Your browser does not support iframes. A newsreel from the 1950s. The Savoy Cinema shown at the end is the recently demolished ABC on Belgrave Gate.
I'm still getting a hang of this tweeting business. Southport Flower Show tweeted this afternoon, or strictly retweeted, the advice for allotment holders published in the Observer this weekend. Now I take the view that most advice published on such topics in our national newspapers is aimed at the SE of England so the suggestion that I should do this or that is usually a tad early. I was browsing round a second hand book shop the other day and I came across the first volume of Gladstone's diaries which cover the period1825-1832. He was living in what today is ...
31) Flann O'Brien, At Swim-Two-Birds (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1967, ISBN 0140026363). In a novel within a novel within a novel, the characters decide to rebel against their author. I found it an unusually light read as metafiction goes; good fun, probably at its best when O'Brien demonstrates his keen ability to mimic the rhythms of speech, be it the speech of 20th-century Dublin or of the Old Irish sagas. This entry was cross-posted from Dreamwidth, where there are currently [IMG: comment count unavailable] comment(s). View DW comment(s).
For those of you wondering why I've not done many 'fandom' type posts recently, it's because I've had no money, so was unable to pick up my comics for a few weeks, or to replace my broken DVD player. Payday is Friday, so the balance should return then. Anyway, this post is one of the ...
Well logically there are another 99,999 of these certificates around somewhere. Has anyone else come across one? This one belonged to Mrs Shollick who was a stalwart of the Gladstone Women's Liberal Association in Southport and active in the Sussex Ward-now part of Norwood Ward. She handed the certificate over to canvassers in about 1975 including Norman K Jones a long time Southport councillor who moved to Cornwall on retirement and actively supported Andrew George. His widow Barbara still lives in the West Country. Norman's father was a leading Methodist Minister in Southport. The Gladstone Women's Liberal Association continued to ...
Our city is a noisy place. Even when it's quiet the expected silence unmasks what are normally back ground noises. Earlier in the day when planes start over flying at 5.50am they are so noisy. But this noise gradually recedes as other regulalr noises start up and overtake - mostly traffic noise. What will our city be like when electric cars predominate. Could it be a quieter but somehow noisier hell without traffic hum. I suspect we'll all become more sensitive and demanding about eradicating noises. I had a noisy downstairs neighbour in a victorian conversion flat. It took me ...
Now that the school summer holiday is underway, birminghamnewsroom.com has a list of things to in Birmingham this summer.Ideas include summer events at libraries, the new mac in Cannon Hill Park and local leisure centres.
Later this evening, I was 'minute-taker' at the latest meeting of the Tay Rail Bridge Disaster Memorial Group, that took place at the Bridgeview Station Restaurant on Riverside Drive. It was a very productive meeting, involving representatives from both North East Fife and Dundee. There has been substantial interest in the campaign to have a proper and permanent memorial to the victims of the 1879 disaster, and the group's Chair, Stuart Morris of Balgonie, and I recently had positive on-site informal discussions with council officers about the proposed site for the memorial, near to the bridge. A public financial appeal ...
To be honest, I've never really rated Eric Pickles - his bluff, 'I'm a Yorkshireman' style doesn't convince me of his integrity and his supposed common sense approach is merely a poorly-disguised populism. And, unfortunately, his proposal that voters might be able to vote down a council tax increase in a referendum is one of those superficially attractive ideas that will be very popular until it starts to be used. In my experience, very few councils want significant increases in the level of council tax. Given that there are councils that have elections in three years out of every four, ...
I guess the story of how we got the vote is just too complicated and boring to be taught in schools any more. Who wants to hear about £10 copyholders when they could be studying Nazis? Earlier this year I visited a county archive to do some family history research and asked the county archivist for the 1830's electoral rolls, explaining that my ancestor had been a draper and I wanted to know if he had been enfranchised by the 1832 Act. "Oh no" she replied with an impressive air of authority. "Only the really big landowners were enfranchised in ...
Earlier this evening, I had the pleasure of meeting Pete Heywood, Director of the Living Tradition Summer Schools (right), and the people attending this week's summer school - the third consecutive week at the West Park Conference Centre of traditional music, song, visual arts, crafts and dance. Around 150 people have visited Dundee over the past three weeks to attend these vibrant and well-organised events. It is important that the city continues to attract events like these Summer Schools that have brought people from across the world to Dundee.
