What a sight to cheer us up this morning. Stockton Rotarians were planting 5,000 crocus on the grassed area in front of the Dalylight Bakery on Bishopton Avenue (the Ring Road). I was thrilled that they were taking the time and effort to do this to really brighten up our community, but even more so when I found out the reason why. Here is the link, but in case you don't have time...
The ballots for the Liberal Democrat regional lists were counted this evening. The order, as voted on a one-member one-vote basis, for each of the regions is as follows: South Wales West Peter BlackStuart RiceCheryl GreenWayne MorganFrank Little South Wales Central John DixonEluned ParrottRachael HitchinsonElgan MorganAndrew Sherwood South Wales East Veronica GermanPhil HobsonBob GriffinAlison Willott Mid and West Wales Bill PowellMark CoxEd WilsonSteffan John North Wales Aled RobertsEleanor Burnham Elections for candidates for individual constituencies will follow shortly.
Following the disturbances in the O'Neill Road area of Newtownabbey, local Liberal Democrat campaigner Michael Carchrie Campbell has appealed for calm. Michael said: I appeal for calm in all areas of Northern Ireland particularly in North Belfast following tonight's disturbances in the Cloughfern/O'Neill Road area of Newtownabbey. The Police Service of Northern Ireland serves the ...
A delegation of British MPs and Peers, including Mark Williams (LibDem), Jonathan Evans (Conservative) and Jeremy Corbyn (Labour), went in a delegation to see Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt MP today, to protest yesterday's fatal shooting of a 14-year-old Saharawi boy, Nayem el-Garhi, by Morrocan security forces. The boy was attempting, along with his brother and a ...
Mon 25th
23:00
Simon Wright MP celebrates Norwich unsung heroes this trustees week (25.10.10 to 31.10.10)
Norwich South MP Simon Wright is amongst those championing the role Trustees this week.
Tonight, at the City Council Housing Committee, I proposed that the Council consult on a lower rents increase (3.5%) in addition to the 4.5%, 4.75% and 5% increase levels the SNP administration has suggested be consulted upon. Tenants in the city deserve more than a superficial consultation on a "high, higher or higher still" increase. My proposal was as follows : "AMENDMENT BY COUNCILLOR FRASER MACPHERSON HOUSING, DUNDEE CONTRACT SERVICES AND ENVIRONMENT SERVICES COMMITTEE - 25th OCTOBER 2010 REVIEW OF RENT AND OTHER CHARGES 2011/2012 (REPORT 613- 2010) I move, as an amendment, that the following additional option be put ...
Not jobs for little green men but jobs created in renewable energy and energy reduction. The announcement of support for British ports in developing off shore wind turbines is welcome in an area with a significant port and local authorities willing and able to work together to maximise opportunities. Fiona Hall MEP has welcomed the announcements today and pledged that she will do all she can to
If so, this is the competition you should have entered. Ah well, next time...
Daniel Pimlott writes on the Financial Times website: New global rules on how much capital banks must hold are insufficient to prevent another crisis, and reforms to the financial sector need to be much more radical, according to the governor of the Bank of England. In a speech in New York, Mervyn King listed problems with the main existing reforms to the financial system, such as the higher capital requirements demanded by the Basel III proposals, the British government's levy on banks, and efforts to identify systemically important institutions and design better ways of letting them fail. Reforms might need ...
In April this year I did a blog post titled - Tut tut - Kerry McCarthy breaches election law on Twitter - when Kerry McCarthy revealed a little too much about the postal vote opening in Bristol East. Well, now Kerry McCarthy, the Labour MP who illegally revealed postal vote results on Twitter in April, has been given a police caution for the said offence. Labour's "Twitter Tsar" and a qualified solicitor, has avoided both a fine or a six month prison sentence for the offence. Although she deleted her original post after a few minutes, it had already been ...
Will I soar ahead or fall at the first hurdle?
Cornwall Council's ruling Conservative/Independent administration today published their emergency budget proposals in response to the cuts that are being imposed by central government. The first thing to say is that it is quite clear that cuts have to be made. The amount of money Cornwall will be receiving from the government in the form of grant will be being cut by something around 26.5% over the next four years (we will only find out for certain in early December). The administration has been planning on the basis of 30% cuts and I think they were wise to do so. But ...
