Some great news tonight as Liberal Democrat Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone announced that there will be a full review of the way the Criminal Records check system works. A criminal records regime review will take place, led by Sunita Mason, the Government's Independent Advisor for Criminality Information Management. Mrs Mason will consider whether the disclosure of minor offences and police intelligence to prospective employers within the criminal recorders check should still form part of this process. This is exciting news, and exactly what I and othrs have been writing about frequently for some time. I know that the most ...
Good news to take to the hairdressers (Holga - recommended !) that Debenhams store is remaining open in Stockton despite rumours to the contrary. however before that I was not pleased to find that I had to pay 40p for the convenience of paying for my parking by mobile phone. Before that I am even less pleased to find that the 40 minutes taken to install O2 software onto my laptop has meant that...
I wasn't going to vote in the Lib Dem presidential elections until I saw the Tim Farron video linked to below on Paul Walter's blog. I have voted now and I have voted for Tim. I urge you to watch the video too.
There are a few occasions as a councillor when you are torn between doing your council work or doing your job. There are times too when family issues take precedence. However, there are other drains on our time which really ought to come second, on each and every occasion, to doing your council business. So I was bemused to hear about a councillor in Norwich who put party politics before council business recently. When Norwich City Council were meeting to discuss the mess left after Connaught collapsed, leaving 320 employees in Norwich out of work and a big question mark ...
I've spent an enjoyable morning going through the Two Ronnies clips on YouTube trying to find their charity appeal for middle-class families sketch. I can't find it, which is a pity because it would be a wonderful response to the surgeon's wife (economising by growing her own courgettes), the IT consultant interviewed on Radio 4 (deserves child benefit for putting the children to bed) , and all the other rich women who've been pleading poverty because they are losing their child benefit. As I remember it, Ron and Ron made an appeal for donations for "middle class families who haven't ...
Almost a year ago, I postulated a way to turn the tables on the News International paywall. After playing around for a bit, I discovered that it was easy to block The Times from reading a blog, but I couldn't find an easy way to disable the paywall on receipt of payment. So, I've set up a voluntary paywall. It's in the sidebar – and looks something like this... [IMG: A picture of the paywall] This was partly a way for me to play with the Google Checkout API – which is surprisingly easy to integrate and works flawlessly on ...
This building, to be found in a back street near Leicester railway station, was a surprise discovery. Who or what is a consanguinitarium? It turns out that the Leicester Consanguinitarium was a charitable foundation established by the architect John Johnson. It was originally built in Southgate Street (presumably somewhere near the modern Southgates) and was described thus in an article by Jack Simmons for the Leicestershire Archaeological Society: It comprised first a block of four houses, which he put up "in Southgate Street, near the Water-house pump ... on the spot where he was born"; and behind, partly screened by ...
Not heard this for years but on the radio this week! Worn well, I think. Adopted by us in the Liberals in a local election in the 1980s - the candidate's surname was, of course, Beat. And beat he was (second place; 29% of the vote as I recall!)
So I went to the doctor today about my migraines. And while I was there I mentioned the odd pain I have been getting in my abdomen. The migraines are not an issue, it transpires. I just needed better painkillers. The pain in the abdomen, though... There's a lump in the wombal area. And it might be fibroids, and it might be ovarian cysts, and it might be some kind of tumour, or I could be pregnant (even though I have been having normal Time of the Moth) or it could be something else. And I have to go and ...
Please find attached the information about playschemes and activities happening over the next half term: Monday 25th October 2010 Mini Playday Hillcrest Field, Southdown 12 - 3pm Monday 25th to Wednesday 27th October Playscheme for disabled children at Threeways School 9am - 3pm Tuesdays 26th to Friday 29th October 10am - 12 noon and 1 to...
The refurbishment of Southdown Road is about to start. Whilst this is great news as we have been campaigning for the road to be resurfaced for some time now there will obviously be some inconvenience during the work. We apologise for this but will work to ensure that the impact is minimised. When we have the new surface we will be doing some speed checks. We have...
Any comments or concerns please get in touch with us or direct on to the planning website. Ward: Southdown App Ref: 10/03895/REG04 Registered: 12th October 2010 Expiry Date: 11th January 2011 Location: ...
So Tower Hamlets has elected its Mayor and its not who the Labour party wanted, nor anyone else to be frank. The race was overshadowed by some alleged despicable campaigning on the part of the Independent candidate Lutfur Rahman whose campaign team and supporters it is alleged put an advert into the local free sheet the London Bangla claiming that Labours chosen candidate Helal Abbaswas a wife beater and racist. The free sheets' circulation went from its usual run of 30,000 copies to a staggering 90,000 copies carrying a full page advert (see below): No one from the Rahman campaign ...
Monday Discussion with Alhaj Kamoruddin, International Secretary Bangladeshi BNP Meeting with Tajammul Hussain. Sylvia Ingmire, Dada Felja and Sylvester Huczko (Education Support Project Workers), to discuss current problems of the Roma Tuesday Visit to the Bangladesh High Commission to meet the Deputy High Commissioner for a discussion on the next steps they might take to combat pneumonia, the biggest world killer of young children. The High Commissioner has agreed to speak at the Meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Global Action Against Chidhood Pneumonia (of which Jim Dobbin MP and I are joint chairs) to mark World Pneumonia Day, ...
