I've had a little secret that I have been carrying around with me. I couldn't tell you all for reasons that will become clear as you read on. It's been really difficult keeping quiet about it as I was desperate ... Continue reading →
And so all is ready for tomorrow. Maps are printed, bags are ready, we've even got EARS up and running - Ros picks this stuff up very quickly - there's soup in the kitchen and chili on the stove. Yes, it's the Stowupland Action Day when, for the first time in history, other people will be campaigning for... me. Don't get me wrong, it all comes as a bit of a surprise, especially given my historic reticence to do 'retail politics', or even to be a candidate somewhere other than an utterly hopeless prospect. However, here we are, and although ...
The link is to a story about someone who was abused in care who attacked the wrong tier of government.Much that this is futile and not in any way to be encouraged I wonder where else in the world it happens.I know the USA has similar problems in the care system, but not as extreme as those in England. However, I wonder where else the children who have been through the system are often so opposed
To all residents of Redbridge, Havering, and Barking and Dagenham. Conservative MP for Ilford North, Lee Scott is organising a non-political meeting to oppose cuts to the Maternity and Accident and Emergency units at King George Hospital. The meeting will take place at the Broadmead Church in Chigwell at 8pm on 9th December. For further details see here Thanks to Barkingside21 for this info
The forecast was for high winds and driving rain in the north last night. That was the night that the biggest detachment of by election volunteers in living memory left Sefton to help Elwyn Watkins. Southport MP John Pugh, Council Leader Tony Robertson, two cabinet members, four councillors a handful of activists arrived as darkness fell. We were met at the mill that was serving as the HQ by Elwyn, he was in an optimistic mood having spent time in Oldham town centre where he had clearly received a very positive response. We were dispatched out into the Saddleworth villages ...
The Guardian published this article this evening to the disconcertion of Twitterati and Social Media Lib Dems alike. The article misleadingly implies that Clegg and the Lib Dems intended to "abandon their pledge". This is utter rubbish. When drawing up negotiation documents, the issue of Fees was discussed. But even the Guardian states; "Clegg also joined all other Lib Dem MPs in signing an NUS
I am giving a talk next week and wanted the correct version of a passage from the Britain in Pictures volume on the Liberal Party that I have heard David Grace - aka Disgruntled Radical - recite more than once. I emailed him and he kindly sent me a link to the whole book online: The Liberal Party by R.J. Cruikshank. The passage I wanted comes at the very beginning of the book: People on the whole are very civil and obliging to Liberals nowadays - at least in public. How times have changed! When this writer was a small ...
Guido Fawkes ran a fascinating piece earlier today. You can read it here. Labour Uncut posted a story about James Purnell being offered a job by Ed Miliband. According to Fawkes, the Times had the same story about nine days ago and ran it on their site. He thinks it wasn't picked up because of their paywall. Was it in the newspaper as well? If not, why not? And if it was and didn't get picked up what does this tell us about how stories are now being picked up and reported? The story might have far more significance than ...
It is by now generally accepted by literary scholars that Nevill Holt in Leicestershire is the model for Bonkers Hall. So I was pleased to find this account of major stabilisation and refurbishment carried out there. These works included works included converting the 17th Century stable block into a theatre. In reality, Lord Bonkers is more likely to convert a theatre into stables. And I do worry what might be found if a JCB were let loose on the Bonkers Hall Estate like that.
Facebook is good at spreading messages at a quick pace. Yesterday and today, I've been alarmed to see this message going round on status profiles. "Today we saw Muslims break the 2 minute silence in central London,with banners holding "British Soldiers Burn In Hell" & the burning of a Poppy....... If you don't like us British people paying respect fot our brave Fighters, then you know where the Airport is. Disgusting...... Disrespectful B******S! Copy and paste this if your British and Proud.... R.I.P our brave fighters". Yesterday of course was Armistice Day and no more an emotive day could be ...
Writing on Liberal Democrat Voice, Simon McGrath suggests that the Guardian story about the Coalition's cap on housing benefit driving the poor out of Southern England is nonsense. Virtually Naked finds Phil Woolas "continuing his tantrum like a petulant toddler". Thanks to Tom Watson MP, we now know which artworks Coalition ministers have chosen for their offices. The coolest turns out to be George Osborne, who has a 7ft long engraved map (seen above) by Grayson Perry depicting "a divided country, at war with itself". I also envy Vince Cable his Eric Ravilious lithograph. Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness finds ...
