You know what's really annoying? You ask people what comics to write about, and they all say "The Bulletproof Coffin, obviously, you idiot. Clearly, it's the only comic worth writing about right now, and the combination of Kirby influence and metafiction would make it fit right into the series of essays you're writing to fill ...
Our Story of the Week comes from the Daily Mail.
There is a lot of gloom and doom with everyone working on the very worst scenario for issues ranging from how the Cuts are going to affect people and services, how soon snow will descend on us, and what will happen to Middlebrough Football Team. However whilst everyone is worrying about the worst, charitable causes are being left behind. I really don't want to sound trite when I say that there...
David Laws has an article on the Pupil Premium in tomorrow's Guardian: The pupil premium is designed to have two beneficial effects. First, because the extra money follows the child, it will ensure that deprivation funding is far better targeted than it is now. Second, the premium will deliver extra money to the schools with the highest level of challenge - giving them an opportunity to combat disadvantage. Too few schools facing real challenges currently have the money to make a difference, for example with more one-to-one tuition, a longer school day, holiday classes, or paying more to attract the ...
The other day I posted film of Wilson, Keppel and Betty - or at least of Wilson and Keppel. The best article about them I have found is the one by Luke McKernan: There are certain key pieces of archival film that stay in our collective consciousness and remain remembered by everyone. Film archivists know them so well because they are requested again and again. There is Chamberlain waving his piece of paper promising 'peace in our time'; there is the couple dancing the Charleston on the roof of a car as it drives down Kingsway; there is the procession ...
So yet again another Conservative MP hits the news for making flippant remarks. Photo: Getty Images This time it is Philip Hammond MP who during an interview, suggested that the train service he used from Surrey to London was: "pretty reliable, unless somebody jumps off the platform at Wimbledon, which happens with monotonous regularity." In the Daily Telegraph, Dr Peter Byrne, from The Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: "There was very little mention of mental health in the Government spending review and it is a pity to hear these kinds of views come through in such ill-considered remarks. "There is ...
Look, you can't be surprised about this. It's another song from Monday's concert at the Roundhouse - this one kindly filmed by philhonley. Dirty City comes from Nine Lives, Steve Winwood's latest LP. The Hammond organ sounds exciting whoever is playing it, but this song doesn't really take off until the last three minutes, when Winwood lets fly with the guitar solo. Eric Clapton plays it on the LP, but this version does not suffer by comparison. We have already seen Winwood as a guitar hero on Dear Mr Fantasy from Clapton's Crossroads guitar festival. What I did not realise ...
I've already given my four reasons for voting Tim Farron for Lib Dem President and his latest excellent video just reinforces those. Don't take my word for it, this is what uber-Tory blogger Iain Dale said about it: "This video is truly brilliant. Tim Farron is the LibDem MP who ousted Tim Collins in 2005, ...
Here is a link to the profile that Holyrood Magazine ran this week on me. A bit surreal in that I have managed to find my self with an increased number of siblings - I am only one of 11 children. In fairness to Kerry who wrote the article she was within a ten percent margin of error and I was in my "talking the hind legs of a donkey" mode! Mind you two sisters was handful enough but three!!!
I'm not entirely sure how anyone thinks that Nick Clegg's smoking is big news - especially in the week of the spending review. To be honest, the fact that Nick smokes isn't news at all and has been discussed by him on a number of occasions. We were chatting about smoking during an off moment in the election campaign he asked how many I smoked. When I said about 20 a day he took that to be a very high number and told me that he smoked two or three in the evening with a glass of wine. I know ...
I was delighted to read that the Irish have votes Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former SDLP Leader John Hume to be their Greatest Irishman. A very worthy winner. Ulster has managed to produce such brave and towering figures as Hume, Gerry Fitt and Lord Alderdice to name but a few. For more on this see the link below. This last week has seen the Comprehensive Spending Review published. There have been many acres of newsprint published on this topic but the most insightful as usual is the Observer's Andrew Rawnsley who writes, The thrust of Labour's response has ...