The 20th saw a great turnout from the community supporting Culverhay School. A good sized crowd marched from Kingsmead to the Guildhall. The consultation lasted from 7 till 9 and all the time new points were being raised. I asked the chair to extend the meeting as so many people wanted to add their voice to the consultation. She declined. I asked for a show of hands of who was prepared to...
Liberal Democrat Voice has video from a Presidential hustings with Susan Kramer and Tim Farron taking questions online and from a live audience. Me? I have just voted for Susan. Welcome news today was the prospect of a scaling down of the baroque vetting and barring scheme that the last government put into place for anyone who wanted to volunteer to work with children. Lynne Featherstone, the minister in charge, has the details. Times Higher Education considers an underreported aspect of the Brown report: the prospect of greater state control of the traditionally autonomous university sector. "Both the Coalition's Spending ...
...I swear to god that was the blog post title that caught my eye on my blog roll this evening. I suggest if you are in need of a giggle, then go and read this. It may have been more amusing if pics of said underpant waving wasp battles were added but I now have images of Mr Muscle running round a bathroom which his arms flailing and I am not sure that that is what the author intended. (no offence meant) Read Bashmore struggle with a wasp whilst only wearing pants here.
I have a thing about old things. I don't like new things and I could happily make myself disappear in a history book for hours on end. One of my real passions is the history of London. Working as I do at Old Street, one of the things that can make my evil commute a lot more bearable is taking my trust Nikon D70 digital SLR camera and walking from Old Street to Waterloo instead of getting public transport. It gives me the opportunity to walk through some of the ancient old back streets in the old city of London ...
But Navy concludes it works better in water. SKY NEWS EXCLUSIVE - SANDBANK PLANTED BY TALIBAN Top Taliban commanders tell Sky News sandbank was funded by Al-Qaida contributions from UK mosques. "We will place sanbandks in every country" says man with face in scarf we paid a tenner.
It's surely more than a little ironic that, in the week of the Comprehensive Spending Review and Strategic Defence Review, the Royal Navy's most expensive submarine (not being scrapped) should run aground and have to be pulled clear by an MCA ocean-going tug (on the scrap list). There are four of these MCA tugs based around the coast. One, the Anglian Princess, is based in Falmouth. I saw the ship when I went out with the Fire Service's boat a few months ago. The purpose of the tugs (other than to rescue stranded billion pound submarines) is to protect the ...
I've only been vaguely following the major political events this week because I have been busy working on a new website for Bridget Fox for her to use in her slection campaign for the GLA list. I've just finished adding the final touches today and you can see the site at www.bridgetfox.org.uk. This project involved setting up a new WordPress driven website, developing a new theme, adding a choice of plug-ins, before implementing the initial page structure and content.I am pleased with how the theme development went. It enabled me to refine some techniques and design concepts. It also reminded ...
It's a location that has been mentioned from time to time in Lord Bonkers' Diary. But now a Rutland county councillor wants to build it for real. RAF Cottesmore is to close soon and Gene Plews, who sits for Oakham South East, thinks he knows what should be done with it. He told the Leicester Mercury: "I believe it is ideally suited for a regional airport. "It has all the ancillary services needed and can handle aircraft as large as a Boeing 757 and a Galaxy transporter. "It is close to the A1, would service a local need, and could ...
Well, my vote's in — I have a feeling one candidate will win by a landslide...
Local Liberal Democrat MP Ian Swales has been contacted by concerned residents about the need for a local number to contact Redcar Jobcentre. After investigating, it appears that the 0845 number not only charges people 4p per minute, there is no alternative local number. The website www.saynoto0870.com has local numbers for both Middlesbrough and Guisborough Jobcentre, but there is no such number for Redcar Jobcentre. Ian said: 'This is a disgrace. Not only do I have constituents who are trying to contact the Jobcentre as asked, they are also being made to wait for 30 minutes or more on a ...
An exciting week is coming to a close. The highlight of it for me has been the sod cutting in Gracemount. An interesting sub plot of the development surrounds some of the environmental works going on. A handful of diseased lime trees have needed to be felled. The wood from the felled trees is to be used well. Logs and chippings are earmarked for use in projects by the local primary schools including benches and the remainder of the logs will be reused by the Council's forestry department. Local wildlife is to be encouraged by siting bat boxes in 5 ...
Someone on my dreamroll has drawn my attention to this section of United Reform Church policy: "8.4.1 The key question facing the church is whether a committed, practising homosexual relationship can be recognised as a valid Christian expression of sexuality, and whether a person in such a relationship might be accepted for training and ordination to the ministry of Word and Sacraments. There is no question of widening this discussion to include those who are technically 'bisexual', that is, who may be physically active with people of either sex, since that clearly involves some kind of unfaithfulness to one partner ...
Here we go again, my top 5 tweeters this week. 1. @miss_s_b would still be my choice for President of the Lib Dems were she on the ballot. Next time Jennie, A few more of us will be voting members by then. Which leads me onto. 2. @farron4pres Of the two candidates for President of the Lib Dems. Tim is the one who received my vote. Why? His campaign is the more energetic of the two. He has the energy our party needs to regain lost momentum. He's also not afraid to stick to his promises. 3. @SpiritedVoice Pamela is ...
