After another round of internal Party elections where the Rules do everything in their power to prevent us from finding out more about the candidates, I really do think that it is time to do something about it. Firstly, let me make it absolutely clear that this is not an attack on the Returning Officer, the Acting Returning Officer or David Allworthy (David, I can't remember exactly what your title was...). After all, the Rules as laid down must be applied to ensure equality of opportunity. But the idea that I couldn't blog about my candidacy, send e-mails to my ...
The Act of Remembrance in Stockton is a chance to remember those who have died in conflicts around the world since 1914 and an opportunity to resolve afresh to do our best to bring peace. The simple act of silence introduced and ended by the lone bugler, short prayers and the laying of wreaths is held out of doors at the memorial. The service that followed was held in the newly decorated and
Well, I have scraped back onto the Liberal Democrats' Federal Policy Committee. Rather by the skin of my teeth. So thank you so much to everyone who voted for me. Every time I get re-elected onto the FPC I feel a little bit more strongly that I didn't try hard enough to shift things over the previous twelve months, and I feel that even more strongly now I have been on it for twelve years. So I shall try very hard not to let any of you down this time... Because everything is changing now. For the past twelve years, ...
For the three Saturdays leading up to Christmas(4th, 11th and 18th December) you will be able to park for a flat rate of £1 in MSDC long stay carparks. Good news for two reasons. It's exactly the sort of action that traders have been asking for. It suggests MSDC are starting to "get" the role of car parking in the local economy. The recent car parking charges increase was just a grab for cash without considering wider impacts. Hopefully that mentality has been replaced with something more considered.
Next weekend Sainsbury's will be holding an exhibition of their plans for the redevelopment of their Nine Elms store on Wandsworth Road. The proposals will see the creation of a new store, facing Wandsworth Road, with three residential towers built above the store. The exhibition will give local residents the chance to find out more about the scheme, and provide comments to the developers before a planning application is submitted early next year. The exhibition will be held at the store itself, at the following times: Friday 19th November, 14:00 - 20:00 Saturday 20th November, 10:00 - 16:00 A website ...
We've had a lovely weekend. My old friend and ward colleague Sven Griesenbeck came up to visit us, the weather was pretty good for November in the north east, and Sunderland beat Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge. Sven is, to put it mildly, a bit of a bookworm, so we'd decided ages ago that if he came to visit, we'd take him up to Alnwick to visit Barter Books – one of the largest bookshops in Europe. In the end, Sven showed remarkable self-restraint when it came to the book-buying, which is more than can be said for Laura and ...
Last week the Scottish Government published a report on the City of Glasgow which found evidence of poor diet, increased anxiety and ill health. Now, two years ago during the Glasgow East by-election there were hundreds of stories describing the deprivation, the shorter life spans and many other health concerns of the residents of Glasgow. So I was a little surprised to see this press release in response to the above mentioned report, from the Scottish Labour MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Bill Butler, which quoted him as saying; "This report shows that much more needs to be done to fight ...
The Award goes to Lembit Opik. Introducing himself to his fellow contestants on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, he said:"I used to be a Member of Parliament. I'm not any more. That's why I'm here."
Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of Broxtowe Borough Council. A special welcome to the new readers that we have this week. Can I start by apologising for not replying to most of the emails that I have been sent this week, but I've had problems with my PC. Eventually I threatened to reprogram it with a mallet and that seems to have scared it into behaving itself! 1. Eastwood Christmas lights switch on Asda in Langley Mill have donated £2,000 towards the cost of the switch on ...
At the RSA last week Alan Johnson gave his second speech on the economy, the deficit, and the direction of policy - both Coalition and Labour. He travelled under the banner "Beyond fiscal fables and Greek myths" (available via @LabourList). This event got rather lost in the fallout from the tuition fee protests and IDS's ...
I see that I posted my review of The Dervish House just an hour before I started to read the 1977 Doctor Who annual (included on the DVD of The Hand of Fear). It is a pretty quick read - 78 pages, but a lot of them are filler. As with the 1976 annual, I found the artwork really striking, apart from the depictions of Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan - though the artist, whether Paul Crompton or Glenn Rix, is getting a bit smarter about this and tries to make a habit of showing them from behind or ...
