Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to comment on the three poster ideas I added to the blog a few days ago. Below is another one, emphasising how MPs can get in with little more than a third of the vote - both Plymouth MPs, for example, won not much more (Labour's Alison Seabeck in Moor View won 37 per cent and the Conservatives' Oliver Colvile in Sutton and Devonport scooped just 34 per cent). [IMG: Fairer Votes Referendum Poster Idea 4] So, wotcha fink?
The Liberal Democrats, in contrast to the majority of Labour and Tory MPs, have an honourable record in voting against the invasion of Iraq. However, the shameful lack of dissent from the Liberal Democrat MPs on the all-party consensus over the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan reminds us of the sacrifices which are sometimes made when a party leaves opposition and becomes part of a government in this country. Never mind that wedding parties seems to be particularly favourite target of US bombs and missiles, never mind that more civilians have now been killed than on 9/11, never mind the ...
Wed 28th
22:42
On way home heard fascinating panel discussion on how useless SATs are in assessing the performance ...
On way home heard fascinating panel discussion on how useless SATs are in assessing the performance of schools and teachers. Listen again: http://is.gd/dPqzU BBC - BBC Radio 4 Programmes - Reality Check, Series 3, School testing is.gd Justin Rowlatt and guests debate how much young children should be tested at school.
From time to time, I freshen up the look of this blog - the mirror site http://www.westendblog.org.uk/ had a bit of a makeover a few months ago, and today I have launched a new look for http://www.dundeewestend.com/. For the first time in a long time, I have changed from a three column style to two columns - I think this is less 'busy' and therefore easier to read. I have saved the old template just in case everyone hates the new version!
Working from home today I had the sadly rare opportunity to listen to WATO and the wonderful Martha Kearney over lunch. Imagine my delight (being in the middle of emailing our own Tom McNally about our Youth Justice policy) when I heard dear old Theresa May chatting about abolishing ASBO's - Lib Dem policy.......well almost! I wondered if Lynne Featherstone had been working her magic? Having worked with Lynne on our youth policy I do know we are totally on the same page about youth issues and her tenacity and inscrutability in seeking to ensure we are a far more ...
From our Dear Leader at the LGA Cllr Richard Kemp & posted to his Twitter account.... No BBC I am not Colonel Richard Kemp, Basra, bombs and burqas. I am Cllr Richard Kemp, bins, bogs and burials! Well it made me chuckle :-)
There is much interest over the idea of the Coalition's "Freedom Bill", particularly over what might be in it. They even launched a website asking people for their ideas, though maybe that wasn't such a good idea. After all, only cranks inhabit the internet. But, from a political hack's perspective, the interesting part is whether ...
July, what a terrible month. The humidity and stifling weather has affected my ability to do even the smallest of tasks. The lack of energy I guess is linked to the diabetes, but the depression has been very very dark this month. It never goes away, I always have a self loathing and anger at myself that never seems to improve. This month though, the deepest pit of dark despair. I have the Three Ds: Depression, Diabetes and Deafness. The ever decreasing amounts I can hear without the amplification of either my hearing aids or headphones is taking its toll ...
The week began on a very sad note as I and many Lib Dem Councillors, activists, family and friends attended the funeral of Alistair Chisholm. Alistair was a Liberal and Lib Dem activist in Leith for many years who also taught Physics and Computer Science at Leith Academy. He had a warm infectious laugh and a great sense of humour. He was also a man of immense integrity who was a great practitioner of clean politics. We heard stories about him being confused with Malcolm Chisholm then a Labour agent and also a teacher in a different school. He was ...
Another video combining vintage railway footage with a contemporary soundtrack. This one combines film taken in and around King's Cross station in the 1950s and 60s with Pick of the Pops from 28 May 1960 and 18 July 1963 as an accompaniment. It is interesting to see what a mess the area in front of the station was in those days. In the 1930s there was even a new house standing there, built to advertise new estates that could be reached by train. If you enjoyed this you may also enjoy:London termini in the 1960sThe Ladykillers locationsLondon in the 1960sThanks ...
