The Tesco store debate has taken a new turn. In March 2009 the Planning Department of Derwentside Council recommended that the proposal for a new Tesco store on the Genesis site should turned down. Derwentside councillors ignored the advice and voted for the store to go ahead. In March 2010 the Planning Department of Durham County Council recommended the store should still go ahead with some planning restrictions attached. Councillors never got to vote on that because the meeting was cancelled. Now councillors have a new report from the Planning Department of Durham County Council recommending them to refuse Tesco's ...
Courtesy of Liberal Democrat Voice: Lord German: My Lords, you took a very brave step in allowing a German to be introduced into your Lordships' House just a few days after England's defeat in the World Cup. The extremely generous-hearted way in which I have been received has, however, received a few knocks in my first week or so. Just last Friday, my noble friend Lord Lester, in his Defamation Bill, talked of the German ad hoc balancing law. I know the Liberal Democrats favour fair representation, but it made me wonder who I was to be balanced with. Then ...
I was going to do a Batman post today, but I've got annoyed again, so you'll have to wait. Specifically, I got annoyed by this , something that's been going round on the internet for a few days. It calls itself The Periodic Table Of Irrational Nonsense, but it is itself nonsense at least as ...
Time Bank was set up several years ago in Twerton High Street as part of a project in our area. Its aim is for people and volunteers to swap services and skills without charge. The annual report is TIMEBANKendofyearreport2010.doc Following the end of a successful first year of commission with B&NES Council, we have pleasure in attaching a summarised End of Year...
Southside information exchange between a number of agencies meets again tomorrrow in the Methodist Church in The Hollow. Minutes of the last meeting available here Inter_Agency_Meeting_held_-_21st_June_2010.doc
Herts County Council, which administers the government funded Playbuilder Scheme has warned that it has been asked to send details for all Hertfordshire projects to Whitehall for review. The capital grant scheme designed to produce play facilities suitable for older children has been described as "unsustainable" by the Department of Education. Projects where contracts have not yet been signed are at particular risk. This includes the project in Mortimer Hill, Tring which is easily accessed by children from the nearby Silk Mill Estate. These projects are part of a wider scheme to encourage older children to get more exercise and ...
We met with the Council tree officer in Glebe Road today following complaints about the size of some of the trees in the street. Whilst there we pointed out the fallen branch and that will be cleared immediately. We will shortly send a letter to all residents in Glebe Road with a couple of suggestions for your views and comments.
Any comments please contact either of us Ward: Southdown App Ref: 10/02752/FUL Registered: 25th June 2010 Expiry Date: 20th August 2010 Location: 43 Mount Road Southdown Bath Bath And North East...
I haven't blogged for a good few days now and, to tell the truth, I haven't really felt like it either. I can't throw in the excuse that I've been busy because (although it has been a hectic week or so) I normally find it easier to write something when I'm stacked out than when ...
I'm in from the Vigil in Glasgow now and completely knackered and feeling pretty rubbish. It was amazing - a good couple of hundred people there and incredibly moving. I literally don't have the energy to write about it now but I will tomorrow. When I clicked on the internet though and saw that my blog roll contained almost exlusively Florence and Precious posts, I was so grateful that the blogosphere had responded to requests from Will, Anne and I to have a blog-in at the time of the vigil. I couldn't let the night go by without bringing them ...
The BBC reports: Wells MP Tessa Munt has denied any wrongdoing after a national newspaper reported allegations that she falsely claimed a council tax discount. It is alleged that the Liberal Democrat MP was sharing her home with broadcaster Andy Kershaw and a GP while claiming the discount for living alone. Ms Munt said: "Neither of these two people were living with me." ... Ms Munt said that the Mail on Sunday newspaper had "muddled the difference between council tax and electoral registration". She said both Mr Kershaw and the GP, John Laband, were registered to vote at her address ...