An interesting article in the Globe and Mail, by economist Armine Yalnizyan, comparing the UK's austerity measures with Canada's in the nineties, with special reference to the hike in student fees. The author makes some interesting points about the effect of rising fees in Canada, but, note that the average tuition fee in Ontario is currently $6,307 p.a, which is roughly comparable to the fees currently being paid in Britain. That means that the increased UK fees in two year's time are going to be two or three times what Canadian students are paying.
The failure of the appeal by Paul Chambers against his conviction for sending a tweet deemed to be a threat of violence against an airport near Doncaster has rightly attracted a lot of comment this week. Blogger Jack of Kent has written about the case in some helpful detail for The Lawyer as well as on his own blog. When you read the text of the law under which he was convicted (below) then it does seem as though a wide range of comments made in many places on the internet could be fall foul of it. This surprised me ...
During the last winter it was maddenning that common advice was to leave the snow on pavements for fear or being sued. I'm chuffed to see a thawing of this fear with the government issuing a 'Snow code' . This is important guidance on how communities and councils can work together to improve pavement conditions. It basically gives advice about how to clear paths sensibly. Clarity is added about the potential for litigation that everyone has a duty of care but by following sensible snow clearing practice people should have nothing to worry about. This all comes witha little relief ...
Err ... although we rather hope that most West End residents will be visiting the West End Christmas Week Community Fayre next Saturday morning, as always, I am pleased to advise of the latest news from Friends of Wighton! On Saturday 20th November The Ideal Band make their Dundee debut at the Wighton Heritage Centre, Central Library, Wellgate, Dundee. Doors open and coffee served from 10.30am - concert starts at 11am. The Ideal Band are: Ken Campbell - Scottish singer/songwriter whose pedigree has been well established over 25 years, with five albums to date, festivals, concerts, TV and radio throughout ...
I have blogged here in the past about some of my more detailed family members discovered in my family history research and their notable military history. One member of my family stands out in an infamous part of British Military ... Continue reading →
I have received complaints from readers of this blog. "China is all very well," they say, "but what's happened to the cat?" We took Paddy to the vet yesterday; compared to a fortnight ago he is much recovered. But there is no denying that he is an old cat, well into his 80s in human terms. He is eating well, but remains a thin shadow of his middle-aged self. He is also almost blind and almost deaf. The hair has come off his front paws (the vet gave him a steroid shot for that, but maybe it's stress at being ...
It's 2027 and Turkey has joined the European Union. In an old tekke in Istanbul, six people find their lives intertwined around a plot involving nanotechnology, the Nabucco gas pipeline, and the arcane secrets of the mellified man. There is a lovely echo between microcalligraphy and encoding information on junk DNA. It's Ian McDonald's best disciplined novel so far, I think, with all the lush description and present tense intensity that we are used to, but somehow coming together rather beautifully. Nic Clarke has a longer review of it here; I'll just note that as far as I can tell ...
Caps TV talks to the Edinburgh Capitals General Manager Scot Neil.
A Past Doctor Adventure with Harry and Sarah, which I picked up after last week's post prompted a reaction on Twitter from Jacqueline Rayner saying "Did I really kill off Harry? I'm sure it wasn't proper killing off if I did, I love him too much." To which Ian Potter responded rather telegraphically, "Harry deaths possible branching future outcomes as I recall." Jacqueline Rayner concluded the discussion: "Oh yes, that sounds right. He definitely didn't really die then, phew. Thanks for remembering my books for me, Ian." I was sufficiently intrigued to say that I was now bumping the book ...
Remembrance Sunday has a special resonance for me. As someone who has had no contact with her immediate family for a long time now, I feel more of a connection with the ancestors whom I have been researching over the ... Continue reading →
Local Liberal Democrats gathered in force for their annual dinner, and were delighted to enjoy an evening with the new Lib Dem MP for Redcar Ian Swales. [IMG: Ian Swales MP] After we had all shared an excellent meal Ian talked for around 20 minutes about how the party in Redcar had set about dismantling a large Labour majority. He answered a wide range of questions about everything from tuition fees to what we were going to do about the fact that the average age of farmers in the UK is 65. We enjoyed his down to earth style, his ...