Even if you don't share my obsession with Steve Winwood, you have to admit that Traffic's Paper Sun is one of the great singles of the psychedelic sixties. When the makers of the Brian Jones biopic Stoned wanted a song on the soundtrack to accompany his visit to Marrakech, it was Paper Sun that they chose. There is a video of Paper Sun on Youtube that shows the band walking round a museum - I have included it above. The general view on the web seems to be that the museum in question is the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill. ...
I welcome today's commitment from National Express Dundee that it is willing to review recent controversial bus service changes in the city. In recent weeks, along with residents, fellow councillors and the Community Spirit Action Group, I have highlighted the deficiencies in the revised 11/12 service in the Ancrum, Pentland and Tullideph areas. Following my approach to the bus company earlier this week, a meeting with their Director, Lawrence Davie, has now been agreed to specifically discuss the 11/12 service. The meeting will take place on 11th August, in order to give all residents a little while longer to sign ...
As reported in today's "Courier", yesterday, along with two of my West End constituents who had contacted me about how the City Council can further support the people of Gaza, and Ali El-Awaisi, who was on board the Mavi Marmara when it was illegally stormed by Israeli commandos, I met with the Lord Provost, the City Council's Chief Executive and the council's Legal Manager. Specifically, my constituents wished to raise the possibility of flying the Palestinian flag in the City Square (or the flags of the countries of all our twinned cities) and the City Council implementing a boycott of ...
As part of my end of term nostalgia, I've been looking back at the last year on this blog, a year that's covered an election and its long build up, the historic formation of the first coalition government I've seen in my lifetime as well as one containing Liberal Democrats, a new Doctor Who and Michael Schumacher coming back to F1. How much excitement can one year hold? Anyway, last week I published a list of the top then most popular posts of the last year as determined by Google Analytics. Now, I thought I'd go back down memory lane ...
Will Straw has written a piece for Left Foot Forward today entitled "Electoral reformers should oppose the coalition's gerrymandering" where he highlights four reasons why electoral reformers should oppose the proposed government bill to change the boundaries and put the AV to a referendum. I won't reproduce the entire post here for the purposes of fisking but I will take each of the points that Will raises along with a synopsis and address them here: 1) The Bill prevents equal representation While everyone accepts the principled case for equal-sized seats, time must be taken to ensure that the equalisation is ...
Today Peter Bingle, chairman of Bell Pottiner Public Relations, has mused that the coalition may present itself as an electoral vehicle at the next election. He also thinks that the Conservative party may have come to the end of the road. As I have written before, the coalition is far more like a Whig government than anything else. I am not suggesting that a Whig party is about to be re-established but if something like that is going to happen then the party will need members to deliver leaflets, donate money and help formulate policy. Something like that would be ...
Absolutely began in 1989. It is an absurdist comedy that has its roots in the physical and wordplay traditions of Monty Python and Rowen and Martin's Laugh-In. The only female cast member, Morwenna Banks, went on to appear in an episode of The Thick of It. Here is the first episode.
Do you like football? Are you a Liberal Democrat? Do you want the opportunity to win a small prize? Well in that case why not join the unofficial Lib Dem fantasy premier league? Here's an opportunity to put together a team with some of your favourite players in, and compete against other Lib Dem football fans. To set up a team go to http://fantasy.premierleague.com (http://m.fantasy.premierleague.com from a smart-phone) and follow the instructions to register. Choose your team name and design your club's strip, then pick your squad for the season. Once that's done, you can choose to join a private ...
If you are reading this, you probably don't need to do anything. This is just a note to say that yes, I do have a proper Grown Up blog these days, which is a should-be-unneeded concession to the people who complain that LiveJournal users aren't proper bloggers and therefore won't take me seriously like unless I sit at the grown-up table. [Blog snobbery. We all have it. I'm not immune, certainly, but I'm working on it]. As I said, if you're reading this on the LJ or DW clones, you probably don't need to do anything, because I'll be crossposting. ...
