On a beautiful day I have just run the Langdale Fell Race in the Lake District - 14 miles with 4,000 feet of climbing. My 66th position was disappointing, although being the 3rd finisher aged over 50 provides some compensation. I spent far too much time on steep descents communing with hard and slippery Lake District rock. My body bears the marks to prove it.
I'm pleased that Chris Huhne has voiced caveats about the future of Government economic policy. His views are shared by many Liberal Democrat parliamentarians, myself included. We all accept the need to reduce the deficit but it is common sense to point out that the approach may have to be adjusted if the economy experiences a severe downturn. So long as the private sector creates plenty of new jobs we can afford to cut public expenditure. But if unemployment soars, tax revenues fall and the welfare bill grows, making it harder to reduce the deficit. Of course our approach would ...
If there's one person I feel sorry for right now, it's Vince Cable. During the election, he was wielded like a secret weapon by us Lib Dems, we upheld him as God and his word on the economy ... Continue reading →
No doubt many of you will have read my short post the other day that I would not be posting on the blog here due to 'unforeseen circumstances'. I am now able to shed some light on those 'circumstances' and get back to normal. On Wednesday I was debating the proposed cuts to Chiuld Benefit which ...
Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of Broxtowe Borough Council. A special welcome to the several new readers that we have this week. I took the opportunity to do a bit of a promotion for the egroup this week and as a result we now have the highest level of subscribers that we have ever had. Thank you all for your support and your feedback. There has been so much happening this week that it is difficult to know where to start. I'll deal with the main issues ...
News that the Icelandic people are back on the streets again. Iceland's equivalent of the State of the Union address took place on Monday evening, when all the party leaders in the Althingi (Icelandic parliament) give speeches and then have the opportunity to reply to one another. Over 5,000 people gathered outside the Althingi ...
My earlier blog entry on defectors and deserters got my biggest readership so far (thanks to all) and I have received some comments and feedback from various sources. To re-cap, I was critical of two of our former Councillors who, because of the coalition, have decided not to continue the fight against the Tory giant, but to leave. This weakens our local party and so ironically helps the local Tories. I would have thought this point would have been obvious but alas no. When Conservatives are unhappy with their party, they secretly plot and conspire. When Labour people are unhappy ...
Today I went to Great Oxendon, a Northamptonshire village to the south of Market Harborough. While I was away the town had a visit from the English Defence League on the way to Leicester - more of that another day perhaps. The website The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland describes the village church and its setting: St Helen's stands alongside the busy A508, the main road from Northampton to Market Harborough, from which a short and extremely steep track provides access, clearly not the original means of approach.Its location, in open fields 0.4 miles N of the ...
Lord Browne's report is coming out on Monday. Today Vince Cable has admitted that Liberal Democrats are to abandon plans for a graduate tax to fund universities. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11507537 Removing the option of a graduate tax to fund university tuition suggests that Liberal Democrat MPs may be asked to significantly increase tuition fees. In the mean time, this ...
Welcome to blogging Tony Robertson. The Leader of Sefton Council has taken the first step in establishing an online presence for our colleagues in Maghull. Somewhat predictably his first posting was on railways. I shall add him to my blog- roll. It used to be a lonely occupation blogging as a Sefton Councillor but now I have been joined by not only Tony but by colleagues in Meols ward, Kew Ward, Cambridge Ward and Southport Liberal Youth.
Vince Cable's politics are becoming like one of those fairground gopher games where he pops up randomly from time to time to say something newsworthy only no one is sure from which part of the political field he will crop up next. Last month he was the hero of anti-capitalism, tomorrow the NUS will be calling him a Tory. Today's welcome announcement is that the Coalition will reject the Miliband-backed NUS campaign for a pure graduate tax, and instead be looking at something different. Likely still progressive, likely still motivated mostly by the politics of the Liberal Democrats tribal anti-fees ...
Whenever someone tells you that something ought to be done because "It's traditional", I think it's always worth checking their forehead for the tell-tale scar of a lobotomy operation. Usually the description "traditional" equates to something which has happened for about the past twenty years – if that. We've been told that all election results should be declared on election night "because it's traditional". Yet you only have to go back to 1970 to see that this is complete and utter nonsense. I've been watching the BBC's election results programme from 1970 on the BBC Parliament channel. As of 10am ...
