John Owen Trophy day dawns for the 5th year. What a relief when both teams turned up, and a ref was supplied by the Norton Club. The Norton Ancient Football Club were really helpful in providing us the ground and helping out in every way possible - maybe they could be forgiven for winning the match against the African Tess Valley team by 4 : 0. Maybe next year the Africans will win! However...
Here's the speech I wrote to deliver to Speakers Corner at Nottingham Pride yesterday. However, my sleep-deprived brain let me stay up all night writing it only to leave the text behind on my desk when I left late to set up the Lib Dem stall at the Forest Rec. The speech I gave was based on this A4 page of notes I scribbled down to give myself structure. Somehow from that, I managed to speak for about 30 minutes – much longer than I am ever usually allowed to speak anywhere. (Full Council meetings have strict time limits; committees ...
The City Arts Centre has re-opened at long last! I can't believe how much I have missed it. The Council owned gallery has had a makeover with the shop moving to the ground floor. The exhibitions at present include Edward Westons extraordinary pictures of vegetables such as the pepper to the left which looks like a human with big biceps and also pictures of the human form (Edie speak for nudes). Added to this were William Wegmans extraordinary pictures of dogs. All great fun and excellent art! Congratulations to the British Athletics team who have just enjoyed their best ever ...
I am not the only Nicholas Starling who gets mentions on Google, with the head of the Association of British Insurers being called Nick Starling causing some confusion amongst children at my school when it is reported on the news that "We will be speaking to Nick Starling later about... " with children coming in to tell me "They said you would be on TV last night but it wasn't you", which is always quite funny. However, Google brought my attention to Nick Starling, an Iraq war veteran who despite no doubt being brave, clearly has the sort political policies ...
I enjoyed this fun but topical rap video on protecting internet freedom so I thought I would share it with you. Enjoy.
A big thank you to everyone, especially Councillor Irene Curr, who made the Yorkshire Day celebrations in Redcar a big success. We just about sold every white rose we had, the tombola stall was sold out within an hour or so and we almost sold our entire stock of Yorkshire flags. More to follow when we get some pictures. All the money raised from the sale of white roses is counted on Wednesday and every penny will go to Redcar Lifeboat.
As observant readers of this blog will know, I rather enjoyed Joss Whedon's Dollhouse. The series is based around the premise that an organisation has found a way of implanting the skills and knowledge of one person into another mind. Lest anyone think this is an original idea, Gerry and Silvia Anderson played with the same concept in their puppet show Joe 90. In case you don't know the show, here is the introduction and the end credits.
Sun 1st
19:54
Cameron's first big, stupid mistake. He is to diplomacy what Edward Scissorhands is to balloon manag...
The New York Times doesn't cover British politics much so, last week, I was in the dark about David Cameron's utterings in parts East. So I am grateful to Andrew Rawnsley in today's Observer for giving the skinny on Cameron's remarks on Pakistan: He blundered into saying that Pakistan was "exporting terror" and "looking both ways" in dealing with extremists, a remark which almost provoked Pakistan's president to cancel a visit to Britain this week and has alarmed the Foreign Office that the infuriated government in Islamabad will react by withdrawing co-operation on counter-terrorism. That remark was not planned. It ...
Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat Voice Tax is emerging as the next big battleground in the US Congress. George Bush's "tax cuts for the rich" expire at the end of the year. Obama proposes extending them for everyone except those earning over $250,000 (couples) / $200,000 (singles). That means only the top 2% revert to their previous tax rates (about 4 percentage points up on the situation now). The Republicans want all the Bush tax cuts to be maintained and, indeed, extended to everyone. Well, I suppose we can be relieved that, after simply naysaying all Obama's proposals for a year, ...
I am just back from a long weekend away and one of the things that I have been mulling over is how we can win the AV referendum next May. I expect my thoughts on this might prove a bit controversial but hey ho. Although initial polls suggested that there was a majority in favour of changing the electoral system, in recent weeks these numbers have slipped to the point where the "yes" and "no" support seems to be roughly equal. Polling wisdom suggests that unless a referendum starts with the camp that is looking for change with a decent ...