Today's Independent on Sunday features an interview with Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham - Floella to the rest of us - which ranges over a variety of topics, from Floella's childhood, her work on stage and TV, her charity and campaigning work, to her future ambitions. Some of the stories featured in Floella's recent maiden speech in the House of Lords, but there are some unfamiliar ones, which she has included in her new book about her teenage years Arms of Britannia: "For the first four years of being in England," she says, sitting on a leather sofa in the genteel ...
When I graduated (in 1981) I faced basic tax rates of 30% and a higher rate of 60%. People who graduate with the graduate contribution in place will face a tax rate of 20+9=29% and 40+9=49%. That is a lower marginal rate of taxation than I faced on graduation in 1981. I think this is important because the case is often made that those people who benefited from tertiary education in the 1970s
Nick Clegg appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs this morning, and revealed his eight essential tunes, as well as a book and a luxury item with which to be marooned. You can listen to the whole programme on iPlayer here but for the record, here's Nick's list: Chopin's Waltz in A Minor (played by Idil Biret) Sunday Morning Coming Down (Johnny Cash) The Cross (Prince) Petit Pays (Cesaria Evora) Street Spirit (Radiohead) Life on Mars (David Bowie) Waka Waka - the theme to the 2010 World Cup (Shakira) Schubert's Impromptu No.3 in G Flat Major (played by Alfred ...
Today's Independent on Sunday features an interview with Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham – Floella to the rest of us – which ranges over a variety of topics, from Floella's childhood, her work on stage and TV, her charity and campaigning work, to her future ambitions. Some of the stories featured in Floella's recent maiden speech in the House of Lords, but there are some unfamiliar ones, which she has included in her new book about her teenage years Arms of Britannia: "For the first four years of being in England," she says, sitting on a leather sofa in the genteel ...
I'm grateful to Radio 4's Money Box Live for providing a calculator for the new pension ages. It was reassuring for me personally because it shows that Ian's retirement age is unaffected and mine is only delayed by a month. On the other hand I can't work out whether I'll get any of the Equitable Life compensation. I've always been confused by this issue, and I've probably made the wrong decisions. I had a small fund with a guaranteed endowment rate which does not mature until I'm 60. I lost the guaranteed annuity as a result of the collapse. I've ...
I spent over four years as the Liberal Democrat shadow minister for higher education and skills. Ming Campbell appointed me to the role when he became leader and Nick Clegg promoted me to our shadow cabinet when he took over. Externally, in Parliament and around the country the job was hugely enjoyable. Inside the Lib ...
Thanks to the local resident who was walking in Pigs Passage and told me a Raleigh bike has been abandoned in the allotments between Holbrook and Glebe Roads. I have reported this to our City Ranger and hope it will be collected soon. * so named because — according to local reports — people used to drive their pigs down this passageway on their way to the Cattle Market on the other side of Cherry Hinton Road
Another in the series of graphic novels about Scott Pilgrim's battles with Ramona's seven evil ex-boyfriends - though in this case the evil Todd shows up dating Scott's own evil ex-girlfriend, Natalie aka Envy. As usual, an entertaining combination of youthful angst with the fantasy of computer games; Scott's extra life, and Todd being robbed of his powers due to being insufficiently vegan, are highlights.
Here is a selection of issues making headlines during the past few weeks: Local News Parliamentary watchdog demands expenses apology Waves of anger at mast meeting Local Links Lib Dem Cllr Daisy Benson - is Back to blogging Green Gabbles has a word cloud on David Cameron's speech at Tory Party conference. Asking Greenest government ever? Tory Cllr Richard Willis has the details of Labour Crushed in Tower Hamlets Mayoral Vote Labour Cllr John Ennis thinks Osborne's cuts are neither necessary nor are they fair. National Link (Links of the day) Scarlet Standard covers A Tale of Two Websites - ...