And now for the fourth and final instalment of the theme resolution... Inter-generational Dimensions of Demographic Change Notes that the overwhelming majority of people choose to live independently in later life, but with good family and social links and considers that autonomy in later life, with family and community inter-dependence achieves both what people want and reduces the strain on services and associated costs; Notes that the unemployment rate is increasing across the EU among the 18-24 and 50+ age ranges, accompanied by a rise in the number of young people that are in neither education, employment or training; Notes ...
Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, has tonight written to all Lib Dem members in anticipation of the publication next week of the report of the Browne Review ('The Independent Review of Higher Education & Student Finance in the UK' to give it its official title). Here's what Vince has to say: Dear Friend, As you know, one of the most urgent tasks facing the Coalition Government is to reform the funding of Higher Education. Our objectives are clear: high-quality university teaching and research; fair access for all, regardless of background; and a progressive funding structure. ...
Libraries in Central Bedfordshire are inviting poetry lovers to submit their entries for Bedfordshire Libraries' Poetry Competition 2010. The competition is a joint promotion between Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire Libraries and has the theme of 'Home' this year. The closing date for entries is Saturday, 23 October. The adult competition is for everyone over 14 years with, for the first time, a separate category for younger writers. The best poems will be published on the Virtual Library's Post-a-Poem page over the coming year. You can email your poem to librarieswriteon@bedford.gov.uk, hand your entry in at your local library or ...
Two heads are better than one, Nick Clegg told party members in his main conference speech last month. Well, it seems that the polls now back him up. The latest polling from Populus shows that voters have more trust in the Coalition to sort out some of the knottiest problems facing the country than they have in either the Lib Dems or the Conservatives separately. How do I know this? Well, my job takes me to each of the three party conferences, and one fringe meeting I always make a point of attending is the one organised by The Times. The ...
Last weeks list of planning applications had one in King's Hedges. The application was for a single storey front extension to 18 Crowland Way. The application is number 10/0909/FUL. As always more details are available from the City Council's planning portal, or in person. In case of difficulty contact the team.
I am currently involved in a open spaces working group on Buckhurst Hill Parish Council which will report back to the formal Planning and Environment Committee. I feel very passionate that our green open areas must be protected. This is one of the main reasons why I got involved in local politics. The next open spaces meeting is on October the 22nd please contact me if any one would like to contribute to this group. We aim to register the Donkey Field (by Roebuck Lane/Russell road) as a Village Green as its a huge area of land in need of ...
In Thursday's Council meeting a Lib Dem motion to get Basingstoke generating its own green energy was blocked by the Tories. It was not a party political motion, just a sensible one. We simply wanted the Council to look at every building they own, every strip of land, post, pillar and piece of equipment to see which ones could be used to either save energy or generate energy. Debate at the moment is dominated by the economic situation. It is right that it is the priority but we should not forget the critical role we play as a Council in ...
Peter Robinson's proposal that the Northern Ireland Assembly should be cut from 108 to 75 members has run into trouble, with criticism both from the UUP and from Sinn Féin. Of course, speculation on how this might change the political landscape is premature, but that won't stop me. Let's first look at what might have happened if the 2007 Assembly election had been run with five seats per constituency instead of six. Since the quota - the number of votes you need to get elected - is defined by dividing the total valid votes by one more than the number ...
There's no prize at stake - just the opportunity to prove you're wittier than any other LDV reader... (Image by Alex Folkes courtesy Lib Dems' Flickr photostream.) Here's Nick Clegg walking in step with deputy leader Simon Hughes — what do you think they might be saying to, or thinking about, each other? The winner of our most recent caption competition, the "Andy Coulson's a bit busy right now" edition - according to The Voice's judging panel of one - was this one by Jason Good. Got a photo of a prominent Lib Dem you think would work well for ...
My autumn runs have been particularly productive this year. But this is by far my largest harvest! That's a normal sized fork there.
Sat 9th
16:20
Prosecutors set to decide on whether David Mundell should face election expense charges
News in this week on the case of Conservative MP David Mundell and his mistaken election expense return: following their questioning of him, the police have now sent a file to the Procurator Fiscal, who will now decide whether or not to prosecute.
[IMG: Duchess of Sutherland at Tring 09/10/10] Young boys of all ages crowded at the end of Platform 3, Tring, and clustered on the top deck of the car park this morning at five to nine to await the rare spectacle of a powerful steam locomotive working hard on the long haul up from London to the high point of the line as it crosses the Chilterns. Hauling the Cathedrals Express, a train of vintage coaches packed with rail enthusiasts on a railtour to Chester, and taking the gradient easily in its stride, the 'Coronation' Class locomotive Duchess of Sutherland ...