This afternoon, I participated in the final planning meeting before West End Christmas Week, which starts on 20th November. Planning is going extremely well and it will get a great 10th Anniversary Christmas Week this year! The Christmas Week brochure can be downloaded at http://tinyurl.com/wexmas2010.
I got rather excitable this evening when I saw that BBC News 24 were bringing a news item from Woking Community Hospital. That excitement turned to annoyance when they started talking about threats to local health services. Anne Walker of ... Continue reading →
At lunchtime today, I joined with Shelter Scotland and other Dundee politicians to support Shelter's campaign to ensure the Scottish budget reflects the importance of decent housing and makes building more homes for affordable rent a national priority in Scotland. An invitation was made to all local politicians but only Labour and the Liberal Democrats were represented at the event in the City Square. Draw your own conclusions. Ironically, earlier in the day, I met with the Director of Housing of the City Council, other senior housing staff and a representative from the City Development Department over the rent levels ...
The extraordinary tale in the Washington Post of November 8, 2010 of Eric the cat, who is writing a horror movie to be entitled The Aveburyville Horror, about the ghosts in a 100-year old house being scared away by the ghosts in the 5,000 year old yard: comics.com/affiliate/washington_post/?ComicID=35, then go to Monday November 8, 2010
I am going to court popularity by voting against tuition fees while hoping that enough of my colleagues abstain to keep the Coalition in place.
Mentioned on "Strictly Come Dancing : It Takes Two" tonight - all time classic!
Following the Home Office's decision to postpone until March the end of child detention in immigration removal centres, a group of peers has written to the Guardian calling for the government to honour their commitment to end the practice. The group of Labour, Liberal Democrat and Crossbench peers includes Roger Roberts and Navnit Dholakia, as well as Sue Miller, who told Radio 4′s Today Programme this morning that the equivalent of four or five primary schools per year are being locked up: We are really tired of waiting for the end of child detention... We need not to lock up ...
I was deeply disturbed to read that the student (now ex-student), David Kernell aged 22. who hacked into Sarah Palin's email account has been sentenced to a year in prison. That is a downright disgrace. I am appalled that such a draconian sentence, which will blight the life of the poor fellow, has been handed out for youthful misguided hacking, which, in any case, revealed a disturbing tendency on Sarah Palin's account. If Sarah Palin's email account was so easy to hack into, then she bears some of the responsibility. Kernell got into the account by using publicly available information ...
New evidence into phone taping of celebrities and public figues by the News of the World has been submitted to the Metropolitan Police. This comes after No.10 Communications Chief Andy Coulson, who was Editor at NOTW at the time, was interviewed as a witness on November 5th, the BBC is reporting. Despite Prime Minister David Cameron saying he enjoys his full confidence, Coulson's days as the coalition's Malcolm Tucker are looking increasingly numbered. He has been under pressure almost from the get go, and even though some of it has been shrouded in partisanship, Coulson continues to be the story ...
I was interested to discover, from Mark Mardell's blog, that shellac, as a verb, can mean trounce in North America, while we Brits only use it for varnishing. Knowing what the Washington Post meant does not alter my mental image of a shiny shellacked Obama. I was impressed by Tim Farron's piece in the Guardian. I'm glad I voted for him. Today I'm making a Christmas cake, although I'm not sure this is a wise thing for me to do. I may end up eating most of it myself. As a rule, North Americans, including Canadians, do not like baked ...
Dizzy Thinks has been on the case again about the costs run by Early Day Motions in Parliament. As he delicately puts it: Yes, we really do have to spend £150K alone on the salary, pension and NI contributions for the poor sods that have to sort out the latest self-congratulatory bollocks that our MPs want to spout off fruitlessly about. The combination of cost and triviality of many EDMs has caused some people to call for their abolition. I think this is going too far, as some EDMs do provide a useful mechanism, as a focus for external campaign ...
This gave me a major endorphin surge, The man Farron is rapidly becoming my political hero. Sorry Paddy! I shall vote against a rise in tuition fees because I made a pledge that I would do so. Fees are the poll tax of our generation and I cannot in good conscience vote for an increase. It is not for me to tell colleagues how to vote, but I believe we need to move away from burdening young people with debt. Education should be available to all - not just those who can stomach the debt. And there's more: As a ...