Following my last post on the topic, I dropped a note to the Home Office contacts I had, such that they are, asking if what has been announced as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review was in fact the Interception Modernisation Programme. For those who haven't been following, that's the innocent sounding name for the last governments plan to build a database with details of every EMail, Facebook message, Instant Message, Internet phone call and anything else they can manage. Today I had the reply: In short, no. It's not the IMP. This is the sort of responsible ...
In an interview with Radio Cornwall today, Council Leader Alec Robertson seemed to rely heavily on what the people of Cornwall said when asked about potential cuts. But is this what Cornwall really thinks and is Cornwall Council really acting on what they said? To find out what people in Cornwall think, the Council opened up a page on their website and held four public events around Cornwall. They also issued a questionnaire to ask people which they felt were the most 'expendable' services - but this equated Adult Care (more than £100 million per year) with Cornish Studies (about ...
Here on 22nd October it says:The Work Foundation, which bills itself as "the leading independent authority on work and its future", announced today that it had been acquired by Lancaster University. The move came after a winding up petition, citing a £26.9m pension deficit, was filed at the high court yesterday.The university claims the purchase minimises losses to creditors, including pension
Earlier today Vince Cable gave a pugnacious speech, bashing bankers to use the tabloids' favourite phrase, but doing so in the name of industry: I can see Richard covering his eyes and groaning, alarmed that I may be about to embark on a round of "banker bashing". What I can tell him is that businesses – including a lot of CBI members – keep telling me that I am not bashing them enough. Of course, there is no point in engaging in a sterile public exchange of insults. But no one listening to the Chancellor's statement last week will be ...
Stephen Tall reminds us of an important but subtle distinction in a Comment is Free article on the Guardian website: Simon's full title is Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons. (Navnit Dholakia is the party's "other deputy leader" representing Lib Dem peers in the Lords.) He is not, therefore, deputy leader of the party, though that is how he is styled in the media.He does not say this to denigrate Simon, but to emphasise that his recent and well-founded concern about the Coalition's housing and social security proposals should be seen in a proper light. ...
Kerry McCarthy Labour MP for Bristol East was given a police caution today for illegally revealing a postal vote result on Twitter. I replied to Kerry's tweet at the time and I also reported this on Bracknell Blog when it happened, Bristol East are opening postal votes in the name of sampling and results are reported. I think a police caution is the right action. Kerry is very lucky as she could of received a 6 month prison sentence and a £5k fine.
Quite possibly the coolest beer advert ever. Who'd have thought that Lemmy had talent :-)
Over at the Guardian's Comment is Free, David Laws writes of the importance of delivering the Pupil Premium – a key Liberal Democrat election pledge. He corrects two misconceptions. First, that the pupil premium is not additional money: This is nonsense. Without the pupil premium, I suspect that the budget for schools would have been based on a per pupil cash freeze for the period up to 2015. That would have meant a real cut in schools funding over the next few years. Instead, schools funding will rise by 0.1% (above inflation) each year until 2015. The second misconception: It ...
- So reads the unequivocal front page headline of today's Western Daily Press. A recent poll by the League of Cruel Sports reveals that there is no apetite for a repeal of the Hunting Act amongst the new intake of MPs. 319 want to keep the ban. 253 want to repeal it. And the chances of a vote anytime soon are remote. This is all excellent news! I've said for a long time that the ban is extremely effective because it allows people to hunt. It just stops them allowing a pack of hounds to rip apart the quarry. Result. ...
Yesterday I blogged a Mail on Sunday report that Evan Harris would be among the new Liberal Democrat peers soon to be nominated by Nick Clegg. Today Evan tweeted to say this is "rubbish". Liberal England: Spreading and scotching unfounded rumours since 2004. Later. There is more speculation - well founded or not - from Michael Crick.
The Coalition Government has today announced that it will take part in EU legislation on the right to information in criminal proceedings. The so-called "Letter of Rights". This is one of a number of steps in the "Roadmap" designed to protect individual rights and raise fair trial standards in Europe. It is a much needed counter-balance to the powers police and prosecutors have when working across-borders. This Letter of Rights is designed to be a short, standard written statement of basic rights given to a suspect when they are arrested and, importantly, before they are questioned. It is closely modelled ...