It's a song and a dance - a rave even! Everyone can do it - go on try! Sorry I don't mean to start so cynically it's just that I'm not that good at DIY (or dancing for that matter)! It's very similar to that other dance, Big Government, Little Government ........... I guess I'm just wary of a Tory leader speaking with fork-tongue (any Tory leader - nothing personal Mr Cameron). The immediate concern is that Big Society may end up with deep pockets and short arms, that precious resources are drained off to benefit the more active middle ...
Florence and Precious Mhango have already been through an awful lot, including two spells of detention. For that reason, I think the best solution to their situation would be for the Home Secretary, Theresa May MP to use her discretion to grant them leave to remain outside the Immigration Rules. She could do this very quickly so that Florence and Precious can have peace of mind and security for the first time in a long time. The more public support we can generate for them today, the better. So, using the five points below why not drop Theresa May MP ...
I thought I had been quite careful with this redesign, after previous ones led to problems between different browsers. Indeed, I had had Safari, Firefox and Chrome more or less permanently open while tinkering with the CSS to make sure every change did as I expected (I have not, as usual, tested it on Internet Exploder yet, so that may look very bad for all I know). But I just noticed, in Firefox, that a block in my right sidebar doesn't look as I expected or as it did while I was working on them. Basically the arrangement of the ...
This is one of the most audacious ideas Big Finish have had: reuniting Team Tardis from 1983 for three new audio plays, with Peter Davison as the Doctor, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, Janet Fielding as Turlough and Mark Strickson as Turlough. (I'm trying to think of any previous Big Finish play which reunited more than two contemporaneous members of the cast of the classic series, and so far failing. Adric's return two years ago saw him played not by Matthew Waterhouse but, as Peter Davison cruelly said, by an actor.) Cobwebs is a good start to this mini-season. The set-up ...
Iain Duncan-Smith has spoken, for the first time, about his wife Betty's experience with cancer in the Mail. Fortunately she has made what is described as a "good recovery". That is excellent news. Best wishes to both of them and their family!
A brief note to say that all is well. Eric had the operation to deal with his aortic aneurism today. His surgeon Mr Rashid says that all went perfectly as planned. Eric is a little groggy this evening, but cheerful. The photo shows Eric this at 8pm tonight, with Mr Rashid, and Lindsay.
As rainfall hits its lowest records in decades, I have been encouraging Village residents to 'adopt a tree' to water over the dry summer. The newly planted saplings are especially at risk, with inevitable budget cuts affecting the council's tree ... Continue reading →
He seems to have been rattled by all the excitement of the last few weeks. The FT reflects: This weekend, things got worse for Gove, with the Tory chair of the education select committee warning the BBC that his Academies Bill was being rushed through parliament. Perhaps all this explains why the normally charming and unflappable Gove sounded so rattled on the Today programme this morning. When Sarah Montague asked Mr Gove about the consequences of the bill, he replied: It's very revealing of your mindset, Sarah, that you believe that local authorities are the only way to improve schools. ...
I went to Gaddesby on Saturday to photograph its remarkable church, but I was also struck by the village's dry brick walls and their distinctive herringbone pattern. Later that day I saw a short stretch of similar walling in the nearby village of Twyford, but I cannot recall having seen it anywhere else. As you can see, the natives in Gaddesby are friendly.
It's better that Labour figures are starting to tell the truth in public about the Brown-Blair infighting years than if they were continuing to claim they'd always got along fine, government had never been hindered and Blair loved the idea of Brown becoming Prime Minister. However, telling the truth is, I fear, coming at a considerable cost to the reputation of politics. Because we've now got a succession of people saying, in effect, 'Don't bother with what I told the public at the time. Of course that was nonsense. The truth actually was the opposite'. That fits right with the ...
Mon 19th
20:45
Florence and Precious Mhango - a campaign to prevent a mother and daughter being deported
By the time you read this, I'll have been in a rainy Glasgow attending a humanitarian vigil in support of Florence and Precious Mhango. This mother and her 10 year-old daughter have lived in the city for svene years since Florence left her husband because of his violence towards her. In that time they have become a much loved part of their local community. They currently face imminent deportation to Malawi after being refused asylum in this country. If they are deported, Precious, who speaks only English, faces being handed over to her father's family and not allowed to see ...
