It always reassures me when my blog gets quoted at County Hall, as happened in Cabinet today. Sheer numbers ensure that the controlling political party can wield power pretty much as it pleases, so you might think that daily reading of this website would be unecessary. I can't tell the motivation. It could be fear, or masochism, or simply that (like other readers) they want to know what's going on. Whatever the motivation, I take it as a compliment! So what was going on today? To tell the truth, a lot was going on but low key, unglamorous, and very ...
There's been a fair bit of fuss today on the airwaves about councils cutting back on street lighting. Our local BBC radio station stirred up a great deal of discussion, mostly ill informed. Comments like "How would you feel if the street lights were turned off?" don't actually help anyone. Stockton Council has no plans to turn off lights but it does use modern technology to allow the lights to
When Liberal Democrat and other PPC's up and down the country canvassed people during the general election, they made a promise. They promised they would not raise the cap on tuition fees. They didn't say they would talk about it, they said they WOULD NOT DO IT. As a result of the U Turn on this promise, today, 52,000 students took to the streets of London and protested about the proposed increases. Violence broke out around Millbank, the home of the Conservative party HQ, whilst other protestors tried to gain access to Liberal Democrat HQ in Cowley Street. Martin Horwood ...
Yesterday Liberal Democrat Voice ran a post from (Lord) Chris Rennard about a question he had tabled regarding the Chinese Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. It's now been asked and answered in Parliament, and here's the transcript from Hansard: China: Liu Xiaobo Question 3.29 pm [IMG: Lord Chris Rennard] Asked By Lord Rennard To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, and if so how, they will raise concerns about the imprisonment of the Nobel Peace Prize Winner Liu Xiaobo during the Prime Minister's visit to China. The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): My Lords, ...
These images were produced in yesterday's carotid artery duplex scan. They indicate some narrowing of the arteries, but not enough to justify surgery. (See www.muschealth.com/gs/TandPcontent.aspx?pageid=P07992) I need a bit of a tutorial on how to interpret these images. - probably there would be something on the web, but it would take time.
Nick Clegg today addressed a packed lunch hosted by the Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel. The Deputy Prime Minister gave a very impressive speech, reiterating his support for a two state solution. He also said that while he thought that the party has been right to speak out in support of the Palestinian people, they had not always struck the right balance in equally supporting the state of Israel, and he would look to redress this in the future. In just a short time the speech went beyond a simple good vs bad argument, and took a fair and nuanced ...
Earlier today I wrote about problems caused by the road works in central Launceston. After a flurry of emails with council officers there are now more signs at the entrance to Wooda Road to advise motorists that there is always access to Tower Street and Castle Street and to sign any diversion which may be in place. That's good news but it appears that there were points when the whole of Wooda and Dockacre were closed off and so no access was possible to Tower Street or Castle Street even though there should have been. I'm grateful to officers for ...
I've been at a meeting today where we were discussing the new government's agenda and its implications for local government. One of the themes that came out was the government's agenda for increased transparency in local government (for the record, a principle I agree with). One example is the duty for councils to publish all expenditure over £500. I find it interesting that central government departments will be required to publish only expenditure over £25,000. One of the other interesting themes that came out of the session was the new language being used in central government. Regionalism and sub-region are ...
It was not what they had planned but it will forever be remembered for it. The almost riotous scenes at No.30 Millbank will make the headlines tomorrow and is what will remain in the public mind when the NUS Higher Education march of November 2010 is remembered in years to come. Tens of thousands of students, many of whom were from Aberystwyth and Lampeter, and many of those were Liberal Democrat students, travelled in good faith today to legitimately demonstrate against Government plans to increase the tuition fees cap up to £9,000. The Militant TendencyBut despite their peaceful protests, the ...
Further to my recent item about concerns from residents in the Tullideph area about the temporary crossing arrangements across City Road to the shops, during the current work to replace the traffic lights, and as reported in today's Courier and Evening Telegraph, the Managing Director of Tayside Contracts has advised me : "Further to our telephone conversation regarding the crossing of elderly residents of the sheltered housing complex adjacent to the Tullideph Road/City Road junction I can confirm the actions we have taken since you raised the issue with me yesterday. It is not possible to get 4 way lights ...
Wed 10th
20:51
Death, Snooping, Spy cameras, Flood and a Fiery end - on offer for one night only in Margate
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I rather like this picture of the bridge that carries the Cambrian Coast line over the Afon Glaslyn just outside Porthmadog and of the mountains beyond. Which is just as well, because I got eaten alive taking it. Walking home from Portmeirion, I noticed that a footpath ran to either end of this bridge. Perhaps there was a path running across it too? Not a bit of it, it turned out, so I had to retrace my steps. But while I was down by the river here I was bitten by lots of mosquitoes. The lumps came up the following ...
