Based on this statement from Phil Woolas last April:Our estimate is £1.4 billion, and I remind the House that that would come from the defence budget.I sent a Freedom of Information request to see what the impact of Gurkha Settlement Rights had been on the Defence budget after just over a year. I got the response today:The figure of £1.4 billion was the result of cross Government consultation on the potential financial cost to the UK of allowing all former Gurkhas to settle here. It covered pension benefits, tax credits, child benefit costs, NHS costs and education costs. None of ...
I like this, not just because I might need the Disgruntled Radical to come and do some lock labouring at short notice-but because it minds us all about the essential nature of the Labour Party '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 ...
Well it is a little over 24 hours since Judge Vaughan Walker ruled that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional. Well tonight I've just received a mailing list from the American Family Association, who else, calling for the judged imbeachment. Time for a little fisking in red. August 5, 2010 Dear Friend, Well if you are going to add me to your alert list when I sign up to your site to complain, feel free to call me a friend. Yesterday (August 4), U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker single-handedly overturned California's Prop. 8, which elevated protection for one-man, one-woman marriage to ...
Tuesday 7th September 2010 marks the first Four Seasons Fair, which will be held at St James's Church in Wulfstan Way. It runs from 5.00pm to 8.00pm The fair promises to help households in Cambridge with a wide variety of services available to the residents and entrance is FREE of charge. The fair will showcase a range of services available to residents from the City Council as well as the police, fire service, and local clubs and societies. The fair is being launched by Cambridge City Council to help people become more energy-efficient, as Queen Edith's has high levels of ...
Watford's Liberal Democrat Mayor, Dorothy Thornhill, was the guest speaker at a Tower Hamlets Liberal Democrat social event this evening at the Pride of Asia restaurant in Stepney Green. On the same day as the general and local elections three months ago, the voters of Tower Hamlets voted 'yes' in a referendum about whether to ...
Ian Campbell was to be presented with a youth citizenship award by the leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, Councillor Kay Cutts. Now Ian Campbell who is gay, was to be presented with the award for his work promoting gay rights and fighting bullying and anti homophobia in schools. Ian is also the youngest Mayor in the United Kingdom. At the age of 23 the Labour Councillor was elected to the post of Mayor of Retford, also in Nottinghamshire. In the past the Leader of Nottinghamshire Council has presented the winner with officials presenting the other awards. Ian Campbell was chosen ...
Or very nearly his first gig at least. Trawling the net I came across the blog Queen in Cornwall, which tells us: Prior to joining 'Smile' and forming 'Queen' Roger Taylor gigged all over Cornwall with his band 'The Reaction'. This blog is an attempt to document these musicians and concerts in preparation for an exhibition at the Royal Cornwall Museum...One post on this blog is devoted to: a do organised by the Liberal Association in the City Hall, 17th December, 1964. This was Roger Taylors first proper band and it is possible that this newspaper clipping from 24th December ...
Sarah Beauhall is a blacksmith living in modern Seattle, who is grappling a) with the fact that her favourite sword turns out to be a relic from the Norse mythos, pursued by dwarves and dragons, and b) with her own relationship with her girlfriend. It's not the first urban fantasy I've read set in the Pacific North-West - mizkit's Walker Papers series are also set there, though her central character is a police mechanic swept into a combination of Celtic and Native American myth. Oddly enough the [Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<a ... lists</a>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. ...
I am going to take the Family for a meal at the Pont-y-Pair Hotel in Betws-y-Coed sometime over this weekend. We have heard some great feedback regarding their menu. Anyone been there? http://www.hotelbetwsycoed.co.uk/
Hugh O'Donnell, Liberal Democrat MSP for Central Scotland is the first MSP to volunteer in VSO's new Scottish Parliament Volunteering Scheme. Mr O'Donnell will spend ten days helping the National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU) which lobbies for the rights of people with disabilities. Disabled rights is an area Mr O'Donnell has a real active interest in, after working for 15 years with adults with learning disabilities. There's a cliche that says a camel is a horse designed by a committee, and sometimes it's a truism, but not here in Uganda! 22 people turned up at today's workshop; ...