[IMG: Reynolds House, Tower Hamlets] This morning I was off helping John Griffiths, Liberal Democrat candidate in the Tower Hamlets Mayor election. I was campaigning near where I used to live off the Roman Road and, as when I was in Hackney recently for a by-election there, one of the council blocks used to be considered an architectural cut above the rest. In Hackney's case, as I wrote, When originally built, the estate's curving Art Deco style brickwork made it an attractive and distinctive piece of architecture, full of optimism about how good the future could be (though the construction ...
Today's Telegraph has an in-depth interview with the Lib Dems' climate change and energy secretary Chris Huhne, in which he expertly steers the tightrope of punchily sticking up for party policy while sticking well within collective responsibility. Somewhat bizarrely, both the BBC and the Torygraph are leading on the least contentious part of the interview, in which Chris points out that the Coalition will adjust economic policy according to circumstances and forecasts: "I've never known one Treasury Red Book to be exactly like the last one. There is always a change. It is a bit like setting sail. If the ...
I updated residents in August about the City Engineer's proposal to tidy the roundabout at Riverside Avenue/Riverside Drive (near to the Riverside Inn, formerly Marmalade Pot) and he has now given me this progress report : "Discussion on the proposed replanting of the above has taken place between Road Maintenance, Dundee Contract Services and Planning. It has been agreed that low level shrubs should be used and not trees as previously considered. As such a work order is to be issued to replace the existing shrubs with low level varieties - eg Euonymus and Hebe - which will reduce future ...
As a member of the board of Dundee Contemporary Arts, I am delighted to see this year's Discovery Film Festival taking place at DCA from 16th October to 3rd November. It is Scotland's International Film Festival for Children and Young People and almost 8,000 young people enjoyed Discovery screenings and events last year. This year's programme is packed full of films from around the world - from the new Moomins film Moomins and the Comet Chase in 3D (see trailer below) to the powerful youth documentary Neukölln Unlimited. The public programme is available to download by going to http://tinyurl.com/discoveryfilm.
What does it mean to feel rich? Is it chucking food into ones basket not checking the prices? Is it the ownership of a plasma HD tv? Is it the awareness of the difference between a Gilet and a bomber jacket? Is it eating out on any day of the week because you simply cannot ...
I have recently become hooked – I mean really hooked - on the theme music from the BBC's Film 2010 (which has also been Film '72, Film '73 and Film every other year up 'til now). I particularly enjoy the "da – da – dah" at the start of the tune! As a result, I have done a bit of googling on the tune itself and found an interesting history. The theme tune in its BBC setting is here at the start of a full version of Film 2009 on YoutTube. The tune is called "I wish I knew how ...
The Government believes that strong and stable families of all kinds are the bedrock of a strong and stable society. So says the Coalition Agreement, but has the Government's approach to reducing the deficit actually demonstrated the opposite? The furore over the proposed removal of Child Benefit from higher rate tax payers has raised hackles in the middle classes - and aspiring middle classes. But the cuts to Child Benefit are further evidence of a worrying trend since the election. Whether there are arguments for the cuts or not, the list since May does not smack of a Government committed ...
Time for part three of our review of the ELDR theme resolution, due to be debated next week in Helsinki... Free Movement, Immigration and Social Cohesion Notes that the free movement of people between member states is fundamental to the political and economic goals of the EU and the well being of its citizens; Notes and welcomes the extension of qualified majority voting to issues of immigration and asylum under the Lisbon Treaty and supports the provisions in the Stockholm Programme for the development of a comprehensive and sustainable European migration and asylum policy framework; Notes that immigration and asylum ...
Like many, following the election of the new Labour leader and his call to arms for a new generation of Labour leaders, I was interested to see what his shadow cabinet would look like. Well sadly it's more new labour than new generation. See below for some interesting points about the Shadow cabinet. Every single member of Ed Miliband's new shadow cabinet served in Gordon Brown's government. Of the 19 members of the new shadow cabinet, 11 served as cabinet ministers under Brown, while the other eight held ministerial posts. Every member of the new shadow cabinet voted for ID ...