Apologies for the delay in spotting this one, but it has just come to my attention that the ludicrously well-funded ASH Scotland (which has somehow reversed the Barnett Formula, receiving copiously more than its (also over-funded) English partner organisation... but more on this later) has just published it's latest list of anti-smoking proposals for Scotland... On the day that David Cameron has promised the business world a "forensic, relentless focus on growth" my attention has been drawn to an excellent analysis of ASH Scotlands' proposals by the Tobacco Retailers Alliance. You should check out the full article yourself, but to ...
Monday: Before we get Scary Jane Smith (yes, I know that's how I started last week) Daddy Richard would like me to big up the most recent-est release from the BIG FISH audio people: "A Death in the Family", which, says Daddy, is Big Fish's "Curse of Fenric". That's HIGH PRAISE indeed, 'cos "The Curse of Fenric" is Daddy's favourite story: a story that ties together threads that have been developing for ages, turns the timey-wimey up to eleven, features shocking revelations about his companion's mum, and in which the Doctor takes down a GOD. Yes, it's just like that. ...
Main event of the week was obviously the Comprehensive Spending Review. This merits a note of its own, so I'll confine myself here to the theatre of the announcement. The House was packed to hear the Chancellor end months of speculation on the contents of the CSR. Many of his predecessors (Tory and Labour) were ...
An email from Chris Huhne: Today we are taking a key step on the road to a more prosperous, fairer and greener Britain. We've announced support for wind turbine manufacture at Britain's ports - opening the way to a major expansion of the country's offshore wind industry. The last week has been tough. None of us came into government to make cuts. Throughout the spending review, as Liberal Democrats and as a Government, we've had to make some difficult decisions. We believe they are necessary to stabilise Britain's economy and eliminate the massive deficit in the public finances. As Liberal ...
The Coalition Government is over 6 months old now and, far from being bogged down as often happens in Europe, a lot of progress has been made. Clearly there has been controversy surrounding the cuts, but genuine progress has been made too. However, while all but the most rabid right-winger in the Conservative party seems to have got on with it, the Lib Dems seems to still be discussing whether they like it or not. The queasiness from the Lib Dem grassroots means that, instead of taking pride in the many good things that the Liberal Democrat's have achieved in ...
Today you may of noticed that we did something you don't agree with again. We know that this is not Liberal Democrat policy. We know you may of voted against this policy at one of the conferences. We know you put on the leaflets that we won't do this or indeed that. But we have just done the opposite of this in government anyway. That is because our policy was not realistic in these hard times or our Tory coalition partners right wing just can't stomach it. So we caved in, It is for the national interest after all. Yes ...
[IMG: Screenshot of Kerry McCarthy's illegal tweet, retweeted] Kerry McCarthy, the Labour MP who illegally revealed postal vote results on Twitter in April, has been given a police caution. Labour's "Twitter Tsar" and a qualified solicitor, has avoided a fine or a six month prison sentence for the offence. She deleted her original post after a few minutes, but not before it had been spread around the internet. From the Guardian: She boasted to thousands of followers that an early batch showed Labour receiving far more support in her constituency than the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats - providing figures ...
The Fawcett Society has launched a major, high press challenge against the government's spending cuts to child benefit and benefit cuts in general. Controversially, as a feminist, I disagree with this action. Ultimately, I feel this hinders the gender equality debate, is a poor use of legislation and does not represent a true equality impact assessment of the spending cuts in line with other
This morning, with it being half-term and so several of the team being on holiday, staff meeting was cancelled. It turns out that this was a far more productive use of my day as I set about attending to my parish and personal email inboxes that were both hovering around the 100 email mark. No longer. Today is another Zero Day. That's right, all those emails have been processed (note: not simply deleted), replies dispatched where required, action taken and emails filed into appropriate sub-folders. My word, it feels good to have achieved that. Now, when can we cancel staff ...
