Judge Vaughn Walker has today made an historic ruling in California when he said that Proposition 8 which overturned the State allowing same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Not just in California State constitution but under the US Constitution. He said in his ruling that it violated the equal protection clause. Following a lengthy court case brought by two couples. Against Prop 8 there was witnesses stating that allowing gay marriage would help the mental health of gays and lesbians, give more legal protection to their children, reduce discrimination and give gay couples more political power. Those in support called just two ...
Merely being better at it than Labour is like being funnier than Michael McIntyre – there's a few people who might think it's a laudable achievement but it's really just clearing an extremely low hurdle.
Disgruntled Radical details Labour's long history of gerrymandering. He also provides our illustration, which I take to be a gerrymander. Not many of us spend our birthday appearing on local radio and television because of a blog post. But Niles's Blog did. The Futility Monster argues that the SATs system has no integrity: "There is no reason to keep the SAT system. We are told that parents "like" them. Well, who wouldn't, when you're told that Little Johnny is a shining model pupil getting outstanding scores in everything. Yeah, him and everyone else. It achieves nothing but feed you a ...
Firstly, take a look at this analysis of why California's Proposition 8 was passed in 2008. Very interesting stuff, and worth bearing in mind should the marriage equality debate heat up further in our country. Today we have a result from a court case brought in an attempt to overturn Proposition 8 and the ban on marriage equality (to see the background to this see here and here). Here are some quotes from the trial from the pro-marriage equality group and the anti That result is that Prop 8 has been overturned. This is not the end of the journey. ...
Yesterday I read this interesting blog about the banning of music in Iran. By coincidence yesterday evening, I heard an interview from last friday's Today programme with Blurred Vision. They have produced a version of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall featuring the line "Hey Ayatollah, leave those kids alone." The band is fronted by two Iranian Canadians and they have produced the song, with the blessing of Roger Waters, to raise awareness of the oppression of democracy in Iran. Known only by their first names - to avoid reprisals to relatives - they have harnessed the power of ...
I thought I might share this for those who have yet to view this amazingly beautiful and captivating talent of sand painting and story-telling combined. The winner of Ukraine's version of 'Britain's Got Talent', Kseniya Simonova uses a giant light box together with dramatic music to paint pictures in sand to interpret Nazi-Germany's invasion and occupation of Ukraine during WWII. Whilst captivated by the sheer speed and masterful artistry of this exhibition and unusual art form, and noting so many in the audience in tears, I could not help but feel an understanding of the sense of national rape that ...
David Cameron floated an idea at his recent PM direct event suggesting that the coalition government could end the current "council houses for life" scheme and replacing it with fixed term tenancy's of 5-10 years. As is usual in this ... Continue reading →
This time last years I visited the Imperial War Museum to see their new exhibition on the day war (WW2) broke out. Inevitably I was drawn to the Dig for Victory campaign material that the museum had on display and had previously posted on the growth in 'grow your own' movement and the debt it owed to the Dig for Victory campaign and to Peter Kropotkin. I now learn that the Churchill Museum and the Cabinet War Rooms have started a war time allotment in one of the London parks. The video explains the project-sadly it is very London-centric but ...
The prospect of a television series on The Normans reminds me of a fascinating interview with Dr David Starkey I heard a few years ago. It was on, of all unlikely places, Richard and Judy's afternoon television programme. Starkey said the idea that 1066 is the most important date in British history is a recent one. In fact it dates from 1914 - the year when all things French became good and all things German bad. German Shepherd Dogs turned into Alsatians and the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha turned into the House of Windsor. Until then we had been very aware ...
Filed under: Spidey Says
[IMG: Unused allotments] While no one has yet been brave enough to tackle the five derelict allotments at the Canal Gardens site, B&NES council has at least cut the grass on the Lime Grove playground. I asked for this to be cut a few months ago and, for the first time in three years, it has been mown. Just as the derelict plots are a habitiat for weeds and pests in the allotment site, the school playing fields were full of grass seed preparing to blow over the fence. A well maintained site is, of course, much more marketable for ...
Back in February, I reported that I had spoken with a number of the sheltered housing tenants at Blackness Court about the worn double yellow lines in Rosefield Place. As a result of the yellow markings being so worn, cars park on the pavement edge making it very difficult for elderly folk - especially those on motorised scooters - to get from their homes to the shops. At that time, the City Council advised me it hoped to repaint them in the Spring, but this has not yet happened - in part because of the rather unusual situation of a ...