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. Here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week 1. "Loathe this government if you will..." - 4 points following on from Julian Glover's must-read Guardian article (102 comments) by Stephen Tall 2. Opinion: a broken pledge, but we knew how bad it was back in March (47 comments) by Hywel Morgan 3. EXCLUSIVE: What Lib Dem members think about Browne and tuition fees (41 comments) by Stephen Tall 4. Tuition fees - what party members believe Lib Dem MPs should do (51 comments) by Stephen ...
I am deeply disappointed that Lutfur Rahman has been elected as the Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets. Sure, people can elect who they like, but only 25% of people bothered to vote at all, despite the huge publicity for this mayoral race, particularly in the local area itself. Well, to the 75% who could not be bothered to vote - don't now bother complaining about the outcome. If your new Mayor does things that are not to your liking, then - since you all chose not to vote, in such overwhelming numbers - you will only have yourselves to blame. ...
It has been a bit of a marathon this week, with twelve principal council by-elections to report on. So, if you're sitting comfortably... Our featured story this week comes from Mole Valley Liberal Democrats, whose gain from the Tories in the Capel, Leigh, and Newdigate ward leaves them the largest party on Mole Valley District Council. The campaign capitalised on Iain Murdoch's previous experience as councillor for the area, promoting Iain as the 'listening' candidate and recalling his former success in opposing the Conservative-run County Council's unpopular nearby incinerator. The Focus team built on Iain's reputation with three A3 spot-colour ...
Comprehensive proposals for the future of school transport for statutory age pupils in Hertfordshire have been launched by Hertfordshire County Council today (18 October). Driven by the need to reduce the £25 million annual school transport bill, the proposals, if accepted by the county council's cabinet in March 2011, would affect pupils who currently benefit from free or subsidised school transport. The proposals, which are open to public consultation online from 18 October 2010 - 26 January 2011, are as follows: 1) That the county council adopts a policy for free home to school transport based only on statutory entitlement* ...
I've been finding it pretty difficult to blog over the last couple of weeks. I do take a little time to formulate my views on current issues, and no sooner have I digested one major Government announcement than another one is launched into the ether. And I also admit that the last few days have not been altogether easy for Liberal Democrats. We always knew the Spending Review would be a bloody process, and it is disingenuous of Labour to suggest that things would have been more comfortable under them. The cuts were bound to be severe, and the fact ...
One of my favourite journalists, Michael Crick, went to speak to the Leader of Barnet Council for Newsnight (the bit on Barnet's about 30 minutes in). Having said that she would speak to Mr Crick, the Leader (and every other Conservative councillor) then refused to speak to him after all, leaving him stood waiting outside Hendon Town Hall. He wanted to speak to her because she had written a letter to a Conservative minister attacking the Coalition Government's Housing Benefit reforms. Having written this letter, I am surprised that she was then unwilling to defend it on Newsnight. If this ...
[IMG: Featured on Liberal Democrat Voice] My colleague Simon Shaw is away at present so I thought I'd slip this item in before he gets back. Last month Simon did a posting on the success of Lib Dems in council by elections and the opinion polls. That posting made it to Lib Dem Voice's Golden Dozen for the week. Last week he updated his analysis and that too featured in their Golden Dozen at No.2. Congratulations to Simon. The week before the blog was also listed at No.3 with a posting on Shirley William's 80th birthday. Now if you were ...
If ever you needed evidence to support the view that Sefton Labour party do not accept the needs for cuts it came last night. Not only did we have one or two Labour Councillors chanting slogans reminiscent of Militant in the 70's-no cut here etc,we have an extremely boring debate in which Labour seemed to blame every one but themselves for the fact the the Thornton relief road has not been built. It is worth just pausing to remind ourselves that the Labour party has been in power for 13 years and took public expenditure to a new high and ...
Tim Farron and Susan Kramer took part in an online hustings this week, taking questions from a live and online audience. Play the video below to watch the two candidates explain why they want to be Party President and discuss what they would do in the role. Video also available on YouTube here. Susan and Tim also answered questions on retaining a distinct Liberal Democrat indentity, on youth and diversity matters, as well as current issues facing the party. You can watch the rest of the clips on YouTube here. Ballot papers were despatched by second class post on Monday ...
A busy night last night as I attended first of all a consultation event on the future of Council Garage "colonies" and then shot up to Bury Town Hall for the Homewatch conference. THE FUTURE OF COUNCIL OWNED GARAGES The Garage consultation was being carried out by Six Town Housing who manage the sites on behalf of Bury Councils. Essentially across the Borough the numerous sites of 3/4/5 or more garages are in a various states of disrepair and many are not let. The Council wants to know whether tenants would like the various sites retained or perhaps removed and ...