All of us at Lib Dem Voice join in wishing our colleague, Alex Foster, the very best on his wedding day. May it be everything you both want, and more, Alex. Alex is one of the founding members of the Voice collective: you can read his first post on his love-hate relationship with Lib Dem conferences (from September 2006) here; and all his other posts for the Voice here. And if you want to be uplifted while shedding a tear, can I recommend the post he published this week over at his own blog: It gets better. Congratulations!
It's an issue that crops up every few years: shifting our clocks forward an hour, permanently. It's with us again, with a bill - the Daylight Saving Bill - set to be debated by MPs on 3rd December. The bill wouldn't introduce the change immediately. What it would do is require the Government to conduct a cross-departmental cost/benefit analysis of any change. If, and only if, the benefits were confirmed would there be a three-year trial. The Lighter Later campaign is pushing it. They list a lot of benefits from the change (you can read those HERE), but for me ...
On Wednesday evening I attended the Southport Area Committee. On the agenda was the All Abilities path through the sand dunes of Ainsdale and Birkdale. I am not going to go over the points for or against the path as other websites and forums have already covered this in recent weeks. I have always been in favour of the path, but I have also always been in favour of a full consultation being carried out before a decision was made. A full and extended consultation took place which asked for a simple "for" or "against" including any comments that people ...
I agree with the readers of Get Bracknell in Little hope for town centre revamp.This comes after news that the Bracknell Healthspace will not be build in Market Street and instead will be build on the Skimped Hill Health Centre site. I can remember when I was at college looking at the plans for a new town centre and a few years ago looking again at an exhibition in town of new town centre plans (see here). I can remember surveys accross town with signs explaining that this is for the new town centre regeneration. I can remember promise after ...
Yesterday Freedom House lauded the awarding of the Nobel Prize for Peace to Chinese Dissident Liu Xiaobo. This sentiment has echoed around the web from other freedom loving organisations. I, for one, can't think of a more deserving winner. If you want to know why then I suggest you read some of his words for yourself: I have no enemies, and no hatred. None of the police who monitored, arrested and interrogated me, the prosecutors who prosecuted me, or the judges who sentence me, are my enemies. While I'm unable to accept your surveillance, arrest, prosecution or sentencing, I respect ...
So the 20th October looms ever closer. The date when we will find out the extent and where the cuts will fall after the review that was announced during the emergency budget. We all know that changes will be made to Child benefit, and I blogged on this. The reaction to these changes concerns me. However, no matter what is cut there will be some losers and the reason why I am not vehemently opposed to the child benefit cut is that it is an attempt to ensure that the lower paid do not lose out on the benefit. There ...
I greatly enjoyed the first edition of this book when I read it two years ago, and the second edition is even better. To the penetrating insights and lucid descriptions of the earlier version, there are added a couple of extra chapters at the beginning looking at the relationship of the Old English nobles of Ireland to the Yorkist v Lancaster/Tudor struggles in the other parts of the realm - I had not really grasped it, but the Fitzgeralds (earls of Kildare and Desmond) were basically Yorkist (Lambert Simnel was crowned as King Richard IV in Christ Church cathedral in ...
This week is about bringing people together to end Mental Health prejudice, with the slogan "Isn't it time you got moving for mental health". In Stockton there are a range of free events for people to join in and enjoy. One of the events that can be fitted in at any time to suit yourself is the "Stockton stroll" and you can download the quiz sheet from the Council website. 50 correct entries...
One of the most revered figures for British Liberal is Lord Beveridge, whose famous report laid the foundations for the welfare state as it was initially implemented by the 1945 Labour government. This report laid down the five "giant evils" which afflicted British society at that time, these were squalor, ignorance, want, idleness and disease. As Lib Dems now contemplate the latest ream of announcements from George Osborne and Iain Duncan Smith concerning reform of the welfare state, many of us, and particularly those who may identify with the 'Beveridge' Group within the party are concerned that the work of ...
There has been a disproportionate amount of coverage this morning for Chris Huhne's remark, in the course of an interview with the Daily Telegraph, that when it comes to reducing the public sector deficit, the government is not "lashed to the mast with a particular set of numbers". In view of that coverage, it is worth quoting his words to the Telegraph in full: Asked if the cuts might be scaled back if economic indicators worsen, he indicates that he is not "lashed to the mast with a particular set of numbers."I've never known one Treasury Red Book to be ...