Conservative Councillor, Neil Rockcliffe for Chafford and North Stifford ward in Thurrock, Essex has been slammed for calling his ward "Chaffrica" on his facebook page while on holiday. Councillor Neil Rockcliffe Councillor Rockcliffe, wrote: "Is missing being in Chaffrica" and then went on to add: "Thinking that the scriptwriters of Eastenders must live on Chafford Hundred...has all the ingredients...murderers, rapists, concerned ethnic minorities, gay men etc, etc...."Councillor Neil Rockliffe, who represents Chafford and North Stifford with just a majority of 117 votes, said he had now removed the posts. Chafford Hundred has one of the fastest growing black and minority ...
Some of these reviews can also be found on Amazon.In July 2010 I read the following books: 1. War in a Stringbag, by Charles Lamb - Very good: 4/5 The part played by the Fleet Air Arm in the second World War is little known, and this very accessible, clearly written autobiography by one of its pilots who served in some of the FAA's most important theatres does a very good job of bringing the FAA to greater attention. It breaks down broadly into two sections: first, Lamb's time as a Swordfish pilot, predominantly in the Mediterranean theatre; and second, ...
There's a huge problem in this country, that pervades pretty much all counties, rural and urban. It leads to fear, depression, and misery. It's something that the Conservatives of the 1980s made much worse, bizarrely making themselves popular with a quite significant section of society in the process.. and then Labour did nothing to ameliorate in their 13 years of power. It's not foxes running riot in town centres. It's a widespread lack of social housing. Yeah sorry, housing. That least sexy of all departments. I'd imagine the Housing Department is quite a doss to work at, actually. Especially since ...
Tue 3rd
20:44
Guest post from Hugh O'Donnell MSP in Kampala, Uganda on VSO's new Scottish Parliament Volunteering ...
Well here I am ready to start the VSO placement in Kampala at the end of a remarkable 24 hours non stop! The Pearl of Africa, Uganda is stunning, a place of urban sprawl contrasted with the silvery blue of lake Victoria, tribal huts side by side with high rise businesses in glass and steel. The one constant so far is the relentless cheerfulness of the people - it's true a happy disposition can and does make all things seem possible. As I climb under the mosquito net to sleep I wonder what my first encounter with the disability organisations ...
The Standard reports: Children's minister Sarah Teather today paid tribute to a Liberal Democrat party volunteer who died after he was hit by a lorry near his home. Library assistant Ismaeel Ebrahimsa, 29, was walking in Cricklewood when he was hit by the vehicle at lunchtime on July 22. He had been active in local politics for years and helped Ms Teather fight two general election campaigns, most recently for Brent Central in May. Sarah Teather said, Ismaeel was a lovely young man who worked hard for his community and really cared about the area where he lived. He was ...
Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council welcomes back the Continental Market to Redcar High street. The market will be open between 10 am - 4 pm on the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th August. These events with professional traders from across Europe are always very popular with visitors and shoppers who come to see the high quality items including cheeses, olives, bread, spices and craft goods.
News of the candidate standing against US Senate leader Harry Reid in November's mid term elections from the Huffington Post: Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle's understanding of the political press appears to have even conservative outlets scratching their heads. The Tea Party favorite made another peculiar remark during an interview with Fox News on Monday evening (see video below), explaining that she wanted "to have the press be our friend," and "ask the questions we want to answer so that they report the news the way we want it to be reported." This may seem like a candid admission ...
Do you remember a few months ago, the dreadful case of the two babies who were mauled by the urban fox in London? Do you also remember that despite the fact that these cases are extremely rare, the press went into panic mode about urban foxes with TV specials about them and far more press coverage than this "problem" actually warranted, making it seem like a huge and widespread issue. Well, there is another horrible story today in the Evening Standard. Apparently a bunch of men have taken it upon themselves to lure an urban fox into a trap using ...
While some parts of Bracknell have an increasing amount of charity shops and adverts for council services (see Local Blog: High Level of Bracknells Empty Shops?)mainly from the band stand down to where Woolworths used to be)). One part of Bracknell is making a revival by the derelict 3M building. SeeFix the Eyesore in the Middle of Bracknell Town I think its great that while we wait still for the development of the town one corner has had an injection of life into it thanks to Bracknell small ethnic community and in particular its Ghanaian community.