This morning my wife and I visited the farmers market at a new venue on Conwy Quay and although the weather was rather grim there were a few people about all buying produce. I felt the goods on sale were of a very high quality. The fish, fruit and veg were all very fresh and after talking to lots of local people, the feedback was very positive indeed. I believe later on and up to its close at 2pm, the market was very busy indeed and at last its great to see this space on the quay being used effectively. ...
RAF Market Harborough was a World War II airfield to the north of the town. Its site is now partly occupied by Gartree Prison. The Airfield Information Exchange recently published some present-day photographs of the remains of the station's Battle Headquarters - I have borrowed one of them for this post. Battle Headquarters? The Pillbox Study Group explains that these were constructed at some RAF stations to "provide the 'Station Commander' with a secure location in which he could direct the defence of 'his' property via landlines and runners in the event of being attacked by hostile ground forces".
Last month, I reported the disappointing news that the Logie Residents' Association would disband and, last week, I discussed the matter with the Director of Housing. Following her getting an update from the area's Tenant Participation Officer, we are to speak further about ways the Housing Department - possibly with the co-operation of the Leisure and Communities Department, who support Community Councils and similar residents' groups - can help ensure that all the people of Logie have a strong voice into the future.
Welcome to part 3 of my occasional series introducing you to the bloggers I've chosen to put on my blogroll. First up today is Stephen who is one of my best friends, so I'd better declare that interest. I first met him in the run up to the 2003 Holyrood elections and since then have developed a habit of picking him up and dumping him in various locations with large amounts of leaflets, usually in the pouring rain, and leaving him to it. He was one of the pioneers of the Lib Dem blogosphere, starting way back in 2005 on ...
Its my birthday soon, and I have been asked by a few people what I would like. Well, to be honest, I haven't really given it much thought and I haven't much of an appetite for my birthday this year. As an alternative I have set up a Just Giving Page in aid of the Sheffield Hospital Charitable Trust and would like anyone who would have given me a pressie to donate some money here instead (and if you weren't going to get me a pressie pls donate anyway!!!). Apologies for the shameful plug. In the future I hope to ...
My friend Simon McGrath has reminded us of Jim Callaghan's defiance of Boundary Commission recommendations in 1969 which would have cost Labour at least 10 seats. Actually it was worse than that. Callaghan failed to lay Orders in Council before parliament as the law required. Instead he introduced a bill to give effect to local government changes in London which he liked but also to absolve
Damn I just hate it when I agree with David Cameron PM and disagree inpart atleast with Simon Hughes Deputy Lib Dem. David Cameron has said "Tenants could be given fixed terms of up to 10 years and move on if their circumstances had changed". Well I have to say I think this is worth looking at. When social housing is now so hard to come by and is in such demand it makes sence that if your family move out then perhaps you should move to a smaller home. Many people do keep their council house and hold on ...
Wednesday: So, here we are, ninety days into the Coalition and life in Government doesn't seem like it's as much FUN as I expected. Sure if you're actually IN Government I bet it's LOADS of fun, with all those actual levers of power to pull, but for those of us SUPPORTING a Party that's at least kind-of in power, there's a whole load of uncomfortable accommodating to get used to. Plus we have to put up with being the butt of all the JOKES on "Mock My Week Up" and the "Not Now Show". Yes, play the World's smallest violin. ...
So, yesterday was my thirty-tooth birthday and didn't at all go to plan. On paper, the diary1 my diary said I was free most of the day. In my head I knew that I simply had to get to grips with the leafleting backlog. But all that was thrown out of the water by a phonecall on Monday that changed the course of the day. A local reporter at the BBC had found the speech I didn't give to Pride as a result of a google alert, and having scanned through the 3,000 or so words, characterised the speech as ...
I took part in a 15-minute telephone interview this week, parts of which will be broadcast tonight on Resonance 104.4FM. Here's the blurb: Tonight we broadcast the first of a six part series introduced by Rys Farthing and K. Biswas - 2020 Visions: The Political Future, with many informed commentators exploring what the British political landscape might look like over the next decade. Guests include Labour's Jon Cruddas MP; human rights activist Peter Tatchell; ConservativeHome editor Jonathan Isaby, psephologist Professor John Curtice; Dr Madsen Pirie, Director of the free-market Adam Smith Institute; LibDem Voice editor Stephen Tall; David Babbs of ...