I have a few ideas for blogposts that look at how high up the political pecking order certain politicians have got. But I need to come up with a robust description of the order of importance in the Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet structure currently used in our democracy. I could rank these myself, but any contentious conclusions I come to would be dismissed due to potential partiality of the ranking. So I kindly request a few minutes of your time to rank the Secretarial roles in the Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet in the order you think best describes how important ...
Heavy-handed state responses to throwaway comments on Twitter do not bode well for free expression of humour online Thursday was a bad day for free speech. It came to light that a plastic surgeon has been threatened with a libel action for expressing concerns and scepticism about a breast enhancement cream (no, really!) and we read reports of the RSPB being sued for libel by two people for criticisms one of its scientists made of a study they carried out on baby grouse in Wales (yes, seriously!). But also in the crown court in Doncaster, Paul Chambers lost his appeal ...
Last weekend I, along with several thousand others, attended the most important match in Southport FC's recent history. Much has already been written about the result of the match and the hard work put in by players and staff. I must admit that I do not get to that many matches. Something that I must correct as soon as possible. Being a Sefton councillor does take up a lot of time in the evenings and therefore I try to spend as much of my weekends as possible with my family(wife, mother-in-law and dog). Thanks to my fellow councillor Haydn Preece ...
No? Good [IMG: ;-)] OK Seriously I'm in the audience for tonight's show. Got a few questions that I am going to submit on various subjects including :- Unions, Benefit reform, Student demonstrations, #twitterjoketrial and waterboarding so who knows, I may get to ask one [IMG: ;-)] The panel are Chuka Umunna MP (PPS for Ed Miliband), Margot James MP Tory MP for Stourbridge, Bob Crow (Champagne Socialist and RMT Leader) and Nigel Farage (the leader of UKIP). Sadly no LD on the panel. The programme will be on BBC Radio 4 Tonight at 8pm and will be repeated on ...
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. Here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week Forced to work without pay...Labour got there first, says FT (173 comments) by Iain Roberts. Phil Woolas loses court case over his election (133 comments) by The Voice. Jeremy Browne MP writes... I'm no Tory: I'm a radical, authentic liberal (70 comments) by Jeremy Browne MP. A new member writes... Why I've decided to join the Liberal Democrats now (60 comments) by Tony Butcher. Setting the Independent straight on candidate's defection (41 comments) by Helen Duffett. This ...
[IMG: William Beveridge] With welfare reform very much in the news, William Beveridge is often being quoted and used as a yardstick for comparisons. So I was curious to see what he had recommended about conditions applying to benefits for people who are out of work. This is what his report said on the matter: Unemployment benefit will continue at the same rate without means test so long as unemployment lasts, but will normally be subject to a condition of attendance at a work or training centre after a certain period. In other words, no to cutting unemployment benefit after ...
November 11th is, of course, the day on which we all reflect on both the fragility and the price of the freedoms we are lucky enough to enjoy. It also adds an extra resonance to the act of voting in an election that can often be lost on the other 51 Thursdays of a year. There were five principal council by-elections that took place on the 11th and ALDC received reports of one election contested out in the towns. The current political cold snap continues, with very little to cherry pick for Liberal Democrats; of the five elections, we were ...
I am feeling utterly exhausted this afternoon. Helping at the PTA Book Fair for most of the week has worn me out more than I expected. I write while lying on the couch, trying to stay awake till Bob gets home. Anna is in here with me watching QI. She adores Stephen Fry & I am grateful that he is keeping her entertained as I dose. He may make the occasional silly assertion but time spent listening to him is always a significant net gain. The book fair was a great success, bringing in £2400. It's almost as good as ...
Last nights meeting of Prestwich Area Partnership was I think one of the best I have the privilage to Chair. Improatnt subjects, residents raising there important local concerns and a well attended meeting at that. SEDGLEY BALL ZONE The proposed Sedgley Ball Zone at Sedgley Park Primary School was the discussed item with several members of the Jewish community from the Kings Road area in attendance to raise their concerns. In the main residents seemed happy to see the school extend their facilities but are extremely concerned that the proposals will see increased antisocial behaviour if open to the public ...