Recent mentions of the attention being paid to the election expenses of Zac Goldsmith in Richmond and of Adrian Slade inevitably put me in mind of this story. In 1981 Adrian Slade won the Richmond seat on the Greater London Council for the Liberal Party, defeating the sitting Conservative Edward Leigh in the process. The Conservatives then lodged an election petition, contesting the result because of technical errors in Slade's return of expenses for the contest. The process, however, left Adrian facing ruinous legal expenses. His friends rallied round and staged An Evening At Court on Sunday the 23 January ...
The blogosphere seems to be full of people debating the pros and cons of banning the Burqa and the Niqab, so as I am never one to hide away from a controversial subject I thought I would chuck my 2 Penny's worth in The first thing to point out is that this should not be seen as a purely religious issue but as a cultural one too. It is often forgotten in these debates that the vast majority of Muslim scholars argue that the Niqab is not compulsory in Islamic society's. For example Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, previous dean of ...
The South Carolina Democratic candidate for the US Senate, Alvin Greene, is now clear of any allegations that his primary campaign registraton fee was funded by anyone other than himself. It seems he now has some backing, and has set up a website and made his first speech. This man is truly fascinating, having won a major election, the Democratic primary election for the S Carolina senate seat, despite doing virtually no campaigning whatsoever. He didn't even own a mobile phone or a computer before his victory. It's worth watching the speech he made recently at a NAACP meeting in ...
A quick plug for the excellent blogging of my local MP, John Leech.
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 177th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (11th – 17th July, 2010), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox – just click here – ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. An ...
On the way into work this morning someone gave me a reproduction of the 1899 Ordnance Survey map for Market Harborough. I expect it happens to you all the time too. I have found lots of minor points of interest to investigate, but two major ones stand out. There was an isolation hospital on the Rockingham Road beside the River Welland, more or less on the spot now occupied by Swift's abattoir. I cannot recall ever hearing about this establishment and can find no mention of it on the web, but printed sources are available... And it turns out that ...
On Saturday 17th July EuroPride was held in Warsaw, Poland. Europe's premier gay pride event was for the first time held in eastern Europe and in one of the new EU member states. Warsaw has consistently held gay pride events since 1998 but in this devoutly catholic country the opposition to such events is always vocal and sustained. In 2004 and 2005 official marches were not authorised by Lech Kaczynski, the late President of Poland and at that time President of Warsaw on the grounds of protecting public morality and that he was against "propagating a homosexual lifestyle." With the ...
We have asked for the brambles in Old Fosse Road to be cut back, this is probably owned by Persimmons.
I don't really trust lobbying organisations of any kind. That obviously goes for some of the more unsavoury groups: ones agitating for harsher treatment of asylum seekers, for instance, or ones designed to promote a smoother, cleaner PR image for Israel. But it also goes for some of the 'good' groups, ones that purport to be 'fair', 'liberal', or - horrors - 'progressive'. One of those is 38 Degrees. [IMG: 38 Degrees] This is an organisation claiming to believe in 'people power'. They first came to my attention last summer, when, in the wake of the expenses scandal, they encouraged ...
I often walk on the beach at Crosby and am always amazed by the impact of Anthony Gormley's Iron Men in "Another Place". When they first arrived in 2005 concerns were raised by residents but five years later I think we should celebrate the statues especially since they are only one of five installations worldwide. So I was delighted when the Observer gave details of our own Crosby men in a recent article on the new iron men installation within the Austrian Alps. Anthony Gormley recently said "We've covered the urban condition, the endlessness of the sea and the chaos ...
I asked a question via Yoosk to Simon Hughes regarding marriage equality. He answered it via Youtube. The contents of his reply have now made the Telegraph and Pink News. A good example that if you keep pressing and keep asking the right questions, they can be picked up and reported on. Of course I'm still not happy about what he says about religious marriage (of course churches won't be forced to carry out marriages they don't want to, they have the right to refuse as the law stands now and any suggestion otherwise is idiotic scaremongering). But it's a ...