I have been cautiously optimistic regarding the governments stated desire to implement a localism agenda. The general tone and philosophy of of the statements are in the right direction. And after three decades or centralisation it is a very welcome move. The key to all of this however, is can the government resist the urge to meddle in areas where they think they know best. On some days they talk the talk and walk the walk. Eric Pickles keeps saying he does not really care and wants government off local authorities back and some of his actions have backed this ...
I've been pointed at a story about the "last great supermodel", Gisele, and her bizarre proclamation that people should be banned by law from bottle-feeding their children. Here we have a woman who is world-famous for having a pretty face and a great body. Nothing up with making the most of those free assets in a world where they can make you rich and famous, I guess. But it hardly gives you the right to start telling everyone else what to do. If you are a celebrity, what you say publicly has an impact. By all means use your influence ...
Earlier today, m'learned colleague Sara Bedford penned a piece responding to David Cameron's off-the-cuff policy-making on the issue of tenure in social housing. Her piece has unreasonably taken flak from our valued community of commenters for asking more questions than she answered. But housing is one of the thornier issues facing any government, and like so many big problems, of course there are more questions than answers. No-one disputes that were we are now is not ideal. There aren't enough homes. People are overcrowded. Others are overhoused. Houses cost too much more than most people earn for many people to ...
Apparently, Theresa May thinks that protecting the victims of domestic violence isn't a good use of public money. I can't image the thought process you have to go through to see cancelling this particular pilot scheme as a good target for cuts. First of all, in the context of the budget targets, I can't imagine this has much impact at all. I have no idea how much legislation costs, but in terms of operational costs I don't see that a temporary 14 day ban is going to be any more expensive that calling out the police anyway. The bans require ...
...are they heroes or villains? I am now getting used to our back bench MPs criticising the government, where it is warranted, which is most of the time. I am used to the general feeling of alienation some in the rank and file membership and the 'floating voters' I talk to, and the sense of betrayal some of the 'floating voters' feel about the coalition. This is never going to be an easy alliance - and it will get a lot more fraught, fragmented and fragile (whoops alliteration) as the parliament progresses. I believe there will be many battles to ...
Almost exactly a year ago, Lib Dem MPs Jo Swinson and Lynne Featherstone were among those in the party's Real Women group leading the campaign to "Ban airbrushing in children's adverts", a view later endorsed by an independent Home Office report. They've been joined in their campaign now by Girlguiding UK, which is today launching a petition to introduce compulsory labelling on airbrushed images. Jo comments: I am delighted that Girlguiding UK is taking up this issue. I co-founded the Campaign for Body Confidence out of concern that people of all ages are feeling so much pressure over their body ...
Roy Connell has emailed me (see below) he and Beth are part of a fast growing band of back garden allotmenteers which have sprung to life in recent years. Amongst their number are folk who are now putting their names down for allotment sites. I know my colleague Mike Booth is keen to expand the provision available and I have heard talk of the site off Town Lane being expanded. Kropotkin would approve. Anyway back to Roy. He has sent in a far superior picture to the one I posted yesterday. I am very impressed by the variety of crops ...
So Richard Scudamore, the Chief Executive of the Premier League (not to be confused with Sir Dave Richards, the Chairman of the Premier League who Fulham are asking the High Court to fire for improper interference in transfers) says that the World Cup result is "partly" the Premier League's fault. Which is fine (being at least the truth, if not necessarily the whole truth) except that he reinforced his argument by recourse to one of the great canards beloved of British sports pundits after another valiant or not-so-valiant failure; "We're only a small island, we have to be realistic." Back ...
News is just begining to leak out of the Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority that suggests Labour Councillor Mark Dowd is collecting £63k a year-a figure which I think excludes expences. Further details to follow.
After an excellent analysis by Martin Kettle on Labour's cynical political games over the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, it was inevitable that Labour would send a Welterweight spokesperson into the ring to respond. John Denham strapped on his boxing gloves, and produced this effort. Sadly his argument has more holes in it than machine-gunned Emmental. Off we go: I've been an electoral reformer all my political life. Chairing the Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform, I'm hardly likely to "play fast and loose" on this issue, as Martin Kettle alleges Martin didn't criticise you personally in his article, John. ...