Bracknell Forest Council has opened for consultation their plans for the future housing development here. Comments can be made on the website (I will post mine in due course).This is for the remaining 3,626 houses required of the 10,780 additional homes proposed by 2026. The proposals include the heading 'Previously Developed Land in Defined Settlements'. These sites are; 18 houses at Adastron House, Crowthorne Road, Bracknell100 houses at Garth Hill School, Sandy Lane, Bracknell14 houses on Land at Battle Bridge House, and Garage, Forest Road, Warfield28 at Peacock Bungalow, Peacock Lane, Binfield35 at Farley Hall, London Road, Binfield77 at The ...
Fri 12th
15:28
Opinion: Are the poor going to be driven out of the south by the Coalition's housing benefit reforms...
A shocking story in the Guardian this week that, not content with driving the poor out of Kensington and Chelsea, the Coalition's cap on housing benefit would force them out of southern England altogether. Worse, this came from the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), who sound like they ought to know what they are talking about. I rang up the CIH and asked how I could get hold of a copy of the study and was surprised to hear that there has been not actually been one. They are apparently 'doing some work for a Select Committee' which may be ...
Fans of the strangenick combo the White Stripes will be delighted to know they are back in the studio recording their seventh album. Nope no idea how they got to seven either. The band clearly have some unfinished business, as Jack told Vanity Fair magazine: "We thought we'd do a lot of things that we'd never done: a full tour of Canada, a documentary, coffee-table book, live album, a boxed set. It was one long project that took almost three years." What band is complete without its very own coffee table book? Just what Jagger and Richards always wanted... There ...
Following on from the plans announced by Andrew Stunnell that the new Coalition will be building more affordable and socially rented houses than the previous Labour government there is now more good news on addressing the scandal of empty homes. In Bath and North East Somerset there are a significant number of empty properties that should be brought back to housing families. Consultation document is at www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingsupply/newhomesbonus which contains ideas of the proposals and the encouragement to local councils to build new homes and also to bring unused homes back into occupation. Nov 21 to 27 is the national empty ...
I've had a fascinating day in Wales yesterday, talking about co-production to the voluntary sector in Pembrokeshire - meeting some amazing people, and getting what was, to me, a new take on the spending review and the cuts. I was taken aback by how frustrated so many of the people there seemed to be with the county council, and with local government in general. For its slowness, its risk averse caution, its silo-based bureaucracy, its lumbering lack of imagination. There was a great deal of fear about the cutbacks, but that was only half the story. I don't come across ...
Fri 12th
14:37
Folkestone Mains Pipe Upgrading: Guildhall Street North, Copthall Gardens, Lucy Avenue and Linden Cr...
Veolia Water has rescheduled of essential mains renewal work in Folkestone, with the first scheme in Folkestone now starting in mid November. Veolia has confirmed that between 24 December and 4 January no work will be undertaken.
There are still tickets available for the Folkestone Youth Festival of Remembrance on Saturday 13 November at the Leas Cliff Hall.
Fri 12th
14:28LDV survey: What Lib Dem members think of the Coalition's economic policies, housing benefit, and th...
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of the contest for the party presidency, the Comprehensive Spending Review, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Almost 600 party members have responded, and we're publishing the full results over the next few days. What Lib Dem members think of the Coalition's economic policies Which of these statements comes closest to your opinion about how the Coalition should go about reducing the deficit? 45% – It is important to cut spending quickly even if this means immediate job losses, because it will ...
Two mums have said adopting through Kent County Council has changed their lives for the better. They spoke as part of KCC's ongoing campaign to look for people to provide loving and permanent homes for children.
Let's face it. The Lib Dems have really screwed up on tuition fees. It's possibly our most public screw up ever. Our candidates made high profile personal pledges that they should have foreseen not being able to keep. The party is now in the position where breaking these pledges is the best option, for the following reasons: Graph: IFS 1. The Browne Report's proposals are unexpectedly fair. They are progressive (which we didn't expect before the review was published), they are workable (unlike a graduate tax, as Labour are soon to realise) and they will improve the quality of teaching ...
Yesterday there was a by-election in the Rushall-Shelfield Ward of Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council. The Conservatives held the seat, but not by much.
You can read it here
There has been a lot of debate recently about the so-called Siege/Battle/Occupation of Millbank and whether the violence was a good thing or not. Some argue that it was good because it brings publicity and others that it was bad because it was illegal, resulted in the injury of innocent people and brought massive negative publicity to the cause, overshadowing and damaging our very good arguments. I'm firmly in the latter camp as my article here indicates. Now, don't get me wrong, direct action can be brilliant and is often a vital tool in drawing media attention to causes which ...