In moving from the old way of providing for citizens to the new movement there are many things which are currently ongoing that we can learn from to create a change in relationship between the state and citizens and timebanking is one of those things. Timebanking aims to move people from being 'passive beneficiaries of ...
This weeks Bracknell Standard has a little Q&A with myself. Heres my answers as submitted to the paper. What is your favourite food? Normally the food on the biggest plate. What is your favourite holiday destination? So far Japan, I just so enjoyed my trip there, the people, the food and the crazy cosplay costumes. What was the last book you read? The Dirt which is a biography of Motley Crew. Its a crazy rock n roll story that's just unreal. What is your favourite TV programme? currently Spooks but it was Waking the Dead and before that Star Trek. ...
A most revealing interview in the Daily Telegraph this morning with Chris Huhne. I am one of those who is willing to accept that the problem of national debt has got so far out of hand that the issue had to be convincingly addressed. It does not follow that reducing the role of the state-especially where it is intervening to protect the poor and the vulnerable-is of itself always a 'good thing' And so it is that we have been covering the Liberal Party's history looking at the the ideas of redistribution of wealth via Land taxation, through to the ...
Yesterday's revelation that the Home Office are consulting on closing down the Newport Passport Office came as a bit of a shock. It was not that there are proposals to make cuts, that was expected. After all, the coalition government has inherited a huge financial mess off Labour and need to bring public spending under control. I think everybody knew that this would involve difficult decisions and that job losses would follow. I also do not buy Labour's crocodile tears over this issue. After all they were responsible whilst in government for the loss of hundreds of civil service jobs ...
Whilst I was doing a surgery in my local library in Swansea last night I picked up a 'What's On' magazine. I was startled to find, in an advert for a Mumbles hotel, the claim that they are just 50 minutes drive from the Ryder Cup Golf course. I live half an hour's drive closer to Cardiff than that hotel and it takes me an hour to travel from my front door to the Welsh Assembly. I would be lucky to make the Celtic Manor in the same time frame. I am not sure what exactly people will be driving ...
Large scale public sector job cuts, the banks not lending to small businesses (at least in part because they are being required to rebuild and increase that capital holdings), Obama struggling to get his stimulus package through all could combine to usher in a time of mass unemployment. Most respected opinion seems to think that we will escape such a mess but if we don't then it would be time to dust off the Liberal Manifesto on 1929. This copy was found in the garage of a prominent Birkdale Liberal H.G. Williamson who lived in Grosvenor Rd. In the top ...
From Stockport Council: Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne MP was greeted this week in Stockport by the Chair of the Greater Manchester Environmental Commission, Cllr Dave Goddard. Mr Huhne met with the Greater Manchester Environment Commission, energy companies and businesses to discuss ideas and priorities to achieve carbon reductions both regionally and nationally. The Secretary of State arrived in a low-carbon electric car at the new BREEAM Excellent civic building, Fred Perry House, in Stockport town centre. The visit coincides with the launch of Stockport Council's CarbON CarbOFF Campaign, designed to help local residents and ...
Some news on various items I've commented on in the past or only mentioned on twitter: On the Malawi couple from June, Pink News report one of them is seeking asylum in Canada. Which the otherwise usually very Trans-friendly Pink News reports by constantly using male language to describe Tiwonge. Oops. (As I've noted before, if you're not sure it's easy to avoid including gender) On government snooping, it was reported back in July that requests for information under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act had risen 4% in 2009. (Via LINX Public Affairs) Using the same measure as I ...
I've just met with a company that wants to use carbon dioxide to enhance oil recovery (EOR) beneath the North Sea. Although I have become the European Parliament's in-house expert on carbon capture and storage issues (CCS) this was the first time I can recall people talking to me seriously about developing EOR in Europe. The principle is simple. By pumping CO2 into the rock that bears oil you flush out more of it than will come to the surface naturally. Most of the CO2 stays underground, but what comes back up to the surface with the oil gets captured ...
Kirsty Williams AM, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats has responded to reports that the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) is considering closing the Newport passport office: "To suggest that every passport office should remain open except for the only one serving South Wales and South West England is at best high handed and will leave millions of people with an inferior service to the rest of the UK, as well as threatening hundreds of jobs. "Of course, all public agencies must seek to achieve best value for money in very difficult times but this must be done sensitively with ...