From Stockport Council: This weekend sees the spectacular finale of Stockport Market's 750th anniversary celebrations. There will be two days of family-friendly events at Stockport Market, starting on Saturday (10am - 4pm) with St Wilfrid's Medieval Market. There will be strolling performances, thrilling shows, medieval street swindles and the occasional public execution! On Sunday (12.30pm - 6.15pm), come and experience St Wilfrid's Medieval Village including a living history encampment and parade. The weekend's celebrations will culminate in a fantastic fire and light show, choreographed to music to create an unmissable crescendo to the Market's landmark anniversary. For further details call ...
Today we laid the terms of reference for the Review of the Vetting and Barring Scheme – the scheme that passes people as 'safe' to work or volunteer with children or vulnerable adults. On coming into Government the Coalition had a commitment to roll back this scheme to 'common sense levels'. So – we will be considering afresh the fundamental principles and objectives behind the vetting and barring regime, to recommend what, if any, scheme is needed now. Of course it is vital that we protect vulnerable adults and children – but the current scheme were it to go ahead ...
I know that the result for the Sheffield Manor ward was disappointing for the Lib Dems, the result being: Liberal Democrat - 303 The Labour Party - 2092 The Conservative Party - 142 Green Party - 224 Turnout was 22.38% The response from the Labour Party was a little over the top: I got the results for the ward for the past few years to compare how different the results actually were, they are as follows: May 2010 Liberal Democrats - 1,552 The Conservative Party: 438 British National Party: 465 The Labour Party: 3,371 Green Party: 260 Electorate: 11638 Turnout: ...
Conservative MP Nadine Dorries says her blog was '70% fiction' – The Guardian. Surely the weirdest successful defence against expense allegations we'll see. Two Labour and one cross-bench peer have been suspended for breaking expense rules. David Cameron's former aide Andrew MacKay has been told to apologise for breaking expense rules (he and his wife have already repaid £60,000). And finally – earlier today we covered the story of John Hemming and the kidnapped cat. It's a serious story, but here is the cute kitten photo.
As Mickey demonstrated when he poked his head out of my duvet this morning. Title Votes Rating Review
Fri 22nd
14:22
I Wish To Register a Complaint, about this Party I voted for and supported, it's dead.
It has ceased to be, it has expired and gone to meet its maker......... It is not often I get to update my blog, I am far too ill at present and these cuts have made me worse. When I should be concentrating on trying to get well, I find myself stressed and worried about my future. I certainly didn't support, vote, help fund, canvas and even serve as a councillor for this party over the past 15 years to see it destroy the lives of the most vulnerable sections in society. I am on the verge of leaving, this ...
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I can cook. I can cook a mean main course and my shortbread is legendary and never last long out of the oven. However, i am something of a dolt when it comes to cooking cakes. For some reason they just don't work. It simply doesn't matter what I do. They either sink in the middle or turn out like bricks. They taste crap and they literally make me want to throw myself out of the window. In short, cake baking is my nemesis and I have never been able to put ...
Fri 22nd
14:05
In Praise of Citizen's Parliament: A model for partnership working between state and citizen
Citizens Parliament in Australia has shown a good example of a way to get citizens involved in politics in a non-conventional manner. 150 citizens were convened to consider ways of improving the governmental system and they then presented their recommendations to parliament.You can watch a video of the process here: What was successful was that ...
After a pretty heavy night Liberally Drinking, I have only just surfaced. It is a shame that this cannot be said for HMS Astute*. It seems that Astute ought to have surfaced some time earlier than she did. Or else, paid attention to the depth charts. Somebody is going to be in trouble on HMS ...
We finally got to hear how to solve the incredible economic mess left by Labour - already near to £1 trillion of government debt, or £22,400 for every man, woman and child in the country. The announcements will see the annual increase in debt brought to a manageable state by 2015. I can't say it's entirely a Lib Dem budget but equally I can't say it's a Tory budget - but it is a coalition budget. It cuts 26% from the government grants given to local authorities. But that makes up around 65% of local authority budgets with the remainder ...
First time for Spidey's web in its new home. Its been a very interesting week with the spending review and the row on tuitions fees rumbling on. Here's my top tweeters for the week and blog posts that have caught my eye: Top ten tweeters Rosiecosy – A lovely Labour lady and like me, taking the fight to the right wingers UnionArbeiter – Totally and utterly bonkers and partisan but the fights he gets into are legendary and worth the follow. Get your popcorn ready DanielFurrUK – One of the loveliest LibDems I've come across on Twitter Kopmatt88 – Go ...
Pam and I are pleased that the new parking regulations seem to be working reasonably well on Ashfield Road, Cheadle by the library (please let us know if you disagree - we can only go on what we see and what people tell us). Double yellow lines down the east side seem to have stopped the problem of people parked up on the pavement, blocking it completely, and the ten new two-hour bays are well used. However, there's a section at the end that's still unlimited parking - and we don't think people have realised it so it's not being ...
I have just had an e-mail from them at Lib Dem HQ alerting me to the fact that the online presidential hustings I mentioned the other day is now up on You Tube here. Helen Duffett did a fabulous job, clear, assured and confident, of keeping the two candidates under control - although, to be fair, there was just high quality debate. You already know that I'm supporting Tim Farron, and I'd recommend you read Sara Bedford's endorsement of him which she's posted today. Anyway, sit back with a cup of tea and a biscuit and enjoy the almost hour ...
