Across the road from Minsterley's Bridge Hotel (which was called the Miners' Arms in the days when the nearby Stiperstones lead mines were operating) stands the village church. It was built in 1689 which Pevsner says is: a rare date for a church in the country, and the church is indeed both interesting and attractive in its naive handling of the new semi-classical, semi Baroque motifs.A Birmingham Post article gives more of the history of the church and also discusses the maidens garlands that you will find inside: Our ancestors had a different way of marking the death of an ...
The Spending Review's biggest surprise on climate change policy was to turn the CRC Energy Efficiency Commitment - an auctioned emissions trading scheme for large-scale commerce and the public sector - into a carbon tax. The money from the worst emitters under the scheme won't be recycled back to low carbon emitters after all. Instead, the money raised, expected to reach around £1 billion a year by 2014-15, will go straight into the Treasury's coffers. The Coalition Agreement promises to "increase the proportion of tax revenue accounted for by environmental taxes". The same pledge appeared in the Conservatives' election manifesto. ...
Let's examine Kelly's case in more detail. Why does she get such high benefits? Can they be reduced without causing undue hardship to her and her children? Is such a high level of benefit a disincentive to work? Are working parents on the median wage actually worse off than Kelly? There are things to like and dislike about Kelly. Despite a disability and 4 kids she has done a degree and is doing a further training course. She wants to work. She's made the most of what is available and she has four presentable children. She's probably a good mother. ...
Just a quick update to let residents of Swinton know that major roadworks to renew a gas main are planned for this November. There will be major disruption on Chorley Road - work is planned from 02-22/11/2010. Looks like the work will take place on the road outside the library just before where Chorley Rd. meets ...
Only one application in Southdown this week Ward: Southdown App Ref: 10/04280/FULRegistered: 18th October 2010 Expiry Date: 13th December 2010Location: 251 Englishcombe Lane Southdown Bath Bath And North East Somerset BA2 2ETProposal: Provision of a rear dormer.
After a decade of the Labour Government cutting back on the Post office network by removing their services Vince Cable is implementing a better approach in the coalition. Every post office lost affected communities and neighbourhood shopping parades. In Southdown the Mount Road parade lost 15% of its income when the Post office was closed. The Government has today announced £1.3 billion of funding over the next four years to maintain and modernise the Post Office network. This funding package will reverse the years of decline and secure its long term future. It will ensure that there is no new ...
Wed 27th
21:00
Norwich MP calls for clarity over intentions to store personal e-mail & telephone data
Norwich South MP Simon Wright has asked for the Home Secretary to explain if the government has plans to require telephone and internet service providers (ISPs) to store customers' activities.
If the Alternative Vote had been in use at the 2010 general election, the Liberal Democrats would have won 32 more seats, and a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition would also have had a Commons majority, find the British Politics and Policy at LSE blog. Mark Pack ponders the perils and pitfalls of allowing, and moderating, online comments. "Michael Gove is to be commended for publishing the two Serious Case Reviews (SCR) on the tragic events leading up to the death of Peter Connelly (Baby P). Labour always refused to do so - but if that somewhat overused phrase 'lessons must be ...
I've deliberately kept away from blogging about my recent campaign as a Welsh Liberal Democrat candidate for the Welsh Assembly's Mid & West Wales regional list until now, because it may have been construed as an active campaigning tool. But now it's all over, I can blog about it! 4 Candidates, 4 Hustings! I decided to stand for the party on the list as the Mid & West Wales region as it encompasses the entirety of my life. I was born and bred in Pembrokeshire, educated in Carmarthenshire and have been living for the past 10 years in Ceredigion since ...
A fascinating map from Huffpo assigning a movie to every state in the USA. Just one thing. White font on a yellow background doesn't work.
i) births and deaths 27 October 1923: birth of Peter Bryant, producer of Doctor Who from The Web of Fear (1968) to The Wheel in Space (1969) 27 October 1991: death of Paul Erickson, writer of The Ark (1966) ii) broadcast anniversaries 27 October 1979: broadcast of first episode of The Creature from the Pit. The Doctor is captured by Adrasta; Romana is captured by the bandits and then by Adrasta; the Doctor is thrown down the Pit. 27 October 2009: broadcast of second episode of Secrets of the Stars (SJA). Trueman attempts to summon the Ancient Lights, but is ...