Those delightful coves at Jabra and Wildfire PR have kindly sent me a Jabra Clipper review unit. Could this be the BlueTooth headset to replace my beloved Jabra BT3030 which had an unfortunate encounter with a washing machine last week? [IMG: Model wearing Jabra Clipper] Model Not Included How does it stack up against my wishlist? WishlistMicro-USB charger. Yup – it uses the same port as the Nexus One. Although it comes with a charger – the lead on it is really short. The port is located under a rubber flap which I'm sure I'll manage to break off.Stereo. Yup. ...
This was Gareth Roberts' first Doctor Who book (in the Virgin New Adventures series), laying the groundwork for a subsequent career that has most recently produced The Lodger (though we have a couple more Sarah Jane Smith stories by him coming out towards the end of the year). A small plot element - London commuters whisked through a wormhole in space to encounter an alien menace - was re-used in Planet of the Dead, by Gareth Roberts and RTD. Fannish opinion on this one seems a bit polarised; I thought it was OK but not brilliant, with the best bit ...
Gatley Carrs - the village's hidden gem of a nature reserve - has received a Green Pennant award. Mark Hunter, Pam King, Mayor Hazel Lees and I went along for the award ceremony and somehow managed to dodge the rain. Congratulations to everyone at the Gatley Carrs Conservation Group who's hard work has turned this former builders' rubble tip into such a lovely place. [IMG: Gatley Carrs] View Gatley Carrs in a larger map
Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes has not minced his words in decrying Labour's decision to vote against the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, which would allow a referendum on electoral reform: This is staggering hypocrisy from Labour. Labour's shadow cabinet decision is not about principle, it is about naked opportunism. With most of their leadership contenders claiming to back AV for a fairer voting system, it is astonishing they now wish to block the legislation to make that happen. "Each and every Labour MP campaigned on a manifesto committing to a referendum. Now they have the opportunity to ...
Ok David Grace wrote up this thought quicker than I did, but it occurred to me that if the 'reason' Labour are giving for voting against the AV Bill is that it is tethered to the reduction of the size of the House of Commons why not split the Bill. The right wing Tories can vote against AV if Labour support it and the reduction of the size of the Commons has a Lib/Dem Con majority. Who is the Government chief whip?
Roy Connell has alerted me to a report from Royal United Services Institute written by Professor Malcolm Chalmers which is summarised on the BBC website: 'The so-called continuous-at-sea-deterrence (CASD) has been the basis of Britain's strategic nuclear deterrent since the first Polaris submarines - the predecessor of Trident - were deployed in 1968.But the RUSI paper, written by Professor Malcolm Chalmers - a former adviser to Jack Straw and Margaret Beckett when they were foreign secretaries - suggests CASD is no longer necessary following the end of the Cold War and abandoning it could produce "significant financial savings"."There is now ...
As I said last month, religious civil partnerships are muddlesome. However following on from today's release of information on yesterday's civil partnership consultation, it looks like the Government is very committed to introducing them whatever people tell them in the consultation. Well let's look at why that's pretty insulting. So who has been asking for religious civil partnerships? Well, of course, religious people and those who support their rights (supposedly although, as far as I can see, it's more from Labour MPs and Lords than any cry from the general population). Now last I checked the reason Labour didn't support ...
Cornwall Citizens Advice Bureau have put out a press release about changes to the legal aid contract in the East of Cornwall which will have a significant impact on many of the poorest families in our area. CAB estimates that more than 900 local families need family legal aid services each year in our area. The Cornwall CAB press release says: We understand the Legal Services Commission has just announced the award of the new contract for Family Legal Aid to one firm in the East of the county. This means that for the next three years, the duration of ...
Mark Kaczmarek, Cornwall's Cabinet member for Housing, has broken ranks with his colleagues and called for the sale of Newquay Airport. The remarks were in an interview for Business Cornwall which you can hear here. The airport was taken on by the Council 18 months ago when the RAF moved out and has been making a loss since that time. My understanding is that this loss was expected and that development and investment would turn the airport into a valuable asset over time. Certainly there have been a number of cabinet discussions over recent months about investment in the facility. ...