Fri 12th
13:20Jo Swinson presents dossier of evidence that media images have negative impact on body image
From a party news release: Co-founder of the Campaign for Body Confidence and Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson has given the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) details of 172 scientific studies which show that exposure to idealised media images has a negative effect on body image for adults and children. The portfolio of evidence gives a comprehensive overview of research examining the link between airbrushed media images and people's dissatisfaction with their own bodies. The Campaign for Body Confidence is calling on the ASA to amend its codes of conduct for advertisers to require airbrushed images of people to be clearly ...
On Wednesday, I left my house at 4.30am. Having travelled up the hill, I then got on a bus and after an exceptionally long journey, I disembarked in Central London, to join 50,000 of my peers to protest against the ... Continue reading →
This is a cross-posting of an article I wrote for Liberal Democrat Voice I was at the tuition fees protest as one of the Lib Dems who had agreed via Facebook to march together at the demonstration. Amongst the (inevitably violence dominated) coverage of the protests, I decided that I would like to give my impression of what occurred for the benefit of those who did not attend. For me the protest began at 9.30am by boarding a Student Union organised coach to London from the University of Surrey. There were about 100 of us in total from Surrey and ...
In the park in the centre of Moldova's capital city, the locals enjoy good weather and free wi-fi
It's just a personal observation but I just wonder how stupid Britain's young are. As someone who has always been in favour of free education, it worries me that those kids protesting the other day about tuition fees, have no idea about where blame needs to be apportioned. Increasingly desperate and corrupt Labour appear to have no qualms or indeed scruples in manipulation of student anger, over increases in tuition fees despite the fact that Labour introduced them. It's my belief that Labour ought to bare the brunt of criticism despite Tony Blair, being elected with the meaningless mantra "education, ...
Grim news today as it's announced that British Gas become the latest domestic power supplier to raise bills. Fuel poverty and struggling to keep homes heated is a real concern, as rising bills outstrip official inflation rates many times over. The BBC have a handy guide for where people can go for extra help and support which you can read here if you're worried or know somebody who might be struggling to find the money to pay energy bills. In other news, tonight is the Bury Liberal Democrats Annual Dinner, always a highlight of the year for the local party. ...
[IMG: Control Orders screenshot] Over on Facebook, Liberal Democrats against control orders does what it says on the tin - it's a Facebook Cause for Liberal Democrats who think control orders should not be continued by the Coalition Government. The Liberal Democrats, many in the Conservative Party and indeed former senior people in the security and prosecution communities have long argued that control orders are ineffective in the short run and counter-productive in the long run, not to mention contrary to democratic principles. (I nearly wrote 'liberal principles', which is also true - but in fact the basic values of ...
Continuing his tantrum like a petulant toddler, Phil Woolas has transformed himself from an incompetent immigration minister and purveyor of provocative campaign literature, to a political prisoner. Luckily though he is fighting the legal judgement via an appeal via his website, which includes the well known tactic in legal circles....mock the judiciary. The black and white Victorian picture demonstrating how Woolas has been wronged by an outdated legal system is fantastic. 'IT'S THE 21ST CENTURY, WE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO BE RACIST AND TELL LIES DAMMIT'. The idea that Woolas is now some upholder of political freedom and integrity is ...
Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world's estimation, and publicly and privately, in season and out, avow their sympathy with despised and persecuted ideas and their ...
As you may know, I'm hoping to be selected as the Lib Dem Mayoral candidate for London. For various reasons, the internal Party process has been postponed till around next summer, though I myself have been short-listed to be part of that selection process. I'm concerned to ensure that, in the meantime, we don't vanish off the face of the electoral earth as Boris and Ken forge ahead with their campaigns. For this reason, I'm doing my best to illustrate what "Lembit's London" would look like, and the nature of the campaign itself. Part of this will be sharing my ...
Father Andrew and pupils from St Mary's Primary School, Kilburn at the Remembrance service 11th November 2010 Camden's Deputy Mayor joined a dignified crowd of people at Hampstead Cemetery's war memorial at 11:00am on 11th November. The short ceremony has been growing over recent years and Rev Alistair Tresidder of St Lukes was again joined by Father Andrew Cain (St Mary's Kilburn) and Father Jonathan Kester (Emmanuel, West Hampstead).Our numbers were swelled further by the presence of pupils from St Mary's school (pictured above) and representatives from University College School.We also laid flowers at the memorial of some of the ...