Cornwall Council has taken the decision to close the Tourist Information Centre in Launceston. This is a terrible decision which will massively affect a large number of local businesses and mean a worse experience for many visitors to our town. The Tourist Information Centre (TIC) shares the One Stop Shop premises in Market House Arcade. I've been in the TIC many times and have seen many visitors getting information about our town, planning days out and booking accommodation. All of this work will be hit if the Council's plans go ahead. The difficulty apparently comes because of the way the ...
Here is the news story from the BBC: A Devon council embroiled in a row over Christian prayers being said at meetings has taken legal advice. It follows a High Court application by the National Secular Society (NSS) for a judicial review. The NSS claims Bideford Town Council is discriminating against other beliefs and non-believers, breaching human rights and acting beyond its power. A Manchester law firm which offered to represent the council for free has had its offer taken up by the authority. Continue reading the main story The NSS action was prompted by Bideford atheist councillor Clive Bone, ...
I am delighted that F.M.Cornford's guide to academic politics Microcosmographica Academica is out of copyright and available on-line. It also applies to national politics. It explains the principle of the thin end of the wedge and the difference between Conservative-Liberals and Liberal-Conservatives.A Conservative Liberal is a broad-minded man, who thinks that something ought to be done,
[IMG: Julian Huppert MP promoting scientific research] The Independent today carries an interview with Julian Huppert, Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge, who is also the only scientist in the House of Commons: Julian Huppert, a research biochemist who became the Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge at the last election, said he was alarmed at the lack of scientific knowledge among colleagues. In an interview with The Independent, he also accused political leaders of paying "lip service" to the importance of scientific proof and warned that looming cuts to university research budgets could provoke a "brain drain" from Britain. Although there ...
With the onset of a particularly rough monsoon season, I'm sure many of you will be aware of the floods that have devastated parts of Pakistan. 1,400 people are estimated to have died, with three million displaced according to latest figures from Unicef. With a number of Pakistani constituents and British-born Pakinstanis living here in ...
I've had some people ask to see more of Anna's art after seeing her Libby picture in the header. This is a wolf she did a few weeks ago.
JimJay's comment on the poll post reminded me that it was about time I reminded people of this (and edited my introductory post to reflect it too): You don't need to have a dreamwidth account to interact with my blog, or to vote in polls. All you need is an openID. If you have a blogger/blogspot account, or an LJ, or huggins of other accounts, you can log in with those. Click here for further and better particulars.
Helen Duffett launches the Lib Dem blog of the year awards over on Lib Dem Voice. Send in your nominations by email to helen@libdemvoice.org and remember to state which award category you're nominating for, in each case. She writes this year's awards are as follows: Best new Liberal Democrat blog (started since 1st September 2009) Best blog from a Liberal Democrat holding public office (The Tim Garden Award) Best use of blogging / social networking / e-campaigning by a Liberal Democrat Best posting on a Liberal Democrat blog (since 1st September 2009) Best non-Liberal Democrat politics blog Liberal Democrat Blog ...
Surely the fall of the English class system must be at hand, and soon; it is only a few years ago that it would have been unthinkable for a scion of the Archer family to marry someone related to a Horrobin. But that's what happened in Las Vegas, and congratulations to Chris and Alice. Of course, those who read the Daily Mail rather than the Borchester Echo will be quick to point out that Jennifer Aldridge, despite all her solidly middle-class Archer family values and the inherent snobbery that is attached, has indeed had four children by three different fathers ...
Even before the present financial crisis Sefton Lib Dems have been anxious that the capital programme that the council was following was unaffordable. this led us to move ammendments to last years budget to review some schems. Sadly the Tories voted with Labour and things have gone ahead, We have another round of reviewing the capital budget at the cabinet meeting on Thursday and I hopwe that at least one other party on the council will see sense. Readers will remember that our Tory leadership have not been conspicuous in demonstrating thrift and when the former Chief Exec proposed removing ...
Police investigating an allegation of sexual assault in Kingsgate Park, Yate, want to hear from anyone who saw two teenage girls sitting on a pink blanket on Monday July 26th. On the Avon and Somerset Police website, DI Jill Kells said: "It seems the girls were drinking alcohol and although they have been interviewed by specially-trained officers we don't currently have a clear picture of what has happened. "One of the girls went home, while the other was found in the park by her parents. "We believe they had been speaking with four boys aged 16 or 17 during the ...