I can't help thinking - whenever I see a TV interview with Ed Balls - that it's a new episode of The Office with David Brent. They not only look alike but they have similar voices, vocal inflections and er, smug protrayal of themselves (in my opinion).
It's that time of year when lots of think tank type organisations are holding their summer schools. The Mises University is later this month, but the podcasts of the lectures from the Foundation for Economic Education's (FEE) "Freedom University" have just gone online, including the marvellous Sheldon Richman doing an update of his lecture on "Mutual Aid". If you want to understand why health care in particular is so expensive, and the history of state protectionism of the middle class and wealthier medical professionals, you should listen to it. This isn't just an American phenomenon. Recall that Aneurin Bevan was ...
Prestwich Local Area Partnership voted overwhelmingly against Bury Council's plans to impose parking charges on Fairfax Road at its meeting on 15th July. The vote was taken after the controversial plans were outlined at the meeting. Angry residents in the audience grilled Council parking chiefs for half an hour after it was confirmed that the Council plan to charge motorists £1 to park for up to an hour, and £2 afterwards. It was clear that everyone in the room was against these proposals. It's all about making money for Bury Council by punishing the people of Prestwich. These charges mean ...
I first came across the idea of a graduate tax during a short "updating course" for teachers of economics held at the University of Bath in the late 60s. Note that this was a "course": the term "in-serice training" had not yet been invented, still less the ugly diminutive INSET. Furthermore the course was content based and therefore valuable. No one presumed to tell us how to teach: we were assumed to know that. The idea of a graduate tax was floated by a Professor Sandford and interested me so much that I made a little speech about it at ...
Part 6 of my blog of reading Atlas Shrugged for the first time. You can find the first part here. Chapter 6: The Non-Commercial This chapter sees a return of the man with the mind of a surly teen, Hank Rearden. It's his wedding anniversary, and his wife has thrown a party to which the cream ...
And that is where, hopefully, I will have got to. You are seeing this by the magic of scheduled posting. Anyway, all I really want to say is summed up in this poster.
I was one of the lucky ones. When I went to university in the late 1980s and early 1990s I didn't have to pay tuition fees. I left for the world of work without thousands of pounds of student debt hanging over my head. I would like nothing more than to be able to abolish fees for good and make universities free for all. But to suggest that it is possible to do so now wilfully ignores reality. The fact is the higher education sector has changed beyond all recognition in just a few short years. Universities face a funding ...
On ConservativeHome, Shane Greergives an excellent professional breakdown of what Zac Goldsmith did wrong in his Jon Snow self-implosion interview: Whatever way you cut it, Zac took what was a tremendous opportunity to confront the accusations (and insinuations) thrown at him and wasted it. And what makes it even worse is that, with the right approach, he could have left the Channel 4 News studio confident in the knowledge that he had taken the wind out of the sails of the investigation against him. So, what went wrong and what should he have done? To Shane Greer's comprehensive analysis I ...
Monday: Tonight (5.30-7pm) there is to be a VIGIL in Glasgow by people who want the British Government to behave like this is a CIVILISED country and allow a family from Malawi to stay here rather than deporting them to face separation and misery. Auntie Caron is among those attending and I will be there IN FLUFFY SPIRIT! Glasgow is happy to welcome to Ms Florence and Ms Precious and we all should be too. There are LOTS of good reasons for letting them stay, but I only need ONE: Great Britain is BETTER because people want to come here. ...
Eight seconds has featured before in the race for the Maillot Jaune in the Tour de France. In the 1989 Tour it was the gap that Greg LeMond took the race by over Laurent Fignon when the Champs-Elysees witnessed a time trial final stage. Today however it wasn't a matter or man against man that led to eight seconds. On the Port de Bales Andy Schleck had his Saxobank team setting the pace. One by one they led him up the Col closing down the gap with the head of the race. Then about 3 km from the top of ...