Press attention is focussing on the American mid-term elections being held on 2 November but there's another one looming before. On Halloween's Day Brazilians will again vote for the next President and I am supporting Dilma Rousseff. The story of Brazil's economic success interests me because it is the concept of a big state which has led to its' growing importance. This is in opposite to the UK which is moving away from a big state under the coalition. Jobs are being created and people's earnings are rising over there. Brazil was thought off as a third world country but ...
The Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Order 2010 has been tabled in Parliament this week bringing about changes in the law for the Scottish Parliament elections. As it is a Statutory Instrument (SI) it cannot be amended – either it gets Parliamentary approval or it is rejected outright. It is extremely rare for an SI to be rejected and there are no signs that this one will be in that class. The main changes people can therefore expect for the next Scottish Parliament elections are: [IMG: Scottish Parliament] The rules controlling donations to Scottish Parliament constituency candidates will now be the ...
Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat Voice These days, Ed Miliband is getting a lot of advice on how to deal with Prime Minister's Questions. A leaked memo advised him to "get to your feet looking as though you are seizing on something new", and to ensure that he has a "cheer line" so his speech can be "clipped by the broadcasters". David Cameron, of course, reminded Ed Miliband of this advice today. But the best advice came in the form of an example of excellent questioning by Bob Russell, Liberal Democrat MP for Colchester. In the last question today, Bob referred ...
Stonewall have finally come out with a statement 'supporting' equal marriage: "We seek to secure marriage for gay people as a civil vehicle on the same basis as heterosexual marriage, available in a registry office but without a mandate on religious organisations to celebrate it. "We seek to retain civil partnerships for lesbian and gay people recognising their special and unique status." But hang on, this is not what I or the Liberal Democrats are saying. Merely keeping is a civil vehicle ignores some of the LGBT community. People like me who are of faith and LGBT and want a ...
Those of you from south of the border may not have heard of a landmark UK Supreme Court judgement given yesterday which stated that in future Police will no longer have the right to question suspects in Scotland without a lawyer present. In 2008, a judgement in the European Court of Human Rights stated that it violated human rights to have interrogation without legal counsel. I'm not a lawyer, but I am not sure I understand why the SNP Government didn't see the significance of this at that time and take time to consult and legislate. Instead the Scottish Parliament ...
These days, Ed Miliband is getting a lot of advice on how to deal with Prime Minister's Questions. A leaked memo advised him to "get to your feet looking as though you are seizing on something new", and to ensure that he has a "cheer line" so his speech can be "clipped by the broadcasters". David Cameron, of course, reminded Ed Miliband of this advice today. But the best advice came in the form of an example of excellent questioning by Bob Russell, Liberal Democrat MP for Colchester. In the last question today, Bob referred to the "fun and games" ...
I was listening to Iain Dales LBC radio show last night. One caller said that 95 percent of people are Left Wing. I always find it interesting how some people delude themselves into thinking that their personal made-up fact is some how true and statistically accurate and can therefore make their point stronger. Although this does bring up another question in my mind. How Left or Right Wing is the public, I could not find any UK surveys on this subject. But even if there was one I wonder how many would know where they truly stand. Those of us ...
Apparently, its Energy Saving Week, October 25 - 31st October. Personally, I think that there are too many 'weeks', but this is a subject that I particularly care about. The Energy Savings Trust has loads of hints and tips if you are trying to think of ways to save energy. Closer to home, Sheffield Is My Planet is asking for pledges and has links to local events and also lots of advice too. I have signed up to 10:10, and I am waiting (not very eagerly!) for my electricity bill to see if I've managed to do it.
I was recently contacted by Dr Catriona Burness, a researcher in the field of women in politics. She has published a report on Women and Parliaments in the UK. She says: The report presents a factual snapshot of the current position in each elected parliamentary chamber in the UK. All elected women are listed alongside tables showing representation by party. The positions of the parties represented in the chambers in relation to candidate selection for Westminster and the devolved chambers have been summarised in essays on each parliament/assembly. It brings together information that is otherwise available but dispersed. An independent ...