My psephologically-inclined Birkdale Ward colleague Simon Shaw has continued his by-election research, which he has now updated to the end of October. Previous reports to the end of August and September showed a picture that was a lot better than some national opinion pollsters would have you believe. Simon has updated his research to last Thursday, and it shows that there have been 146 principal council by-elections held in the 6 months to the end of October. Lib Dems made net gains of 2 seats in that period. October saw 34 principal council by-elections. "Principal councils" cover everything above parish ...
I've been listening with interest this week to lots of people commenting about the student protests. Several people have been comparing them to protests in 'their day'. Most people seem pleased that there is increased student activism, and have a sense that, in general, students are less politically engaged than they used to be. People have been discussing previous student sit-ins, protests, occupying buildings and so on. I understand that in Hull University a common tactic was to occupy the boiler house so that the university had to close down. Some people are really positive about these tactics, others were ...
Last night whilst eating fish and chips at the Dukes Ward social news came through that Pontins Holiday firm had gone into administration. Pontins made a major investment in Southport-for which Cllr Simms Mitchell always claimed credit. Last year they announced major £100m investment plans for their Ainsdale site . A significant number of part time and casual jobs are offered there some of which have been filled in recent years by EU workers. Since the announcement of large scale investment Ainsdale ward money has been spent to compliment the proposed redevelopment. We wait to see if the administrator can ...
I have today written to congratulate our new party president Tim Farron MP, I can say that I did vote for him and we have something in common and that is we are against the rise in tuition fees. I have offered my support in opposing this issue. I agree that difficult descions have to be made, but this in my opinion is a wrong one and it saddens me to see MPs signing the pledge against this during the election campaign. I think it has to be pointed out that it was Labour that introduced the fee system and ...
Today I attended the remembrance day parade in The Square in Petersfield. It was a service made even more poignant this year by the death of Marine Richard Hollington from Stroud, just outside the town. He was the 300th member of our forces to die as a result of action in Afghanistan and his name ...
The post I found most interesting to write: The Phil Woolas judgement: Arthur Balfour was right The election offence for which Phil Woolas's election was overturned is, deliberately and rightly, drawn narrowly and precisely ... The law has been in place for 115 years. That Phil Woolas is one of only a very small number to fall foul of it shows not that the law is too broad but that his behaviour was so awful. Read the full post here. And the post I found most interesting to read: The Entente 2010 - What does it mean & whither will ...
[IMG: Volunteering on the Parkland Walk] Yesterday, I helped out on the Parkland Walk clearing undergrowth before it blocks the path, and building a 'loggery' to attract the bugs and insects that are vital to any nature area. Should you wish, you can see my 'handy-work' just inside the Upper Tollington Park entrance to the Walk. It was great fun and really well supervised by volunteering charity BTCV, who made sure that even gardening novices like myself knew what they were doing. Halfway through the morning we were joined by some teenagers doing 'community payback' who really threw themselves into ...
There's a lot of despondent Liberal Democrats out there these days. I should know – I'm one of them. It is frankly not a fun time to be a member of the party. The compromises inherent in coalition, which we understood and were prepared for intellectually, are emotionally a lot harder to swallow. We're seeing ...
Enjoy: Hat-tip: Christopher Fowler, author of detective stories that are James Bond crossed with Sherlock Holmes and Edgar Allan Poe
Part 30 of blogging my way through my first reading of Atlas Shrugged. You can find the first part here. Chapter 30: In The Name Of The Best Within Us Oooh, the final chapter. This isn't over yet – I'll do two final posts on Atlas Shrugged to sum up. In the mean time, let's ...
There's an interesting short video from the BBC's Politics Show South East, featuring the new Liberal Democrat MP for Eastbourne, Stephen Lloyd. "Every single decision I take goes through the prism of Eastbourne," says Stephen, as he shares his thoughts on coalition government and tuition fees. You can also read about a typical Westminster work day for Stephen: His Wednesday starts at 9 am with a two-hour long Work and Pensions select committee. He goes straight from there to Prime Minister's Questions and the big topic of debate is the government's decision to allow universities to charge tuition fees of ...
Just a quick reminder that next Saturday we will be holding our regular monthly surgery at St Luke's Church Hall, Erleigh Road between 10am and 12 noon. You don't need to make an appointment and we will do our best to help you with any problems or issues you may have.