I am very angry at the actions of those students who became violent because my generation could have benefitted from the demonstration today if it hadn't been hijacked for violent purposes. The stand off between the hard core student demonstrators and the police is still going on. The focus was meant to have been on those thousands of students who came to London today to get their point across which is that the Government's proposed decision to remove the cap on tuition fees will be a mistake. Unfortunately, a lot of society views students as being silly freeloaders and the ...
Rarely, both the Prime Minister and the Opposition leader had reason to be absent from Prime Minister's Questions today. So it was dear Harriet versus the Cleggster. As an added twist, it turned into a "Higher Education Special", in part spurred by the student demonstrations outside parliament as the session was unfolding. There were no less than ten questions on higher education. My, the Labour whips had been busy. Sadly this meant less time for the constituency issues often raised by MPs. I witnessed the session live via Twitter, where Nick Clegg received a rather jaundiced reception - to put ...
I'm furious. I'm furious for a variety of reasons relating to the higher education funding debate, but not Millbank-trashing furious. No, if I was to mask up and stick a railing through a window, it'd be the NUS who should be pulling down the shutters (I would never take direct action. I'm just trying to attract attention to the seriousness of this situation). I'm furious because the backbenchers of my party aren't courageous enough to tell the truth to the public. I'm furious because various student groups who are receiving generous funding to support themselves through university are telling future ...
On his blog for the BBC, Michael Crick writes: Rachel Smith, the wife of the Business Secretary, Vince Cable has attacked the coalition's plans to end life-long tenancies in social housing. They would lead to a bureaucratic nightmare and solve nothing, she says in the new edition of the Liberal Democrat grassroots magazine Liberator. "It is a seriously bad idea, though it tries to deal with a real problem," she says. "The review process every five years would be a nightmare. If you found yourself threatened with the loss of your home, wouldn't you make sure your household was at ...
An open note to Spotify – when, oh when, are you going to add support for the Blackberry 9700. This has been promised since last year, and yet nothing has happened although you have added numerous other phones and OS's to your list. I would renew my premium subscription if you let me use my ...
MEMO From: Phil Woolas To: Labour Party MPs Dear colleague, Thanks for speaking up about how outrageous it is for the courts to oust someone elected by the public with a surprise ruling that sets an awful legal precedent for what was a spur of the moment decision people made during the election. As the media are building up a welcome interest in the number of MPs who share your views and mine, I have prepared the following brief notes to help you avoid any snarky questions from journalists on this topic. DON'T say it's awful for someone the public ...
We currently expect a parliamentary by-election for the Oldham East & Saddleworth constituency to take place well before Christmas. This will be one of the shorter by-election campaigns we have seen but it is important that people in Oldham are not left unrepresented after what has happened there. Within 24 hours of Phil Woolas being found guilty of breaking election law last Friday, we had a new campaign HQ up and running. There is an experienced campaign team already in place: veterans of many victories, including the last by-election in this area, Littleborough and Saddleworth in 1995. My experience of ...
Today students took to the streets of Westminster to protest against cuts in education and a rise in tuition fees. Unfortunately some took the name of the protest, 'Demolition', a bit too literally, and chose to kick in windows at CCHQ. Well...what do you expect from Trots.... All these so called protestors have done is damage the cause of those who try to raise this issue in legitimate political forums, of which peaceful protest is one. The NUS deserves criticism for making the campaign so partisan, and personal against Nick Clegg. They also deserve criticism for pathetically calling it 'Demolition, ...
So the rumours were well founded. Lembit Opik is to be one of the contestants in this year's I'm a Celebrity,... Get Me Out of Here. Has it really come to this? Two years ago, in the wake of his defeat by Ros Scott in the Lib Dem Presidential election, I wrote: Lembit has tested to destruction the proposition that there is no such thing as bad publicity. He now needs to take himself more seriously in order to persuade others to take him more seriously. He has a Westminster seat to retain and will no doubt return to the ...
Some of you will have seen this elsewhere: [Interviewer:] You have stated elsewhere that the plot of the novel was given to you in a vision while taking ayahuasca, a mind altering substance from the Amazon, a drug you have taken at least thirty times. What led you to believe that this substance is more than a hallucinogenic, and that the visions you received were more than just the ravings of a drug-enhanced mind and actually from a higher power? [Author:] Ayahuasca, and its active ingredient dimethyltryptamine (DMT) are extremely interesting agents for bringing about deeply altered states of consciousness. ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 194th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (31st October — 6th November, 2010), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. ...