I saw this when I was out and about today, and thought I'd share it with you. I have done a search on interweb and can't find anyone to attribute it to. I hope you enjoy it: If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who won't survive the week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle,the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation,you are ahead of 20 million people around the world. If you attend a church meeting without fear of harassment,arrest, ...
This morning, the Council's Cabinet agreed a set of proposed cuts that will see most of our libraries and One Stop Shops close, an end to 27 rural bus services and more than £4 million cut from the budget that helps the most vulnerable adults. The budget meeting went roughly as expected in that councillors from across the political spectrum lined up to criticise the cuts but the Cabinet voted them through in any case. It is now up to backbench and opposition councillors to secure the 62 votes that any changes need in order to reverse individual cuts. Every ...
Amidst all the excitement (including, but not limited to, an interesting little spike in my readership, of which more anon) it occurs to me that I haven't provided my usual service of blogging my speeches from Welsh Lib Dem Conference, which was very successfully held in Brecon the weekend before last. So without further ado, my weekend's contribution, on a motion calling for a distinctive Welsh voice in party policy... Conference, when I read this motion I was struck by the importance of the message it sends. Ironically, I think it struck me most because I'm English. More specifically, I'm ...
I desperately want to be nice to Stonewall. They've got rid of Bill Leckie from their award nominations and have now climbed down on their marriage equality position. These are good things. But I can't help thinking Stonewall hasn't learnt it's lessons. First it continues to crow about it's film "Fit", despite it containing some transphobic elements. And it's new support for marriage equality seems half-hearted. Did they write their press release in a rush? Stonewall is pleased to be widening its campaigning objectives to include extending the legal form of marriage to gay people. Our policy position on this ...
The Government has published a response to my 2009 Downing Street Petition against Gordon Brown's cuts to Territorial Army (TA) training. The petition, which thousands of you signed, was part of a successful campaign against the cuts, on which the Labour Government eventually backed down. I welcome the Government's response, which says: "Territorial Army routine training was reviewed and savings were identified as part of an in-year savings package during the last financial year. All routine training has now been reinstated and training programmes have resumed. The Strategic Defence and Security review, published on 19 October, announced a 6-month review ...
Fluff over substance I have a confession. While I have reservations about the current policy on social housing, that's not what this piece is about. Andrew Stunell has written compellingly about our policy as has Dominic Curran. All I'll say is that successive Labour and Tory governments have failed abysmally over the last thirty years to invest in affordable housing. They've helped exacerbate social and community division, inflate housing price bubbles and distort the economy and our attitudes to wealth. Unwittingly or not, they are the architects of the ghetto. So if you're interested in the substance of the argument, ...
[IMG: http://www.wikio.co.uk] At Full Council last week I asked the following: What assessment has the Lead Councillor for Finance and Service Improvement made of the cost saving to the Council both in officer time and resources that would have previously gone into meeting the demands of the Comprehensive Area Assessment? REPLY by Councillor Stevens (Lead Councillor for Finance and Service Improvement): There were two key elements to the CAA: The Area Assessment itself which covered both the Council and public sector partners Organisational Assessment of the Council's use of resources. Both of these elements involved a proportion of officer time ...
The Pink Paper are reporting that Stonewall have "joined the fight for gay marriage equality"! Excellent news! Lets see what Stonewall have to say about it: We seek to secure marriage for gay people as a civil vehicle on the same basis as heterosexual marriage, available in a registry office but without a mandate on religious organisations to celebrate it. We seek to retain civil partnerships for lesbian and gay people recognising their special and unique status. Hang on, something isn't right here. Who mentioned vehicles? A civil what? And yes, much of the LGBT population of the UK would ...