Well done to Seb Vettel. Not only the new F1 World Champion, but the youngest in the proud 60 year history of his sport. When all is said and done, he deserved it. He won 5 races, equalled only by Alonso whilst Webber won 4 races, Hamilton won 3 and Button won 2. Vettel won 10 pole positions out of a possible 19. But most importantly, after 19 races, he was leading the championship when it mattered. Mark Webber Blew It But I just want to say a word for Mark Webber. I salute Vettel's championship victory with pleasure as ...
If you want to write to the council about Sainsbury's alcohol license you need to use the following headings.In your representation you should explain why you think this specific premises will cause problems in relation to one or more of the licensing objectives, which are: The Prevention of Crime and Disorder The Prevention of Public Nuisance Public Safety (ie the safety of persons on the
Time for another choice inspired by Rob Young's Electric Eden. After Ashley Hutchings had left Fairport Convention and hung out with Mr Fox, he formed a new band called Steeleye Span with, among others, Tim Hart and Maddy Prior, a folk duo from St Albans. For their second LP "Please to See the King" the band was joined by Martin Carthy, who sings the lead on this track. As someone who remembers Steeleye Span from the days when it was in the charts and dominated by Maddy Prior's voice, I find this incarnation infinitely preferable. Prior's voice can be irritating ...
The final round of the 2010 Formula One World Championship got underway with McLaren's Jenson Button overtaking championship leader Fernando Alonso into the first corner. Later on in the lap, Michael Schumacher spun his Mercedes Grand Prix car at the chicane following an overtaking move by his team mate Nico Rosberg. Vitantonio Liuzzi ended up driving his Force India F1 car over the top. At the first glance, I thought Schumacher would cause an accident by rolling forwards, but replays showed this may have stopped Liuzzi making contact with the German's head. After 10 laps, Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber ...
Map courtesy of the BBC Earlier Lib Dem Voice pointed us towards the above map on the BBC website, it reminds us that not just in the two World Wars but many other conflicts there are those that we are remembering. It lists the conflicts and the casualties: Palestine 1922-48 233 fatalitiesMalaya 1948-60 340 fatalitiesYangtze River Incident 1949 46 fatalitiesKorean War 1950-53 765 fatalitiesThe Canal Zone Emergency: Egypt 1951-3 54 fatalitiesKenya 1952-60 12 fatalitiesCyprus 1955-59 105 fatalitiesSuez Crisis 1956 22 fatalitiesOman and Dhofar 1962-75 24 fatalitiesBorneo 1962-66 126 fatalitiesAden Emergency 1963-67 68 fatalitiesNorthern Ireland 1969-98 763 fatalitiesFalkland Islands 1982 255 ...
There is a rather American saying which runs along the lines of "We have four boxes with which to defend our freedom: the soap box, the ballot box, the jury box, and the ammo box. In that order". It becomes a good way of putting Wednesday's violence in context, particularly for those that are trying to argue some similarity between the suffragette movement and student fees. That movement had no choice but to resort to violent occupation because the very thing its members were campaigning for was access to the ballot box. But rather than the entire NUS executive distancing ...
This morning I was privelged to take part in Prestwich's Remembrance Sunday parade, from the British Legion building near Heaton Park to the war memorial ourtside PADOS House. I layed a wreath on behalf of all the local Councillors from the people of St Mary's ward. As always it was lovely to see so many local people at the event, pausing for two minutes silence at 11am. It was particularly good to see another good turnout from local youth organisations such as the scouts and Brownies, the St John Ambulance and the forces cadets. My thanks to everyone who was ...
Most people remember the Greater London Council (GLC), abolished by Maggie Thatcher back in the 1980s. Greater Manchester had one too. When it was abolished in 1985, the ten local authorities in the area started working together. Today we have AGMA - the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities. And, in almost a full circle, we're soon to get a new "City Region" - like a separate authority for Greater Manchester, covering transport, waste, policing, the fire service, education, training and inward investment - but not directly elected (whether that's the right thing we'll leave for another day). Here are the ...
One of the most influential books I have ever read is Donald Norman's "The Design of Everyday Things ". In the book, Norman rails against the usability flaws which seek to undermine our comfort and sanity. Everything from lightswitches which never seem to have a consistent state, to to alarm clocks with impossible to figure out controls. It really is a must read for anyone who cares about usability – on computers or in the real world. I travel a lot for business – and occasionally for pleasure – so I get to experience some of the maddening issues which ...