Manchester's Labour Council have been criticised for wasting money on Facebook and Twitter after it was revealed they broke their own recruitment freeze to hire a manager to work on social marketing. The Council recently agreed a recruitment freeze unless there were "exceptional circumstances." But recent advertisements in the Guardian Jobs and other recruitment websites show that Manchester Labour want to hire a new permanent full-time Communications Manager on around £37,000 per year. The work would include the "strategy and delivery of social marketing activity," which means Facebook and Twitter. Manchester Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Cllr Paul Shannon said: "This ...
The headlines have been caught by the Home Office's formal annoucement today of a review into the vetting and barring system: The review will examine whether the scheme is the best way to protect children and vulnerable people and, if so, how many roles it should cover. Home Secretary Theresa May suspended the "draconian" scheme in June. Launched in 2009, critics said it cast too wide a net and risked poisoning the relationship between generations. Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone said: "While it is vital that we protect the vulnerable, this scheme as it stands is not a proportionate response. ...
The Council have confirmed that grids have been cleared around Gatley railway bridge and the junction of Gatley Road and Oakwood Avenue. This is one of the places that still has lots of water pooling after heavy rain (there were quite a few more, but we've sorted most of them). Thanks the lovely Manchester weather, I've had a couple of chances to check in the last few days and it does seem to be a big improvement. Because the bottom of Oakfield Avenue is quite uneven, there's still some pooling of water than isn't draining away, but it looks to ...
In his own words... Why has the usually media hungry Cllr Tony "Mr Oxford Road / Mr Reading Buses" Jones been notable by his absence in recent high profile events in his area? Not to be seen when the Home Secretary visited the Oxford Road - though Page, Maskell, Lovelock, Salter et al were all on parade. Not be seen at the launch of the first of the new enthanol fleet at Reading Buses - instead Sutton mugging the limelight.'cos he hates their guts and couldn't bear to be seen in the same picture with them!Two and a half years ...
[IMG: Ministry of Justice logo] Following on from yesterday's coverage in the Mail and the Times, my story about the MoJ's widely over-the-top bureaucracy for staff who drive on work business has now also reached the Scotsman and the Eastern Daily Press. It's an example of one of the curious habits of the media even in these internet-enabled, 24 hour rolling news times. My original story appeared nine days ago, but it is only yesterday that the mainstream media coverage flurry started. News may travel quickly but it sometimes takes quite a while to start, a phenomenon I noted last ...
I don't necessarily agree with some of these comments but its fair to post them for response: Q. The IFS say the spending review is "regressive" and hits the poor the hardest. Actually even using their approach the IFS agree that the very richest are hardest hit: they acknowledge that the richest ten percent will be paying the most, driven by top two percent. It's important to note that the IFS have only modelled tax and welfare policies, unlike our analysis which also includes impact of wider public spending. We've taken steps in this SR to protect the poorest: Increasing ...
For the first time in a long while, I agree with Nick Clegg and something he has said in public. Its not what you think though so dont get yourselves all excited and think that I have had some kind of biblical conversion to the Orange Book philosophy. Nick Clegg speaks today in the Guardian newspaper about the spending review, trumpeted by the Conservatives as the plan for bringing Britain back from bankruptcy (not sure we were that close in the first place but still) and one which is steeped in fairness. He rightly points out that this is not ...
I hope Libdem Voice forgive me for blatantly stealing this email and publishing it as a blog post, but the extra exposure has to be good right? Ballot papers have now been despatched to everyone who was a current member of the Liberal Democrats on 28th September for the election of a new Party President. Tim Farron and Susan Kramer took part in an online hustings on Wednesday evening, taking questions from a live and online audience. Click on the image below to watch the two candidates explain why they want to be Party President and discuss what they would ...
My ballot paper has just gone off with my "X" against Tim Farron for President of the Liberal Democrats. I have a great deal of time for Susan Kramer and was intending to vote for her. In many ways, she would normally be the perfect LibDem President. However, these are not normal times. We are in grave danger of having all our good work in government going to waste because noone recognises that we have done it. We really do need quite a vocal, brash (if you like) individual representing the heart and soul of our party to the media ...
The link is to the story about Tower Hamlets.The turnout was 25.6%.I am not quite sure of exactly why people want elected mayors. There is a claim that it creates "accountable" local government. I don't see this myself.There is also an argument that it encourages higher turnouts. Well the evidence from Tower Hamlets does not substantiate that.
Childbirth has been a feature of this week twice for me. Not personally, obviously, but there are a couple of things I wanted to share with you. Firstly, I was taken by this report on the BBC today that apparently doctors need more training in forceps deliveries to avoid caesarians. Apparently there's not enough time for training due to the pesky Eurocrats, but it would be so much better if doctors could just yank babies out rather than put the mother through surgery. Frankly, if that was the choice available, I'd prefer taking the pain and the risk of the ...
From The Guardian: David Willetts said he disagreed with one of the main proposals of Lord Browne's radical blueprint for universities, published last week. Browne, former chief executive of BP, recommended ministers allow universities to set tuition fees - currently £3,290 a year for students in England - as high as they thought they could command. Browne said institutions charging more than £6,000 should have to pay a rising percentage of each additional £1,000 as a levy to government. This would mean a university that charges £7,000 would receive 94% of the fee, while one charging £10,000 would receive 81%. ...