An easy way to support ALDC at this time of year - WITHOUT spending any extra money - is to make use of our Amazon and ITunes links. Both of these work in exactly the same way - you have the normal full Amazon and ITunes websites, but for every purchase you make ALDC receives a small fee from Amazon or ITunes - you don't pay a penny more! Amazon is a mail order website, one of the biggest in the world. Amazon isn't just books nowadays, departments include: baby, beauty, mobile phones, clothes, electrics magazines and music. ITunes is ...
New words for inclusion in the Collins English dictionary have been announced. They include 'simples' as made famous by comparethemarket.com's Alexsandr the Meerkat, and BGT in reference to Britain's Got Talent. Other popular culture entries inlcude 'fauxmance,' referring to celebrities having fake relationships in order to get publicity in the media, and 'tweetheart,' to describe a tweeter who gains admiration from their fellow members online. Politicians have also made their mark on the dictionary, with Con-Lib featuring in the new edtion. Gordon Brown's 'bigotgate' and David Cameron's 'broken society' are now defined in the dictionary too. Nick Clegg gets two ...
Ann McElvoy, writing in the Evening Standard, adds an interesting perspective on Coalition life: Look, for instance, at the policy writhing on tuition fees of the main party in power. On Monday, I chaired a meeting at the University of London on the future of higher education. David Willetts, the universities minister, ran the gauntlet of students shouting "F*** the fees" with the look of a man who knows that he is to this generation of uppity students what Keith Joseph was in my youth: permanent quarry. Yet his message, through clenched teeth, was that fees would still be capped ...
I was recently summoned, along with other Bury Area Partnership Chairs, to attend a special meeting to discuss the future of the Area Partnerships. The area Partnerships of L(ocal)APs as they have become known are Bury's local area or township committees. Initially they started life as Area Boards and were properly constituted committees of the Council. Then several years ago they were reorganised outside of council control in order that they became sort of shared responsibility with Council partners ie Police, NHS etc. At the special meeting we were "treated" to a powerpoint presentation about Team Bury - which is ...
We don't need to tell you how important the elections in May 2011 are to the Party. To help ensure that as many of the thousands of Lib Dem candidates next May WIN, we're offering HALF PRICE membership of ALDC to every Lib Dem candidate in the May 2011 local elections. For as little as 75p week, all ALDC members will be able to benefit from: exclusive access to campaign literature templates, artwork and advice exclusive weekly "Campaigner" email, packed full of campaign issues, ideas, council motions and best practice ALDC's bi-monthly members magazine "Campaigner" a free "MyCouncillor" website full ...
In the post-spending-review spin fest there seem to be two parallel strategies running. The Tory press is trotting out the old line on social security scroungers, the Lib Dems, using roughly the same language, are talking about getting tough on tax dodgers. Significantly, both George Osbourne and Danny Alexander used the phrase "lifestyle choice" to attack their respective targets. Its all a little tired and predictable. Some new politics wouldn't go amiss. As with everything I find these days, there are lessons from running my local rugby club. Collecting membership subscriptions is always a bit of a challenge in any ...
If you'd like to talk to a member of the team about problems then we are pleased to announce we are starting drop in sessions at Arbury Community Centre on the second Saturday morning of each month. The first one is on Saturday 13th November from 10 until noon. Andy and I should be attending that one (and possibly other members of the team). No appointment is needed: we should be in the reception area, but will have private space if needed for your issue. The next few dates will be 13 November11 December8 January 201112 February Do come and ...
It's great seeing QR codes going mainstream. First ASDA, then ITV2, now Tesco are creating print adverts with QR codes. After years of me banging on about how they were poised to take on in the UK – it looks like they've made it. The advert is a pretty good start. I'm a bit confused about why it says "Use your iPhone or Blackberry to scan the barcode" when both Android and Nokia also have barcode readers (I guess Windows Phone 7 will have one too). [IMG: Tesco QR code advert] I left this comment on the site. Looks really ...