I will never really understand how some Americans think they have big government. Other than their massive spending on defence. Take maternity leave for example. see USA Today here. The U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act allows for 12 weeks of job-protected leave. This is not paid (accept for a few states). To quote the article 'out of 168 nations in a Harvard University study last year, 163 had some form of paid maternity leave, leaving the United States in the company of Lesotho, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland.' That is not big government, that is already the smallest state ...
For weeks there have been rumblings of a massive Lib Dem rebellion over tuition fees: just how big will it be? Could the government be defeated? The government's majority is 82. So, assuming all opposition MPs vote against, it would take 41 MPs to rebel on the government side for it to be defeated. Where will these rebels come from? Before turning to my own side, we should remember that three Conservative MPs also signed the NUS pledge to oppose any rise in tuition fees, namely Bob Blackwood (Harrow East), Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) and Ben Wallace (Wye and ...
Questions were asked in the Lords on Thursday 11th November about the Treasure Act and Portable Antiquities Scheme. This was initiated by Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn. The question was triggered by the sale of a Roman cavalry helmet at auction which was not covered by the Treasure Act as it was made of bronze rather than a metal defined as precious.
[IMG: Nicholas Coombes and David Martin on Pulteney Bridge] It is increasingly clear that B&NES Conservatives tried to close Pulteney Bridge without planning for the consequences. A decision over whether to close the bridge fully has been delayed until April 2011, yet bus services have already been moved away at the request of the council. Thousands of passengers have had their regular service disrupted or cancelled. No alternatives were provided at the time of the change. Two months later a replacement service for Great Pulteney Street is about to begin - it will run three times a day. Liberal Democrats ...
I have been campaigning against university tuition fees since I was at university, when the idea was mooted by Labour. I was part of the last generation of students to not pay tuition fees and mourned their arrival. I was more than happy to sign the NUS pledge, which opposed tuition fees rises, when I stood to be an MP at the General Election. The party nationally were right behind us. I know one MP had their doubts but was urged to sign by our national HQ. We knew that the Browne report, commissioned by Labour before the election, would ...
After the courts overturned the General Election result several hundred people congregated outside the Liberal Club in Chapel St to celebrate the subsequent by election victory. The report in the Southport Guardian dated July 12th 1911 reads : The scene was indeed animated. The result came through at 11.15pm that the former candidate for Southport had been successful and a great cheer went up when Mr E Rhodes announced the fact to the crowd. Iain Sharpe over on the Eaten by Missionaries Blog caught my attention last week when he reported that the last Liberal unseated by an electoral court ...
Student protests have always been ruined by a small section looking to cause trouble. They have always been the Socialist Workers (neither socialist or workers!). They included a surprisingly high concentration of sons and daughters of bishops and high court judges and would spend most of their time on campus debating whether they should actively start the revolution or just be prepared when it inevitable comes due to the failure of capitalism. On every student protest I went to in London there was always at the edge of the peaceful protest, members of the socialist workers party (SWP) snarling at ...
The Wales on Sunday has published the outcome of an opinion poll that shows that people want the health service, care for disabled and older people, child protection and schools to be given the most protection from cuts. The survey finds that more than 58% of people in Wales trust the Assembly Government to correctly impose the cuts. However, only 20.8% thought public bodies in Wales used their resources in the most effective way. More than 42% thought otherwise. Two thirds of voters said they were prepared to tolerate fortnightly rubbish collections to save money. And despite expected job losses ...
Some may remember I blogged about Wolverhampton South West's General Election result having more votes cast than ballots issued and that Wolverhampton City Council had lost a Marked Register from the elections. Well Wolverhampton City Council have now published a news release following their investigation, it follows:
I spent yesterday at the fabulous PICamp event in Edinburgh - of which more later, probably tomorrow, given the F1 today. One highlight of the day was when my friend Emma came up to me to tell me that Tim Farron had won the Liberal Democrat presidency by 1643 votes over Susan Kramer. The margin of victory is a tribute to the high quality campaigns run by both Tim and Susan over the last 6 weeks. Susan had some very good ideas about improving communication within the party which need to be taken on board. I am delighted for Tim ...