Kirsty Williams AM has written a piece for WalesHome on the implications of the spending review for Wales: THE CSR settlement means that for the Welsh Government, revenue expenditure will be down by less than 2 per cent in real terms each year, less than the three per cent they were planning for. Overall, the budget will be reduced by 12% over 4 years; the Government were planning for 16.5% over 3 years. Despite the obvious glee with which ministers have been playing the victim card, Wales has a better settlement than the UK overall. This week, we have seen ...
That was the headline in the Sunday Times – and yes I do want kids age 12 and over to see Made in Dagenham – the film that portrays a hugely important part of our social history. Made in Dagenham tells the tale of the women who came out on strike from the Ford Dagenham plant because they were paid less than their male counterparts. Yes – there is some bad language – but this is an important film. And given what can be seen by children all over the place that is really offensive – like the way women ...
Nick Clegg appeared on BBC Radio 4′s Desert Island Discs this morning, and revealed his eight essential tunes, as well as a book and a luxury item with which to be marooned. You can listen to the whole programme on iPlayer here but for the record, here's Nick's list: Chopin's Waltz in A Minor (played by Idil Biret) Sunday Morning Coming Down (Johnny Cash) The Cross (Prince) Petit Pays (Cesaria Evora) Street Spirit (Radiohead) Life on Mars (David Bowie) Waka Waka – the theme to the 2010 World Cup (Shakira) Schubert's Impromptu No.3 in G Flat Major (played by Alfred ...
Non-Liberal Democrats will probably appreciate some of the qualities of this film from Lib Dem President candidate Tim Farron, but may wonder why I'm quite so effusive about it. That's because in addition to its obvious qualities for an outsider, it is also a very skilfully presented piece that hits just the right messages for the electorate Tim is trying to appeal to. It is also a film which, by showcasing Tim's passion and oratorical skills, does something that only a film can do. Often YouTube political films are people talking to camera in a way that makes only limited ...
Durham Cathedral is (at least inside - the outside is grey and dreary like the rest of the north) a staggeringly beautiful building. And yet I hate it. I hate it because of the reasons it was built, what it has been used for, and how it is still being embellished.The current building was started in 1093, replacing a previous building on roughly the same site. Most of the present structure either dates from that time or is at least built roughly to the 1093 design. The building was largely complete by 1135. The towers date from the 1200s, and ...
As I mentioned before, I've been taking part in the WYGU website offering career advice and mentoring Sherin. She's now blogged about her own experience on WGYU and recorded this short clip: (Also on YouTube here.) From my experience, WYGU is a great service, still in its early days - so do take a look and take part.
Half of woodland run by the Forestry Commission is to be sold. I just can't get behind that. One of the best things about Bracknell is the forest that surrounds it. It's free and well managed. We have deer, The Lookout, Go Ape and it is the home of caesar's camp. Forestry Commission trees cross the whole constituency and are inbetween all the villages/towns of Bracknell (Crowthorne, Bracknell and Sandhurst). I would not want to lose one tree to privatisation. It should be free for public use.
The by-election for Andover South's vacant county council seat took place last Thursday (21st October) and the result was as follows. David Drew (Conservative) 1183 Len Gates (Liberal Democrat) 1111 John Newland (Labour) 245 Anthony McCabe (UKIP) 233 The result confirmed Liberal Democrat predicitions of a close run contest between me and the Tory candidate with the other parties never in the contest. The Lib Dem vote increased by 17.6% which confounds local (left wing) critics who were predicting an election meltdown for the Lib Dems. Thank you to everyone who voted for me. The response I and the rest ...