We've had quite a rush of sporting activity in Birkdale. Lancs CCC 2nd XI have been to play and last week we had the Women's Open Golf. I went along on Saturday afternoon and followed the eventual winner, Yani Tseng, around the closing holes. It was good to see some many people there. I'm not sure how much this event is worth to the local economy but wandering around I met many locals who has picked up jobs and the hotels and guest houses must have been full. There were the usual crop of stories of local letting out their ...
I should have posted this sooner, but I've spent most of my free time in the last week with my head stuck in my Masters dissertation. I'm going to start logging the occasions when the local Labour council u-turns on its key ... Continue reading →
Especially when it is the King of spin himself Tony Blair writing that very book. Tony Blaire releases his autobiography "A journey" next month (retitled from the arrogantly titled 'The Journey'). Now the trend of ex politicians writing memoirs seems ... Continue reading →
The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have issued a reminder of the Coalition government's priorities in the form of a joint letter to their Cabinet colleagues. The letter, aimed at the public just as much as ministers, includes a summary of the "central purpose that will guide all our decisions as a government." The letter says that deficit reduction and economic recovery will be achieved by redistributing power from government to communities and people, and by governing for the long term. It's a message, amid criticism of the cuts that the government has announced over its first twelve weeks, ...
H/T Guido Fawkes
New leisure centre for Reddish From the Council: Work has now started on site in preparation for Stockport's newest leisure centre. The £2 million investment in the new, state of the art leisure facility is a joint venture of Stockport Council and Stockport Sports Trust. Target Fitness+ Houldsworth Village, adjacent to Broadstone Mill in Reddish, is to be managed by Stockport Sports Trust and will provide a range of facilities for all abilities. These include three indoor football pitches, 70 piece fitness suite, aerobics studio, spinning studio and multi-use pitch, as well as high specification changing rooms, café/bar and parking. ...
As part of the attempts to reform the House of Lords, it has been decided that Peers should be given the opportunity to leave. At the moment, Peers may, if hereditary, renounce their Peerage. They may also go on leave of absence, a state which can be reversed at any moment, although it is generally a prelude to informity or death. As part of the reforms proposed by David Steel over many years, a working group has been set up to look at some options for clearing the benches... House of Lords: Working Practices Statement The Chancellor of the Duchy ...
Section 1: The Argument While much of the left continues to fight amongst itself over how it should react to the fact that its political wing doesn't even have a whisker of power any more, the centre-right coalition that currently governs the country is busy reshaping it in its own image. This is no surprise; ...
Tue 3rd
13:44
Miss SB's Very Prestigious and Entirely Serious Blog Awards - Category One: Best Political Blog
Everybody get ready to wave your Willies! [IMG: [personal profile] ] djm4 Helen Duffett The Other Taxpayers' Alliance Two Doctors The Very Fluffy Diary of Millennium Dome, Elephant Please take a look at them, assess them, and then vote. The vote is anonymous, and you don't have to have a Dreamwidth account to vote - instructions on logging in with open ID are here. Do feel free to pimp it out to your readers if you've been nominated. The poll will remain open for a week, and the next category will go up tomorrow. View Poll: Best Political Blog
Curiously, the House of Lords still ticks over during the summer, with the backlog of Written Questions to the Government to be dealt with... Housing Question Asked by Baroness Scott of Needham Market To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to introduce new rules covering change of use from family homes to houses of multiple occupation.[HL1699] The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham): We have sought the views of key partners on our proposals to amend the planning rules for houses in multiple occupation. Subject to consideration of their responses, our aim is ...
Watching the news last night I was amazed at the lengths Poole Council in Dorset had gone to establish whether an applicant to a local school really did live in the catchment area. Under legislation excitedly called the "Regulatory and Investigatory Powers Act", Council have the legal right to utilise a whole range of surveillance techniques to effectively spy on employees, members of the public and local businesses etc. The snoopers charter as it has become known has been used over 165 times in Bury over the past 5 years. Last September I proposed a motion to a full meeting ...
Transport for London have got in touch with some 'good news' for bus users. After a lot of promises they are finally ready to roll out the new electronic bus stop announcements. The idea being that the new system would use sattelite technolocy to trace where the buses actually were - rather than the current system which is based on a fair amount of guesswork.More details can be found on the TfL website. It boasts that: "From 2011, we will be introducing a new, improved Countdown that will show bus arrival predictions for every one of London's 19,000 bus stops"However ...