A little something from the archives to enjoy. It's from the February 1974 election which, although now very much history, is still an election whose impact on the political system is felt. Look at the proportion of votes and seats won by Labour and Tories since the 1930s and there are two big downward lurches - first in vote share in February 1974 and then in seat numbers in 1997. For all the ups and downs of the Liberal Democrats and predecessor parties since each of those lurches, not to mention also the nationalist and other parties, neither February 1974 ...
Here's your starter for ten in our Saturday slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate... An easy question to ask, a rather harder one to answer. The news during the week about plans to change child benefit has seen many stories in the media about people on well above average income who are described as "middle class" rather than, say, "rich". Does this matter? Does "middle class" imply "not rich"? And is it not about money anyway (a point Millennium Elephant forcefully made earlier in the week)?
Every single member of Ed Miliband's new shadow cabinet served in Gordon Brown's government. Of the 19 members of the new shadow cabinet, 11 served as cabinet ministers under Brown, while the other eight held ministerial posts. Every member of the new shadow cabinet voted for ID cards. Of the 14 who were MPs at the time, 12 voted for the invasion of Iraq. Miliband himself was a key adviser to Brown in the Treasury, including chairing his Council of Economic Advisers, responsible for long-term economic planning. He was then parachuted into a safe seat and fast-tracked into the cabinet ...
On 5 May 2010 (the eve of the general election) I attended a meeting about the state and future of the River Welland. The Welland Rivers Trust website is now online. The photograph, borrowed from the Trust's site, shows the bridge at Duddington, a few miles upstream of Stamford.
Welcome back, as our review of the ELDR Congress theme resolution continues... The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party convening on 14-15th October 2010 in Helsinki, Finland Economic Impact of an Ageing Society Notes that longer life expectancy in the EU should be celebrated and that there are consequences for the structure and financing of health, social care and social protection as well as the need to meet the housing, security and environmental needs of older people; Notes that post-war baby boomers are approaching their later years, with Finland and Italy the first EU countries set to experience this adjustment ...
...will be Yvette Cooper. While some may be bemoaning the fact she didn't get the role of Shadow Chancellor, she instead gets the much more media-friendly role of being not William Hague Shadow Foreign Secretary for the next few years, allowing her to raise her profile without being linked for or against any major policy ...
i) births and deaths 9 October 2009: death of Barry Letts, producer of Who from Doctor Who and the Silurians (1970) to Robot (1974-75), director of Enemy of the World (1967-68) and The Android Invasion (1975), writer of The Dæmons (1972). ii) broadcast and production anniversaries 9 October 1963: filming starts on the eventually broadcast version of the first ever episode, "An Unearthly Child". 9 October 1965: broadcast of Mission to the Unknown, the only episode of Who where no member of the regular cast appears; Marc Cory discovers the Daleks' plan and tries to send a message back to ...
Kirsty Williams AM, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats has responded to reports that the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) is considering closing the Newport passport office: "To suggest that every passport office should remain open except for the only one serving South Wales and South West England is at best high handed and will leave millions of people with an inferior service to the rest of the UK, as well as threatening hundreds of jobs. "Of course, all public agencies must seek to achieve best value for money in very difficult times but this must be done sensitively with ...
Почина поранешниот претседател на Собранието Љупчо Јордановски | Sitel Former speaker of Macedonian parliament Ljupčo Jordanovski, who was acting president of the country after Boris Trajkovski died in a plane crash, has died at the age of 57. I met him a couple of times and he seemed a decent guy. But was surprised when he was (briefly) appointed ambassador to the US as his English was not that great. (tags: macedonia) Ridley Scott to return to work of sci-fi icon for BBC mini-series | Media | The Guardian The Man in the High Castle to be dramatised. But does ...
Back up north for a long weekend. Arrived late last night and spent today looking vaguely at my OU work and then playing Sims 3 instead - excellent start to my academic year. Oh, and since I obviously don't have enough to do with my time already, I also signed away my November to NaNoWriMo. I don't know how long I'll last; my plot ideas are woolly at best, and my free time is... yeah. But hell, I like writing, and I keep meaning to do more of it, so I'm giving it a go anyway. Spent this evening with ...
We had a by-election on Thursday in Lancaster and I went to the count. There are a few points I would like to make but I'll stick to one. The number of votes cast was 608. You may or may not be impressed with this but the stunning statistic is that this was 12% of the vote. What sort of mandate is this? We cannot get one person in eight to go and vote and this is with all the resources of a by-election. With four candidates it is possible to win with just over 3% of the electorate behind ...