Justin Richards is the Terrance Dicks of our day, in that he has written far more Doctor Who books than anyone should want to, and his good ones are classics while his less good ones are at least average. System Shock doesn't quite make it to being better than average, unfortunately. The Doctor and Sarah Jane arrive in London in 1998 to find aliens invading and Harry Sullivan now senior in MI5. The aliens are amusingly addicted to management-speak, and there are some nice riffs on the digital culture of the era. But inserting the quintessentially 70s characters of the ...
Mister Choy, the consultant gynaecological oncologist at the MacMillan centre, was very lovely. I have had more blood taken because although the initial blood tests checked my blood cell counts and liver and kidney function and blood sugar they didn't actually check for cancer markers. This is possibly because the first suspicion was an ectopic pregnancy. Gideon is slightly bigger than a walnut. He's about 7 centimetres in diameter. It's still possible that he's a fibroid or a cyst, and I may need to go for another scan. I have to go back in two weeks (unless I need a ...
Asked the question below, as nothing has happened for all the meetings I have attended, one officer no money this what happens.Q.6: From Cllr Nigel Roberts for Cllr Charles Gerrish: Please could the Executive member report on what the Council is doing to ensure that the Wansdyke through Odd Down is safeguarded and that the footpath that runs along the Wansdyke is passable for walkers. Answer
Liberal Democrat Councillors on B&NES are bringing the campaign to save Culverhay school to the Council chamber next week with a motion calling on the Cabinet not to close the school and to allow it to become co-educational."We are determined to make use of every available opportunity to try and make the Cabinet members change their minds about Culverhay. This motion will give the rest of the
U-turns are always hard to countenance in politics, especially u-turns as drastic as reversing a party's opposition to any rises in university tuition-fees. However, the pathetic whining of the NUS in their coalition with comfortably salaried lecturers, and a shamefully cynical manipulation of mostly well-heeled students, should make even the staunchest opponent of tuition fees consider their position. The current economic climate demands no less, with a ballooning deficit. Without tutition-fee rises, the prospect would loom of even deeper cuts to a sector that is alledged to have some of the best universities in the world. The burden of proof ...
If anyone in interested in standing as a City (or district) or County Councillor then there a couple of events coming up that might be of interest. The first is run by the City Council and is on Wednesday 17th November at 6pm in the Committee Rooms at the Guildhall. This is for people who would like to stand for the City next May. More details will be published on the City Council website soon. There is also a Be A Councillor event on 23 November at 7pm, for anyone in the Eastern Region who might like to stand for ...
Successfully lobbied for by various councillors and community groups: St Peters Road Jennings Road Church Crescent Ridgmont Road Abbey Mill Lane Romeland Hill Abbey View Road De Tany Court (near Thorpe Road) I had hoped for one on Paxton Road, which has a serious slope.
Co-chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, Lorely Burt has been invited to advise the Coalition Government on introducing fairer banking practices. Lorely Burt has campaigned against unfair overdraft and penalty charges and has been asked by Liberal Democrat Business Minister Ed Davey to advise the Government's Consumer Credit and Personal Insolvency Review. Commenting, Lorely Burt said: "Liberal Democrats have been leading the fight against unfair bank charges. "For too long the balance of power between banks and their customers has been skewed in the banks' favour. We want a system that is fairer for customers ...
The students protesting in London today have my support (apart from the ones burning and smashing things, who should calm down). We shouldn't be asking them to pay up to three times the tuition fees they currently do. It's no wonder they're angry, and I share their anger. As Lib Dems we offered them hope of an alternative in our manifesto, and if we vote to raise fees we've not only taken that alternative away but broken a promise which might take a long time to make good. The government's proposals are wrong, in my view. They are especially wrong ...
When you doubt, abstain. This might come as a shock to some people but the Liberal Democrats didn't win the election, if you want Lib Dem policies go out and vote Liberal Democrat, tell your friends and family to do the same. Democracy is sometimes confused with 'my view is right', it is, but if no one else existed. And so we have compromise, or in the UK until 2010, 'majority rules'. Labour have not got a leg to stand on, who introduced tuition fees after pledging to scrap them in their manifesto? I'm sure Ed Miliband will tell you, ...