There's an interesting interview today in the Scottish herald with former Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Jim Wallace, assessing the party's prospects ahead of next May's Holyrood elections. Here are some snippets ... On the Scottish Lib Dem experience of power-sharing: We were told in 1999 when we entered coalition in Scotland with Labour we were going to get whacked and it didn't happen. We're not going to sit back. We've got an election campaign to fight and we will have to fight it on explaining why we have done things." On the UK Coalition between the Lib Dems and Conservatives: ...
There was a great programme on Channel 4 last night "Our Drugs War", the first of a three part series by Angus Macqueen on why the war on drugs can never be won. Angus used to think that banning drugs was the best way but after having looked at the evidence he now says he was completely wrong. In the first episode "Everyone's at it", he spoke to people in Edinburgh, cited recently by the UN as the drugs capital of the world and to other people including dealers, drug users and those involved in law enforcement. An astonishing statistic ...
Labour MP Tom Harris has this morning published a post on why he believes that AV is not the way forward for electoral reform in the UK and why First Past The Post (FPTP) should remain. I can't say I ... Continue reading →
Reading Labour leadership candidate Ed balls' comments this morning I was struck by just how wrong he has got his strategy and perhaps his comments are one of the reasons why Labour is still getting it wrong as a party ... Continue reading →
Stephen Tall recently posted about using his ipad for business and linked to Fundraising.co.uk which discusses the use of apps by charities. The site shows just how few UK charities have an iphone (or ipad) app. How come the fundraising sector has not yet embraced this form of technology? One answer might be the rules set by Apple. They apparently don't allow 'touch to donate' apps which might be one of the easiest ways to give. In other words, you cannot create an app which is free to download but which then allows the user to donate at the touch ...
Revelations by Plaid Cymru's Chief Whip yesterday that his own government is spending tens of thousands of taxpayers money on protected salaries for bureaucrats within the NHS following reorganisation was further put into context today when the Western Mail reported that Local Health Boards overspent buy £50 million in the first three months of this financial year: Some NHS organisations have started introducing cost-saving measures but there will be more pain to come as health boards face four more years of tight budgets. Figures collected by the Western Mail show three-month overspends range from just £0.9m in Powys to a ...
The aboslute firestorm that has erupted around David Cameron's comments whilst on a visit to India has only gone to show in my mind that some people really dont like having real hard truths spoken at them. Speaking in India ... Continue reading →
I've had an update from Cornwall Council officers about the footbridge between Riverside and Westbridge Road. As I posted yesterday, the bridge is closed because of damage which the engineers says is likely to be due to water erosion. The works to repair it will start next Monday and should be completed in time to re-open next Wednesday.
The awesome Newark Hut has been at it again with an amusing response to the kerfuffle around the Twitter Cabinet and how some forgot that it was just a bit of fun and a debating tool and not a fully ... Continue reading →
There is a popular saying out there, expressed in many ways but always conveying the same message: 'Black people don't read'. Before we criticise any individual political party in London, in my humble opinion we need to persuade black voters to adopt a different approach to elections. They should first find out who are the candidates; then vote for those they believe have a better understanding of their own issues At the last election, too many black voters displayed total ignorance about the people whose names were on the ballot paper. They just went out and voted on purely national ...
Monday: Well, with this now available on shiny silver disc and shiny blu disc, it's way past time Daddy Richard got the last of his reviews of this year's Doctor Woo done. It's DEFINITELY the best episode for ELEPHANTS. Dr Woo says Amy's got all ELEPHANT-y; then he mentions an ELEPHANT in the room (it's Mr Rory's elephant tail) and there's even a BOUNCY ELEPHANT in the playground. Tops for elephants! I have to warn you, though, there's a HUGE twist, which Daddy is going to blow in about three paragraphs, so if you're at all SPOILERPHOBIC: look away now! ...