Later today, I chaired the latest meeting of the West End Christmas Week group - and, for the first time, we met in the new (and rather superb) coffee shop at Dundee West Church. We had a very productive meeting, arranging a launch event on Saturday 20th November (a community fayre at Dundee West Church) followed by the Christmas Children's Concert, lights switch on, fireworks and carnival on Wednesday 24th November and the week closing with the Blackness Primary School Christmas Fayre on 27th November. There will also be a new lights switch on for the West Port area on ...
As one of those people who blame Conservatives for creating the current crisis in social housing, and Labour for being too useless to remedy the situation in thirteen years in power, David Cameron's comments on term-limited social housing are another sign that we need to step up our game in seeking to restrain those in the Conservative Party with an urge to attack those segments of society who don't fit in with their vision of society. Interestingly, I never had a problem with the notion of 'Right to Buy'. It was the reality of the programme which was so destructive. ...
Last November, I had the great pleasure of attending the official reopening of St Peter's Free Church - and the transformation of the church has achieved a tremendous facility - a modern but sympathetic restoration of the building. It is not only a superb resource for the church community but is also an asset to the wider community - as witnessed at WestFest recently. I met with Rev David Robertson today to discuss how this resource can be used to best effect, particularly given the church's history and link with the Rev Robert Murray McCheyne.
... We'd say a big thank you to the 50,627 'absolute unique visitors'* who read Liberal Democrat Voice in July. That's 5% up on our June figure of c.48,000, and up some 129% on the equivalent figure for July '09 of c.22,000. This brings our absolute unique visitor readership for the last year to date (1 Aug 2009 - 31 July 2010) to 608,812, some 84% higher than the equivalent figure for 2008-09 of 330,218. The 5 top-read stories during the month were: 1. Have you seen Zac Goldsmith's Channel 4 News car-crash interview yet? (75) by Stephen Tall 2. ...
Millennium tears Wedgie a new one.Anthony Barnett on the difference between "Fair votes" and "Fairer votes".Luke Akehurst cautions Labour that the pendulum will not swing back towards them on its own.Nick Lane writing on Lib Dem Voice suggests a cheeky idea for how Labour could cause real problems for the coalition on the electoral reform referendum.Emma Burnell writes an open letter to the Labour leadership candidates.
Following a concerning incident where an elderly constituent in the Pentland area found her house damaged by water from an uninsured tenant in the flat above and all the difficulties it caused the elderly lady, I wrote to the City Council's Director of Housing asking how the council can better promote household contents insurance for its tenants. She has responded as follows : "I refer to your recent enquiry regarding the above. All new tenants' packs contain an application form for insurance. Historically letting officers have highlighted the wisdom to new tenants of having insurance cover and drawn attention to ...
Over the past week, I have been in regular touch with Dundee City Council's Chief Executive about the travelling people's caravan site on the Riverside Business Park (see right). Tonight's "Evening Telegraph" updated readers about the fact they have moved on. Today the Chief Executive advised me that : "The Rapid Response Team are going down tomorrow to clear the site. The owners are aware that we will be billing them for the clean up work we have already done, and will do tomorrow." This evening, I understand from 'The Courier' that the travellers have simply moved on to the ...
There will be red faces in Number 10 tonight after the latest foreign policy gaffe from David Cameron. Speaking today at his one of his PM Direct events, the Conservative leader stuck up for Turkey's application to join the EU, stating it would be able to help Europe address a number of issues: I think [Turkey will] be a good political influence because they can help us solve some of the world's problems like the Middle East peace process, like the fact Iran has got a nuclear weapon." Except Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon. His advisors later clarified that ...
Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Hanifa Choudhury, a local resident who has just started up a brand new company called Eco-Bottles Limited. Being aware of some of the dangers of reusing plastic bottles, mainly resulting from the chemicals used in manufacturing the plastic, and also conscious of the impact that consumption of ...
The Commons Communities and Local Government Committee has announced that it will be holding two separate inquiries into aspects of the government's local planning regime. One inquiry will examine the decision to abolish regional spatial strategies (RSS) and the other will review the coalition's localism agenda. The abolition of the regional spatial strategies was one of the main measures featured in the coalition government's Localism Bill, announced in the Queen's Speech. The inquiry into the abolition of regional spatial strategies will focus primarily on the implications for house building, in particular the implications of the abolition of regional house building ...