Mike Booth over on Kew Focus has just posted a story on Green flag awards in the borough. There is even a picture of Meols Ward Councillor David Rimmer-now that is a collectors item.
No Left Turn? The leader in the Times this morning beseeched David Milliband to reconsider the direction of his leadership campaign. I thought that this was going to be another article telling Labour that if they wanted to be fit to govern then they ought to turn their attention to making themselves attractive partners for a coalition with the Lib Dems. The Times suggests that Milliband D has endorsed a series of priorities which 'suggest that he is heading decisively towards the left'. My eyes raced along the column to see what policies Milliband had championed. Imagine my delight when ...
Conservative MSP Ted Brocklebank has announced he will be standing down at the 2011 Holyrood elections. The 67-year-old former journalist was elected as a member for Mid-Scotland and Fife in May 2003. He said it had been an "immense privilege" to serve his constituents but said he was hoping to return to his former career in broadcasting.Mr Brocklebank was the Scottish Conservatives former rural development and fisheries spokesman but resigned in February 2007 in protest over a policy U-turn. He was angry that David Cameron stepped back from a threat to withdraw the UK from the EU common fisheries policy. ...
From the Council: Over 60 Offerton residents attended a 'You Say, We Pay' event to help decide how £20,000 should be spent to improve their community. 'You Say, We Pay,' held last weekend at Dial Park Primary School, was organised by the Safer Stockport Partnership. Community Groups in Offerton were invited to bid for part of the funding to help pay for a project that would benefit the community. A total of 11 groups delivered 3 minute presentations on what they wanted to use the money for. Through an interactive voting system, residents decided which projects they thought would benefit ...
I must admit that despite my mild addiction to crime novels-I'm reading the Susan Hill 'The Vows of Silence'-I have not come across Tess Grittitsen until last night.During a presentation on the Southport Flower Show I learned that they were developing a mini 'bloomin book festival' and that one of the stars is Ms Gerritsen. I checked out her website and sure enough she is in the UK for a Book Tour in August-altho Southport is not -as yet- mentioned in her itinerary. Well I can confirm she will be at the Flower Show: Sunday 22nd August 2.00pm Tess Gerritsen ...
I was talking with a fellow plot holder at the Birkdale Irrigation Allotment site and our conversation turned to when the site was established. More that ten years ago I spent a happy few hours reading the back minutes of the old Birkdale Urban District Council and the Southport Guardian to track down that information. as is the way with my filing system I cannot find my notes now but I recall the outlines. (Health warning my memory is not as good as it once was and I think the temporary Library has the minute books in storage) The 1906 ...
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 ...
Wed 4th
14:02
Hughes on Cameron's council tenancies plans: "It is not a Liberal Democrat policy, it is not a coali...
Lib Dem Voice's Sara Bedford reported here this morning her reaction to David Cameron's suggestion that he wanted to look at fixed-term tenancies to help solve the issue of scarce council housing. Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes has been quick to make plain his outright opposition to the proposal, telling the Evening Standard's Paul Waugh: "The ideas put forward by David Cameron this week in no way represent the policy of the coalition and certainly do not represent the policy of the Liberal Democrats. "We will not let anybody have their homes taken away. We must continue to suppport ...
Go and read the comments appended to this article in the Guardian. Go on, go and read them. Do you get the impression that millions of poor aspiring people are about to be pushed out onto the streets? That's fascinating. It appears from those comments that Cameron's plan to require every new tenancy to be ...
The Council agreed today to work up proposals to tap into the Scottish Governments National Housing Trust scheme. This involves the council using its financial muscle through Prudential Borrowing to borrow £55 million to invest in mid market rental housing. The Scottish Government will under write the loan thus making it a less risky venture for the council. We calculate that we can obtain 600 homes to satisfy the demand estimated at over 4000 for mid Market Rent. Mid Market Rents are pitched between private market rental levels and affordable (social) rent levels. They tend to be favoured by those ...
Yesterday I received an update from the Environment Agency (EA) on the hosepipe ban imposed here in the north-west on 9th July. It seems that, despite recent rainfall, not all reservoirs have been replenished as quickly as it had been hoped. This seems to be the case particularly with the Pennine reservoirs, where water levels ...