No this is not the start of a dodgy joke. Cornish Councillor Alex Folkes has a quite bizarre tale on his blog regarding budget savings down there. The posting covers thoughts and views on priorities and then ends on this note Incidentally, this morning Cllr Robertson and Council Chief Executive Kevin Lavery held a press conference to announce the proposed budget. Lib Dem Group Leader Doris Ansari went along to hear what they had to say, only to be thrown out of the event because apparently: "Press conferences are private meetings" Huh? Odd, very odd indeed. H/T Mark Pack
You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. This quote, usually attributed to Abraham Lincoln, goes to prove that some things in politics never change. After thirteen years of spin, media manipulation and bare-faced lies (don't believe the rumours folks, Gordon and Tony really do have a very good working relationship), one might be forgiven for thinking that there was no one left who believed a word the Labour party had to say on anything. Nevertheless, ...
This year I will be attending the Didsbury Beer Festival to show my support for CAMRA and local pubs and brewers. This is a community event that takes place every year, run by local volunteers. With food, entertainment and over 100 different beers, it's sure to be enjoyable for all. Festival proceeds will be donated ...
John O Shea has now started a bidding war on gilt yield graphs. I think, however, that looking at 1900-2009 is sufficient.The figures here are annual averages, but they show clearly how it is possible to have problems with the interest rate on government debt.The peaks were indeed during the Labour Government of 1974-9.Labour, although they were in theory talking about cuts of just over 40bn do
There's been quite a lot online and in some traditional media in the last few days about how the government is supposedly resurrecting Labour's plans for online snooping (the cuddly sounding Interception Modernisation Programme). Zoe O'Connell has covered this story well on her blog so here are a couple of quotes followed by a link to her full stories: 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 ...
There's a war going on in Brussels. Governments are under attack from the European Commission and allies in the European Parliament. The aggressors want to force the governments to be more open and transparent, and to stop them hiding the details of how the EU laws to which they have agreed get turned into national laws. They are demanding that governments publish 'correlation tables' that will demonstrate, clause by clause, how this will be done. The various requirements of a single EU law may end up as different parts of several national laws. It's hard to keep a check on ...
Yesterday I was proud to welcome Baroness Shirley Williams, former Lib Dem leader of House of Lords, to South East Wales when she visited the Drill Hall in Chepstow. After holding a book signing for her new book she took time to meet with members and discuss a range of issues from the Welsh NHS to the Severn Barrage. I was encouraged too when she highlighted the importance of parties from across the political spectrum working together if they are to achieve the goal of keeping Newport Passport Office open. It was a pleasure to listen to Shirley speak so ...
Michael Gove is to be commended for publishing the two Serious Case Reviews (SCR) on the tragic events leading up to the death of Peter Connelly (Baby P). Labour always refused to do so - but if that somewhat overused phrase 'lessons must be learned' is to mean anything - then publishing SCRs is a real step in the right direction. Finally, we can actually see what was in the first SCR - and then see what was in the second SCR commissioned by Ed Balls because he believed the first one was 'inadequate'. Having read both - twice - ...
Last night I got a letter from the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority. This thankfully restated the fact that they are not going to send any waste to Jack Allen Holdings for its planned waste plant. We are still fighting to prevent this plant going ahead, and we know that if JA can't get contracts to deal with waste, it won't be built. The letter was in response to something I had sent but big thanks to other people who also lobbied MWDA.
I'm now approaching the end of my term as Secretary of the East of England Liberal Democrats, and I have been wondering about whether or not I should seek a second term. For one thing, the role is not the one I had when I was the Regional Secretary in London. Where I had Flick, whose role was more all-encompassing, I now have Lorna, whose organisational skills and effective use of technology mean that there is far more crossover between our job descriptions. What this means is that I have lost the hands on element of the task, minuting and ...
Sky News this week has pulled the plug on its news discussion boards because, Although the boards were very popular, a small number of people had hijacked them and reduced the level of debate to meaningless abuse. At Sky News we welcome robust debate about the news, but we want it to be of a high standard. I am afraid that too often on the discussion boards threads which started intelligently would degenerate into mindless name calling. Sky is far from unusual in facing problems over how to keep online political discussion from degenerating in that way. For some, of ...