It's that time of the month again - Stephen's 5 on the 5th. This month the nominated theme was "On The Road". Here are my contributions: (Nothing) On The Street In The Road (Cones) On The Road Under The Road Over The Road Andrew P.S. Make sure you visit Stephen's blog, and remember you're always welcome to contribute to 5 on the 5th!
Thursday: Today's Grauniad features a Call to Arms by the ORIGINAL "Phony Tony", Mr Wedgie Benn. "It is time..." he says "...to organise a broad movement of active resistance to the Con-Dem government's budget intentions." What the fluff does THAT mean? Strikes? Roadblocks? Burning lorries at major interchanges? A network of underground bunkers? Seizing control of the television channels? Strongly worded letters? I realise, with "the A-Team" back in action, it's like the EIGHTIES never went away, so it's REALLY no surprise that Hard Labour, like the A-Team, are shooting off all over the place without ever hitting a target. ...
In petitioning David Cameron to make it law that air brushed photo's are clearly labelled in magazines and on posters. I blogged before on this issue here. You can visit the Girl Guide website here for more information or here to go straight to the petition.
Ambush Predator drew my attention today to a story in a local paper about a dog having bitten a child in a play area: Steven Evans is calling for action after his 13-year-old son, Dean, was attacked by a Staff at Holy Cross Recreation Ground, in Church Road. ... Mr Evans believes dogs should be banned from anywhere children play. He added: "I have dogs myself, and I always muzzle them when I take them out. I am sorry for the injuries and distress caused to Mr Evans and his son but I just wonder what he thinks the result ...
Another thing interesting about coalition government is what is going on in the House of Lords. It's been a long time since the governing party had a working majority there, ever since the hereditary peers were ditched. But now, with Tory and Lib Dems combined, and with the new peers they have added, Baroness D'Souza ...
Strangely there's not much in the Highway Code about this, but a new activity on the Avon Fire and Rescue website will get you really thinking about it. This isn't your usual boring survey - it's really thought-provoking, and the results will help design a public education and awareness campaign about what you should do to help emergency vehicles get through. Please give it a go!
There's still time to apply for selection as the prospective Scottish Parliamentary Candidate for the Edinburgh Northern and Leith constituency for the 2011 election. From a party notice: The Liberal Democrats won around 11,000 votes across the constituency area during the May 2010 Westminster elections. The constituency also includes part or all of four local government wards, each of which has an elected Lib Dem councillor. The successful applicant will be able to demonstrate an ability to motivate a large and growing group of activists, and form and lead an effective campaign team, in a Local Party which has extensive ...
Two articles in the Financial Times have my fundraiser's eye in the last day. In reverse chronological order, from today's paper: US rich pledge half of fortunes to charity: More than 30 US billionaires have pledged to give at least half of their fortunes to charity as part of a campaign spearheaded by Warren Buffett, the investor, and Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder. And then this article by Luke Johnson in yesterday's edition: Charity needs a touch of business: Is a charitable foundation the new private jet? In recent times I have noticed among successful entrepreneurs a reordering of their ...
Dame Rosalind Marsden has been appointed as the next EU Special Representative for Sudan, and is the first woman ever to be appointed as an EUSR. The current 11 EUSRs are listed here, and the previous 23, with variable formatting, here. Oh well, 35th time lucky, eh?
America's gay rights activists were celebrating last night as a judge re-legalised gay marriage, making the latest step in the long-running battle in the US and the state of California. Previously, legal gay marriage had been granted to Californians following successful legal challenge on discrimination grounds of the rules that meant marriage was only available to heterosexual couples. Only after thousands of gay Californians had tied the knot did anti-gay activists manage to get a proposition on the ballot paper last to ask voters whether gay marriage should be disallowed. By a narrow margin, Californians voted to end homogamy in ...
Great news - we have just heard that our Peace Park has become the latest park in Camden to be awarded the much coveted "Green flag" award. Camden's press release says: "The awards, which are run by environmental charities Keep Britain Tidy, BTCV and GreenSpace, have been announced during national Love Parks Week, during which people are encouraged to enjoy the nation's parks and green spaces. The Green Flag judges reward excellent use of green space, well-maintained facilities, community involvement and a high standard of safety and security. Camden's parks are getting better every year with Maygrove Peace Park this ...