Despite a news conference, some interviews and several comment pieces, I still don't get exactly what The Big Society is supposed to represent; or what, in reality, it will deliver. Cameron's press conference this morning certainly leads us to believe that, for him at least, this is the Conservative's reason for being. "There are the ...
Earlier this year, I updated residents on the report that had been discussed at City Development Committee about improving residents' parking in areas of the city where there are particular problems, including parts of the West End, particularly approximately east of Sinderins and south of Blackness Road. At the time the report was approved back in January, it was envisaged that with regard to possible proposals for residents' parking schemes that could put out to public consultation : The preparation of the detailed design and consultation will take an extended period of up to three years and this will be ...
Next May, the UK is due to vote on whether to elect MPs by using the alternative vote (AV) instead of first past the post. We have some signposts available, to show how AV might work here. Australia's constitution is based on the Westminster model. But the Aussies have used AV (or, as they call it, preferential voting) to elect their House of Representatives - the equivalent of the House of Commons - at every national election since 1919. Australia is to go to the polls for a federal election on 21 August. Today, the Australian Greens have said they ...
Recently I have been trying to find a good general news app for my shiny new iPad. There are a few out there but what I really wanted was something that provides content of the quality of the BBC News website in an iPad friendly form. Unfortunately I could not find a BBC News iPad app when I looked. Imagine my bemusement then when I discovered today that there actually is such an app and it has been (unsurprisingly) downloaded over a million times globally but that it is not available in the UK. Apparently the BBC Trust is worried ...
I've been talking to various bits of the Co-op for a while about getting a permanent ramp for the Gatley Green branch. The other Gatley Co-op has an external ramp, but at the Gatley Green one the pavement simply isn't wide enough. Instead, they have a removable ramp which staff will put down for you if you ring the bell. Many elderly and infirm residents have told me they're not comfortable with that and they'd really like a proper, permanent ramp. Now I've had confirmation from Vicky Jolly the The Co-operative Group that a permanent ramp will be installed inside ...
The Stockport Express has the news that Stockport's Westgate Department Store is to close later this year, with a Primark store opening up on the site in 2011. Although a little sad, I can't say I'm totally surprised. The store's been looking fairly tired for a while now, and the current owners admit that, whilst still profitable, it isn't generating enough money for a substantial redevelopment.
I've no problem with organisations and individuals attempting to "help" those who, voluntarily, wish to try and "change their sexuality". I'm a great believer in individual freedom. But that doesn't mean I believe it is possible, that I think it is ethical and it doesn't mean I won't moan about "ex-gay therapy" whenever I have the opportunity. Today's video of two victims of an ex-gay therapist comes via Queerty. If you want to know more about the weird practices and strange beliefs of ex gay therapists check out Ex-Gay Watch or Truth Wins Out. If you feel benevolent and particularly ...
History is riddled with grand defence schemes which although initially seeming like a great idea, once built they quickly became redundant. The Maginot Line, which was constructed by the French government in 1939 at a cost of 3 billion Francs, was a line of fortifications along the Franco-German border with the aim of defending France from a direct invasion from Germany. In the end the Germans simply bypassed the line by invading Belgium. Trident, or more specifically the renewal of, can be looked at in the same light. With more elaborate methods of warfare such as cyber attacks being utilised, ...
Following on from the happy news that Ed Balls and Diane Abbott (both Labour leadership contenders) support marriage equality here in the UK, Andy Burnham (another candidate) has confirmed he has already stated support for it last month (and in an admirably strongly worded way). Is this the most pressing issue to face the country right now? Of course not. Does it mean it's irrelevant? Of course not. Every MP who states support for marriage equality is another step closer to getting it. This only highlights the poor choice of words used and the evasive way both of the Miliband ...
Those of you who don't use the Underground much may find this useful, especially if you've got a train to catch from Paddington, or are hoping to connect to the Heathrow Express for a flight. Starting on Saturday (24 July), there will be no service on either the Circle line or the Hammersmith & City line between Edgware Road and Hammersmith for more than three weeks due to essential Crossrail-related engineering work. So, Paddington will be accessible using the Bakerloo, Circle and District lines only. One interesting side effect is that the Circle line will return to its original route ...