Chelsea moved five points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League this weekend with a convincing 2-0 victory over Wolves on Saturday. The leaders then had to wait till the Sunday to see title rivals Arsenal take maximum points from ten-man Manchester City, while Manchester United needed a late winner from Javier Hernandez to beat off a spirited Stoke side. With Chelsea welcoming Wolves to Stamford Bridge many would have had this down as a home-banker, and with goals from Malouda and Kalou, Chelsea duly delivered. Although Chelsea's only defeat of the season so far came away at ...
[IMG: http://www.wikio.co.uk] [IMG: coat of arms] Since we've revamped our Redlands blog I thought it was high time I found the time to write about last weeks Full Council meeting... Most of the items were passed without opposition, however... Cllrs Warren Swaine and Richard Willis have already covered the main focus of the evening - the consultation by Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) to reduce the catchment area for Maiden Erlegh school, and RBC's response to that. As was pointed out at the meeting, WBC haven't actually decided what to do yet! But this didn't stop Labour's, highly politically motivated, scaremongering ...
As you may know, Labour were adding £400 million to the national debt every day by the time they left office, and spending £4 for every £3 raised in tax. That's simply not sustainable and I've supported calls to sort out our huge deficit since I had the chance to question Nick Clegg about it over a year ago. The cuts, big as they are, will leave the country as a whole with many more public sector workers, and spending more on the public sector, than during the whole of Labour's first term of office. At the end of the ...
The BBC reports: The government is planning a "very radical" overhaul of the state pension, Business Secretary Vince Cable says... Mr Cable, speaking to BBC One's Breakfast, said the government wanted to "get away from what we've had for the past quarter of a century where state pensions have fallen behind the rest of the economy". "What [Pensions Minister] Steve Webb and his colleagues want to do is to particularly protect the position of women, who because they weren't covered by contributions don't have a proper state pension," he said. Women frequently fail to qualify for the full basic state ...
From Stockport Council: Stockport Council has joined forces with 22 other local authorities from across the North West on an exciting campaign to find new foster carers. The "You Can Foster" campaign will kick off on Thursday 28th October with a TV advert being aired on ITV Granada and radio adverts running on Smooth and Real Radio which features one of our local Stockport foster carer as well as other foster carers from the region. The TV advert will show the diverse range of people who already foster for their local authority and will direct enquiries to a central website ...
The organisers of the London 2012 Olympics promised the most inclusive Games ever. We were told that the Games would be "highly affordable" and that "half the tickets would cost £20 or less". On 15th October, we discovered what is really going to happen. Of the 8.8 million tickets that will go on sale, only 2.5 million (about a third) will cost £20 or less. Of this 2.5 million, 1.3 million will be reserved primarily for schoolchildren, leaving just 1.2 million £20 tickets for everyone else in London, the UK and the rest of the world. And of those 1.2 ...
Astute observers of the press (for a very broad definition of 'astute' that includes anyone who reads the Sunday papers) will have noticed that the Royal Family is line for a very literal windfall from the enormous expansion of offshore wind that's planned for the next couple of decades. The Crown Estate, the nice chaps ...
On Saturday I found myself in Eastbourne at the South East Lib Dems Regional Conference. In the recent election campaign, this was our main target seat in the south east - I received numerous emails saying 'never mind your constituency, come and help out in Eastbourne' or words to that effect - but the campaign was a success and now Eastbourne joins Lewes next door with a Lib Dem MP. The conference was sold out weeks in advance and took place in a school a few miles from Eastbourne - lots of signs saying 'always walk on the left' did ...
The latest Homewatch newsletter for the area identifies a new trend developing in the stealing of metal. In a development that mirrors other areas, the stealing of lead from roofs etc and other metal is becoming an increasingly popular activity for certain criminal elements, perhaps due to the value of scrap metal at present. Although crime levels remain very low in the area there have been 6 burglaries in the past week, 6 vehicles stolen, 6 thefts from vehicles and 5 incidents of number plate theft - another seemingly growing trend. JOIN THE DAWN PATROL Bury Police have launched a ...
This is a mini rant as I'm trying to get ready to take Anna into Edinburgh for what will probably be an expensive afternoon involving Winter boots and Hallowe'en costumes. However I've just watched Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray's lamentable interview on the Politics Show yesterday. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott had robustly put the case for the difference the Liberal Democrats had made in Government, securing the carriers jobs, the extra investment from the fossil fuel levy, the fact that Scotland had a billion more than expected over the four years, as well as taking close on 100,000 ...