At Sefton's cabinet meeting this morning Labour and Tories ganged up to keep spending money we cannot afford on pet capital schemes. It does make us laugh when the Sefton Central Labour MP keeps going on about a Con/Lib deal on Sefton. It doesn't look like that from where I'm sitting. But he's new to the area and we must give him a moment or two to find his bearings. I have written before about the grandiose plans to for our market hall. The policy of all parties on the council was to sell the hall to a market operator ...
My panoramic photo of Manhattan from the Upper Bay We have now just about caught up on our sleep after a six day Silver Wedding trip to New York City last week. We had a wonderful time and packed an enormous amount into a few days. But one thing I ought to mention before I end what must seem like an endless stream of New York/US-based posts, is the kindness of New Yorkers. Comparisons are odious so I won't make any. Suffice it to say we were quite over-whelmed by four random New Yorkers who stoppped to help us: -The ...
[IMG: Lime Grove School] In the three years since it closed, the old school site at Lime Grove has been seriously considered as both student accomodation and a wet-house for the homeless. To the relief of nearby residents, both proposals were aborted after many months of investigation. B&NES put the site up for sale again in May; the property department say: "We've had an enormous amount of interest in the site and now have all of the bids in. We are looking at several bids in more detail and have requested further information from the developers. We expect to establish ...
The coalition's housing Minister, Conservative MP Grant Schapps, has revealed that the previous Labour government grossly undercounted the level of homelessness. For example, councils were not allowed to count people that were sitting up in sleeping bags as homeless. Furthermore, they did not include councils reporting less than 10 vagrants in their calculations. This led to the official records saying that there were only 440 rough sleepers across the whole of England and, according to the minister, the "ridiculous situation where the third largest city in England, Manchester, had officially no rough sleepers " Unlike the government who count the ...
Here is a selection of issues making headlines during the past few weeks: Local News Political parties see surge in new members - The parties are arguing about how many more members they have. Perhaps they should all simply be happy to have more members. Schools 'nod' to academy status - Ranelagh School is interested in Academy status Rethinking mental health services - 'MENTAL health services need more funding, said Bracknell's MP at the launch of a charity's campaign.' Local Links John Redwood The Liberals 1915-24 - covers the decline of the Liberal party in 1915 to 1924 Green Gabbles ...
This is absolutely brilliant. Not perfect, but still cool. From Nicholas, who got it from Sue, both of whom seem to be having innapropriate thoughts about Anne Francis in that outfit from Forbidden Planet. Can't say I blame them. ETA: There's a non brilliantly integrated clip from Tennant era Who in there, it's appropriate, but does jar a bit, think they should've used a clip from Tomb myself...
At the 1997 General Election, Labour swept to power with a mandate to reform British politics. Tony Blair's cooperation with Paddy Ashdown's Liberal Democrats from 1995 to 1997 centred around a progressive agreement to introduce a proportional voting system for election to the House of Commons. Unfortunately for advocates of electoral reform and for progressives more widely, the resulting Labour landslide appeared to remove any thoughts this once great reforming party had to lay claim to the 21st Century progressive mantle. Labour could have held (and won easily) a referendum to introduce PR, but they didn't. Over a decade on, ...
One of the consequences of the coalition Government has been some hasty casting for the next series of The Thick of It. We'd already been introduced to the Shadow Minister Peter Mannion in the 2007 Specials and his team, and saw more of them in Series three earlier this year, with the opposition sensing they were on the edge of victory and poor Malcolm Tucker the Government spin doctor on the verge of a nervous breakdown. However, as creator Armando Iannucci has admitted there was no reference to the third party and therefore some hasty casting has been done. I ...
The Justice secretary Ken Clarke has launched a review of Court property as part of the Coalition cuts programme to try and tackle Labours budget deficit/spending legacy. The Justice department have identified 103 Magistrates Courts and 54 County Courts across England and Wales that are to be considered for closure. Amongst them is Bury County Court. As part of the process a consultation has been launched and views are being widely sought about the proposals. There is growing concern that closure of local courts would adversely affect people from disadvantaged groups in society, thos on low incomes and perhaps without ...