(I wish I could use a slightly different word than "sods", but I'd like to keep this worksafe.) I've just called O2 to get my PAC code to port my number over to Vodafone. I asked at the very beginning of the call how much it would cost if I requested the PAC today, but didn't use it until tomorrow (the first day of the last month of my contract). The man I spoke to in retentions seemed to not hear me, and asked why I was leaving. I said I could get better signal with Vodafone, but was told ...
Nick Clegg is in the news today, attacking the Institute for Fiscal Studies for their analysis that the comprehensive spending review was 'unfair' or regressive. He has described it as "nonsense" only taking account of "tax and welfare and (ignoring) factors like access to public services and social mobility". Nick is correct on this point, treating every adverse shift in the distribution of net income at a moment in time as an injustice is 'nonsense'; access, opportunity, incentives and the freedom to succeed matter as well. However some of the worst offenders in utilising crude inequality statistics are the Liberal ...
The London Evening Standard reports: The wife of an MP was today charged with burgling the home of her husband's ex-lover and stealing a kitten. Christine Hemming, wife of John Hemming, the Liberal Democrat MP for Birmingham Yardley, is alleged to have raided the home of Emily Cox, a researcher by whom Mr Hemming fathered a child in 2005. Mrs Hemming, 52, of Moseley, Birmingham, was not required to enter a plea during a brief appearance at the city's magistrates' court. She was granted bail and committed for trial at crown court over the alleged burglary on the night of ...
Just a little plug for the Hidden Kiosks, a project that Colchester Council is running with the help of the Creative Co-Op and 15 Queen Street to provide an opportunity for new businesses and to brighten up a bit of the town centre. Put simply, we're offering people the chance to operate from the two ...
[IMG: Radflek radiator reflector] As someone with three radiators against external walls, I've become a great fan of the Radflek reflector sheets. They are very easy to install - with little skill beyond the ability to use scissors required - and reflect heat back into your home rather than having it escape via the external wall. The ease of installation appeal to my lack of DIY skills but also makes them suitable for use in rented property - giving even short-term tenants a practical extra insulation option beyond nagging their landlord to do better. P.S. If you do get some ...
I was on Wave 102 news this morning, speaking about the concerns at the proposed winter timetable for Dundee - London City flights. Click 'play' to listen.
i) births and deaths 22 October 1938: birth of Sir Derek Jacobi, who has played the Master in both the TV story Utopia (2007) and the webcast Scream of the Shalka (2003) as well as the central character in the Big Finish 'Unbound' audio Deadline (also 2003). ii) broadcast anniversaries Today is one of ten dates in the year on which seven or more episodes of the extended Whoniverse have been first broadcast. 22 October 1966: broadcast of third episode of The Tenth Planet. The Doctor is taken ill; Cutler decides to launch the Z-Bomb. 22 October 1977: broadcast of ...
I had a visit from a member of Woking Borough Council this morning, most unexpected but which saved me job to do! We have small food waste bins which we leave outside our houses as part of our bi-weekly rubbish collections. Inside the main bin is a smaller inner bin which you can keep in your kitchen for putting your waste food in. I dont have one in the new place as I am quite hidden out of the way and difficult to find (which I like) Now the council officer has said that he will drop one off to ...
During the Conservative Party Conference, George Osborne announced a simple change to child benefit. He took a difficult and historic decision to remove payments to households with at least one higher rate taxpayer, saving an estimated £1 billion of public money from going directly to the highest paid 12% in our society. In what turned out to be my last blog post, I railed - somewhat hysterically - against the reaction to this modest cut. It was clear that the right wing press would oppose such a move. But what was less clear, and more galling, was the way the ...
Last Saturday was a busy day for us. In the afternoon, we'd gone to the Strictly roadshow in Edinburgh and we went virtually straight from there to the SECC in Glasgow to see Doctor Who Live, touted as: "an out-of-this-world experience featuring many of the television show's most popular monsters and images. Special effects, optical illusions and fantastic pyrotechnics accompany specially edited video clips and exclusively filmed scenes starring Matt Smith as the Doctor.The iconic scores of Doctor Who's composer, Murray Gold, are brought to life by a band of live musicians on stage as the Doctor battles to save ...
I must admit that I'm highly amused to have been referred to as a 'Socialist Scorned' after my rant yesterday against Nadine Dorries - A Blogging Hypocrite. The highly amusing accusation was made of me by Conservative blog http://www.torytottyonline.com/. To just casually label me as a 'socialist' because I happen to have made some comments against a Tory MP really is typical of the right-wingers out there. 'If in doubt, label them the 'loony left' as it were. My points were more than valid and I stand by them and indeed, if I'm beginning to rile the ringht-wing blogosphere then ...