Amid the gloom of cuts, the opinion polls and the encroachment of dull weather this week it's easy to grasp at any positive straw one can find to cheer us up. But the recent economic growth figures which were announced really are a positive on several levels and a vindication of the strategy which the coalition is pursuing. The principal criticisms of the coalition plans have been that withdrawing support from the economy too early could lead to a double dip recession, the latest growth figures indicate that the economy is entering a period of more robust growth, and with ...
Yesterday I noticed that the Peter Cushing Doctor Who film Dr. Who: Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. was on one of the cable channels so we started to watch it. This film is in the so bad it is good category, but the missus made a comment about the plot, such as it is that I have the urge to share. If you think it would matter to know the plot of the film you'd better stop reading now. The central idea is that the Dalek's have invaded earth and are building a mine in Bedfordshire. The location of this ...
I've been asked to sign a petition about the Charter School taking more time to consult about becoming a new style Academy. Unfortunately the petition doesn't seem focused on this point about a proper consultation so didn't feel I could sign it although sympathise hugely with the consultation point. Hopefully I can get a joint letter with local councillors asking the school to consult locally before taking any such decision. From the Dept of Education website Charter School is listed along with several other schools in the Southwark Councl area as being an outstanding school expressing an interest. No other ...
The UK Statistics Authority has confirmed that preparations for the 2011 Census in England and Wales on 27 March 2011 "will now press ahead with all speed": The Statistics Authority is determined that, with the full support of the Government and all the other parties concerned, the 2011 Census will be the success that the country needs it to be, and will provide the information about our population which can only be derived from the full-scale Census, which has now been confirmed. This came in response to an answer by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Rt. Hon. Francis Maude ...
Yesterday afternoon Cornwall Council's Chief Executive Kevin Lavery and Leader Alec Robertson held a briefing for councillors to tell us that they wish to make a further £70 million of cuts over the next four years. They believe that this process is likely to involve around 2000 job cuts. This was the message that they went on to give to the press. It is absolutely clear that Cornwall Council needs to, and can, make cuts. However I have not yet seen the justification for cuts on this scale and we need to make sure that jobs which deliver frontline services ...
Kirkstall Online has the news of a photo exhibition celebrating thirty years of the Kirkstall Festival. The website is also a great source of local news and views with some really interesting discussions on the forums. Sorry for the late notice but it's tomorrow!
Liberal Democrat run Winchester City Council has cheered up local parents with the announcement that under 16s will be able to swim for free at River Park Leisure Centre this August.As part of the government's spending cuts the scheme allowing over 60s and under 16s to swim for free has been axed. However Lib Dem Winchester has worked with DC Leisure and the Toynbee School Sports partnership to
Late last night, I blogged this in outrage at the Early Learning Centre's appallingly sexist marketing of their dressing up outfits. I wrote to them saying that I was horrified that they were marketing nurse outfits directed at girls and doctor outfits directed at boys. I think that limiting the ambitions of kids who are barely out of nappies is unacceptable and not appropriate for the 21st century. Nor is it really appropriate to push girls to the passive and sparkly, leaving all the action of the pirate, superhero and cowboy to the boys. My experience of providing a wide ...
Yesterday during the Summer Adjournment Debate, Mike Hancock MP (Portsmouth South) raised five issues of note for the coalition. He stated that whilst he was an advocate of the coalition deal and did so believing that is was the only realistic deal and that they could introduce a fair way to deal with the issues the country faces. He added however, a caveat to this which is his fifth point. The first four points deal with housing and business rates, housing benefit, Building Schools for the Future and Portsmouth Football Club. The issues are in bold lettering: my views/opinions in ...
Over the last 4 years as a councillor I've often had people complain chewing gum. Came across small article about a pioneering Flintshire based company Revolymer has made £10m investment to come up gum hat doesn't permanently stick to pavements but rather breaks down within a relatively short time or can be blasted by water - quicker and easier to remove and degrade than any current chewing gum. We just need chewing gum manufacturers to adopt this technology. Fingers crossed for the future.