There has been a whole load of ill informed, wishful thinking in the British media of late. In the face of the (sadly all too common) post election fall in Lib Dem support in the opinion polls, the usual suspects on both right and left have been quick to forecast an early end to the coalition. Yet, despite having no leader, no policies and no principles, Labour continue to hold a respectable poll rating. The journalists who continue to hope for the fall of the coalition do not understand the fact that an early election would probably not lead to ...
How cute is this little guy? And not only is he cute, he has a wee tag round his neck saying "Please give me lots of love and cuddles." And he is so, so soft and snuggly. This is Joshie bear, being sold in aid of the Joshua Deeth Foundation, which I've written about before. It's been set up in memory of my friend Nicola's second son, who passed away last November from an extremely rare neurological condition, Ponto-Cerebellar Hypoplasia Type 1. Nicola and her husband Stephen want to raise money for research, and to help other families affected by ...
Today (5 August 2011) is five months to go to the crucial local elections in English District, Unitary and Metropolitan councils on 5th May 2011. Nearly 2000 Liberal Democrat councillors will face the electorate in the biggest "round" in the four-year local elections cycle. G8 Grants to help your local campaign ALDC administers the local "G8" grants scheme to help Liberal Democrats win local elections. We're currently looking for applications for Round 1 of the grants scheme for 2011 for campaigning work this Autumn. The deadline to register interest in the grants is 20th August, applications need to be in ...
Autumn Federal Conference 2010 takes place in Liverpool, Saturday 18 - Wednesday 22 September 2010. If you're not registered already and would like to go you can register here. The Party has some great deals for day delegates and for "first time" delegates. ALDC Training ALDC has some great training planned for conference. All Party members are welcome to attend and it is a great reason to come to Liverpool for the Saturday morning (most people tend to come up on Friday evening if they can). A full list of training is here, but the highlights include: Campaign Workshops We ...
Labour was elected to run Camden Council again in May after it campaigned to "stop the council home sell-offs". Now, Labour is already breaking its main promise to residents. The Camden New Journal brought the news that Camden Labour has ditched its promise. The Lib Dem-led council was forced to sell a handful of empty, derelict ...
This is a reminder to VOTE in Miss SB's Very Prestigious and Entirely Serious Blog Awards! Two categories are currently open for nominations: BEST FANDOM BLOG and BEST POLITICAL BLOG; the first of which contains some very good blogs, and I encourage some long hard thinking about that. As for who to vote for in Best Political blog? Well, as I know absolutely nothing about politics (as you know), I asked Looking2daStars, and he suggested: Okay, I've looked at it. And as far as I can tell it's all a bunch of shrill, shouty angry feminist types who don't shave ...
Ahead of next month's Liberal Democrat Conference, the Independent has a few superlatives on the party's biggest gathering yet: One thousand extra pass applications are being processed for next month's conference in Liverpool. Security controls are being tightened and hotels in the city have experienced a rush in bookings. More than 7,000 delegates, members of the media and commercial attendees are expected to travel to the conference, compared with its usual attendance of about 6,000. The number of journalists attending is likely to leap from 1,000 last year to more than 1,500. The number of organisations, including firms, unions and ...
Over the last two days I've been trying to find out more about the decision to close Launceston Tourist Information Centre - as reported here. My understanding of the situation is that Cornwall Council does not want to keep the TIC in the One Stop Shop. This is partly because the OSS is very busy and partly because they do not see the two functions as compatible. It was initially reported to me by many people that this decision had been taken and was final. There was clearly some mis-communication somewhere along the line about this. However, I have been ...
There may be a slight delay in getting the next blog award category up; my mum is in hospital with an insect bite which she is having both an allergic reaction to, and an infection in. It's not that serious, in that it's serious enough for her to be in hospital overnight, but unserious enough that she may be home today. We hope. If not home, they should at least be taking her drip out... * trying to not appear as worried as she is, and failing miserably * Anyway, blog awards will resume tomorrow and you can, of course, ...