Here are some photos of last night's fireworks at Bristol's Harbour Festival. Enjoy, Andrew
I was on the new BBC Sunday Live programme this morning, talking - if you can call it that - about Tony Hayward's £1m pay-off. I had forgotten just how frustrating those kind of programmes are. It is a fantasy, of the BBC and others, that getting lots of people to phone in with comments and having a studio panel with others, who are not particularly well-informed, is somehow a contribution to democracy. In practice, the technology barely worked. The phone-in consisted of one Scottish lady saying "Nooooo!" very slowly. And in any case, there is almost no scope for ...
There are railway lines and there are railway lines. There are the famous, like the Great Western. There are those that have history, such as the Stockton and Darlington, or the Liverpool and Manchester. There are the heroic failures - the Mid Suffolk Light Railway springs to mind, a railway which was bankrupt from the day it opened. And then there are those who are, for the most part, forgotten, their track removed, only preserved through the endeavours of a few slightly mad, utterly romantic, individuals. The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway is in the latter category, originally intended ...
There has been a great deal of concern recently about some of the recent bus service changes - and in particular in the West End - the 11/12 service. As I reported earlier this week, I am meeting with National Express Dundee (along with representatives of the Community Spirit Action Group and fellow councillors) about this issue. The meeting has been arranged for 11th August. However, I now highlight another couple of bus issues raised recently: * Firstly, I have raised with the City Council the need for more accessible buses on Stagecoach Strathtay Service 69, following a complaint from ...
Chapter 9: The Sacred and the Profane This chapter opens with Rearden confessing to Dagny that he doesn't love her, but merely wants to use her body like a whore, and he despises himself for that desire. This being AtlasWorld and not the real world, Dagny doesn't run screaming from the room but rather welcomes ...
Tax is emerging as the next big battleground in the US Congress. George Bush's "tax cuts for the rich" expire at the end of the year. Obama proposes extending them for everyone except those earning over $250,000 (couples) / $200,000 (singles). That means only the top 2% revert to their previous tax rates (about 4 percentage points up on the situation now). The Republicans want all the Bush tax cuts to be maintained and, indeed, extended to everyone. Well, I suppose we can be relieved that, after simply naysaying all Obama's proposals for a year, the Republicans have at last ...
or is that just too controversial? Seriously or just in jest, what might we try and say through a new motto as part of our attempt to draw attention to our 'destination' core aims and values, beyond our journey's 'steps'? In jest: "we compromise!" Highlighting more fundamental beliefs "Defenders of Freedom" - or is that just a bit too FDP? My suggestion: "Freedom + Vigilance". related posts: Don't Panic Mr Cleggwaring! But Do Take Heed! Big Society, Little Society, Cardboard Box!?! Inspired in Monotone! Nick's Demos Speech If STV PR - Would the Lib Dems be One Party? Continuing Where ...
The Chilcott Enquiry on the Iraq War continues to parade Labour politicians and other public servants undergoing mild cross examination, often using the forum in an attempt to publicly self-cleanse as if alluding to 'doubts at the time' could ever do that any more than 'certainty at the time' or just plain righteousness. In recent weeks we heard from those such as Hans Blix who did openly warn of the lack of evidence of WMD and the serious consequences of war, following the damning testimony of (the then head of MI5) Eliza Manningham-Buller who expressed the lack of credible evidence ...
Sun 1st
14:09
Review of the licensing policies for alcohol and entertainment premises, and sex establishments incl...
From the Council: The public consultation period for the review of these two policies began on 19 July 2010 with a closing date of 15 October 2010. These are being conducted at the same time as they are closely related matters involving related business premises. Stockport Council is the licensing authority for the sale / supply of alcohol, the provision of hot food and drink (after 23:00 hrs) and the provision of regulated entertainments (plays, indoor sports, live and recorded music and dancing etc.). Any amendments or additions to this policy must be agreed by the Council by 7 January ...