I broke the news to the family last night that we are now going greener. As I suspected my plan was met with a certain amount of derision - my husband looked slightly puzzled and then smiled in a positive manner. Child number 1 nodded in a rather sagely way having experienced some of my other more radical initiatives and said with a sigh in his voice "Whatever you say, Mum". Child number 2 however, dealt with the suggestion in a less welcoming manner with dark mutterings which included phrases such as "if you think I'm walking, my bike has ...
I am attending a Total Politics event at Portcullis House in Westminster tonight called "The Future of Trade Unions". Its a free seminar discussing "...the future role and relevancy they believe Trade Unions will play in the future of British politics." It should be an interesting discussion. Details of the event are below: Panellists: Tony Lloyd MP, chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party & chair of the Trade Union Group of Labour MPs Richard Graham MP, is the Conservative MP for Gloucester Jo Philips, co-author of Why Join a Trade Union? (Biteback) TBC Date: 10 November 2010 Time: 6.30-8.30pm Location: ...
Play facilities top the agenda of the Prestwich Local Area Partnership which meets on Thursday November 11. Proposals for a ball zone at Sedgely Park Primary School will be presented for discussion and comment. Team Bury proposals for the future of partnership working at borough and local level will be considered. Local views will be sought on developing future pharmaceutical services for Prestwich. There will also be updates from the police and fire services as well as the usual 30-minute Open Forum where members of the public can raise any issues or question members of the partnership. The meeting is ...
To add a personal note to the text below, I'd point out that even in my relatively small corner of the Internet, both as a blogger/LGBT activist and working for an ISP, I've seen how the current laws don't work. Every time I've seen it in action, current Libel law has been not about the truth but about who has the most money. It ends up being a huge game of chicken – who blinks, or runs out of money, first. This week is the first anniversary of the report Free Speech is Not for Sale, which highlighted the oppressive ...
It's an unusual feeling, agreeing with the woman who wanted to make it legal for wives to kill their husbands, but Harriet Harman's condemnation of Phil Woolas was a refreshing return to form for the ginger-baiting avatar of political correctness. It's also entirely unsurprising that Labour backbenchers have immediately rushed to condemn her in turn ...
Fresh from the decision to perform a u-turn on its plans to close Camelford Leisure Centre, Cornwall Council is facing further objections to its proposed cuts to the leisure budget. People in Bude are protesting about plans to close the historic Bude Sea Pool. Built in the 1930s, the pool is an iconic part of the town's sea front. But it's not just a bit of nostalgia. The pool draws thousands of visitors from across the UK and abroad and is well used by swimmers, people learning to dive, canoeists and the surf life saving club. When I questioned officers ...
Harriet Harman is absolutely right in her determination to rid the Labour Party of the odious Phil Woolas, whose disgraceful racist literature brought the art of politics to a new low. It is funny how it is always the Liberal Democrats who get accused of fighting dirty, when the real culprits are the likes of Phil Woolas, who often hide behind their criticism of the Liberal Democrats to hide their own activity. However, Harriet Harman's criticism has not gone down too well in the Parliamentary Labour Party, many of whom it seems are clubbing together to support Woolas in his ...
Thousands of students are marching in Westminster today against the proposed rise in Tuition Fees. Whilst I agree with them (and go further in my opposition than the Labour-controlled NUS), I would like to remind them that Labour lied. Labour said they wouldn't introduced Tuition Fees and then did, Labour said they wouldn't introduce Top-Up Fees and then did.
Before I get started on the issue of Minimum Pricing, let's for a minute look at one positive thing that the Liberal Democrats have brought to the Alcohol Bill which will go through its final stage today. Had the SNP had their way, it would have been illegal for anyone between the ages of 18 and 21 to buy alcohol at all from an off licence. That was such an illiberal measure and I'm glad that my party was first to campaign against it. I think there are some good things in the alcohol bill which will make it onto ...
Over in The Guardian, Nick Clegg writes, All governments promise welfare reform. Very few deliver. In 1997 Labour promised to "cut the bills of social failure" and to "make work pay". But during its 13 years in office the welfare bill rose by 40% to £87bn. People moving into work can still lose more than 90% of every pound they earn: a punitive tax burden on the shoulders of the poor. The real tragedy, however, is not the cost of the welfare system. It is the price paid by the most disadvantaged, too often condemned to a life on benefits. ...
This week is the first anniversary of the report Free Speech is Not for Sale, complied by the Libel Reform Coalition, which highlighted the oppressive nature of English libel law. Now, my own blogging is neither of sufficient quality, nor is it high-profile enough, to attract libel suits - and yet many of the bloggers I consider amongst the best writers in their field have been threatened with chilling legal action in response to them publicly discussing material that is in the public domain and in the public interest. In short, Free Speech is Not for Sale concluded that the ...