California and the United Kingdom are completely different in both social and legal terms. The fights for marriage equality in the two different jurisdictions may as well be held on different planets. In California it is organised and "militant" against powerful, organised opponents. Here in the United Kingdom it's disorganised and... well.. most gay men, lesbians and bisexuals don't really care, it's brutally honest I know but we must not deceive ourselves. Despite what the loony homophobes might say, the LGBT "community" in the UK is not "militant" and is quite happy to just get on with life. The hurt ...
I'm amazed to see that the strategic defence review doesn't include the most strategic defence system Britain has. Namely Trident nuclear weapons. Apparently if we're going to keep a nuclear deterrent we need to start planning for this replacement now. I feel attracted to the machismo of a bold strong nuclear submarine fleet prowling the worlds seas. But lets face it Britain is no longer a global political or economic superpower. The few dependencies we have around the world we starve of funds and don't allow their residents British citizenship. If we have to have a nuclear deterrent then I ...
A little joke I found here Rene Descartes went into his favorite bar and the bar tender asked, "would you like your usual drink, Monsieur Descartes? " Descartes replied "I think not" and promptly disappeared.
Lib Dem Employment Relations Minister Ed Davey has announced the end of the default retirement age. This is the age employers can make people retire even if they don't want to. I can't personally at my age imagine wanting to work beyond 65. I have so many interests that I'm unable to pursue due to work, family and councillor commitments. And all going well I'll have enough pension to not need to work. But for many people they do want to work beyond 65 for a whole host of good reasons but currently they don't normally get to choose. Ending ...
The Liberal Democrats have a proud tradition of prioritising international development, but it is time to re-think our foreign aid strategy. All three parties' manifestoes pledged to increase aid spending to 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI). This sounds very "nice" and positive, but the commitment bears no relation to the actual needs of developing countries and ignores the mounting evidence showing that the current system of aid is perpetuating the poverty it seeks to alleviate. If we are to be serious about helping the world's poorest, we need to stop focusing upon what we want to give, ...
David Cameron set the cat amongst the pigeons yesterday by seemingly off-the-cuff suggesting that the current situation where people can stay in council houses effectively for life may be reviewed during a Q&A session. He particularly focused on the sort of situation where a family living in for example a four bedroomed house where the children have left home but the parents are then allowed to remain in the house could be questioned. I have to say I agree. If people's circumstances change, then surely it is right for the housing situation to also be reviewed? This is not least ...
Radio 2 breakfast show host Chris Evans is attracting less listeners than his predecessor Sir Terry Wogan. While Evans had 8.5 million listeners a week in his 7 until 9.30 slot between April and June, in the 7.30 to 9.30 slot that Wogan previously occupied he only got 8.08 million. This is 18,000 less than Wake Up to Wogan. Now VN is a big Evans fan, but this downturn will worry Beeb executives. In other radio news, stats released by Rajar show another peak for BBC 6 Music. After surviving being chopped they got up to 1.19 million listeners, making ...
As Minister for International Development, It has recently been brought to my attention that the last government (the idiots!) ignored a crucial area where Aid is vitally needed. I suggest that we immediate readdress the budget to help this country in dire need. Here is a video with further information
This was a five-part series first broadcast on radio in 2007. I've seen a couple of other reviews on the web which were distinctly underwhelmed, but I rather enjoyed it. The title character is a museum attendant who gets swept into a search for the Lux Ater, the Book of Black Light, which will provide a link between string theory and alchemy, at the behest of 400-year-old alchemist Nikolai, who steps out of one of the paintings in the museum. Other incidental characters include Oneira's odious boyfriend who spends most of the sequence reduced to a bucket of water and ...
Simon McGrath recalls the only occasion in the last hundred years when the government has sought to interfere in the work of the independent Boundary Commission. James Callaghan, the Home Secretary under Harold Wilson's first premiership, prevented implementation of a long-overdue boundary revision by means of a devious parliamentary manoeuvre. Labour still lost the 1970 general election to Heath's Conservatives.