Liberal Vision's Andy Mayer recently interviewed Tim Farron and Susan Kramer, granting each candidate a chance to explain why they should be elected as the new Liberal Democrat Party President. We would like to thank Tim and Susan for their time in answering Andy's questions. Liberal Vision has thousands of Lib Dem readers, and it's heartening to see both candidates communicating openly and honestly with the party's activists. Even through print on a screen, Tim's alacrity comes through, and he certainly appears to be an energetic, charismatic media star in the making. Hopefully these qualities will prove to be a ...
Kudo to the Forestry Commission (unlike the Ministry of Justice) for this on their treetop walk in Salcey Forest: [IMG: Sensible health + safety instructions from the Forestry Commission]
... but I don't want to wake up in a Third World country either. Labour kept borrowing even when the economic situation was apparently wonderful. If we really want to live in a Third World Country then we can just stay here, refuse to have cuts and carry on spending money we don't have. Bingo! Job done.
broadcast anniversaries 25 October 1975: broadcast of first episode of The Pyramids of Mars. The Doctor and Sarah land in the future UNIT headquarters, the Scarman brothers' family home, and encounter robotic mummies and various Egyptian relics. 25 October 1980: broadcast of first episode of Full Circle; first appearance of Adric. The Tardis falls into E-Space; Mistfall threatens the people of Alzareus; and the Marshmen rise. 25 October 1986: broadcst of fourth episode of Mindwarp (ToaTL #8). Peri is killed by brain transplant!!! (Or is she?) Her last appearance as a regular character anyway. 25 October 1989: broadcast of first ...
Over on the IEA blog, Mark Littlewood recently repeated a very commonly made point by those of a more low tax persuasion: It's worth noting that the relatively affluent in Britain pay a very high proportion of the overall tax take. In terms of income tax, the highest earning 1% contribute nearly a quarter of all receipts and the top 10% account for well over half. There's no prizes for guessing what conclusion Mark drew from this, but turn the point on its head and it serves just as well for the opposite political perspective. It's worth noting that the ...
G8 is a grants programme to support local parties campaign in local elections. G8 is administered by ALDC, with kind support from the Federal, English, Scottish and Welsh Liberal Democrats. If you have local elections in 2011, then we may be able to provide financial support for your campaign in wards where you will be fighting particularly hard campaigns, either to gain the seat or where there is a tricky defence. The 2011 round of elections is the biggest in the four-year cycle. This means a lot of demand for funding through the "G8" grants process. We want to maximise ...
Things are certainly moving fast in the world of railways! Many of us will by now have a glossy brochure from Alliance Rail Holdings, brainchild of maverick rail entrepreneur Ian Yeowart. He is hovering vulture-like ready to swoop when the Virgin and the (now nationalised) National Express East Coast franchises expire. Yeowart maintains that there is a shortage of 125mph rolling stock holding back intercity capacity development. His response is to propose a series of new routes improving direct communication with London for northern and eastern towns like Carlisle, Blackpool, Huddersfield, Leeds, Ilkley, Doncaster and Cleethorpes - plus improved services ...
There is to be a consultation on extending the Cambridge Leisure Park cumulative impact zone to include Hills Road to Purbeck Road and Cherry Hinton Road to Clifton Road. Designating an area a CIZ recognizes the effect of alcohol-related disorder arising from a concentration of licensed premises in one place and makes it unlikely any more will be allowed. I know some Queen Edith's residents will be interested in this so watch out for the consultation.
Cancer is a disease that affects everyone. With more than one in three people likely to develop cancer at some point in their lives we will all be touched by it at some point, whether it is ourselves, our families or our friends. It's essential that in Wales we have a cancer strategy that is able to cope with this life altering disease. However according to a recent report published by Cancer Research UK we in Wales aren't getting the cancer service we need. The report titled 'Improving cancer outcomes' analysed cancer strategies across the UK between 2006 and 2010. ...
Mon 25th
10:53
Nick Clegg on Desert Island Discs, why I want to smack him round the head and the truth about him an...