One of the key factors in International development isn't the quantity or quality of the aid that is given to a country, but rather the leaders in a country and the amount of corruption that exits. If corruption is wide spread at the top of a government the Aid can be siphoned on. However if there is also corruption at local levels then Aid can also not be distributed amongst those it is intended
I've been told (by Matt Davis from the Stockport Express) that there was a nasty accident at the busy Kingsway/Gatley Road junction yesterday (Monday) morning. A car turning right from Gatley onto Kingsway was hit by an ambulance, flipped over and ended up on its roof. By a miracle, the elderly driver had only minor injuries. This sort of issue is, of course, one of the things Mark Hunter, Pam King and myself have been arguing with the Highways Agency about for some time. The Highways Agency and Manchester Urban Traffic Control (who control the junction and have the final ...
The Guardian reports today: Owners of homes worth more than £2m should pay an annual "mansion tax" to help the poor, Labour leadership contender David Miliband said today. The shadow foreign secretary said the levy would raise £1.7bn to restore housing benefit for the least well-off. The proposal - outlined in an interview with the Evening Standard - appears designed to drive a wedge between the coalition partners, as well as appealing to Labour grassroots. Business secretary, Vince Cable, put the idea in the Liberal Democrat general election manifesto - but it was lost during negotiations with the Tories. Under ...
Well, I took the plunge and bought an iPad. And when I say I bought it, I should be more honest ... work paid. Which is a bit of an experiment and a bit of a risk, as I persuaded my bosses I should trade in my expensive-needing-to-be-replaced, all-in-one laptop in return for the dual combination of cheap(er) desktop and a shiny iPad. I reasoned thusly ... the laptop was under-specced for the office (as it crashes regularly when accessing our CRM database and InDesign publishing package, often grinding to a complete standstill) and over-specced for out of the office ...
The Equality Act was, sadly, a mess. In the hopes of getting everything "Equality" into one bill, things were missed and odd things were allowed through. I knew this because of my "interest" in Lord Alli's amendment to allow civil partnerships to have a religious character. But it would see, sadly, there were even more unsettling things lying in the Act. A.E.Brain reports something rather unsettling has been introduced to the Equality Act, and perhaps more unsettling is that no one seems to have mentioned it before. Questioning Transphobia has more on this here. It exposes something in our system ...
Everyone likes the idea of "consultation", and the new coalition government seems to like it just as much as the last Labour one. But if anyone expected the new government's "consultation" process to have a different outcome to the last one, then they are either hopelessly naive, or terminally stupid. OK, maybe I'm overreacting, but ...
Tomorrow sees the start of Dundee and Tayside's digital switchover, with relay transmitters like Tay Bridge (that serves much of the West End as well as the City Centre, Craigiebank and much of Broughty Ferry and North East Fife) starting to transmit Freeview for the first time. Additionally, analogue BBC2 will be switched off and existing Freeview viewers (who get signals from the main transmitter at Tealing - called 'Angus') should do a complete re-scan as there are alterations to Freeview transmissions at switchover. In a fortnight - 18th August - the last analogue signals are removed and Freeview viewers ...
On Saturday, I mentioned on http://www.dundeewestend.com/ that I was continuing to press for the site of the former Lawrie's Nursery on Perth Road to be tidied. I am grateful to the Courier who further updated readers on this matter yesterday. I spoke with a senior council officer about the matter yesterday about the extent of tidying works required and hope that through the actions of the Planning Enforcement Officer, the owners take action soon.
This coming weekend the Bentall's centre is hosting "B Fest" an indoors festival with several acts that can be seen in the Slideshow bellow. In all my time living Near Kingston the closest thing I have heard to this has been the singing Bears that come around at chirstmas, easter and the school holidays (and prompt me to avoid going anywhere near the Bentall's centre when their performances
In today's Times Labour Leadership contender Ed Balls has tried to reignite his ailing campaign by claiming that the centre ground is Labour's, and that Lib Dem are 'cannon fodder' for a Tory government and should simply be ignored. Well Mr Balls, that attitude cost you Government. By definition the Coalition has the centre ground, it has to be there to survive. VN could also reel off a list of LiB Dem policy in action, but that can easily be found on the Liberal Democrat website. Labour needs to be brave and provide a credible left wing alternative instead of ...
That's right. Tom Harris, that stalwart of First Past the Post has a blogpost this morning which makes the case for the Alternative Vote. You should read the whole post as I have only included snippets below. He specifies the circumstances in which he thinks it can work well: AV is a good system for filling a single position. If Britain had an elected president, for example, he or she would probably be elected by AV, or at least in a run-off ballot. That would make sense. Similarly, if a local party is choosing a parliamentary candidate, AV is the ...