On Friday morning I met with the Hire A Hero campaign to hear about the work they are doing to help our service personnel after they leave the armed forces. It is a sad fact that, after years serving on the frontline, many of our soldiers find it difficult to find employment once they leave ...
at the moment the garden is blooming. i have lots of green leafed veggies. the carbon footprint of me walking to get a leaf of lettuce is negligible. the only downside of all of this organic produce is caterpillars. as a veggie i need to pilfer out the blighters from my kale. oh well. swings and roundabouts. swings and roundabouts
When I think of the coming spending review, I'm reminded of a migraine I had last year, which continued, not for days, but months. These cuts will hurt, and they'll last for years. But it's one thing to acknowledge that the cuts will be excruciatingly painful, it's quite another to treat any cut as right-wing and regressive. Continuing to borrow more and more isn't progressive, it's deeply selfish. Every year we delay cutting, compound interest racks up our debt, and we leave a bigger deficit and deeper cuts to the future. Some economists argue that, to help the recovery, we ...
A caption to a photograph on the This is Scunthorpe site:Lib Dem party members Richard Nixon and Gary Johnson with a banner they unfurled at a recent council meeting to show their anger at Mr Poole's defection, outside Pittwood House in Scunthorpe.
As much as the tabloids like to rant about benefits, there is a very real and important role for welfare in the coming years. Following a recession, the markets belong to the customers, and that includes the job market's customers – employers. They can hire better people, on lower salaries, with fewer perks than in boom time. This means that the producers in the Market – the unemployed – are even more disadvantaged than before. This is why the Coalition's emergency budget has done two things wrong. First, they reduced everyone's salary by 2.5% by increasing VAT. This makes it ...
I'm worried about Jeremy Hunt's threats to cut the BBC's license fee this weekend. The BBC isn't perfect, but I'm sure it's worth protecting. I'm worried this government may be putting ideology and the interests of rival media barons like Rupert Murdoch before the interests of ordinary listeners and viewers. Please will you: 1. Raise my concerns with Jeremy Hunt and tell him I don't want cuts forced on the BBC 2. Tell me what you'll do as my MP to stand up for the BBC and protect it from cuts. The BBC like or loathe it - is a ...
We have all heard the same phrases in one way or another. 'I have black friends down the road and we have nothing against them. But the family down the road do not fit with our area. They are.........different.' It is funny how this statement seems to have the same meaning generation after generation yet, is used by people who should know better and they should realise that the identity of our country is not under threat. Some may regard people who make such statements as being inherently racist though I would suggest that their irrational fears have overtaken proper ...
I want to let you in on my dirty little secret. I am a Lib Dem but I also believe in Cameron's Big Society. There, I've said it, it's out in the open. I want to tell you why I think other Lib Dems should also support what the Coalition are trying to do in ...
Allow me to take your mind to three different places: Think back to when you were 3 years of age. I suspect your memories are hazy at best - mine certainly are. Our lives only properly begin from the age of 4. From this age we begin to form our own autonomy, our own social networks, our own self identity. Now jump forward to being 10 years old. It is incredible how much we develop in those 7 years. We now have a good understanding of our surroundings, our friends, our place in the world. Lastly, I'm asking you to ...
Once more, legal highs, the banning of which sparked the resignation of a number of members of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs are back in the news. The reaction of the previous government when it came to ... Continue reading →
I have documented well the behaviours of some on a Level 42 internet forum which lead to one fan offering me an apology which I have accepted. What is not known is that since that apology has been written we have both exchanged emails talking over the matter (and other things) in detail so that ...
The way we have been living, spending and behaving - combined with an overweening state - has led to a diminution of human potential and to operating in ever decreasing circles. We seem to value ourselves by what we do and what we buy (or cannot buy) - rather than whether we are good, kind, thoughtful or have other personally admirable and altruistic traits. We follow prescribed routes from centralised diktats where thinking, personal responsibility, professionalism and non-conformity are driven out by targets and tick boxes. In 2007 I wrote a chapter for a book 'Reinventing the State: Social Liberalism ...