The buck stops here, even if the boxing analogies don't. Watching Ed Milibands insipid performance at Prime Ministers Questions was bad enough but seeing Alan Johnson for whom I have a great deal of time and respect fail to land a single blow on the bonce of George 'Smiling Knife' Osborne after the comprehensive spending review compounded things. The Labour leadership merry-go-round was an excuse, if a weak one for the failure of a coherent opposition to emerge ready to battle the coalition. Labour have been lumbering around and haven't even decided on which gloves to go on let alone ...
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 new readers that we have this week. 1. DH Lawrence The intellectuals amongst you may have seen a letter in the Observer last Sunday criticising Broxtowe for closing the DH Lawrence Centre in Eastwood. I'm pleased to say that the very premise of their letter is wrong. Broxtowe have never proposed closing the DH Lawrence Centre, but we are reviewing whether one part, Durban House, can remain open. I've written back to the ...
As many people try to pretend the crises does not exist and whilst Labour try to absolve themselves of any blame for the mess they left the country in here is a briefing with some facts and figures in. Why is the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR10) so tough? Since the General Election the Coalition Government has had to borrow an extra £400 million every day. That's because for every £300 coming in we are spending £400. In this financial year that will come to a total of around £150,000 million extra borrowed and added to the National Debt. That level ...
There's no prize at stake - just the opportunity to prove you're wittier than any other LDV reader... Here are the Coalition leaders and their guys at the Treasury thrashing out the Comprehensive Spending Review — what do you think they might be saying to, or thinking about, each other? The winner of our most recent caption competition, the "Clegg and Hughes side by side" edition -- according to The Voice's judging panel of one -- was this one by Benjamin, with an honourable mention for this one by Theseus Labyrinth. Got a photo of a prominent Lib Dem you ...
For the past few weeks I have been corresponding with residents who live on Cintra Avenue who are concerned about deteriorating road safety. Residents who have contacted me describe problems as follows: 'Every day, cars are parked dangerously on hazards, on corners creating blind turns and between residents driveways such that residents are regularly unable to enter or exit their own driveways or, if they can, then it is only with a severely restricted sightlines. Also Cintra Avenue is now being used as a van/lorry park with several commercial vehicles parked here overnight and at weekends and there is one such ...
44) David Allen, Ready for Anything: 52 Principles for Increased Productivity (London: Piatkus, 2003, ISBN 9780749924799). This is basically a series of inspirational essays on the Getting Things Done productivity system. There is a summary of the mechanics of the system at the back, but that's really not what this book is about. This book is more about the psychology that makes the system work and the more intangible benefits it can bring in terms of well-being. One of the most noticeable consequences of this different level of focus is that Allen talks quite a bit about the spiritual benefits ...
... And this is News because....? It's perfectly legal. Sure, the health police object, but they object to beer and cake and chocolate too. We're LIBERALS, FFS. If someone is informed of the dangers of an activity and they still choose to do it, THAT'S THEIR CHOICE. Bloody prurient curtain-twitchers can bog off, in my view. (posted during my fag break at work)
[IMG: IMG_0571] We've dusted off the cobwebs, updated some of the code, added some swanky new graphics and basically re-launched our Lib Dem blog for Redlands Ward... I hope you didn't miss us too much. There are still a couple of little jobs left to finish off - but we're generally up and running again :) Although to our residents in our ward, they would be very aware that we physically hadn't gone any where. We continued to give our residents the level of service they have become accustomed too. We have continued to reply to calls, e-mails, and issues ...
I'm a little tardy in this but I haven't seen it handled elsewhere yet so it's still worth writing about. Last week, the Equality and Human Rights Commission published their Codes of Practice for the Equality Act 2010 – one on Employment, one on Services and a final one on Equal Pay. (I'll use paragraph numbers from the Services document here as much of the content is replicated across all three documents) Although laid before parliament, the Codes of Practice are not law themselves but interpretations of the law. Having said that, employment lawyers have suggested that they are still ...
Sun 24th
14:25
A radically different approach to the spending cuts: A collaborative approach, a liberal approach
There is a contradiction in the Conservative approach. On one hand we have Dave telling us that it is our country and we need to have more of a say in how it operates. On the other we have George telling us what a mess our finances are in and that he needs to make ...