This week's video is a tribute to Boris Johnson and his new bicycle hire scheme for London. My White Bicycle was recorded by Tomorrow in 1967 and was inspired by a similar scheme in Amsterdam. This was a collaboration between the anarchist Dutch counterculture group the Provos and the politician and entrepreneur Luud Schimmelpennink. What's That Song About explains: The White Bicycle plan was simply this: Provos and Schimmelpennink went about collecting several hundred bicycles. Each bicycle was painted white. He and his colleagues then took the bikes into the city and just left them standing about. The concept was, ...
Ferrari disgust me again. Bad luck #FelipeBaby #f1 #fb # Watching Last of the Summer Wine. Brings back memories of Portsmouth with @jpshaddock & @esbagshaw #fb # Excited that I have an interview for a great job in Harpenden on Tuesday! #fb # Getting ready to go to Watford #fb # I'm at Harlequin Shopping Centre (201 The Harlequin, Watford). http://4sq.com/8p0pcx # Wow! #f1 fantasy dream team will score highly if things stay as they are! Plus maximum prediction points! #fb # Powered by Twitter Tools
Stephen Tall at LibDemVoice provides an interesting link to a research paper by a group called Onalytica, which asks whether the share of internet coverage during an election campaign influences their poll results. Going through it quickly, I didn't get the feeling that much substance can be taken from it – there wasn't anything related to the actual election results that I noticed. The idea that Nick Clegg's sudden boost from the 1st debate might have been a temporary novelty effect, for instance. Did Gordon Brown's gaffe really make a difference or was it just coincidence? It seems to be ...
Earlier this week the BBC highlighted the remarks of Pembrokeshire's outgoing Education Director. Gerson Davies, who complained that there is too much bureaucracy when applying for grants to improve school buildings in Wales: He told BBC Wales: "There are a multiplicity of grants... and each one of those has its process... and that consumes money. "If you look at the 21st Century Schools fund – there's an awfully cumbersome process, it's paper-loaded." He's also said education officials around Wales needed backing from their local politicians when school reorganisations and closures were required to get rid of surplus places. This has ...
The coalition government is looking to change approach to prison policy with a focus on preventing people getting into prison in the first place. There is renewed interest in other methods of crime deterrents such community sentences or even the recent idea that criminals should say sorry to victims. The difficulty is that it is ...
I see that the BBC has compiled a list of 20 films that make men cry. Sadly it misses out a number of the scenes that get me every time. The first is the final scene of Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun in which a young Jim Graham (Christian Bale) is after being separated from his parents in a different camp through World War II is standing with other children hoping to be reunited with their parents. Jim's mum comes past him and walks right past Jim no recognising him. Enough to make the tears start to well up ...
LDV posed the question last month (even before the Osborne/Alexander austerity emergency budget): Do you believe that as a matter of principle capital gains should generally be taxed at the same level as income? Here's what you told us: 68% (946 votes) – Yes 27% (371) – No 6% (80) – Don't know Total Votes: 1397, Poll ran: 10th June – 31st July, 2010 If you missed it at the time, it's well worth having a read of the comments thread.
The London Cycle Hire scheme has arrived in Oval, with many of the cycle docking stations becoming available for use from Friday. Liberal Democrat London Assembly members have long campaigned for the introduction of such a scheme. In Oval we have docking stations at: Vauxhall Cross (by St. George Wharf)Vauxhall Station (under the Railway Line, by the Royal Vauxhall Tavern)Kennington Lane (by Tesco's)Kennington Road (by the Post Office)The scheme allows you to use bicycles for free for up to 30 minutes, for the payment of a daily £1 access charge, or £45 annual pass. Some first-hand experience shows that this ...
Royal Mail is planning to drop the names of counties from their address database. They say that the names are not needed for delivering mail and deleting the line will save money and avoid the use of out of date names such as Dyfed and North Humberside. That might seem like a perfectly sensible proposal, but the chair of the board that advises Royal Mail on running the database, Ian Beesley, went on to refer to the counties as 'a kind of vanity attachment'. Many people in Cornwall, and elsewhere, will object strongly to the idea that their county (or ...