Have you ever felt ripped off by your bank? I'm not talking about the scandal of banker irresponsibility which has helped land us into the deepest recession in living memory. I'm talking about the sense of injustice you feel when you get your statement to discover you've been charged outrageous fees for having stepped over an agreed overdraft limit. If this has happened to you, you're in good company. Which? estimated that we paid over £4bn in unauthorised bank charges last year, averaging £120 from each one of us. If you go over your limit, even by a few pence, ...
Today sees protests at Westminster against the cancellation of the 'Building Schools for the Future' (BSF) project, which halted the building of 735 new schools across the country. The BSF initiative was established under the last Labour Government, at a cost over 20 years of £55bn. There seems little argument from anyone that this wasn't ...
It seems the "launch" of the Big Society press exercise is going to be nothing more than a guilt trip. In reality though, how can it be anything else? The world has moved on. Communities are fragmented, populations moving around all the time, and mistrust of neighbours is a rather common occurrence, just because we ...
Yes, I did warn you all that I'm not above passing the hat round occasionally; all part and parcel of being part of the class-traitor counter-revolutionary petit bourgeoisie, of which my left-wing friends keep stating that I'm a member. Not that I got a membership card, much less wanted one, and if it came with the furniture then it's more IKEA than Louis Quinze. Anyway; what this shameless appeal is all about (no, read on) is a rather spiffy new micro-payment system from Sweden which goes by the name of Flattr and has been set up by none other than ...
[IMG: vincecable] For those who haven't seen it: GRADUATES WHO EARN MORE TO BE TAXED FOR TURNING UP TO LECTURES Has Vince lost his golden touch? Hat-tip: Philip Stevens on Twitter (http://twitter.com/Philip_stevens)
One hundred years ago today the first of the big mountains* were included in Henri Desgrange's vision of the Tour de France, the Porter-d'Aspet and the Col des Ares were on that first day. He had been reluctant to include the big mountain passes fearing that the riders would die in the mountains from over-exertion, exposure, brigands or bears. His assitant Alphonse Steinès persuaded him otherwise, of which more tomorrow, that it would be doable. Today both those original climbs are merely category 2 climbs at 1069 and 797 metres respectively. However, today they will be drawfed by the 1755m ...
Look no further! Bury Rangers Service Summer Playscheme is a completely outdoor playscheme, for all 8-12 year olds. Games, craft, circus skills, bottle rockets, kite making and lots lots more. For a booking form please ring 0161 253 6970 or email buryrangerservice@bury.gov.uk Week 1 - 20-22nd July - Burrs Country Park, Bury- FULLY BOOKED Week 1 - 20-22nd July - Bolton Road Park, Radcliffe Week 2 - 27-29th July - Burrs Country Park, Bury- FULLY BOOKED Week 2 -27-29th July - Bolton Road Park, Radcliffe If you wish to book onto Bolton Road Playscheme you can ring 0161 253 5522 ...
One of the biggest advantages (and sometimes, worst aspect) of modern technology is that you can vent your spleen quickly and efficiently. And so, discovering that National Express East Anglia's Customer Relations e-mail address is in my AOL account... Dear Customer Relations, I thought that I should drop you a note to record my disappointment at your company's failure to fulfil its obligations on my journey this morning. I'm on the 8.29 from Stowmarket, with an Advance ticket. My ticket comes with a seat reservation for seat 53A in coach F. Unfortunately, there is no coach F. There is a ...
Welcome to the 8.29 service from Stowmarket to London Liverpool Street, where we are, for the time being, on schedule for an 'on time arrival'. I have a reservation for seat 53A in coach F, which is a table seat, facing forward - very nice. Except that there is no coach F. So, where is my reserved seat? No announcement, so I take an available seat, noting the absence of any reservations in coach E. The guard arrives to check my ticket, and I ask him where my reserved seat is. He tells me that there is no coach F ...