From David Laws' insider account of coalition negotiations serialised in the Daily Mail (!) three points emerge.1. Labour was divided with senior figures against a deal (we knew that anyway).2. David Laws was much more comfortable negotiating with the Conservatives than he was dealing with his own party (suspicion confirmed by his own words).3. We don't have "new politics" in Britain. Other
Tonight, 70 years ago, the city of Coventry was bombed. Tonight, there will be two minutes of silence preceded and ended by the wail of the Air Raid Siren, for those who don't know what they sound like, here is a clip The old cathedral is now in ruins, but its bells live on. And ...
This year I am not really well enough at the moment to be at church on Remembrance Day. This feels very odd. But, there are many war memorials in and around the city of Belfast at which I tend to stop and think to myself, We will remember them. throughout the year. And when I ...
War Memorial Ward Park, Bangor The 8th November 1987 was Remembrance Sunday, on that day I was laying a wreath on behalf of 4th Bangor Boys Brigade Company when at the other end of the Province a bomb had gone off at Enniskillen. Eleven people died that day and I know there are some in Ireland who find it hard to move on from those days of troubles. However, as my friend Keith has pointed out on his blog attitudes have been changing in the Nationalist community. As I've mentioned here before there are 49,400 reasons from the First World ...
On Friday 12th Nov the Neighbourhood Partnership Environmental group had a walkabout starting at Sturminster Close through the woods onto the Sustrans maintained old railway path. We found some fly-tipping including an old sofa and a freezer, beer cans and burnt tree. We were met by the Co-ordinator from the Community payback team, who will spend 3 days cleaning up the area. If you would like to join the Environmental group please contact Gemma Dando on 0117 352 1090 There's a Stockwood Neighbourhood Forum meeting on Thursday 18th November 7pm Counterslip Baptist Church Wells Road. Open to all. The picture ...
I am not quite a pacifist, but generally believe that there are better ways of solving problems than using force. That doesn't stop my unwavering respect and gratitude for the work of the armed forces in this country, past, present and future. I am grateful that we live in a country where it's democratically accountable politicians and not the military who decide where the Armed Forces go and what they do. On Remembrance Sunday, we remember those husbands, brothers, cousins, fathers, mothers, wives, sisters and friends who have lost their lives while serving our country with the Armed Forces. Their ...
The BBC has a poignant map showing where members of the British armed forces have died on active service since 1945, bringing out clearly how even before the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Middle East has been a regular location for British military deaths. The Royal British Legion's appeal to fund its welfare work for current and former Service people is here.
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of a variety of key issues, and what you make of the Lib Dems' and Government's performance to date. Almost 600 party members have responded, and we've been publishing the full results of our survey over the past few days. Today, in the final part of our survey, we focus on the performances of the leading lights of the Liberal Democrats - those of our MPs in the cabinet, those occupying ministerial positions, and other leading Lib Dems: How would you rate the performances of ...
Today's "Scotland on Sunday" newspaper reports my concerns - and those of Professor John Brown, Astronomer Royal for Scotland - over the future of Mills Observatory in the West End Ward, the only full-time public observatory in the UK. Following concerns expressed to me about the future of the observatory, I contacted the City Council's Chief Executive, who advised : "... the officers are examining a variety of options. I can give you an assurance that within the options being considered the ownership of the Mills Observatory remains with the City Council, and in my opinion will be beneficial in ...
Sun 14th
10:00
In Praise of the Most Significant Change Technique: finding the real impact of government policies
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." – Einstein The past government showed that monitoring numbers and setting targets shaped services towards those targets and numbers which at times was away from their core business. The implementation of new policies to some extent seeks to move away ...
The link is to a story behind The Sunday Times' paywall about an autistic boy whose parents were threatened with care proceedings because they were blamed in part for his behaviour.This is quite a common problem.
Students all over the country are angry. I do not blame them. Despite the fact that the proposals on student funding contain several concessions directly attributable to the Liberal Democrats' position in government, the bottom line, the amount that students will have to repay, is too high. The concessions that the Liberal Democrats have obtained are not insignificant. They include removing up-front fees for part-time students, keeping a cap (albeit at the wrong level), raising the threshold for repayment so that many poorer graduates will never have to repay the fees and ensuring that richer students cannot secure an unfair ...