Much discussion has been had recently within the party about the potential for part time MPs to allow women between 30 and 50 to enter the proffession while raising children. For more information see Lib Dem Voice's view on "Make politics fit women's lives, not vice-versa". However, while I applaud this debate happening, I have always felt that the issues with gender stereotypes are addressed
A planning application has been submitted for a development on the Vauxhall Island Site, the area in the centre of the one-way system at Vauxhall Cross. The development would feature two towers, one 41 storeys, the other 31 storeys, and would include 291 apartments, a 179-bed hotel, shops and restaurants, a 100-seater digital cinema, NHS dentist, and new pedestrian and cycle crossings. The full application can be viewed online at Lambeth's planning website, at http://bit.ly/9WuWZW Representations to the council can be made until August 5th, and please do also make sure that you let us know your viewpoints on the ...
Blogging will be light for the next couple of weeks as we are on holiday. We will only be away for a few days in the time Bob's off, but I don't intend to be doing any serious blogging until the school term starts again on 18th August. I have prepared some stuff for your enjoyment to publish in my absence, and I may not be able to hold back from the occasional post, but don't expect too much. See you when I get back.
One you may have missed - a posting I published in September 2007 Looking back on this, it seems I must have spent ages crafting this post, so I thought I would give it a second spin.... It has taken me a while to work out my precise view on Boris Johnson. Trying to pin him down is like trying to pin down a pregnant jellyfish on a ship during a force ten gale. The moment you say that he is not a very serious politician, the reply comes: "Ah, but he is funny!" Haven't you got a sense of ...
Just over a week ago I posted on the rather difficult-to-understand decision of the Ombudsman for Wales in respect of a tweet by Cardiff Liberal Democrat Councillor, John Dixon on scientology. Now, courtesy of Private Eye, I have found another unfathomable decision, this time by the Standards Board in England. According to the Brighton and Hove News, Green Councillor, Jason Kitcat faces suspension after he was ruled to have broken the councillors' code of conduct by posting a 12-second clip showing laughter at the expense of Conservative cabinet member, Councillor Geoffrey Theobald. The clip, which can be viewed here, includes ...
I am here. Soon I will be here.
I was pleasantly surprised to see this poster at my local train station. Looks like Surrey Library is moving to the digital age. [IMG: Poster advertising Surrey's digital library service] eBooks and eAudiobooks from Surrey Library (click to embiggen) "Bet the site doesn't work on my phone," I thought. [IMG: Mobile Friendly eBook Library] http://ebooks.surreycc.gov.uk/ I was wrong! Overall, this is a brilliant new service. A great initiative to get people reading more books and improving library services. Take a look at http://ebooks.surreycc.gov.uk There's just one problem... DRM Digital Restrictions Management – as the name implies – prevents you from ...
This morning as we were thinking about Psalm 145, the congregation at St Paul's came up with an A-Z of things about God. I promised I'd publish them on the church website and here they are.
This will, with amendments to address and sign off, be winging it's way by snail mail to number 10 later. To the Rt. Hon. David Cameron, Prime Minister, I write following your article in the Independent on Sunday today. Soon the leaders of both the Liberal Democrats and the Labour party will personally support marriage equality. Your Coalition partners will in fact be voting on adopting this issue as party policy at a federal level during their upcoming conference. Of course, like any party, I'm certain the Conservative party is not in the habit of adopting policies just because the ...
Today is Yorkshire Day. But there will be no message from President Obama, no parade in New York, and barely a mention in the American press. To celebrate the County of my birth, I thought I would highlight the incredible contribution Yorkshire has made to America - from Thanksgiving Day, to the discovery of Hawaii and the development of film. I couldn't find any articles online linking Yorkshires' many contributions to the United States, but I hope you will agree with me that it is a significant contribution and one worth celebrating on Yorkshire Day. White (Rose) House The east ...