Now that polls have closed, I assume that the Returning Officer won't mind if I write about one of the more unusual contests down the bill of internal Party contests, for eight places on the ELDR Council Delegation. It's my first ever attempt to gain Federal office, made all the more interesting by the presence of the Right Honourable Baroness Scott of Needham Market on the same ballot, a rare husband versus wife contest. Unlike Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper, we felt comfortable about competing against each other, especially as we have rather different reasons for running. After two years ...
Game Theory has had many successes (here or here) so has some credibility when it comes to strategies. Many believe game theory was involved in the coalition talks to get a deal for the Lib Dems. So what does it say about the Lib Dems position now? In Game Theory the Lib Dems are now ...
On Thursday I joined in Caroline Cox's Question on the Burmese elections Then I had a meeting with Vivien Stern and David Ramsbotham to discuss their forthcoming visit to Bahrain we had a three hour debate on the EU Committee's report. In the evening, to the London Bach Society's concert in St Bartholomew the Great: THURSDAY 11 NOVEMBER at 7.15pm The Priory Church of St. Bartholomew-the-Great, West Smithfield, London EC1 (By kind permission of The Rector, Dr. Martin Dudley) STEINITZ BACH PLAYERS Anthony Robson guest director & recorder Rodolfo Richter leader & solo violin, Gillian Keith soprano Rachel Beckett ...
Fri 12th
09:46
No Mr Punch, that's not the way to do it! Cambridge councillors vote to keep The Queen Edith pub.
[IMG: Punch & Judy] It was standing room only at Homerton College last night as Cambridge's South Area Committee discussed a planning application by Punch Taverns to demolish the Queen Edith Public House to replace it with housing. The councillors voted unanimously to turn down the application. They insisted on the value of the pub to the community and the local economy, as well as the importance of pubs being 'local' in the true sense of the word, within walking distance of people's homes. Debate centred on whether the pub really does meet day-to-day needs and whether it is a ...
Over at the Guardian's Comment is Free, Tim Farron MP reiterates his pledge to vote against tuition fees, calling them "the poll tax of our generation" – a reference to the angry scenes at Wednesday's demonstration. In his article, Tim makes the distinction between the NUS pledge against tuition fees, signed by Parliamentary candidates before the General Election (which he intends to abide by), the Liberal Democrat manifesto (which became a negotiating document) and the Coalition Agreement (which contains 65% of the Liberal Democrat manifesto). Here's an excerpt: Fees are the poll tax of our generation and I cannot in ...
A quick note on the works being done to improve Gatley Road in Gatley. At the moment the new puffin crossing, new streetlamp and built-out pavement is being put in by Gatley Station. As usual, the work is being done only outside rush hour to minimise disruption. The next piece of work will follow on swiftly and should be done by Christmas - to put in a new puffin crossing by the Nat West/Horse & Farrier, improve the pavement and build out the pavement a little at the corner with Church Road. Hopefully this was all go reasonably smoothly, and ...
A request from my old friend Jonathan sends me to the bookshelf to check "The Liberal Party" in the Britain in Pictures series. The link takes you to the whole book on-line but I cannot resist quoting Lord Woolton at Birmingham, in March 1947, who said, "There is a great liberal sentiment in this country. There is now no major issue between Liberalism and Conservatism. They are both expressions
It is really shocking that a whole range of honest jobs, which involve hard physical work are so readily described as "demeaning" by people explaining why the long-term unemployed shouldn't be penalised for refusing to do them. Now some jobs might be demeaning (I certainly would put a lot of the sex industry into that category), but keeping our shared environment clean should never be seen as such. After all, we all notice very quickly when that work is not being done. The reality is that those who safely remove and dispose of litter, waste and sources of disease such ...
I was in Last Thursdays Bracknell Standard What Does Bracknell Think. This time the panel was asked This week's question is about the way people speak. The British Library is doing some research into the way pronunciations of words are changing and have noted that under 35's pronounce certain words in different ways to older people indicating that language is changing. Here are some news stories to give some background - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11640951 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11642588 With a lot of words there is no right and wrong but that doesn't stop some pronunciations really annoying us. What we want to know this week ...