I'm just listening to Nick Clegg's Desert Island Discs on the BBC iPlayer. The first thing that comes across is how important his wife Miriam is to him. It reminded me of when I first knew Nick 12 years ago. I didn't have to know him for very long to know how utterly besotted he was with her. She came across one weekend during the selection campaign and I got together some of the nicest people I know at an Indian restaurant in Chesterfield to make her feel welcome. It's not surprising that his first choice of music was Chopin's ...
This is an update of the post I did earlier in the year, this time including the data for 2010. Here's the proportion of local election candidates of the three main parties who were female over the last twenty-five years . As you can see, proportions for all three parties grew in the late '80s and since then have stalled (Lib Dems, Conservatives) or only crept up (Labour), with all of them remaining well under 40%. The dips every four years are due to county council elections having a much lower proportion of female candidates than other local elections. [IMG: ...
Details of this week's Dundee Literary Festival! Dundee Literary Festival this week! Come and meet the award winning actor David Rintoul, discussing his time as the good doctor. 28th October, Bonar Hall. 12.30pm - Poem and a Piece, Brian Johnstone 2pm - Dr Finlay with David Rintoul 3.30pm - James Robertson 5pm - Norman Watson Book online - www.literarydundee.co.uk or at the Overgate or DCA. Call 01382 384413 or email literarydundee@dundee.ac.uk Poem and a Piece - Brian Johnstone - 12.30pm to 1.30pm - £5.00 Brian Johnstone - until recently Director of the STANza festival in St Andrews - comes across ...
May 2008 I want the respective support of the Tory & Lib Dem groups to continue as Chair of Reading Buses for 2008/9. I have been elected to the Board until 2010, though like any other can be removed by the share-holder at any time. I would propose the council part of new board is: Chair - Jones Vice Chair - Tory nominee Green's vacancy filled by Lib Dem nominee Page removed (he opposed removing old managing director, didn't support Boxing Day working, and had contributed nothing in past 3 years) There are a number of issues on which I ...
There will be a hustings at 7:30pm on 3 November for Liberal Democrat members to quiz Susan Kramer and Tim Farron - the candidates in the current Lib Dem Federal Presidential election. All Liberal Democrat members are welcome, from around London and beyond. I'll be chairing the meeting, and after a speech from each of the candidates, will take both written questions and questions from the audience. The hustings will take place in Wynndale Hall at Woodbridge High School, St Barnabas Road, Woodford Green, IG8 7DQ. Use the school entrance beside house number 205 St Barnabas Road. Car parking is ...
Unfortunately I can not enbed this youtube video so you will have to click on this link. It made me laugh anyhoo!
This week (25th to 31st October) has been declared by the Charity Commission, NCVO, and others to be 'Trustee's Week'. This an annual event to highlight the work that trustees of charities do and to encourage more people to consider becoming a trustee. I am a trustee of Luton Culture and its one of the most rewarding things that I do. Find out more on the Trustee Week website.
Last year the council debated and voted against moving to all out elections for West Lindsey. The subject has started to be debated again, but I will be voting for the change. The reason for my shift is that whilst I believe that elections by thirds 'keep it real', the population in West Lindsey has risen enough to trigger a boundary commission review. This review is currently under way, but it is apparent that they want WLDC to be elected as a whole and not by thirds. If WLDC hold all out elections next year, the review will still take ...
Mon 25th
09:33
Thoughts from the Train: is a loss of respect for public service fatal for the 'Big Society'?
I've been dwelling on the question of public service this weekend, and as someone who celebrated twenty-four years as a civil servant in the past week, mostly on the front line, I'm more prone than most to wonder about the morals and ethics of government and governance. For a long time now, I've argued that government is there to enable as far as is reasonable whilst encouraging initiative and personal responsibility. In my day job, I try as far as possible to adhere to that philosophy, but it is made harder by the increasingly strained relationship between administration and the ...
What's your driving force in politics? What makes you go back to news.bbc or twitter every afternoon/evening? I ended up in the Lib Dems because of the period in which my political brain awoke. My original activists kernel, the pacifist, environmentalist, egalitarian driving force, was inspired mainly in opposition to Tony Blair who represented everything that was the opposite of those principals. Over time this kernel evolved (else I might I suppose have joined Labour when Blair stepped down in disgrace,) into something more grounded in principal than mere opposition to Bliarism*. I remember the day I stopped being a ...