The UK Statistics Authority has confirmed that preparations for the 2011 Census in England and Wales on 27 March 2011 "will now press ahead with all speed": The Statistics Authority is determined that, with the full support of the Government and all the other parties concerned, the 2011 Census will be the success that the country needs it to be, and will provide the information about our population which can only be derived from the full-scale Census, which has now been confirmed. This came in response to an answer by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Rt. Hon. Francis Maude ...
With the School summer holidays now in full swing Butterstile Childrens Centre is gearing up to meet the demands for extra activities during the holidays. Throughout the summer holidays the popular childrens centre at Butterstile School, will be organising a number of extra events and activities across the St.Mary's area of Prestwich all on top of their normal service and activities. For more information you can download full details of their summer activities here: butterstile-summer-timetable-2010.pdf
I haven't got amnesia but I do appear to have woken up in 1984.
Stockport Council's Corporate Resource, Management & Governance Scrutiny (CRMG) Committee met last night. Its job is to keep an eye on how the council operates internally - the "back office" side of things. As a new item, we discussed the Council's use of RIPA, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. RIPA provides a framework for a variety of public bodies - including councils, the police, the Benefits Agency and others - to use covert surveillance to gather evidence against members of the public suspected of breaking the law. It's been pretty controversial, with a typical Daily Mail comment against ...
Senator Bob Menendez has come a long way from the Union City, N.J. Board of Education where he began his political career. A fine practitioner of the black arts of Democrat machine politics, he has proven adept at finding populist band wagons to jump on. One was to co-legislate (with the then Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton) a ban on the sale of port and harbour businesses to foreign "governments". This was a response to the partially state owned Dubai World bidding for P&O in 2006. P&O was eventually sold, but minus its US assets, and that now means that DP ...
Wed 28th
12:25
LibLink: Phil Willis - We must re-think the role of universities if we want to produce a world-class...
Former Lib Dem MP, Phil Willis – or Baron Willis of Knaresborough to give him his full title – has penned a piece for the Yorkshire Post arguing that now is the time for a radical re-think about the role and function of our universities and how they could be re-engineered to provide a world-class workforce to deliver world-class goods and services to a global economy. Until his retirement from the Commons, of course, Phil was chairman of the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Select Committee. He has some tough things to say about the Coalition's emergency budget: The emergency ...
It was interesting to see the recent Guardian poll asking the scaling question to rate the government and the political parties out of 10 as this uses a key component of solution focused work. When asked to award the coalition marks out of 10 for its performance so far the total score was 5.1. The ...
My poor husband Bob has been plagued by midges and other assorted beasties all his life. They find him oh so tasty! Now it looks like we know why. Apparently, according to research reported in today's Telegraph, they go for tall men. Men don't really come that much taller than Bob, who's 6 ft 4. It's a shame, really, because there's not much we can do about it. It's not as if he can stop being tall. They never used to bother me, but have started to in recent years, possibly because of all the weight I've piled on while ...
The Fortune Green councillors have been contacted by the Camden StreetSafe project looking for volunteers to help them monitor the area. The StreetSafe team work across Camden with people engaged in rough sleeping, street drinking, begging, sex working and street based drugs activity. They have a network of over 100 local 'Community Auditors'. Community Auditors can be businesses or residents and they send in regular reports about these kind of street activities so that the team can move in and address the issues facing the people involved in the problems. More information on the StreetSafe team can be found here. ...
Lidl application 10/02688/FUL I have written in support of this application and joined with Sharon Ball in requesting that the application is heard in public if needed. There is a wide support for having a Lidl on this sitte and it will transform an eyesore into a vibrant new part of the Lower Bristol Road. My Comments: I fully support this...
Hertfordshire County Council has launched a consultation on proposed changes to its charging policy for non-residential services in adult care. Non-residential services support adults living at home, such as home care, day care, transport and meals on wheels. Around 10,000 people across the county who use these services will be sent a questionnaire to gauge their views. The proposed changes are aimed at bringing the council's charging policy more closely into line with the policies in place in other areas of the country. It is anticipated that the changes will generate an additional £2million per year. Service users can give ...