From Friends of Wighton : This Lunchtime Recital is a week early but getting this particular lady was just too good to miss! Aileen Carr is one of Scotland's best and most respected traditional singers. Born in Coupar Angus into a house full of music, it was hearing singers like the great Belle Stewart at the early Blairgowrie Festivals that honed her love of traditional song. She possesses a voice of sublime richness, a wide repertoire of songs and ballads and a charming and ready wit. The free recital starts at 1.15pm, in the Wighton Heritage Centre, Local Studies Department, ...
It's not just Ken who supported Lutfur Rahman. Take a look at this: And this
In the run up to the general election the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) said this about the Liberal Democrat manifesto: "The highly respected Institute for Fiscal Studies, in its analysis of the parties' financial plans, said the Lib Dems had the smallest black hole of the main three in their funding schemes, and that there were no hidden tax rises on top." Obviously we as a party were jumping up an down with delight with such a judgement in the week before the election. The great and the good of the party Vince Cable, Chris Huhne and of course ...
A Guardian headline today reads, Unions focus on Lib Dem seats in battle to save jobs. The story makes clear how trade unions will mobilise their resources to fight the budget cuts unveiled this by George Osborne's comprehensive spending review — and in particular focus on Lib Dems: The campaign is expected to focus on constituencies held by Liberal Democrat MPs who, unions believe, will be vulnerable to local pressure as many of the people who supported them did not vote for cuts on the scale revealed this week. Nowt wrong with unions mobilising to protect their members' interests: that, ...
British Ambassador to Uzbekistan Rupert Joy is vocal and effusive in his praises of the Uzbek regime. But he has gone all coy and refused to answer any questions from leading Uzbek journalist Galima Burkabaeva about his starring appearance at dictator's daughter Gulnara Karimova's Tashkent Fashion TV extravaganza. Galima put the same questions to me as to Rupert Joy. This article is based on my responses, and also notes that Rupert Joy refused to comment. As the article also states, the Embassy's Third Secretary, Richard Pike, gave a formal response to Galima stating that the Ambassador's views had ...
Last night, along with my ward colleagues, I met with a couple of the leading members of the now former Logie Residents' Association, at the Lime Street Sheltered Lounge. We discussed ways the area could be represented in the future - the former residents' association did good work for the area and it is important that Logie continues to have a voice. As a start, we agreed to have a day-time meeting for City Council tenants in November, at which we will invite the new Area Housing Manager to discuss local issues with them.
Nick Clegg has hit back at the Institute of Fiscal Studies this morning, questioning their view that the Government's economic policies are unfair. He said that he "fundamentally" disagreed with the IFS analysis that the cuts are "regressive", meaning they would hurt the less well off more than wealthier people, with families with children faring worst of all: He insisted that "the richest are paying the most", adding: "Those who say otherwise are not being very straight with people and frankly they are frightening people." In an interview with The Guardian, the Deputy Prime Minister said: "We just fundamentally disagree ...
Are you interested in forming an archaeology group and undertaking research into your local historic environment? South Glos Council has recently launched SCARP (South Gloucestershire Community Archaeology Research Project) to encourage local communities to get involved in archaeology. Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the project will provide training to local archaeology groups in non-intrusive archaeological techniques and provide the opportunity for people to become Heritage Wardens, undertaking conservation of threatened archaeology in South Gloucestershire. If you are interested in forming a group, are part of an existing history society who would like to start doing archaeology, or are an ...
@hopisen Hmm, not convinced. Direct conseq of no party setting out how deficit to be eliminated at electn. + of Lab ducking spending review. in reply to hopisen # @hopisen But LDs ID-ed only 25% of cuts needed, Lab + Tories even less. Biggest prob is none of parties fronted up to deficit. in reply to hopisen # @hopisen Fair 'nuff, understand the point. Just not convinced any party would really have money to play with to avoid hard decisions. in reply to hopisen # Watching #xfactor on time-delay. Don't spoil ending for me... by telling me it's 2.5 hours ...
No apologies for this 9 day old link. A new blog by somebody who has been one of my closest friends for the last 33 years - and an excellent article on tuition fees. As he says, the rebels are the Lib Dem ministers going against party policy. I see he hasn't blogged since, so please give him some comments to welcome him to the blogging world!
[IMG: Wayne Rooney of Manchester United vs Everton. ...] Image via Wikipedia It's been another interesting and turbulent week in the life of Wayne Rooney. This time the controversy surrounding the Manchester United striker isn't centred on his private life or his performance on the pitch, but his desire to leave the biggest and most successful English club of the past twenty years. Just why would a player want to leave a side that will be looking to challenge on all fronts for yet another season? The England star suggested the club lack the resources need to match his ambition, ...
Thursday's Question Time was full of people saying that it is outrageous that the Government's proposed bank levy will "only" raise £2.5 billion. Now, I support the bank levy, and £2.5 billion strikes me as being quite a lot of money, really. As President Reagan put it, "a billion here, a billion there - sooner or later it all adds up to real money". Actually, Reagan made that joke about millions, not billions, but that's inflation for you. OK, as a supporter of the Coalition and its debt-reduction efforts, I want the banks to pay their fair share. So, how ...
As you'd imagine, reaction to the spending review has been... mixed... at best among Lib Dems, just as it has among the general public. Here's a few of the responses I've seen: Oxfam say "The coalition has taken the tough choice to prioritise the poorest people on the planet during the bad times as well ...