It sounds like another diet plan, but actually something much better! The Lighter later campaign is part of the 10:10 initiative to help us all reduce our carbon emissions by 10% this year, and further in future. They're calling for us to shift the clocks forward by one hour throughout the entire year, putting us ...
Today, FT.com/Westminster reports on a new poll showing that AV is less popular than first-past-the-post which is less popular than PR. The research by ODC was commissioned by Lindsell Marketing, a business consultancy, and says that: In a poll of over 2,000 British adults, just 29% wanted to keep the current voting system, with 20% in favour of the Alternative Vote system (the subject of a national referendum on May 5th 2011) and 45% wanting some form of proportional representation. You can see the full results here. The FT's Jim Pickard suggests that Nick Clegg should have gone for a ...
This crazy, crazy week in my life will end on Saturday with an all-day event in Edinburgh run by those nice people at Political Innovation. They are looking at how we can change the way we do politics and have invited a motley array of journalists, bloggers, and various political types along to trade ideas and talk to each other. It is completely free to attend, and is taking place at the University of Edinburgh's Informatics Forum at 10 Crichton Street Edinburgh. You do need to register in advance, and print off a ticket, but it's all very easy to ...
Yesterday the Armed Forces Minister and Lib Dem MP for North Devon, Nick Harvey, gave a speech to Chatham House about the cyber-based threats to Britain's security. Nick Harvey's speech started with a welcome nod in the direction of liberal optimism with technology often offering the opportunity to increase people's freedom and choices. However, he quickly moved on to darker territory: As a liberal, I am excited about the capacity of the internet and digital technology to increase the freedom and opportunity available to our citizens - to enhance people's ability to control their own lives and make their own ...
In advance of a Welsh Liberal Democrat-led debate on the NHS in Wales, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have today published a new report, In Need of Care, exposing the failures of the Labour-Plaid Government's stewardship of the NHS. In Need of Care highlights a catalogue of failure: • Failure to bring NHS buildings up to operationally safe levels. • Failure to ensure that NHS buildings are fire safety and DDA-compliant. • Failure to investigate the billion pounds of inefficiency in the NHS. • Failure to meet the Government's own waiting times target as set out in the 'One Wales' programme. • Failure to tackle the ...
Many Liberal Democrats today are expressing surprise at the anti-Liberal Democrat line being taken by the NUS in today's demo. Although I was never hugely involved in the political side of running a Student Union, I did have some involvement whilst at university. I have fond memories of counting STV votes, and watching at some stupid hour of the morning – and it must have been pretty late to have seemed stupid as a student – as the returning officer stared at a single scrap of paper and tried to transfer a fraction of a vote half a dozen times ...
For a party that prides itself on its stance on gender equality, we still have a lot of work to do. Sure, we campaign for greater and more flexible parental leave, and an end to unacknowledged airbrushing. We rightly refuse to acknowledge patronising all women shortlists, both in the party as a whole, and within Liberal Youth. We've certainly got a lot better at representation - a third of our target seat candidates in the last election were women. But women make up more than 50% of our population, and around 45% of our membership. A third is simply not ...
Local residents can't fail to have noticed that Wooda and Dockacre Road have been closed recently for re-curbing and re-surfacing work. The closure has had a significant impact on many businesses and services in our town and I have written to the Council asking them to undertake a review of how they manage such closures to avoid such problems in future. As well as many businesses, one of the services that has been most severely hit has been Dental Dimensions/Vital Dentistry in Castle Street. As well as routine dentistry for both the NHS and private patients, Vital Dentistry is also ...
Go read Anton Vowl on Phil Woolas: It was Labour's fault in the first place, for not booting Woolas out sooner. Those leaflets were evidence enough to see him off. The claim that the party didn't want to prejudice the court case and so waited for the verdict is simply not good enough. You either ...
Just in case you didn't realise, with David Cameron in China, Nick Clegg is taking Prime Minister's Questions today at 12 noon. No doubt Harriet Harman will be ready with questions on tuition fees as students and lecturers, many Liberal Democrats amongst them, gather to protest against cuts in Higher Education. She may well have a go on welfare reform as well. It will be a challenging one for Nick, but he has always shown himself to deal with these occasions well. I'm looking forward to it. I have an unexpected break in the day - I thought I would ...