That's the question a company called, somewhat improbably, Onalytica have set out to answer in their paper, Using the Internet as a Market Research Database. They've summarised their key findngs thus: 1. Changes in daily election poll results could be estimated by measuring the changes in the relative amount of online discussion 2. We find that 'traditional media' maintains a high level of influence, and that the influence of 'social media' was small 3. The Lib Dem's performance was similar to that of a new brand entering an established market place 4. Labour and the Conservatives had a joint interest ...
Happy Yorkshire Day, everyone! To celebrate all things great about God's Own County, have some linkspam (fried in beef dripping, and we'll have none of that soft southern vegetable oil). First up, to carry on the recently developing theme of hirsute Williams, here's how t'Yorkshire national anthem should be done. I can even forgive Bill for being born t'wrong side of t'hills in Rochdale, L****shire, though I'm reliably informed his mam comes from Barnoldswick so that's okay. Bill actually got Joe Cocker's Grease Band to back him on this, recorded on Peelie's Dandelion label; Next, here's Fiery Fred introducing some ...
Okay, the poster's exactly 100 years old – and the issue highlighted here is Asquith's Liberal government's attempts to reform the House of Lords – but somehow it was the caption which to me seemed to resonate down the years into these Coalition days: (From the LSE archives: COLL MISC 0519-053). For others it may bring to mind Ming Campbell's nag in Five Days that Changed Britain: "If you have a dog... for long enough, eventually you begin to look like your pet. Well, if you have a coalition partner, then it seems to me there's a very grave risk ...
Stockport Council is supporting national Playday by holding an event in Torkington Park on Wednesday 4th August. Playday is the annual celebration of children's right to play. The theme for Playday 2010 is 'Our Place' which aims to put children at the heart of the community and asks everyone, young and old, to help create better places for all of us to live and play. The free event, organised as part of the Stockport Boost campaign, is being held from 11am-4pm and will include bouncy castles, sand play, den building, clay making, bird feeders, craft activities and face painting. The ...
A full day of fun events has been organised in Redcar town centre to celebrate Yorkshire Day on Sunday 1st August. The mighty Viking, Sicga Draugluin, (played by Corus steelworker John Curr) will be present to deliver the annual Reading of the Yorkshire Declaration of Integrity in Old Norse at 11.35am near Redcar Town Clock. Redcar MP Ian Swales will read the modern English version. All proceeds from the sale of white roses will go the Redcar Lifeboat. From 11am to 3pm in the High Street there will be craft stalls, trampolines, kiddies rides, tombola and a circus performer. There ...
Today, the Independent published it's Pink List. We'll ignore the fact that Joe McElderry somehow managed to get on the list (despite only being out as gay for a day) and focus on the related comments from our Dear Leader David Cameron. When I say focus, I meant to say "focus on the bits I don't like". Of course there's plenty to be thankful for in seeing a Conservative Prime Minister offer his support to the LGBT cause. But he's not winning me over with this: I know there is one other subject that the gay community is particularly interested ...
I gave one interview only - to the Sunday Times - as a prelude to the work we will be doing starting in the Autumn on Body Confidence (see earlier posts). In that interview - because I was asked what I thought of Christina Hendricks (the MadMen star) and said I thought she was absolutely fabulous - as was Marilyn Monroe - echoes of that interview have been bouncing around the media ever since. Not surprisingly - I was not advocating that women should aspire to replicate Ms Hendricks' figure - simply saying that it was nice to see an ...
I am, unsurprisingly, delighted to see my Government finally taking India seriously. Being partly of Indian extraction, and a semi-frequent visitor to the country, I've seen for myself the progress that is being made in Mumbai, in Bangalore and even in Delhi. But if the United Kingdom is to be taken seriously, the relationship with India needs to be about more than just us selling things to them. It is about immigration, about cultural exchange, about India's place in the world as much as ours. So, here are a few suggestions for the Government; Make it less difficult for Indians ...