As Mark Williams says here, if the Government's model is to be adopted on the running of S4C then there must be guarantees on the retention of funding from within the BBC, and on its editorial independence. We have two years to get it right before the new arrangements take effect. However, if the TV company can afford to take the Government to judicial review instead of engaging with this process then maybe they are over-funded after all.
On the 23rd August I wrote about Dr David Kelly. My main concern at the time was that there was an embargo on the findings from Lord Hutton's investigation into the cause of Dr Kelly's death. Well the news today is that we will discover the reasons behind his death in the near future rather than the original plan to leave it for seventy years. Some doctors say you can't kill yourself by cutting the ulnar artery (the most difficult of the wrist arteries to get to if you are trying to kill yourself) and others say it is a ...
About 15 years ago, an article in a Sunday supplement used the word 'tiggerish' to describe the then Lib Dem leader, Paddy Ashdown. I won't deny that for all his human frailties, Paddy is my political hero, I knew him quite well during his time as leader and my brief time in the sun ...
The real shocker about the Comprehensive Spending Review is that by 2015, these cuts will have reduced public spending back to the level of 2006. Not the 1980s, like Labour suggested but 2006. In other words, it will take 5 years and cuts of 19% of public spending to get us back to the position that public spending was in when Gordon Brown took over! Whilst some of that spending bailed out the banks, it is a shocking indictment of what a mess was made of our economy in less than a terms of Parliament. Stuffing up the economy on ...
Having examined the announcements in the Comprehensive Spending Review, the Social Liberal Forum has released the following statement: "The Government's Comprehensive Spending Review contains a range of measures to reduce public spending, some of which the Social Liberal Forum welcomes. There are however some aspects of the Review that cause grave concern, as many of the proposed cuts will impact on the most vulnerable in society. Others risk deepening the lack of economic demand whilst expecting the private sector to fill the gap left by shrinking the state. It is heartening to see policies that we as Liberal Democrats have ...
A new green community café is opening today in the old Station House on the corner of Stapleton Hall Road and Ferme Park Road (the MIND building), and will be open every Friday lunchtime from now on. The Station House Community Café is an initiative by award-winning charity FoodCycle whose aim is to reduce 'food poverty' in the community by bringing together volunteers, surplus food and an idle kitchen space to create nutritious meals for local people. The initiative has been supported by local councillors through a small grant from the Making the Difference programme. The aim is to stop ...
I don't think I have given enough credit to the government, especially the Lib Dems, for their announcement that direct education funding to schools will increase and credit for introducing the pupil premium.I know that their some scepticism, especially from the email I received from my union earlier in the week, that the pupil premium will not necessarily lead to extra funding, but this is a
S4C is absolutely crucial to the development of the Welsh language, and it cannot be allowed to have its independence or funding compromised by an unsuitable funding model. S4C clearly don't feel they have been properly consulted on changes to the way they are funded, and I share those concerns. S4C can't be immune to discussions over funding, but what they must have is full and proper discussions about the best way forward, and there is genuine concern that this announcement has come out of the blue. The value to the community of S4C must be acknowledged by the Government, ...
The man Labour deselected as the party's executive mayoral candidate in Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, stormed to victory in the first election of its kind last night, garnering over 51 per cent of the vote in first preferences among a field of five. He is a one-time Labour leader of the Council but trounced his ...
The European Council on Foreign Relations | The spectre of a multipolar Europe Recommendations: * An informal 'trialogue' involving the EU, Turkey and Russia should be established, allowing cooperation over security to build from the ground up. * In order to strengthen Turkey's European identity, Ankara should be given a top-table seat at the trialogue, in parallel with enhanced EU accession negotiations. New chapters should be opened on CSDP and energy. * The EU should be represented by the foreign affairs high representative, Catherine Ashton, institutionalising the EU as a security actor. * A European security identity should be fostered ...
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There have been shedloads of books and conspiracy theories about the shooting of John F. Kennedy. So, it is bizarre that yet another story – about the aftermath of the shooting – has emerged after all these years. On the day John F Kennedy was assasinated, the Secret Service nearly killed his successor President Johnson. By my reckoning, that would have led to President John McCormack. McCormack was, at the time, speaker of the House of Representatives, and therefore next in the line of succession after Johnson.
By far the biggest issue I face in terms of my day to day casework is housing. When I was first elected to the Council in 1995 the overwhelming problem was the disastrous state of the housing repair service when Labour ran the Council. Since 2004 the Lib Dem / Tory leadership of the Council has made these problems largely a thing of the past. The big problem now is the sheer lack of social housing and the huge waiting lists that result. Its not just a problem that affects Birmingham, its a national issue caused by the sale of ...
This evening we had a Launceston community network meeting in South Petherwin. This was the best attended meeting of the network so far with ten different parishes represented. The subject of the meeting was housing, and in particular affordable housing. As ever with these meetings, we wanted the top people at the Council to answer questions and hear the views of local people and so we had Housing Cabinet Member Mark Kaczmarek and Affordable Housing Manager Louise Dwelly present. Mark explained the approach being taken by the Council and, in particular, the affordable housing policy which is currently out for ...