I had a bet with someone yesterday about how long the coalition government will last. They were convinced that it would not go beyond the end of May 2011. I on the other hand expect it to go the full distance and to end on 7th May 2015 as the government has indicated. It made me think however that it might be fun to have a sweepstake type thing (albeit you don't need to pay any money in). Just pop the date upon which you think the coalition government will end in the comments below, along with your reason(s) why ...
Herts County Council staff have given a big vote of no confidence to the county council, according to a survey published this week. Only a third of staff responded, though the benchmark figure is half. This figure is up on last year. Less than a third of those who responded think the council manages change effectively and another third thought the council set a good example. This is down 10% on last year. There was also a worsening in the situation regarding bullying and harassment: only half of staff felt they could report these incidences and only a quarter felt ...
When? 5.30 pm Monday 19th July 2010 Where? The top of the Buchanan Street, near the Donald Dewar statue, at the bottom of the stairs outside the Buchanan Galleries - if you can, bring a candle and some yellow ribbon for this humanitarian vigil. And/Or Twitter (using #florenceprecious) and the Blogosphere. Write a blog post, or some tweets in support of Florence and Precious and say why you think they should be allowed to stay in Glasgow through the day but particularly to come online at the time of the vigil. For more detailed information see Anne McLaughlin's blog here. ...
Prestwich Local Area Partnership voted overwhelmingly against Bury Council's plans to impose parking charges on Fairfax Road at its meeting on 15th July. The vote was taken after the controversial plans were outlined at the meeting. Angry residents in the audience grilled Council parking chiefs for half an hour after it was confirmed that the Council plan to charge motorists £1 to park for up to an hour, and £2 afterwards. St Mary's ward Councillor Richard Baum said "It was clear that everyone in the room was against these proposals. It's all about making money for Bury Council by punishing ...
As many people will know, this is an issue close to my heart, saving the bees is important for so many reasons including supporting the food chain, so seeing this story on the BBC website and The Scotsman just reinforces why our bees should be protected. I have blogged before about bees - The Queen has a vigorous sex life and The plight of the honeybee. An outbreak of American Foulbrood, which kills off honey bee larva, has been discovered in West Lothian. The disease was found at an apiary by a Scottish government bee inspector. A 5km infected area ...
I found this highly amusing, but then again I do have a random sense of humour :-)
The coming week is likely to be a highly turbulent one in the European markets, following the withdrawal of an IMF mission to Hungary. The failure of the mission means that implied IMF and wider international support for Hungary will not be put into place. Essentially it means that the supra-national bodies do not believe that the Hungarian government has the policies or even the will to tackle the widening deficits and increasing debt burden that it faces. It is a pretty serious slap on the wrist for Hungary. However it is not just an expression of no confidence in ...
The announcement by Plaid Cymru last week that they will be placing education at the heart of their 2011 Assembly election campaign is barely credible when their record in government is taken into account. After three years of holding Ministerial office they are presiding over a funding gap between England and Wales of £527 per pupil, a cut in capital funding for new schools, a squeeze on the money for further education and of course the introduction of top-up fees in Wales despite promising not to do so. And all that before the coalition government's cuts take effect. A pledge ...
Yes, I know, a month is a long time! I've been faffing around with two web projects and learning more Drupal by working on my blog. As you can see, I've changed things around. I hope you like it. Anyway, in all the kerfuffle, I've put myself into a sort of a purdah for the month (well, most of the other state employees managed to do that before the election, so I may as well!). I've not read blogs, news feeds, Twitter, Facebook or anything much. But here I am, back and ready for some action. I've still got stuff ...
Have you ever watched a child running around and you thought something might get knocked over, like a stack of tins? Then when something happens the child get told off. I have always thought the guardian should be told off before anything happened. I was watching a rugby league match yesterday between Batley and Widnes. It was the Northern Rail Cup final so it was an important match and both teams were playing aggressively. Normally it is so much easier for me to agree with rugby, rather than football commentators and referees because the discipline is so much greater in ...