It is often said that Aaron Sorkin's West Wing was based on the Clinton White House. So there was a little hint of live imitating art at yesterday's 'royal' wedding in New York State. The only dress designer to feature in the title of West Wing episode was Vera Wang in the third season episode The Black Vera Wang in which CJ was put under secret service protection. Yesterday Chelsea Clinton walked down the aisle on the arm of President Clinton in an ivory Vera Wang gown. The mother of the bride the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will have ...
So, continuing my monthly stat porn figures for anyone who is remotely interested, the monthly summary of my visitor stats according to google analytics is as below for July 2010. The busiest day on my blog last month was Sunday 11th July and the story was about Mark Reckless MP, the new MP for Rochester & Strood who was too drunk to participate in the Budget votes. Last month I had 2,454 absolute unique visitors, down from last month. They made 3,530 visits and 4,676 page views. So, my top 10 referring sites for the last month (with previous position ...
Yorkshire Day today. And if you're near Keighley don't forget to come along to the Town Council's Yorkshire Day celebration, Tea on the Green, at Church Green off North Street from 1 till 5 p.m. It'll be fun! [IMG: Keighley's Deputy Town Clerk Debbie Spink at last year's Yorkshire Day ]
In August the council takes a break. There are few if any meetings and little business. I propose to take much the same approach so you can expect little if any news on this website. When the council gears up again in September expect me to rev up the site again.
broadcast anniversary 1st August 1964: broadcast of "A Deperate Venture", the sixth and final episode of the series we now call The Sensorites. Barbara reappears (after several weeks' holiday) and sorts out the Sensorites; meanwhile the Doctor and Ian have tracked down the deranged astronauts in the tunnels. So everyone's a winner! Except the Second Elder and the Engineer, of course. This is the episode where Susan says, of her home planet, at night the sky is a burnt orange, and the leaves on the trees a bright silver.Ends on a dramatically sour note as the Doctor takes offence at ...
One of the best things about the internet is the ability to share stuff with friends and others. It can be stuff you've made, done or written, or it can be stuff you've found. Lots of people like doing this so much that there're sites dedicated to the whole idea, or have that sort of function built in as an attraction to users. Making it easy makes senseIf you're creating content, encouraging others to share what you've written with their friends normally makes sense. Making it easy for them makes it likely that they'll do it. Well, normally, some churlish ...
Firstly apologies for not updating for so long; a house move, a change in medication and not to mention the pretty depressing election results have left me too pre-occupied to be able to add to this blog in a while. And to be honest, right now I need your opinion and advice. I am in ...
I would be the first to admit that I am generally less than kind about Norfolk. And, given that I live in Suffolk, that might not come as much of a surprise, even when bearing in mind that I studied in Norwich for three years in the mid-eighties. Ros, on the other hand, likes Norfolk, and when she was invited by friends to visit them for an evening of culture, was keen to accept... and bring me along. So, I caught an early afternoon train from Liverpool Street and was met at Stowmarket by Ros, with the car and a ...
You have to marvel at the stupidity of those responsible for scheduling major road works on three separate junctions and roads in the North of Norwich all at the same time as each other. On the Fakenham (A1067) in to Norwich, traffic can come in to Norwich only (not out), whilst they have also decided to close access to Norwich from the alternative Aylsham (Cromer) Road (A140) at St Augustines (putting in a new route which is causing major traffic problems), and also reducing the number of lanes at Mile Cross Road from two to one. In short, they have ...
John Prescott has given his statement to the Chilcott enquiry on the Iraq war - and what a statement! "When I kept reading them (intelligence reports), I kept saying to myself, 'Is this intelligence?' It was not very substantiated but clearly was robust. ..." There's plenty more where that came from. In particular, the bit about Lord Goldsmith being "not a happy bunny" because of the weight put upon his shoulders to come up with a legal justification for war - that was pure gold. Lord Prescott's use of the word "robust" leaves me wondering if he actually knows what ...