Consituents remain interested in the situation for the country hence I am going to repost and update a posting I made on 23rd July (on The Stirrer forum).The financial crisis had really four components. Three were international and one national. The international ones were 1. CDOs (the credit crunch issue - causing a big hole in banks' balance sheets). This is the issue that causes all the fuss
The Independent writes about our Conference in Liverpool next month: One thousand extra pass applications are being processed for next month's conference in Liverpool. Security controls are being tightened and hotels in the city have experienced a rush in bookings. More than 7,000 delegates, members of the media and commercial attendees are expected to travel to the conference, compared with its usual attendance of about 6,000. The number of journalists attending is likely to leap from 1,000 last year to more than 1,500. The number of organisations, including firms, unions and charities, taking stands in the conference exhibition hall is ...
So there we were by the graffitied sign at the thin end of the wedge that is Wash Brook Park. At the far end, if you emerge at one corner you are beside The Lancaster School ("Lancy Boys") of Gareth Malone and Boys Don't Sing fame. Emerge at other corner and you enter an area of council housing that I wrote about in April 2004 (23 April): I walked into Leicester down streets of council housing. You could tell they were council houses because of the tall metal columns topped with CCTV cameras. The scene was a cross between the ...
My thoughts go out to everybody worried about friends and families caught up in the dreadful flooding in Pakistan. The Disasters Emergency Committee is coordinating relief efforts from the UK. Their website is www.dec.org.uk and there's an automated phone line for donations at 0370 60 60 900.
There's going to be a great Family Fun Day in Gorton Park on Saturday. There should be loads happening (weather permitting), all welcome.
Having got home yesterday evening to the news that three school children had apparently died in a gas blast in a flat in Edinburgh, it appears that there are suspicious circumstances around their young deaths. Although there was a fire at the flat on Slateford Road there was no problem identified with the gas supply to the flat. A woman, believed to be the children's mother jumped from the balcony yesterday afternoon. Moe Harbi, a chemical engineering student, who lives in the block said he smelt gas at about 1am but after checking his kitchen and oven went back to ...
One of those ideas that seems so obvious once someone else does it: (Hat-tip to frostfox. Watch especially for Anne Francis and the anachronistic but appropriate clip from New Who)
Thu 5th
06:26
Whoniversaries 5 August: Wanda Ventham, Matt Jones, Paul Kasey, Brian Minchin, second Cushing film
i) births and deaths 5th August 1935: birth of Wanda Ventham, who played Jean Rock in The Faceless Ones (1967), Thea Ransome and the Fendahl Core in Image of the Fendahl (1977) and Faroon in Time and the Rani (1987), a nice regular spacing of her appearances over the decades. Incidentally, her son, Benedict Cumberbatch, is currently starring in the title role of Steven Moffat's Sherlock. 5th August 1968: birth of Matt Jones, author of TV stories The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit (Doctor Who, 2006) and Dead Man Walking (Torchwood, 2008), as well as the excellent Bernice Summerfield ...
The statement by the First Minister yesterday linking the referendum on law-making powers with the reform of the Barnett formula was a mistake. In a typical example of Labour arrogance, he effectively introduced an inaccurate and partisan claim into a cross party campaign, seeking to hijack the message without discussing it with his allies. The issue of Barnett review is separate to the debate on strengthening law making powers for Wales. Irrespective of the badly worded passage in the coalition agreement, the UK Government is committed to both the referendum and the funding-review. They are not linked and nor should ...
The Western Mail must be in mourning. As they report yesterday, their dream of Ieuan Wyn Jones being succeeded by the former Plaid Cymru MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr is in tatters. The paper tells us that: Mr Price, who made his name exposing then Prime Minister Tony Blair's backing for the Indian-born steel magnate and Labour donor Lakshmi Mittal, stood down from his Carmarthen East and Dinefwr seat at the General Election, saying he wanted to switch to the Assembly. But former Heritage Minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas, who represents the seat at Cardiff Bay, refused to stand down, ...
How many hours should you work per week? My first reaction to this question is that I am always doing something and I should be able to call it work. Let's say I sleep eight hours per night. Add another 30 minutes either side of sleep to wind down and to get ready in the morning. That leaves fifteen hours per day when I am doing something. As I would not get paid for meal breaks let's reduce that by another hour for two meals which leaves me working 14 hours. Let's also say I was 30 minutes from work. ...