I just wanted to update everyone on where we stand with the Lib Dem campaign for Mayor. I'm pleased to confirm that, having passed the selection procedure to be eligible to be on the short list, I will be standing in the selection of Lib Dem candidate for Mayor. I'm doing this for two reasons: Firstly, I want to see liberal policies put into practice in the nation's capital. Secondly, I believe that I can help maximise our mayoral and list vote and, ultimately, have the best chance of winning. Many believe that we cannot win this Mayoral election. They ...
The planned road improvements and resurfacing that Taverham was promised a few short months ago by Norfolk County Council has, sadly, been delayed until the next financial year at the earliest, because of an "overspend" on other projects. Parts of Taverham and Thorpe Marriott have not had their roads repaired or resurfaced for since they were built (twenty years ago) and the roads are literally disintegrating across the whole of my council ward. One more bad winter and the costs will be even higher for the repairs. I know we are in difficult financial times, but it will not save ...
Maybe it's a mistake to try reading stream-of-consciousness literature while on a transatlantic flight and over the subsequent days of jetlag (which has hit me much worse than usual on this trip), but I almost completely bounced off this book about a decaying family of the Old South (apart from the third of the four sections, the one narrated by the cynical and self-centred Jason). In particular, the first section, whose narrator is the severely disabled Benjy, failed to ring true for me. It seemed to me to repeat the fatal problem of The Red Badge of Courage, in that ...
While I was watching trash last night, Anna was teaching herself how to do to run cycle animations. She drew the pictures herself on Microsoft Paint and then put them together using Windows Movie Maker. I could never have done anything like this at her age and I'm impressed with her creativity. She's heavily absorbed in the Warrior Cats books by Erin Hunter at the moment and she's not only reading the books, but creating all sorts of artwork about the characters.
Professor John Carey, reports the Richard Jefferies Society website, will be giving this year's Richard Jefferies' Birthday Lecture on Saturday 6 November at Liddington Village Hall starting at 2.30 p.m. His title is "After London and other Utopias and Dystopias" and no prior booking is required for this event, which is open to the general public and free to attend. I have written about After London here before and it does seem to be discussed more often these days. Though generally seen as a nature essayist, Jefferies also played his part in the development of children's literature and science fiction. ...
A shout out to Lib Dem blogger John Abrams who was elected in Cale Green this year. You'll see below that I've also got the results for Tameside borough for this year. Not sure why - they just turned up in the file the Council sent me, so they get published. Enjoy. 01/05/03 2003 Stockport Bredbury (11776) @ 1 vote share Gordon C.* LD 1886 66.9 Hughes B. Ms. LAB 472 16.7 Gibbons K. CON 460 16.3 ffff 1999: LD Turnout 23.9 50.2 Brinnington (7223) @ 1 vote share Macalister C.* LAB 907 74.4 Moss J. LD 190 15.6 Sidderley ...
It's never a good sign when you arrive at the club and the captain, iphone glued to his ear, is explaining to someone that his team numbers had slumped from 26 on Friday evening to 8 by Saturday morning. We briefly considered getting hold of a sack and chloroform and kidnapping Tom Street, the former 1st team captain, who was returning to watch his former side whilst on a break from national league duty at Westcombe Park. Fortunately, by the time we got to Bromley there were somehow 17 of us and a rumour that another former Warlingham star player, ...
Exhibit A: "I would also like to state that every word written on my blog is absolutely true." Exhibit B: "My blog is 70% fiction and 30% fact. It is written as a tool to enable my constituents to know me better and to reassure them of my commitment to Mid Bedfordshire. I rely heavily on poetic licence and frequently replace one place name/event/fact with another." [Note: it's subsequently been reported that she meant to write "70%" fact and "30% fiction.] PS Nadine, on the off chance you are reading this – don't blame Twitter for my sceptical views of ...