A magnificent performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah last night by the Highgate Choral Society (of which I am a patron). Ronald Corp was the conductor, the New London Orchestra played the music – five soloists took the solo characters – but the real stars are without doubt the Highgate choristers – the many local people who every Monday night rehearse and rehearse year in and year out. When the Chorus takes off and swells and soars to the rafters – those are incomparable moments. Congratulations to everyone for such a wonderful performance and to the unsung and less seen members who ...
Tonight sees former Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik enter ITV's I am a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. This comes as no surprise to member of Wolverhampton South West Liberal Democrats.
It is the weekend and that must mean one thing, light news day so a perfect opportunity for the press to do what it does best, Liberal Democrat bashing!With Clegg's admission last week that he regrets signing the tuition fees pledge, Sky is reporting that the Liberal Democrat leadership had plans not to honour the pledge when discussing a coalition and entering government.Although, I am angry
[IMG: Planet Earth] Just six countries hold half of the world's human population. The six are... (Pause to give you a chance to guess...) (Got your guess ready? OK, here we go then...) China, India, USA, Indonesia, Brazil and Pakistan.
As I mentioned on Twitter yesterday, there was one of those moments that makes the whole world seem like it's been created by the surrealists: Six months after the election and Bob Russell's writing for the Morning Star while there's a tank on Colchester High Street. The tank on Colchester High Street wasn't the first ...
If you're looking to express all your anti-Coalition anger at Lib Dem MPs sometime in the next few years, then the NUS Decapitation plan could (almost) be called sensible. Revenge is a dish served cold they say, and it'll be freezing by the time this succeeds. If however you're looking to fight the cuts now and trying to avoid a rise in tuition fees then you're pretty much buggered if you'd set your sights on the leadership of the NUS. Firstly their plan to use the right to recall, which is still not even available for use right now, is ...
I spent most of yesterday in Saddleworth, where a by-election will soon be taking place after Phil Woolas was chucked out of Parliament for lying about his opponent in his election campaign. I did some leafleting, and some stuffing of ... Continue reading →
i) births and deaths 14 November 1959: birth of Paul McGann, who played the Eighth Doctor in Doctor Who - The Movie, in numerous Big Finish audios since 2001, and in the webcast version of Shada. ii) broadcast anniversary 14 November 1964: broadcast of "Crisis", third episode of the story we now call Planet of Giants. Barbara is poisoned; the Doctor starts a fire to draw attention to what is going on; and all ends well.
A lamp column at the "high, dark" end of Undercliff, Sandgate has been repaired following a report by County Councillor Tim Prater. Also, after years of reports and chasing by the Sandgate Lib Dem team, the central reservation light on the traffic Island by The Ship pub, Sandgate High Street has been timetabled for connection by Kent Highways in December.
Both parties in the coalition claim to be committed to devolution of power: in fact a lively level of local participation in government is one of the longest standing traditions of the Liberals/Liberal Democrats. So how can we condone Michael Gove's decision to remove what powers remain for local authorities to distribute funding to schools, and impose a rigid formula from on high? This is yet another broken promise and a reversion to the "Whitehall knows best" syndrome for which we have so rightly criticised labour. The Conservatives' breaking of their explicit promise not to impose yet another reorganisation of ...
Stills from the film Prayers for Bobby (TVM 2009) Earlier this evening I was at a screening of Prayers for Bobby at All Souls Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church in Belfast as part of the Outburst Festival. In the light of the number of teen suicides over recent months the showing of this film and the discussion afterwards couldn't be more timely. The change of Bobby Griffith;s mother Mary played by Sigourney Weaver to harrowingly in this film came too late for her own son, but this bio-pic based on her families story and journey should be essential viewing in every church; ...
Yesterday I wrote about a questionnaire by the Liberal Democrats from 2006. There was a question about the link road to the M6. It was a hot potato at the time because those who lived next to the prospective road were up in arms. For that matter there is still an active group protesting about the possibility of the road. In fact everyone who lives in the area bought their house in the full knowledge that a road may be built near to them. A link road was first proposed in 1949 and the subject has been re-raised at fairly ...