Since so many of us have fought elections against extremely well-funded opposition candidates, Liberal Democrats are naturally and rightly exercised by the matter of campaign finance. Though Labour made some modest progress with its Political Parties, Elections and Referendums (PPERA) Act, back in 2000, the Act's focus was transparency, rather than regulation. When I chaired the party's policy group on Better Governance in 2007, we set out an objective that no donor should be able to buy influence in the political process, and no party should be able to buy elections. This was the approach we took in the cross-party ...
The Supreme Court has ruled this morning that three former Labour MPs should face criminal trials over their expenses claims. Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine, charged with theft by false accounting, had previously argued at the Court of Appeal that only Parliament could hear their case. The three have now exhausted their challenge to an original ruling which rejected their claims to Parliamentary privilege, a 300-year-old immunity from legal proceedings arising from actions within Parliament; however the judge ruled in June that individual expense claims are "not covered by parliamentary privilege and... triable in Crown Court". From the ...
Solution focused principle: find what is working and do more of it. Then learn from what works and do it in other areas. The Guardian have praised Ken Clarke before but any praise from Polly Toynbee must surely be rare and worthy of repeating. We can learn from how Clarke has managed to do what ...
Given that we own 83% of RBS, can the government not simply sack the Chairman when he starts bleating about paying full UK tax on his absurdly huge bonuses and threatening to move to Shanghai? He won't, most of his overpaid colleagues won't and most of the banks won't move out of London, which remains one of the most attractive trading environments in the world. So George, Vince, whichever of you packed the big stick, wield it, why don't you, and hear the joyous cries of approval ringing across the UK.
Picture via the BBC/PA Former Labour MPs Jim Devine, David Chaytor, and Elliot Morley will face court over their expenses claims. The three had claimed that parliamentary privilege meant only Parliament itself could hear their case. Nonsense, as parliamentary privilege is about freeing MPs of the fear of being sued for libel for things said on the floor of the House. It does not extent to excusing robbing the electorate. Thankfully common sense has prevailed and the Supreme court has ruled that they must all individually stand trial at Southwark Crown Court. It is pretty outrageous that they have wasted ...
Well, here's courting unpopularity. David Cameron has done well in China by raising the issue of political development and human rights. Why is this likely to be unpopular? Because, for anyone under 30 his failure to stand in Tianenmen Square and decry the Chinese government with flags and whistles is a vicious betrayal of all those people in China who suffer from repression, torture and murder at the hands of the state. If you take a longer view, it is important that a British Prime Minister has said these things in China and that he has made it clear to ...
When Harriet Harman said "It is not part of Labour politics to try to win elections by saying things that are not true." regarding the decision of an election court to overturn the Oldham East and Saddleworth election, I thought it wasn't enough. I made my feelings known that I felt her, and other senior Labour figures, complete disregard for the racial hatred stirring content of the leaflets was unacceptable. Now I know why she tempered her words, and I feel somewhat sympathetic to her plight. She tempered her words because even what she did say (that Phil Woolas' lying ...
Next year the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive will be producing a document affecting the next 15 years of transport in the region - your views count. The Local Transport Plan 3 consultation period is open until 24th December - why not add your views (good or bad) to the consultation and make sure your voice is ...
From Stockport Council: Stockport residents are the faces of a new initiative which aims to make Stockport even safer. The Council, in partnership with Greater Manchester Police (GMP), have launched 'Safer Stockport' to show how working together with local communities can help to create safer places in which to live, work and visit. The initiative will focus on real life examples of how local people have worked with the Council and Police to play a positive role in their community. It is hoped that these role models will encourage more residents to get involved and tackle crime together. Figures from ...
Well today is the day the NUS have organised a march against tuition fees. I have been watching twitter, and was drawn to this tweet by @hypnotic: I still think that whilst I remain opposed to tuition fees, there are several points that I'd like to make. 1. I'd have more respect for some of those who tweet indiscriminately to accept that it was a Labour Majority Government that introduced the pesky things in the first place. Plus as Labour policy on pretty much anything is a big secret at the moment, its hard to challenge the alternatives suggested. The ...
This morning's Western Mail has an exclusive on the migratory habits of the Welsh Assembly Conservative Group. According to the paper nine Conservative AMs, Mohammad Asghar, Andrew RT Davies, Paul Davies, William Graham, Mark Isherwood, David Melding, Darren Millar, Nick Ramsay and Brynle Williams, all claimed £70 for an overnight stay at the luxury Conrah Hotel, three miles south of Aberystwyth on June 10, which is the birthday of Mr Ramsay, who represents Monmouth and is his party's Shadow Finance Minister. They say that eight of the AMs also claimed £25 in meals and subsistence, while the ninth - South ...