BIGGER THAN 9/11 MOD sources have revealed exclusively to Sky that the Taliban attack on HMS Astute could have been "Bigger Than 9/11". As Sky correspondent Adam Ramsay was told exclusively by Taliban commander Hilal-al-Wemadeituppy, a crack Taliban team planted the Improvised Sandbank Device that almost destroyed HMS Astute on Friday. [IMG: not%20so%20astute.jpg] HMS Astute Disabled By Deadly Taliban ISD Attack Now MOD and security service sources have told Sky security correspondent Oswald Moseley that this attack was potentially "Bigger than 9/11". This is the 435th such potentially bigger than 9/11 attack since 9/11. Sky can exclusively reveal that, if ...
Yesterday morning I had been at the Scottish Liberal Democrats HQ attending a meeting. Afterwards I headed down Princes Street and was passing when some of the speeches to the massed protesters (not 20,000 at this point, nearer 2,000) were taking place. I have never heard so many hypocrites, one after another. All the union spokespeople were complaining bitterly that their members will be affected in one way or another by the outcomes of the Comprehensive Spending Review. I am all for the unions standing up for their members rights. What galls me is the sheer hypocrisy of it though. ...
24 October 2005: death of Robert Sloman, who co-wrote The Dæmons (1971), and was credited as sole author of The Time Monster (1972), The Green Death (1973), and Planet of the Spiders (1974) - the season finales for all but the first of the Pertwee years. 24 October: This is the last date with no broadcast Whoniversaries until 20 December.
Some time ago my good friend Edwin Squire posted this item on his blog, which was his stab at the thorny old dilemma of selecting eight records for a hypothetical appearance on BBC Radio 4′s Desert Island Discs. I make no apologies for the self-indulgence of this post as I attempt to do the same. ...
The X26 bus contract is due to end in 2012 and Transport for London is therefore reviewing this service. The X26 runs from Croydon, through Wallington, Sutton, Cheam and Worcester Park all the way to Heathrow. If you value this service we need to let Transport for London know. TfL are also keen to hear your ...
Last night I travelled up to London for my one and only Level 42 show on their 30th anniversary tour. Anyone that knows me knows that I am a serious Level 42 fan. I have one of the largest collections of Level 42 record and memorabilia collections in the world and have a long history going back with the band that has spoiled me massively over the last 22 years. I hadn't been to any shows on this tour so far for various reasons but a good mate had a spare ticket for the show at the Indigo at the ...
It was a great privilege to represent the Government at the Vigil against Hate Crime last night in Trafalgar Square A great number of people had come, despite the early rain, to stand and pay tribute to those who have died at the hands of the ignorant, bigoted, hateful and inadequate people who carry out hate crimes. The event was first held to show support for the nail bomb attacks that took place in Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho in April 1999. It has now been widened to show support for all victims of hate crime. My message direct to ...
Blame: the Bankers or the vulnerable, disabled, children, one parent families, the out of work, the old, the frail, the poor........................ Nothing more needs to be added to this..... Dear Dr ManderWe made a fortune gambling with other people's money. Then we raided the Treasury for a bailout when our bets went wrong. So we've been feeling a bit bad about the economic downturn. Is there anything we can do to help?The City of LondonDear CityDon't worry. There was a terrible misunderstanding. It turns out that, in fact, disabled people in social housing are to blame for the deficit and ...
The shocking revelation on today's Desert Island Discs was that Nick Clegg's luxury would be a "secret stash of cigarettes". He has clearly not read the party memo on mention of the 'evil weed' being the social equivalent of beating children or driving a 4×4. Being on a desert island alone of course Nick could do much as he pleased with his stash. But being the Deputy Prime Minister we're sure he would wish to stick as closely as possibly to the law of the United Kingdom in order, like Robinson Crusoe, to maintain the standards of civilisation and social ...