The Conservatives held Abbey Ward on East Staffordshire Borough Council on Thursday with a whooping 87.8% of the vote. Sadly there was no Liberal Democrat Candidate.
There is something important we should all bear in mind over the next few weeks as the coalition's CSR is picked over. It will be shown to be fair and unfair, progressive and regressive, liberal and authoritarian, environmentalist and industrialist, no doubt. But remember that this is everyone's plan. Both the governing parties and the official opposition proposed this, and that while there will be legitimate debate over detail, there is only one MP who stood on a genuinely alternative platform; Caroline Lucas. The Labour party will be spinning the overall effect of this review as negative, ideological, unnecessary and ...
One of the reasons I went and got an MBA a couple of years ago is that it gives you a whole bunch of skills for solving problems and thinking critically. Elizabeth Sharpf also received her MBA in 2007 and like so many highly trained graduates she could easily be working in a Manhattan or ...
Over the past few years my ward colleagues and I have spent a lot of time thinking about ways in which road safety and parking problems on Hexham Road estate could be eased. We have recieved a number of complaints from residents across the estate about different issues relating to parking: Lack of parking on Newcastle Road has long been a problem with more people living in the area than there are available parking places Residents living on Morpeth Close and Hexham have complained about difficulty accessing their properties due to people parking on junctions and in front of garages Residents ...
The remains of the Tankerville mine can be found down a steep track about a mile south of Stiperstones village. They have recently been conserved by the Shropshire Mines Trust. For a few brief years in the 1860s and 1870s this was the most productive lead mine in the country. Read more about its history on the Trust's website.
There have been no posts for the last few days as I have been on a walking holiday in Cornwall. Consequently I have missed the bulk of the news and comment on the Comprehensive Spending Review. However, I did catch one brief clip on television from the end of the speech and have seem the photograph republished several times in newspapers. I have argued consistently in this blog that these cuts are economically unnecessary and ideologically driven, and that Liberal Democrats in government should distance themselves from them as far as possible. Some Liberal Democrats, even former radicals, have told ...
Regular readers of this blog will know that I flagged up very early a real concern over how the voluntary sector would survive the transition from the funding they receive now until the new structures like the Big Society Bank and new ways of commissioning are up and running. And the voluntary sector is crucial to the Big Society idea itself – absolutely vital. I also flagged up how concerned I was about Haringey Council simply pass on cuts to those it regards as soft targets (like the voluntary sector) rather than radically reform the way it is run. At ...
After years of watching Labour budgets I was wary about instant comment (beyond what I had to do in the media) regarding the CSR. You see Browns budgets tended to unravel within days as the magic rabbit in the hat turned out to be dead...the 10p tax rated abolition paying for an income tax increase for example. After a (very) long weekend mulling over the review I don't mind saying that my mood has swung from happy (Wednesday - Thursday) through to very unhappy (Friday - Saturday) before settling upon meh I suppose it could have been worse - a ...
By taking steps to save energy during Energy Saving Week (25-31 October) you can cut your carbon footprint and also save money. Grants and discounts are available for homeowners and those who privately rent in St Albans City and District to insulate their loft or even install a renewable energy technology in their home to generate their own energy. The grants and discounts are available for a variety of energy-saving projects through St Albans City and District Council's approved energy efficiency scheme, Herts Essex Energy Partnership (HEEP), until the end of March 2011. HEEP can help you insulate your home ...
The Moroccan Army surrounds the Protest Camp - Laayoune | Demotix.com Crisis in the desert (tags: westernsahara)
I attended a recent count for a byelection and as we were leaving the town hall the clock struck 11pm. It had taken an hour to finish the count as polling stations had closed at 10pm. I suppose that isn't bad for a count. You see them racing in with the ballot boxes at the general election to try to announce the first MP. Well nobody was racing into the town hall this evening and what intially sounds like an efficient count did not turn out to be so. There were eleven council workers. Let's say ten to make the ...