Next week I'm at the Environment and Climate Change Committee. We've got someone coming from Enterprise Liverpool to talk about those annoying blue bags so perhaps all the shouting has paid off. (I hope so because we are talking about four years of intermitent shouting) Anyway, I have also sent in a couple of questions which I have posted below. Shopping Trolleys Given that abandoned shopping trolleys can cause an environmental nuisance and that trolley dumping still occurs in parts of the City, are there any plans to use the powers in schedule 4 of the Environmental Protection Act? If ...
It was always going to happen. Having proved he is not utterly useless in his first performances, Ed Miliband received the wrath of Prime Minister David Cameron today at Prime Ministers Questions. Having jumped enthusiastically to his feet to slam the Government on cutting peoples' jobs, the PM calmly reeled off a letter in the Times giving advice to Ed on how to deal with the hornets nest of PMQs. It turned out Ed had followed the advice entirely, and the cheers soon died in in the throats of the baying Labour MPs behind him. Cameron finished off the Leader ...
Better late than never, it's worth highlighting Peter Oborne's thoughtful piece on the politics of coalition which came out last month: Cameron and his Liberal Democrat partner Nick Clegg have fundamentally changed the nature of British public discourse. For years, mainstream politicians haven't questioned the dominant orthodoxy that robust argument is incompatible with good government. In particular, this doctrine lay behind New Labour's humourless apparatus of strong central control. Those who spoke out of turn or questioned official policy were threatened, punished and if necessary eliminated... We are already starting to take this courteous and civilised method of doing business ...
Stockport councillors are now holding the council to account on it's use of RIPA (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act). RIPA regulates the ways public bodies are permitted to use covert surveillance (or to spy on people, if you prefer to look at it that way). Last year Stockport used RIPA four times - once to investigate anti-social behaviour and three times to investigate allegations of selling counterfeit alcohol or alcohol to underage people. In the first quarter of this year (April - June 2010) RIPA was used five times, though two of those related to the same case. One was ...
Recommended reading for Lib Dem Councillors and local campaigners in the last week. Obviously the main news of the last seven days was the Comprehensive Spending Review, and its impact and aftermath. For background this was our members' background briefing on the day after the CSR (ALDC members only). The day after CSR, the Guardian featured this interview with the Deputy Prime Minister: Nick Clegg interview: "This is a thoughtful plan over four years". Also from the Guardian: George Osborne has bloodied hands, but the voters are on his side. The Daily Mail has a different perspective on some of ...
Paul Collier, Oxford professor and author of The Bottom Billion and The Plundered Planet has a radical proposal for ending the education apartheid that leaves most children in poorer quality schools than their parents would choose. As well as ending the situation whereby "the parents least committed to their children determine [the] quality" of education that most experience, it would break the link between location and education that has driven up house prices and linked wealth to schooling in the most destructive and counter-productive way. I have summarised these ideas at the IEA blog, where you can also link to ...
A new post by me on the AntiPornMen Project.
Wed 27th
11:50
Scaremongering and slanging - the new generation Labour approach to Parliamentary Debate
Of all the welfare elements cut by the Government, the one which troubles me the least is the abolition of the Health in Pregnancy Grant. This one of payment of £190 was paid to every single pregnant woman in the last 3 months of her pregnancy, with the aim of ensuring that she was able to provide herself with nutritious food as she approached the birth. All women would have received that - including Coleen Rooney, married to someone who earns £60 a minute (barely adequate compensation for putting up with him, but that's another story) and who has her ...
[IMG: Skins (TV series)] Image via Wikipedia VN was delighted to hear that the filming of Skins series 5 was well underway, and reported that the American version was nearly good to go too. The programme will be broadcast by MTV, and the creator of the British version, Bryan Elsley, is in charge of this new offshoot. MTV have recently started releasing trailers: What made the original UK version so brilliant is that it touched on characters and characteristics that our uniquely British. Elsley has compiled an all American writing team for the Skins trip across the Atlantic, and it ...
We have read much in the last few days about how the benefits system, is about to undergo a radical overhaul. What we are just starting to hear about though is the poor way in which this overhaul will be delivered. The last government (yes Labour people, that is you) started to look at disability living allowance (DLA) and made the system, "tougher" on people. This toughness though was done on the cheap, with non medically trained people doing one hour assessments on people on DLA to ascertain whether they were entitled to continue claiming DLA. Quite how a non ...