[IMG: image1540618318.jpg] I've just been down to the French Market and bought my lunch. it's a lovely sunny day, and lots of people are in town - so come and join them! Mrs. Brown's is open, and so is Taste of the Country and several other shops - all taking advantage of this Shipston Town Council supported event. Even if you're not buying French, there's plenty of good local food to buy and lots of places to have lunch. Philip [Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]
Last month, I reported that there were plans for improvements at the Tullideph Road/City Road traffic lights. I am pleased to advise that the City Council has now updated me as follows : "The City Road / Tullideph Road traffic signal junction is being refurbished at present. These works will be complete in two weeks time and all previous perceived problems associated with this junction should then be rectified."
This morning´s Sunday Telegraph is a timely reminder that it is not just government that poses a threat to our privacy and our civil liberties. They report that Google has admitted that it downloaded personal data from wireless networks when its fleet of vehicles drove down residential roads taking photographs for its controversial Street View project. It is bad enough having one´s home pictured on the internet for all to see without this sinister off-shoot. The paper reports for example that individuals could be seen in the photos included a man emerging from a sex shop in London's Soho; children ...
So earlier in the week the Minister responsible for Higher Education announced he was against the idea of unlimited tuition fees following the publication of the Browne Report. Whilst Mark Pack and some other sees this as a positive move of Lib Dem influence on the final bill, the biggest influence would be all of our parliamentary party standing by their election pledge not to raise tuition fees
One of the regular contributors to the F1 discussions I enjoy on Twitter has been the artist behind the Unlap website, Luke Pollard. He produces excellent motorsport related prints, mugs, t-shirts, often with a very humorous side to them. Remember the Ferrari team orders fiasco at Hockenheim? Well, this design was his response. Word reaches my ears that McLaren, a large, rich company with a gleaming "technology centre" from which David Coulthard has been broadcasting for the BBC all weekend, has taken legal action against Unlap which has meant that Luke's had to stop selling his McLaren merchandise. As he ...
As I continue my ecliptic journey in politics, I am now moving from my recent left wing views on funding higher education to supporting Iain Duncan Smith. His recent comments on how people looked for work has yet again been ambushed by the Labour Party and the left-wing press.Throughout the day, we were led to believe in news report after news report that Iain Duncan Smith had made an passionate
The new Market Place in Gainsborough has now been open a few weeks. I've had a mixed response from residents as to the results. Some of the positives are the extra seating there is now in the town centre and the more open area allows a better market positioning. Some comments have been negative, such as the unevenness of the block work in the centre of the market. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the finished market place, so please contact me either via email, or leave a comment below. I think it's important that the council find out ...
Kirsty Williams AM has written a piece for WalesHome on the implications of the spending review for Wales: THE CSR settlement means that for the Welsh Government, revenue expenditure will be down by less than 2 per cent in real terms each year, less than the three per cent they were planning for. Overall, the budget will be reduced by 12% over 4 years; the Government were planning for 16.5% over 3 years. Despite the obvious glee with which ministers have been playing the victim card, Wales has a better settlement than the UK overall. This week, we have seen ...
All, Most of you will have had your latest Lib Dem Focus leaflet delivered by now, but if you haven't, you can download it here. Let me now if you have any comments. Philip
Simon Walters in the Mail on Sunday says "it was claimed last night" that 44 new peers are to be created by the Coalition "to stop Labour sabotaging their policies in the Upper House". He doesn't say who made the claim though. He goes on: Mr Cameron reportedly intends to award 29 peerages to Tory donors and other political allies, with 15 for Mr Clegg's Liberal Democrats. By contrast, Ed Miliband will get just ten new Labour peers. It is the biggest influx from a governing party since Tony Blair handed out a record 47 peerages when Labour won power ...