A quote I found particularly pertinent and scathing of the Murdoch 'profit making' press:- ....There's a school of thought, to which a leading article in the Times gave voice, that he is playing a dangerous game. He says he hasn't read it, so I quote a chunk: "The sanctimonious piety of the man is sickening.""Oh sure," he says. "Because it would be better to be a ruthless media mogul just in it for the money. That would be then be acceptable. We can't actually have people doing something for moral reasons. It's only acceptable if we do it just for ...
The Tories are ignoring us, Labour are picking on us, the media are ridiculing us, and our poll shares are plummeting. With all this in mind, Councillor the Honourable Lady Mark has decided that today is National Hug a Lib Dem Day. So if you see a beleaguered Lib Dem while out and about today, don't point and laugh. Ask them if they would like a hug.
Year after year exam results increase, no matter who takes them. Secondary school pupils, college students, university students... and primary school children are no different. Whether these results are down to children/young adults actually getting smarter, the tests getting easier, the test not keeping up with smarter children, the modular nature of exams, the continual ...
A big thanks to everyone who has flattr'd me so far. I've made a massive seven euros and fifteen cents! And, of course, if anyone wants to flattr me some more, they can feel free to do so.
Dulwich Pool, on East Dulwich Road, is reopening after extensive works and with a new entrance on Crystal Palace Road on the weekend of 25/26 September. Huge frustrations with the amount of delay in the last few months. Shame kids summer holidays have been missed. But at last we have the opening dates set. Relieved that this Lib Dem electoral promise is being delivered and that the pool phase about to complete. Just need the gym phase to complete things. Hooray!
Lib Dem MP for Cambridge, Julian Huppert, gave an interview to the Independent in which he talked about the need for parliamentarians to understand science and technology. A fair point, parliament is stuffed with party hacks, lawyers and PR people who don't have much real world experience and very few have ever had responsibility for ...
The aim of politics is a debatable subject but a more considered approach is that of the Dual-Function Thesis where politics has 2 main functions: first, to allow groups and their members to make a significant mark on the world and society, a mark more significant than the members individually or severally could make; second, ...
Wed 4th
11:35Labour party 'gerrymandering': recalling the only occasion in a century when a party has interfered ...
In all the fuss about 'gerrymandering' from the Labour Party it is perhaps worth remembering the only occasion in the last 100 years when there has been direct political interference in the work of the Boundary Commission. In 1969 the Commission finished a review. Since the last review in 1950 there had been huge population moves and it was generally thought that the new boundaries would favour the Tories by between 10-20 seats. The law was very clear; the then Home Secretary, Jim Callaghan, had to put the changes to Parliament in the form of a series of Orders. Labour ...
There are so many events to be marked - National Orgasm Day, National Sausage Week to name but two - that trying to find time for another is quite difficult. However, I do feel that we need to find time for one more. So, I'd like to announce... National Hug a Lib Dem Day After all, we're in the firing line a bit at the moment, and with the degree of existential doubt out there, a reassuring hug is just what the doctor ordered. My contribution? Well, apart from a big hug for Ros, I'd like to send virtual hugs ...
In a quiet little cul-de-sac on the southern edge of my home town this morning there came a horrible reminder of the past that Northern Ireland is striving to leave behind. Bangor itself had for a town its size been largely unaffected by the troubles, even at their height, it was a little oasis largely of peace not too far away from Belfast. It comes a day after a bomb went off outside Derry's Strand Road police stationed (where my Great Grandfather was once stationed). However, this morning the presence of a booby-trap bomb under an army majors car shows ...
Towards the end of the House of Comments podcast that we recorded yesterday, we discussed aspiring politicians who have controversial views on issues and the potential consequences of them being completely open about this. We all agreed it is true that some people who aspire to political office, whether it is local or national play their cards close to their chest on controversial issues. After all, it is easy for political opponents to put screaming headlines on a leaflet such as "SOFT ON DRUGS" or similar and this can cause real damage. I must admit that towards the end of ...
Wed 4th
11:22
Miss SB's Very Prestigious and Entirely Serious Blog Awards - Category Two: Best Fandom Blog
[IMG: [livejournal.com profile] ] diggerdydum Fandom Wank [IMG: [personal profile] ] lizbee [IMG: [livejournal.com profile] ] looking2dastars Moviegrrl Reviews The Mindless Ones [IMG: [livejournal.com profile] ] who_daily 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 Fandom Blog Other Categories: ...