Claims by Labour and Plaid Cymru that they support removing the UK´s 109 billion pound structural deficit, but not at the speed being pursued by the Coalition Government for fear of a double dip recession, look difficult to sustain today in the light of news that the economy is growing faster than expected. The Western Mail reports that a week after Chancellor George Osborne detailed cuts of £81bn from public spending, data from the Office for National Statistics suggests that the economy grew by 0.8% in the third quarter of the year. These figures are twice what many economists predicted, ...
BillBloggs writes another letter. A letter to Liberal Democrat MEP's Catherine Bearder and Sharon Bowles. Dear MEPS, I am appalled! Here we are in a major recession with major cuts in Government expenditure, half a billion jobs to go in the public sector hence the need to rely on the private sector to create more jobs - and what do the bloom'in EU want to do? Hang another millstone around the necks of both public and private sector employers with increased maternity leave payments! AND - that is on top of the EU wanting a 6% increase in their budget ...
As residents are aware, I have been anxious that the wiring faults that have put the real time bus timetable information at bus shelters out of action are repaired and the service is back working at all shelters as soon as possible. As an update to the information I reported last month, I have now been advised by the City Development Department as follows : "In the West End ward, the bus shelters listed below have been repaired. Perth Road Opp Patons Lane Perth Road Opp RoseanglePerth Road Near Ritchies LanePerth Road at Seafield LanePerth Road Near Arnhall DrivePerth Road ...
Last week Nick Clegg and the Institute of Fiscal studies squared up over the issue of whether the cuts proposed in the Comprehensive Spending Review are fair. It is a debate which strikes at the heart of Lib Dems in the coalition government and it will determine the shape of politics in this country for next decade. For the first time ever the Treasury included an impact analysis of the announced changes within the CSR, the effect of pressure from Lib Dems. These were calculated according to the sections of society that will bear the burden of the changes (ie ...
One of the main highway priorities for Hull is the A63 'Castle street' road through to the docks. There has been a cross party effort in recent years to get this scheme onto the priority list for approval. Back in March the then Labour government issued this press release which stated Subject to the successful completion of statutory processes and funding, construction work on the A63 scheme could start in or around 2016. General happines all round. Labour MPs happy. Council leader cautiously optimistic, long way to go etc etc. Yesterday we had the conclusion of the long awaited review ...
Last night I attended the latest meeting of River Crescent Residents' Association. We had a useful discussion about current issues including bus services, the Tay Rail Bridge Disaster Memorial Public Appeal Launch and the forthcoming West End Christmas Week.
But it pours and pours. Well it did for one day while I was taking an extended weekend break walking along the coast of Argyll, leaving me completely soaked and my mobile phone and its internet connection very, very poorly. On the other hand it was a small price to pay for the 3 great days of hill and beach walking in fantastic autumn weather that followed.
Looking for Liberal Democrat Council candidates? If yes, then this event is for you!
I chaired a roundtable event run by Cancer Research UK and the Royal College of GPs during the Lib Dem Liverpool conference entitled 'Time is of the essence: diagnosing cancer earlier'. We were joined by a variety of stakeholders from the health community, including the BMA, Liverpool PCT, Merseyside and Cheshire Cancer Network as well as Councillor Ron Gould, Liberal Democrat Opposition Spokesperson for Adult Social Care and Health in Liverpool. The question on the table was a complex one: how we can diagnose cancer earlier? Each year around 298,000 people are diagnosed with cancer and over two million people ...
Hopi Sen has blogged thoughtfully several times recently about the risk to Labour of slipping into focusing on the tactics without getting the strategy right. In Labour's case that means, for example, an undue focus on how to next best shout – "those cuts are awful!" rather than working out how to deal with the public mostly blaming Labour for the need to cut in the first place. Tactical triumphs at PMQs only gets you so far; rebuilding a reputation for economic competence is what is needed to win – as William Hague found in his time as Conservative leader. ...