Here is a selection of issues making headlines during the past few weeks: Local News £1m leg up the housing ladder - First-time buyers will get a leg up on to the housing ladder with the help of a pioneering, multimillion-pound scheme that will benefit house buyers, the council and the taxpayer in a "virtuous circle". 'Mixed response' to wind turbine plans - A public exhibition detailing plans for four wind turbines near Arborfield, Shinfield and Earley prompted a "mixed bag" of comments. Local Links Green Reading restarts Reading Lists Top of the Berkshire Blogs Ask Alvin joins Race Online ...
In which the BPI threaten to sue me.Last night I was fortunate enough to find myself addressing the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Digital Economy Act. Eric Joyce MP managed to bring together a diverse group of people from all sides of the debate for a (mostly) civil discussion on the Act, its limitations, and potential problems. [IMG: MPs and Musicians in Perfect Harmony] MPs and Musicians in Perfect Harmony This was exactly the sort of discussion which should have taken place before the bill became law. Sadly, we're left with trying to correct an extremely illiberal and technically infeasible ...
Any comments please let us know or enter directly onto the planning website Ward: Southdown App Ref: 10/02737/REN Registered: 23rd July 2010 Expiry Date: 17th September 2010 Location: 1 Sladebrook...
Pity Ed Balls. He was the rising star of Labour. A close ally of Gordon Brown and tribalist to the core, he made his ministerial start as City Minister. It was an exciting time for Balls, denouncing the Lib Dems for not being wholly in favour of minimalist regulation of the financial services sector and claiming we were party poopers for pointing out the risks of the arms-length approach to the
I bought my husband a posh new camera for his birthday exactly a month ago. He loves it and then some. He's taken to disappearing as the sun goes down to take photos of clouds. When he came back last night, he found me in a state of high dudgeon about this. He couldn't calm me down with words, so he sent me this instead. It was taken just up the road. After 23 years, he seems to have worked out how to calm me down. I think it's a beautiful photo so thought I'd share it with you.
VN tends to focus on politics and the developments in the world wide web, and the two worlds have collided head on courtesy of Wikileaks' Kabul War Diary. The founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, is clearly driven by pacifism, and a deep sense of distrust of authority, but can an extremely tech savvy person ever truly take on Government? If they could, do we really want to know the truth anyway? The internet is a fantastically democratising force, the ultimate in liberty and free speech. That a man can challenge superpower Governments' so directly, so publicly, and so effectively truly ...
I'm well aware that I've been sustaining radio silence. I don't expect regular blogging to resuem any time soon because I am in the last few weeks before I have to submit my PhD thesis and stuff's got to be done. This is so good I need to link to it though: The Singularity - a short science fiction piece by Andrew Hickey. Now back to writing... This post can also be found at Thagomizer.net. Feel free to join in the conversation wherever you feel most comfortable.
An interesting post over at Lib Dem voice detailing some exchanges between the Met commissioner and a member of the Police Authority regarding the harassment of photographers. ( I know, I am like a broken record) The commissioner is quoted as saying. "....it was causing such a disproportionate loss of reputation for us [the Met] that there is no restriction on people taking photographs in public places, or any other building, other than in very exceptional circumstances, and I think I made the public comment here and various other places: people actually come to London to photograph it! So it's ...
Lorely Burt has been drawn in the Private Members Bill ballot and has decided to bring up the issue of bank charges. The last time the supreme court ruled on the issue they said that banks were following the law and that the Office of Fair Trading could not adjudicate on ancillary charges within a contract, only on the main contract itslef. This seems unfair to me and many others. These charges affect the people who can least afford to pay for it. It is about time that the law was changed to allow the OFT to step in and ...
Party conference rumour season is well underway, with more special guest speculation than last month's Glastonbury. But whoever's doing the briefing, it doesn't seem to be coming from the Liberal Democrat side. The story that David Cameron might address Lib Dem conference seems to have originated from the Independent: David Cameron and Nick Clegg are drawing up plans for closer links between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats and senior figures from the two parties will address each other's party conference this autumn. The two leaders are keen to cement the coalition and a special meeting of the Cabinet next month ...