The welcome news that (state owned) Lloyds TSB today and Northern Rock yesterday have reported profits for the first time in two years coupled with healthy profit announcements for HSBC and Barclays surely marks the the end of the 1st stage of recovery from recession and the global economic/credit collapse. I know I can still vividly picture the queues of people lining up outside Northern Rock branches to withdraw their savings, the 1st time there had been a run on a British Bank for a century. If we were ever to mark the start of the credit crunch in this ...
You may have seen some strange "UFO" lights drifting above our area recently. These are Chinese lanterns, wire-framed miniature hot air balloons with a candle inside them. These can be hazardous for various reasons. In dry weather, when they land they can set fire to crops or even damage conservatories with plastic frames or roofing. If the wire frames get into animal feed they can cause serious injury or death, and if they drop into lakes they can injure wildfowl such as swans. If you're going to use Chinese lanterns, we suggest that you don't launch them when the ground ...
Don't forget to send your comments in to South Glos by Friday. See our previous post for ideas about what you might say. Steve Webb explains the issues at the recentpublic meeting in the Sports Centre
An Early Day Motion, or EDM, is a petition that only an MP can start and only MPs can sign. By convention, some MPs (members of the Government and senior Opposition spokesmen) generally don't sign them. Some MPs will sign almost any EDM that passes their desk – in some cases, we might suspect, having barely looked at it. Others are more sparing with their favours. All of which adds up to Early Day Motions not really meaning much at all, other than being a useful way for an organisation to say "we're campaigning for all policemen to wear pink ...
A lot of people in our area use Church Road in Frampton Cotterell when they are driving to work. Local people there have been concerned about speeding traffic. The Camera Safety Partnership have now found a suitable site to park their mobile speed camera and the speed data shows that enforcement is justified, so this month they will be starting to operate this as a "Community Concern" site.
Research in motion have released their new attempt to challenge the iPhone, the Blackberry Torch. It has a slide down keyboard, keeping the emphasis on email, but apparently better web browsing than before. The main upgrade is a single stream that brings together all you social media networks, as well as email and text messages. Will it remove Apple's increasing dominance though? Well probably not, but RIM and Apple have always aimed for different markets. The Blackberry is a far more efficient, professional device, while the iPhone is much more 'fun'. RIM's best bet is to hold firm, and stick ...
At last a topic I have frontline experience of. Social housing. It's difficult to describe how hard it is for some social housing tenants, who have to put up with cramped and, if in temporary housing because of lack of social housing, AWFUL conditions. It's even more difficult when you are working on that frontline dealing with those people knowing there are plenty of decent homes in your stock... but they are full (or not so full) of well to do people whose lives have already been improved by social housing and now live there because it's cheap. They have ...
I am not that happy about his comments about council housing. There is a complex issue about housing and how we manage a spectrum of different types of tenancies and ownerships.Housing is a very important foundation for families. People with disabilities often have their properties specifically adapted.I think it is important to give people some security. I am actually unhappy about forcibly
A couple of weeks ago, following a complaint fom a local dentists, I asked the Council to look at the drains in the (now closed for over a year) toilet block in Massie Street car park. There was an unpleasant smell in the area that needed sorting. I've now been told that the problem has been sorted, with the Council's drainage team flushing through the dry drains with water and disinfectant - good news.
Today the Girl Guides are calling for warning symbols to be stamped on airbrushed pictures of models and actresses to curb a rise in eating disorders. They are launching an online petition for compulsory labelling to inform people whether an image has been digitally altered / airbrushed. It's available on the Girlguiding UK website - and they expect 20,000 young women (and hopefully young men too) to sign up. I have sent them a message of support - and was pleased to see LibDem MP Jo Swinson on Sky talking about the importance of transparency and honesty in advertising. The ...
Yesterday VN had the pleasure of spending a bit of time with new Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Simon Hughes. Although VN never officially backed anyone in the race for the Deputy Leadership, for a variety of reasons its inclination was towards Tim Farron. Now, this doesn't happen very often so read carefully: VN got this completely wrong. This is not because Tim Farron would not have been good, he is an excellent and rightly popular MP, but because Simon Hughes is very, very impressive. He is articulate, genuine, and very hard working. Watching Hughes on a panel at a British ...
