissolve in the woods, in deserted houses, trying to get out ...
Alas, but despite the positive reviews from some for The Gods that Failed, I found it a book that was long on rhetoric about how awful much of the world is, but rather short of evidence to back-up the arguments and even skimpier on solutions. First, the good bits of the book: it's a lively and passionate account of not only the financial markets but also much of modern life, looking widely at things that have gone wrong. Despite having come out in 2008 and so being written before much of the recession, it does not read like a work ...
I will be on LBC from 12noon today with former Conservative cabinet minister David Mellor reviewing the papers and talking about politics. You can listen to it on 97.3fm if you're in or near London or via this link online if you aren't.
Conservative peer, Lord Taylor is now the sixth politician to face criminal charges after police investigations into MPs' and peers' expenses. Lord Taylor will appear in front of Magistrates on August 13th accused of six charges of false accounting. From yesterday's Independent; He is alleged to have claimed over £11,000 in expenses by pretending that his home was outside London when he was actually living in the capital.Lord Taylor is now the sixth politician to face criminal charges over police investigations into MPs' and peers' expenses. Three former Labour MPs - Elliott Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine - who ...
i) births and deaths 18 July 1926: birth of Robert Sloman, who co-wrote The Dæmons (1971), and was sole author of The Time Monster (1972), The Green Death (1973), and Planet of the Spiders (1974) - the season finales for all but the first of the Pertwee years. 18 July 1967: birth of Paul Cornell, who wrote televised stories Father's Day (2005) and Human Nature / The Family of Blood (2007), the latter based on one of his eight Who novels, and the webcast alternative Ninth Doctor story The Scream of the Shalka (2003), as well as four-and-a-bit Big Finish ...
Former Firsr Minister, Rhodri Morgan has agreed to serve in a leading role as part of an embryonic 'yes' campaign in the run-up to next year's referendum on Assembly powers. Mr. Morgan will be Welsh Labour's representative on an all-party steering group charged with getting the campaign off the ground. He will be joined by Plaid Cymru's South Wales Central AM Leanne Wood, Preseli Pembrokeshire Conservative AM Paul Davies and Rob Humphries, the former president of the Welsh Liberal Democrats who is director of the Open University in Wales. Party researchers will also sit on the group. Unlike the referendum ...
Turkmenistan - Darvaza - a set on Flickr The gateway to hell (tags: photos turkmenistan)
Recently, we (www.faith-matters.org) launched a booklet on the Righteous Muslims which looked at the history of those people deemed to be Righteous by Yad Vashem and who had saved Jews and others from death by their actions. They did this without the promise of money, personal gain or through external pressure applied to them. They did this because it was right and they did this driven by ideals that were based on values shaped by their faith in Islam. The launch of the book produced postings on this site suggesting that the book did not describe those who had collaborated ...
Sun 18th
00:54
Righteous Muslims (http://www.faith-matters.org/resources/publicationsreports/171--the-role-of-right...
Five years ago, I had a crazy idea and that was to leave my job and to undertake a programme which commemorated 60 years after the Holocaust and 10 years after the massacres of Muslims in Srebrenica. The physical journey was to start in Fieldgate Street where the Fieldgate Street Synagogue and the East London mosque are located side by side with each other. The journey was to take young Muslims and Jews on a coach journey through 9 EU countries and 13 cities to look at the history of Muslim and Jewish interaction in those cities and through Auschwitz ...
So, here I am, sitting at my desk in our new office, Kylie's 'Fever' blasting away on the speakers... Did I mention that I'd visited the exhibition of her work at the Melbourne Museum? Probably not... ... at the end of another day in the Suffolk countryside. I've been spending the day learning a new skill - digging a small hole, putting a plant in it and filling the gaps with soil - and generally relaxing. I may be getting worryingly good at this. On the other hand, I'm not blogging very much, mostly posting Ros's contributions in the Lords, ...
If something is going wrong and two groups or two individuals are not getting on then what is the best way to deal with it? The easy answer is to let the two sides speak with each other informally. Formal discussions can leave a nasty taste in the mouth, but if these talks fail then there is always the choice of legal action. In Oldham East and Saddleworth the MP Phil Woolas is being challenged by the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate in the last election because of a possible libel action on account of Labour newspaper put out during the ...
I have now got to the stage where I just laugh at people getting worked up about burqhas. They are worn by an absolutely minuscule proportion of the population and the women who do so deserve our respect, rather than being the object of a weird witch-hunt. The Telegraph reports on the Conservative MP who has put forward a bill to ban burqhas. He is getting steamed up about Turkey entering the EU also. I have a soft-spot for the Turks. They are a very welcoming people and their addition to the EU would make that union all the richer. ...