On her blog the Conservative MP Nadine Dorries recently wrote, For those who may not know – you become a 'prospective candidate' from the moment of selection until the legal election period begins which is when you transfer to being a candidate. You cannot be a candidate from selection because if you do call yourself such, the period of time you incurr election expenses kick in. Parliamentary candidates are Prospective Parliamentary Candidates, PPCs from selection until the election is called and then become Parliamentary Candidate from that time for the period of the short campaign. I imagine the same law ...
You might remember that I've written before about the plight of Florence Mhango and her 11 year old daughter Precious, who are living their lives in Glasgow in perpetual threat of immediate deportation to Malawi where they could face permanent separation. Florence and Precious came into the UK 7 years ago as dependents of her then husband. Because of his violence to her, Florence fled with her daughter to Glasgow. While her husband remains entitled to live in this country, Florence and Precious have been refused asylum, despite the fact that if they are returned to Malawi, her ex husband's ...
Fire chiefs in Greater Manchester today issued a warning shot to people trying to make bogus claims against them after two motorists were caught out using CCTV technology. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service revealed how it successfully scuppered two fake claims from fraudulent drivers after installing CCTV to their vehicles. The technology has already saved thousands of pounds in insurance claims against the service. In the first, a motorist claimed a fire engine sped off a petrol station forecourt in Stockport so fast it collided with his car "with such force that it moved the vehicle, causing damage to ...
The charity Reprieve, which works to help prisoners on death row, has posted an Amazon wishlist for Linda Carty, a British grandmother on death row, who reads a lot to help her cope. There were only five books on it to start with (and only one now), but I'm sure more will be added at ...
[IMG: Jammed parking on Mount View Road] Great news for the many local residents who want action on parking: the consultation on whether the Finsbury Park Controlled Parking Zone should be extended north is due to to start on 19 November. The consultation will extend as far north as Ridge Road, and including all the roads inbetween that are not already in the CPZ such as Mount View, Granville, Quernmore, Ferme Park, Stapleton Hall and Oakfield Roads. This consultation is something Katherine, Ed and I have been pushing hard for – after we did a survey of residents which indicated ...
I must admit that 1. this is quite a bold title to start head a post and 2. Its not mine it is from a post by Dermot Finch Dermot used to run the centre for cities think tank before moving into public affairs. He (and his think tank) did a number of pieces of work concerning Hull and although we didn't always agree he was always worth listening to. His thoughts on a double dip recession are well worth a couple of minutes time. You can read them here
Robert Reich comments on the latest round of 'Stimulation' in the USA and sounds a warning. He says: The latest jobs bill coming out of Washington isn't really a bill at all, it's the Fed's attempt to keep long-term interest rates low by pumping even more money into the economy ("quantitative easing" in Fed-speak)....... Problem is, it won't work.... So where will the easy money go? Into another stock-market bubble. It's already started. Stocks are up even though the rest of the economy is still down because money is already so cheap. Bondholders (who can't get much of any return ...
Being in Canada, I can't watch the news item about Kelly Cottam, but I can see the blurb: "She admits she lives a comfortable lifestyle". Gosh -- that's appalling isn't it? The gall of the woman. A single mother with four children living a comfortable lifestyle. What can we do about that? I know. Let's make them pick oakum.
I'm not sure I actually have adequate words in my vocabulary to describe my feelings towards Vodafone this evening. I will be hand-delivering a copy of the following letter to their store in Woolwich tomorrow morning, if can't get the problems detailed resolved whilst I'm there. To whom it may concern; RE: contract reference xxxxxxx I signed up for a contract with you recently, purchasing a new handset on your £30 online plan (including 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB data each month). This was arranged over the phone with Ian (surname not given) from your sales team on Tuesday ...
Western Sahara: The Forgotten Injustice « Jonathan Fryer (tags: westernsahara)
Did you see on the news the woman who claimed benefits and could not go to work unless she received a salary of £60,000? Is this fair? Due to the complexity of the benefit system she was getting money from many directions for many reasons. She will be an extreme example and that is why she got on the news but in general people who work should get more than people who are on benefits, otherwise what is the point of working? I hope this is not a common occurrence and in the vast majority of cases it is worth ...