It is the Executive today. The North West Regional Development Agency cuts announced yesterday have been blamed for much on the agenda. What is interesting is that the reports were circulated a week before the cuts were announced. It is fair to say that these cuts were ones which were long expected and are not due to the new Government!
The opportunistic self-serving hypocrites who lead the Parliamentary Labour Party are going to vote against a referendum on AV despite their own commitment to the idea a few weeks ago. The arch-hypocrite (and sadly typical ex-NUS President) Jack Straw explains that the bill also provides for redrawing boundaries and reducing the number of constituencies. Of course the real motive is to join
I had the great pleasure of joining Councillor Fred Weavers and colleagues on Satruday 24th July rowing a dragon boat. The event, organised by Fred, was to raise money for the charity Help for Hero's. I joined the boat crewed by the Mayor Maureen Fearn, Councillors Tony Robertson, Mike Booth and Haydn Preece together with other friends and colleagues. I have to say it was great fun and much easier than I had thought. Both Maureen and myself were, however, a little disappointed that the boat itself didn't include a dragons head ! Well done to all!
I have recently bought a copy of James Walton's "Sonnets, Bonnetts & Bennetts". I couldn't resist the puff by Lynne Truss which said, "The perfect gift for the sort of person who shouts the answers at University Challenge". That's me. Here's an example of the questions inside.Who's the only person in literary history both to have been shortlisted for the Booker Prize and to have played a
I read this post yesterday on the You've Been Cromwelled site in which the author recounts how they were pursued and questioned by a couple of Rail Enforcement Officers (who are charged with looking after people on the railways and checking their tickets) for taking photographs. They do not have any police-like powers, they are just civilians. The story follows a familiar pattern. First the officers asked why they were taking photographs (of them). Then they asked to see the pictures. Then they asked the photographer to delete the pictures. The photographer refused to comply with any of their requests. ...
This is the Chinese character for love. Sadly I know no others, so whoever it is keeps posting comments in Chinese characters, please stop. I can't read them, so I can't publish them, not knowing what they mean.
A great way to experience Bury's countryside - Bury Ranger service are leading the second of their four cycle rides this Sunday Join them on a leisurely circular cycle ride starting from St Mary's Park in Prestwich. We'll be following National Cycle Route 6 along the Outwood trail and the Bury Bolton canal to Bury. Heading through Pilsworth, Unsworth, and Heaton Park back to St Mary's Park. Covering approximately 20 miles the route is both off and on road, some of the off road sections are on rough surfaced tracks and the ride includes some short steep slopes but no ...
Party conference rumour season is well underway, with more special guest speculation than last month's Glastonbury. But whoever's doing the briefing, it doesn't seem to be coming from the Liberal Democrat side. The story that David Cameron might address Lib Dem conference seems to have originated from the Independent: David Cameron and Nick Clegg are drawing up plans for closer links between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats and senior figures from the two parties will address each other's party conference this autumn. The two leaders are keen to cement the coalition and a special meeting of the Cabinet next month ...
The Labour shadow cabinet has decided to vote against the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, insisting that it should not be given a second reading. From the Press Association: Labour is to vote against legislation paving the way for a referendum on reforming the voting system. The shadow cabinet decided to oppose the Government's Bill because it also includes provisions for equalising the size of constituencies. The move sets the stage for a major test of the coalition, with Labour MPs lining up alongside rebel Tories in a bid to derail the proposals. The commitment to a referendum on ...
The Lib Dem Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne today set out ambitious plans to tackle climate change and give the UK the secure, low carbon energy it needs. In his first Annual Energy Statement to the House of Commons, Chris Huhne laid out "a clear strategy for creating the 21st century energy system that this country urgently needs for an affordable, secure, low-carbon future." This included a series of measures to improve energy efficiency and boost renewables, protect vulnerable consumers, as well as pledging to push for ambitious action on climate change at home and ...