Following the graffiti vandalism to around 20 cars in the Forest Park Road area on Monday night, I was in touch yesterday with Tayside Police about the matter. Residents are naturally outraged at this sort of mindless vandalism and I would urge anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area late Monday night or in the early hours of Tuesday morning to contact the Police. I have raised with our local police inspector the possible use of mobile CCTV in the area.
None of us, especially those who are councillors, can fail to understand the huge crisis of social housing waiting lists. It's not simply the homeless or those in desperate need of a decent home. Many families will never be able to afford to buy their own home, yet face many years in unsuitable and overcrowded accommodation because of a shortage of affordable homes to rent. Currently social housing tenants are granted secure tenancies, not only for their lives, but often to pass onto their children. This continues regardless of the needs of future tenants. So would fixed-term tenancies be a ...
Today's Daily Mirror includes the striking headline: FLO-BO IN LOW BLOW FOR BO-JO The story beneath it, by James Lyons, suggests that the new Liberal Democrat peer Floella Benjamin is being lined up as our candidate in the next London Mayoral contest. As Lyons puts it: Lib Dem chiefs hope the huge affection still felt for Lady Benjamin by people who watched her or let their children see her TV shows would give her a big boost in the 2012 contest. They also think she can stop oddball ex-MP Lembit Opik, who dated a Cheeky Girl before losing his Westminster ...
The latest "House of Comments" podcast with myself and Stuart Sharpe of the Sharpe's Opinion blog is now live. The 36th episode which we recorded on Tuesday 3rd August is now available to download, raw mp3 file here or you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes here. Failing that you can listen to it right now below: The format is to invite political bloggers on each week to discuss a few of the stories that are making waves in the blogosphere. This week we were joined by Liam Rhodes of the One Nation Tory blog and Lib Dem blogger ...
Meanwhile a Conservative Councillor in Essex has ably demonstrated why it is necessary (a) to be very careful what you post on social networking sites and (b) why you should check your facebook privacy settings so that people are not reading what you write who are not meant to. In this case Neil Rockliffe, who represents Chafford and North Stifford on Thurrock Council, has got himself into trouble for describing the ward he represents as "Chaffrica" on Facebook. As if to compound the problem he added: "Thinking that the scriptwriters of Eastenders must live on Chafford Hundred...has all the ingredients...murderers, ...
births and deaths 4th August 1941: birth of Martin Jarvis who played Hilio in The Web Planet (1963), Butler in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974), and the Governor in Vengeance on Varos (1985). 4th August 1971: birth of Fenella Woolgar who played Agatha Christie in The Unicorn and the Wasp (2008). 4th August 1989: death of Maurice Colbourne who played Lytton in Resurrection of the Daleks (1984) and Attack of the Cybermen (1985).
The controversy over the publication of 92,000 Afghanistan war logs on the Wikileaks website is still rumbling on, not least in America where one politician wants to see the ultimate sanction taken against those responsible. Following news that an Army private was accused with leaking thousands of pages of intelligence documents related to the war in Afghanistan, Congressman Mike Rogers says he supports execution for the soldier involved if he is ultimately found guilty. The Brighton Republican sits on the House Intelligence Committee and told WHMI that Private Bradley Manning appears to be guilty of treason in time of war, ...
Proposals by the Plaid Cymru leadership to devolve responsibility for broadcasting to the Welsh Governnment need to be given careful thought. Given Labour's shambolic mismanagement of our economy and finances over the last 13 years, every area of life is going to have to look at how efficiencies can be made. After a period of turmoil, S4C will be no exception. With changed circumstances in S4C, we must look at what has gone wrong and ensure it delivers to its full potential in a changed financial environment. The Welsh Liberal Democrats are committed to ensuring that the quality and standard ...
I set up the Twitter Cabinet a few days ago with the idea of encouraging debate across all parties and moving away from the tribalism that some party members seem to think that politics is all about. For a few ... Continue reading →
In my blog on the 23rd July I wrote about the death of Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protest. I concluded that all is not well with our police force. I came to the same conclusion with the news this week of CCTV footage of Mark Aspinall's arrest in Wigan. The initial claim was that he assaulted the police officers but due to CCTV a special constable was found guilty of assault. My concern was raised by the comment that the other officers, who were holding Mr Aspinall down while he was being thumped, were cleared of all charges. What ...