The cover of Bruce Riedel's The Search for Al Qaeda shows a group of armed men working their way up a hillside overlooking a beautiful valley that stretches away to rolling hills. It captures the wonder and the tragedy of Afghanistan in one frame. The book itself is similarly crisp, packing a wide-ranging history of Al Qaeda and its key figures into only 150 pages of moderate size print. It is penned by an ex-CIA man of thirty years service who was frequently closely involved with the figures and events painted in the book, but not so closely as to ...
Just thinking, as you do. I have this theory about technology. Lots of people say of things like mobile phones, "Why do they have to be so complicated? Why do can't they just do..." My theory is that while there are some common items in most "Why can't they just do" lists, but there are ...
ROK, the company contracted to work on the Southport Market refurbishment, have been placed in administration following reported losses of £3.8million. For more details please see the Southport Visiter site or the Birkdale Blogspot. It seems somewhat ironic therefore that there is a report on the Agenda for Southport Area Committee meeting next week which gives details of the Southport Market Gateway Features (Public Art). The report requests approval from the Southport Councillors for moving to stage 2 of this commissioning process with an overall cost of £111,750 including £26,400 for 3 granite seats. I think its madness to consider ...
One of the lovely aspects of QR codes is the variable levels of error correction built in. On even the most basic code you can obscure or deform up to 7% of the code and most readers will still decode it. This leads us in to the amusing territory of "hiding" human readable data in the code. I say "hiding" because we are hiding it from the scanner – not from the human. One of the more famous examples of this is Duncan Robertson's BBC logo. [IMG: BBC Logo in a QR Code] What works particularly well is the fact ...
Chris Giles writes on the FT website: The Group of 20 leading economies will ditch free market recommendations for the poorest countries on Friday in favour of a more rounded approach that puts "resilient growth" at the heart of development strategy.According to a draft communiqué seen by the Financial Times, dated November 3, the G20 agrees that "there is no single formula for development success" and stresses rich and poor countries should work as "partners" to foster enduring growth.The agreement is termed the "Seoul consensus for shared growth", an attempt to supplant the Washington consensus of the late 1980s that ...
Wed 10th
08:10
Last chance to vote in Lib Dem Committee Elections 2010 (online voting closes noon today)
Online voting in this year's Liberal Democrat Committee elections closes at NOON today, so if you're a Federal Conference Rep who hasn't yet returned your vote, there's still time to get online and do so. To vote by internet, go to: www.votebyinternet.com/partycommittee2010 and follow the online instructions. You'll need to enter your security code, which is printed on your ballot paper. The counts for the Party Committee and Presidential elections will take place this Saturday, 13th November. To get the results keep an eye on this site, as well as our Twitter feed - I'll be at Cowley Street, to ...
Tomorrow, on 11th day of the 11th month, there will be a service of Remembrance at Gorton Cemetery at 11 o'clock. Local schools, veterans and many members of the local community will be there. All welcome.
Today students, lecturers and supporters will march against the proposed rise in tuition fees. As someone who had to leave university because of Labour's tuition fees made it unaffordable for me (principally as they were introduced without even allowing families to start saving for them!), I can only offer them my full support. I may not be a social liberal, and definitely appreciate the Orange Book way of looking at things, but I am with the left wing of our party on this issue. Sara Bedford's excellent post on the subject says all I would want to say, and I'd ...
The 9th November 2010 Cheadle Area Committee covered quite a bit of ground. We started off wishing our Chair, Cllr Paul Porgess, well. He's recuperating at home having recently left hospital. Inspector Steve Gilbertson from Stockport West Police said his officer had been working hard to tackle the spike in anti-social behaviour that always comes around Halloween and Bonfire Night. He reminded us that the peak time for burglaries is 3pm to 4pm. Julie Henshall, our Area Conditions Officer spoke about the bin rollout. Kevin Melling, head of Streetscene, was grilled over the action being taken to sort out flooding ...
Last week my petiton, Lib Dems Against Tuition Fees, reached 176 signatories. As you will see in the following letter, if this was indicative of Lib Dem voters in Solihull, then Lorely Burt would not be re-elected at the next General Election.Lorely Burt had previously said she would wait until an announcement is made before deciding how to vote. I hope now, Lorely will reconsider her stance
Wed 10th
06:53
Last chance to vote in Party Committee Elections 2010 (online voting closes noon today)
Online voting in this year's Liberal Democrat Committee elections closes at NOON today, so if you're a Federal Conference Rep who hasn't yet returned your vote, there's still time to get online and do so. To vote by internet, go to: www.votebyinternet.com/partycommittee2010 and follow the online instructions. You'll need to enter your security code, which is printed on your ballot paper. The counts for the Party Committee and Presidential elections will take place this Saturday, 13th November. To get the results keep an eye on this site, as well as our Twitter feed – I'll be at Cowley Street, to ...