The Ambition 2020: World Class Skills and Jobs for the UK report published today tells us that Wales was ranked at the bottom of a league table of UK competitiveness and came 11th out of 12 UK areas in a UK productivity league table. We also have a lower than average employment rate of 69% against the UK average of 72.7%: Mark Spilsbury, author of the Investors in People report published by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, said: "In the current economic climate, it's more important than ever that businesses are able to get the best out of ...
This morning's Telegraph reports that Councils, police and other public bodies are demanding access to people's private telephone and email records at a rate of once a minute. They say that public authorities asked for confidential communications data on more than 525,000 occasions last year including a 13 per cent increase in requests by town halls. They add that there were also errors in hundreds of applications leading to wrong phone numbers, emails or innocent people being monitored, according to the surveillance watchdog: Sir Paul Kennedy, the interception of communications commissioner, also warned children and other members of the public ...
The Labour shadow cabinet has decided to vote against the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, insisting that it should not be given a second reading. From the Press Association, Labour is to vote against legislation paving the way for a referendum on reforming the voting system. The shadow cabinet decided to oppose the Government's Bill because it also includes provisions for equalising the size of constituencies. The move sets the stage for a major test of the coalition, with Labour MPs lining up alongside rebel Tories in a bid to derail the proposals. The commitment to a referendum on ...
In the Labour party manifesto for May they had as point one under The next stage of national renewal: Referenda, held on the same day, for moving to the Alternative Vote for elections to the House of Commons and to a democratic and accountable Second Chamber. It is there in black and white. So how do they respond to just such a bill that will be introduced to move to the Alternative Vote for Westminster elections? The shadow cabinet, who bear in mind are largely the cabinet that framed said manifesto, say they will be voting against it. Jack Straw ...
Interesting blog on political betting.com regarding people "misremembering" voting Lib Dem. The post says: "When pollsters ask how people voted they invariably find that a greater proportion "remember" voting Liberal Democrat than actually did so. In fact the "memory" of interviewees is more in line with what people were telling pollsters in the final week - not with what actually happened." The blog also says that "A big academic post-election survey has observed the same phenomenon." So. If I am reading this right. In the run up to the election more people said they were going to vote Lib Dem ...
Births and Deaths 28 July 1946: birth of Kenny McBain, who directed The Horns of Nimon (1979-80). Yeah, slim pickings, I know. We will finish the month with a more interesting trio of dates.
This article in The Scotsman has been doing the rounds on twitter this evening. It's the tragic story of a talented writer who has been having a savage time, and killed himself because his benefits were to be cut. As a left liberal, the progress of the parliament is troubling me. I am finding the cuts in housing benefit, and rise in VAT (for example) hard to swallow even if I try to justify it with pointing out the compromises we've managed to lever out of our coalition partners like the 10% rise in capital gains tax. I do think ...
I very much enjoyed the 1971 Annual, but there was a gap of two years before the next in the series was published and unfortunately the improvement in quality was not maintained. Most of the stories appear to be by an author with little knowledge of the show - the Doctor is repeatedly referred to as "the scientist" (except in the one story featuring the Master, where the fact that they are both Time Lords in exile gets slipped in) and Jo at one stage is described as having dark hair. The plots of the stories rather weakly reflect those ...
[IMG: RoseHollWiggSignCropped] Local Wigginton resident, Rosemarie Hollinghurst was selected this evening from a field of three applicants in a ballot of Tring Branch Liberal Democrats in which 65% members participated. Rosemarie said she was "delighted" to have been selected to stand as a candidate for the ward in which she has now lived for 27 years, mostly at Tring Station in the Parish of Aldbury, but for the last three years in Wigginton.
I have heard others complain about bias in Morecambe's local press but so far I have refused to believe them. I don't normally send letters to the paper but I have sent three this year. The first was published, the second wasn't but it was just before the election. However the editor could have quite easiliy used her powers and published half of it. Two weeks ago I sent my third letter and it hasn't yet been in the paper. This letter may be seen at So I sent the following email to the editor:- Dear Ingrid, I was ...