Women's advocacy group The Fawcett Society is in the process of establishing legal precedents that will tend to impact women. That isn't their goal. But it is the most likely consequence of starting a court case that would require the Budget and government departments that would require women to be considered as a vulnerable group, and decisions to include a formal assessment of their gender impact. Unless millions of men are hired for no purpose other than to balance the gender ratio in the public sector, all public sector cuts will impact more women generally. Until some point in the ...
The Brewery History Society has a database of current and former pubs and off licences that still display advertising for defunct breweries. This photograph shows the former White Horse (now the Mulberry Tree) in Birstall, Leicestershire. According to an article in the Derby Evening Telegraph, Stretton's was taken over by Samuel Allsopp and Sons Ltd of Burton in 1927.
On the foreignpolicy.com website, there's an interesting article about the return of politically charged Chinese SF. As an SF fan who had never even heard of any Chinese SF before reading this, I've been intrigued. The article centres on a new novel that was published last year in Hong Kong but is now circulating widely :Chen Guanzhong's China 2013 presents a fairly Orwellian view of China's
In Islam the devil is referred to as Iblis therefore the title of this peace is a reference to this Cliff Richard song. The reason I've brought this up is a ruling from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran that music should not be taught or practiced in the country. There is no prohibition of music in the Koran indeed in the Ayatollah's statement he acknowledges that but carrys on: "Although music is halal, promoting and teaching it is not compatible with the highest values of the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic." The ruling came about because a 21 year ...
A few days ago I expressed my concern over on the Freedom Central blog at the new management arrangements in place at S4C after the resignation of Iona Jones: What is particularly concerning is that the few checks and balances that are built into the S4C structure appear to have broken down. The BBC report that the channel will no longer be run with "due separation" between the authority and top management. In that case, who is carrying out scrutiny and who is asking the awkward questions? It is certainly not the DCMS or Parliament. Lee Waters on the Bevan ...
A mention for SAVY - Stockport Action for Voluntary Youth. SAVY is the umbrella group bringing together voluntary youth groups in Stockport, with 62 groups under the umbrella including Girl Guides, Scouts, faith groups (Christian, Muslim and Jewish), Air Training Corps and many more. The 62 groups involve over 1,000 voluntary youth workers (of which, in my own small way, I'm one) and engages with over 5,000 young people and children. SAVY provides supports and guidance, CRB and safeguarding training, an active youth forum, training and advice.
In my first month as the Assembly Member for South Wales East I have been getting to grips with my other new post, as Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for Health and Wellbeing. I want to do everything I possibly can to make sure the NHS in Wales remains a great service; a service, free at the point of demand that puts patients first and provides quality healthcare when it's needed. The NHS in Wales impacts on each one of us at some point in our lives. There is no argument over the need to deliver a cost effective, safe, patient-centred ...
i) births and deaths 3rd August 1909: birth of Denis Carey, who played Professor Chronotis in Shada (unbroadcast but would have been 1980), the Keeper in The Keeper of Traken (1981), and the Old Man in Timelash (1985). 3rd August 2002: death of Carmen Silvera, who played several parts in The Celestial Toymaker (1966) and also Ruth in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974), better known in later years as René Artois's long-suffering wife Edith in 'Allo! 'Allo!. ii) production anniversary 3rd August 1989: I don't usually do anniversaries of the often tediously well-documented process of making Who, but this one ...
Tom Harris is quickly becoming the leader of the Labour opposition against AV, It's no surprise, he has long held this opposition and I am certain it is based on beliefs rather than opportunism that other sudden converts could be accused of. However in his latest Blog post Tom Harris actually accepts in some cases AV is better than FPTP. Interestingly enough the example he offers (single leaders
In just 10 weeks since the start of the Coalition Government, the Liberal Democrats have exerted considerable influence over its agenda. Going into the election the Liberal Democrats made clear that we had four key priorities: fairer taxes; a fair start for children with extra funding for disadvantaged pupils; a comprehensive clean up of our ...
I sent an email to a Lancashire County Councillor on Sunday. I was told, before I sent it that it might be read by council officials. I suppose this is alright. I did send it via the official council website and if I had sent a letter it may have been opened by an employee of the council. If I had something private to say then I could have sent a letter to his private address. And at least there was that advance warning. But what if all our communications were accessible to officials, and we had no warning about ...