Over on the BBC website is a set of graphs about health spending, neatly and clearly laying out some of the issues with health spending, how it has grown in the past and what future plans may mean. Go take a look here.
My LibDem presidential ballot paper is still blank. Am still undecided. Need to make decision and post today. *deep pondering* # And here is the ballot paper. All that's needed to complete it is one 'X' #procrastination http://plixi.com/p/55062620 # @SusanGaszczak There's a 50% chance I will [IMG: :)] in reply to SusanGaszczak # @cllrpaulankers Trying to work out genuinely who I think wd be best for party. Both v diff in style + subst. I usually make wrong choice! in reply to cllrpaulankers # @Coolcat69 many thanks for the #ff in reply to Coolcat69 # Ooh, excitement: am out on ...
broadcast and publication anniversaries 12 November 1964: publication of Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks by David Whitaker, the first and still the best novelisation of any of the televised stories. Hunt it down if you can - any self-respecting fan should have a copy. 12 November 1966: broadcast of second episode of The Power of the Daleks. Despite the Doctor's best efforts, Lesterson revives one of the metal monsters, which harshly declares itself to be the humans' "ser-vant". 12 November 1977: broadcast of third episode of Image of the Fendahl. Much chasing around the priory, culminating ...
Oh! Woe is me! I can't make BarCampLondon 8. This will be the first BarCamp I've not been able to get to in ages. Following hashtags is fun, if a little disjointed. What I really need is some way I could attend virtually..... @edent I recorded some videos of #bcl7 but they're massive to upload, some on my vimeo. Or some are "what's said in barcamp, stays in..."10/11/2010 23:49 via webchichard41 Richard Johnson Some people won't want their sessions recorded. Please ask presenters to check that they're happy to be immortalised.Everyone hates the sound of their own voice – do ...
Ewan Hoyle, a prominent Lib Dem campaigner has posted a blog post on his take on Liberal Democrat back bench MP's reaction to the Browne Report and the Coalition plans for higher education funding. Ewan's post is a little too emotive and expletive laden for my tastes, but he makes some key point about the hidden nuggets with the Coalition proposals. In the post, Ewan writes: I was going to call this blog post "Failing to see the wood for the fees". Deferred fees are not the determinant of whether young people can support themselves through university. Maintenance funding determines ...
Rowdy behaviour; fights with police officers; urinating and vomiting in the street. It's just another day in binge-drinking Britain. Except that binge-drinking Britain appears to be a myth, according to a recent Harris poll conducted for the Metro. The poll of 1,029 adults, conducted between 7 and 14 September, found that only one in ten drank more than 15 units of alcohol a week (over the recommended limit for women - men are recommended to drink no more than 21), while almost one in three drank no alcohol at all and almost as many drank a mere one to four ...
Welsh Government figures released yesterday show that for the fourth month in a row, the amount of people waiting longer than 36 weeks for treatment has gone up, from 333 to 1,774, an increase of 500% from May to September. Government statistics for the month of September released yesterday, also show that the number of people waiting longer than the government target of 26 weeks has gone up by over 2000 from 11,227 people in August to 13,536 in September. Cardiac treatment waiting times are also up with 72 people waiting more than 36 weeks for treatment compared to no ...
Another question in Plenary this week to the Rural Affairs Minister on the proposed badger cull in North Pembrokeshire: Peter Black: Minister, are you aware of the recent publication of the results of a four-year study into the vaccination of badgers in Gloucestershire against bovine TB, carried out by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency and the Food and Environment Research Agency? The study discovered a 74 per cent reduction in the proportion of badgers testing positive in the antibody bTB blood test. Given that this seems to underline the efficacy of a vaccination strategy, taken with the other measures that you ...
It aint pretty. The majority were like these listed below in response to Tim Farron's article. I know its the Guardian, but it still rather vitriolic against an MP who is actually honest amongst a group of lying turn coats: ... Continue reading →
Mikhail Khodorkovsky: final trial speech | openDemocracy (tags: russia)
There was a report last night about students who were training in the art of what looked like abseiling. One interviewee looked so happy as he told us how much he was enjoying the course while hanging upside down. It seems that there is a demand for these artists and the good news for this student, he told us with his beaming upside down smile, is that he would get a degree too. There may be a demand for vertical dancing and it may be very entertaining too. My problem is that I don't understand how the artistic demands of ...