Today my wife and I will celebrate 17 years of Marriage and according to tradition I need to celebrate this with a gift. I googled 17 year anniversary and it came up with two gift ideas. A traditional gift should be a watch or a modern gift of a piece of Furniture. So god only knows how today will pan out. It scares me how 17 years have flown by, but on the whole they have been 17 good years with two beautiful girls coming into the world because of our marriage. It makes me feel very proud as they ...
Yesterday I attended my friend's Amanda and Lee's wedding. The wedding was lovely and the guests very international with Brit's, Aussies, Vietnamese, Chinese, Americans and probably lots of others as well showing quite how international Amanda and Lee are both having travelled extensively.
I did say at one point that it was my intention to run for an honorary Vice-Presidency of Liberal Youth. I was serious, and still am, so here's the manifesto which is currently exercising Liberal Youth members at their Autumn Conference in Manchester... Dear Friends, Colleagues and Innocent Bystanders, Firstly, please accept my apologies for not joining you in Manchester this weekend. Unfortunately, I haven't spent a weekend at home since before Federal Conference, and I miss my home, my cat and my village. This brief missive is by way of a call for your support in this weekend's election ...
A new website you may have missed – British Political Speech, which holds texts of speeches given by Conservative, Labour and Liberal/Liberal Democrat Party leaders going back to 1895. Well worth a browse.
It was good to see so many people marching to save Culverhay. It is more that I can say for the meetings, the chair of the meeting was appalling, Cllr Paul Crossley asked if the meeting could be extended to which she refused, even though everyone said they wanted to talk more. Her excuse, "people may have made arrangements " if they had they could have left !I will be taking up some of the points
1) A431 Newbridge Hill will be undertaken during the school holiday - 25th and 26th October between the hours of 0700 and 1900. 2) Southdown Road (all - to be done in phases) 27th to 29th October and 1 - 4th November between the hours of 0700 and 1900. 3) A367 Fosseway (extents from the recycling centre to but not including the Tunley junction) 3rd to 5th and 8th to 9th November - nights
I shouldn't really take the mickey out of a fellow blogger, but seeing as I'm out of bed at this inappropriate hour on a Sunday morning for no good reason, and I'm grumpy about it, I shall. Remember when Michael Fish told the world there wasn't going to be a hurricane in 1987 and later that night we had the worst storm for decades? Well a few weeks ago, I wrote about Karun Chandhok's inaugural trip round the Korean Grand Prix circuit in an old Red Bull. I speculated at the time that a wet race might be exciting. Mr ...
This week, the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) has finally been announced. Welsh people understand that the pain can't be stopped at the Severn Bridge and we should not forget who got us into this mess. However, the CSR settlement is better news for Wales than many were predicting. Attention now shifts to how the Welsh Assembly Government will make the savings needed. The CSR settlement means that for the Welsh Government, revenue expenditure will be down by less than 2% in real terms each year. Overall, the budget will be reduced by 12% over 4 years; the Welsh Government were ...
Judgement on Fermanagh and South Tyrone election Michelle Gildernew still wins. (tags: northernireland) Heather Hurlburt: Wikileaks: War Is (Misbegotten) Hell (tags: waronterror)
There have been several attempts to bring Doctor Who to the stage, some more successful than others, but all very typical of the time in which they were made. Curse Of The Daleks was a gripping base-under-siege story by Terry Nation and David Whittaker, with Daleks but no Doctor, from the 1960s. In the 1970s, ...
Yesterday I received an anonymous comment. It wasn't greatly insulting but I decided that enough was enough and have changed my blog settings so that I can't receive anonymous views. It is a shame because I don't want to deter anyone from writing in. Sometimes you have to be brave to put your name to comments but most of the time bravery isn't needed, and that's why I have changed my view. I have some comments that have not been published for various reasons. I was keeping them pending comeback from the author(s) but I can't do this indefinitely. If ...
As leaked documents tell of 109,000 violent deaths in five years, will the war's supporters finally admit they were wrong?