...at the Libertarian Alliance Conference, National Liberal Club, 31st October, 2010: laconf2010-10-coats from Sean Gabb on Vimeo. And trying to hold my own in the question and answer session with Peter Tatchell and Malcolm Hutty afterwards: laconf2010-13-qa from Sean Gabb on Vimeo. I must remember not to bob about so much I reckon, but otherwise not half as bad as I feared! Advertisement: read more
According to Saharawi sources, eleven people were killed during the Moroccan cattack on a protest camp in the occupied Western Sahara on Monday. The Spanish agency ABC has a report with video. The BBC article is not too bad; other Western media seem beholden to the Moroccan line.
i) births and deaths 10 November 1989: death of Clyde Pollitt, who played a Time Lord (the Chancellor) in The War Games (1969) and The Three Doctors (1973). 10 November 1991: death of Tutte Lemkow, who played Kuiju in Marco Polo (1964), Ibrahim in The Crusade (1965), and Cyclops in The Myth Makers (1965). ii) broadcast anniversaries 10 November 1979: broadcast of third episode of The Creature from the Pit. In a memorable scene, the Doctor talks to the Creature, and the egg device comes alive. 10 November 2008: broadcast of second episode of The Mark of the Berserker (SJA). ...
Yesterday, Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader, Kirsty Williams wrote in the Western Mail about the Comprehensive Spending Review. We reproduce the article below: Throughout the summer we have seen a period of phoney war, as Labour and Plaid Cymru rail against the Westminster government and 'cuts' that hadn't yet been announced, talking up the fear of a 'double dip' recession. Labour spent the summer in denial about the mess they created and both Labour and Plaid Cymru are in denial about the measures needed to get us out of that mess. The CSR announcement and the recent growth figures are an ...
I was rather astonished when, at the weekend, Harriet Harman posited the view that Phil Woolas would not be allowed back into the Labour party even if he won his "judicial review" with a successful conclusion. Hello? This is the Labour party. There are committees which decide these sorts of things. Like the NEC, for example. OK, suspend the man. But going further, as she did, was somewhat over-riding due process. And indeed, we see that Harman has been mauled by Labour MPs for doing just that. But she has now made clear that all this was done with the ...
From yesterday's Guardian Letters page: Foxglove in bloom, 5 November.Fleur Young Cawsand, Cornwall Is that author name made up? It seems a bit too good to be true...
Fear Factor: Europe bans the burqa | openDemocracy Lucid essay on the rationale behind this absurd legislation - "Europe's systemic fears involve nothing less than the extent of her territorial and cultural boundaries. To put it bluntly, an aged Europe feels under threat from a world she once dominated, but which she never properly understood. It is this post-colonial world that is coming back to haunt her. And it is wearing a burqa." (tags: eu islam) Worst EU Lobbying Awards Vote now! for the worst EU lobbyists. (tags: eu) Brussels Brontë Blog: Memorable day of talks with Sue Lonoff and ...
The actions of Harriet Harman are vile and disgusting according to someone who worked for Phil Woolas. According to the BBC website, she was described to her face by one colleague as "a disgrace". Many Labour MPs are coming forward to support Mr Woolas. I am not quite sure what this support means. If it means that he is innocent then I would suggest they look at the evidence and the judges' ruling. If they are giving a character reference for Mr Woolas then they should consider the latest evidence. If they are part of the name-calling then they really ...
The Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats (EMLD) has been asking its membership to help to develop their Strategic Plan. EMLD wanted some feedback about what members felt the positive and negative aspects of the organisation are and what are the key issues that should feature in the strategic plan. Below I have copied my response to the consultation.
The Economist is currently running an on-line debate Biotechnology - This house believes that biotechnology and sustainable agriculture are complimentary not contradictory. I have just voted against the motion Biotechnology is about the concentration of food production into a few powerful chemical companies who are more interested in selling pesticides and resistant seeds than addressing the food needs of the world. The first problem is that our diet contains too much meat and the second problem is that we waste so much of what we produce. If we modify our diet, eat wholesome food that is well produced with more ...
