I left Porthmadog by way of the Ffestiniog Railway. Last time I travelled on it, in 1977, the line was open only as far as Dduallt. The last stretch into Blaenau Ffestiniog had been lost when the Central Electricity Generating Board created the Tanygrisiau reservoir in 1954. The railway people finally won compensation in 1972 after one of the longest legal cases in history. Weren't nationalised industries wonderful? The Ffestiniog was even more spectacular than I had remembered. I will have to go back one day to try the Welsh Highland, which sounds more remarkable still.
Two completely different events today, but with a link of sorts. I started with a meeting at Kirklevington Grange Prison to discuss the possibility of the prisoners making some signs and benches for the Parish Council - signs for St Margaret's Play area and benches for a variety of spots round the parish. St Margaret's is suffering from a small number of thoughtless dog owners who don't keep
Given how I've previously pointed out that Yes, ministers can disagree and the world doesn't end, it would be wrong to shout "splits! splits!" at what is going on in the Labour Party over economic policy. The latest disagreements between leader Ed Miliband and Shadow Chancellor Alan Johnstone do however highlight just how much work Labour has to do to work out its economic policy. As John Rentoul has pointed out: Johnson made clear to Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson [of The Times] that he did not share his leader's enthusiasm for making the 50p-in-the-pound top income-tax rate permanent: "I ...
Ten days ago, Cornwall Council's Cabinet Member for Leisure, Joan Symons, told a scrutiny committee that Camelford Leisure Centre was getting a stay of execution. She said that the centre would be funded for up to a year out of the Leader's contingency fund whilst a working group looked at a long term management and funding structure for the facility. She also announced that a smaller amount - £20,000 - would be available for the subsequent year to make sure that the centre was able to prosper. The first meeting of that working group was held tonight and, according to ...
Following my update yesterday about concerns over the future of the Mills Observatory, I was interviewed by Radio Tay today (click on 'play' below to listen) and the issue has been covered in the Courier, the Press and Journal, the Sun, and various other newspapers. Judging by the number of people contacting me regarding the issue today, it is of considerable concern and it is vital that the City Council is transparent and ends the secrecy over this important matter.
One cannot help but notice that people don't treat us they way that they used to. That isn't to say that we were treated particularly well, as we tended to be patronised if we were mentioned at all. Now, we get much more media coverage, although little of it is flattering or particularly kindly. It's as though we were nice people, unsuited to power, who you could vote for safely because we weren't actually going to win. A protest vote, a way of telling the Party you really supported that they needed to return to the 'path of righteousness'. Maybe ...
This afternoon, I met with the City Council's Head of Transportation and other officers about a number of issues including bus services in the West End, a bike rack for Blackness Primary School, road lining works and other local matters.
Pennycook Court This morning, I met with the residents' association representing tenants at Sinderins and Pennycook Courts. We had a good discussion about various local issues including road safety, bin collection, repairs to pathways, the seating in Pennycook Lane and other issues. The residents' group works hard for all the people at Pennycook Court and Sinderins Court and it was a useful and positive meeting.
[IMG: turneropens] Phew what a relief! after all the years of broken dreams, the blood, sweat, toil and tears an opening date has been announced and Gallery Director Victoria Poetry gets to open the doors of Margate's Turner Contemporary on the 16th April 2011. The process so far has had its ups and downs not least the original questionable choice of an ocean going gallery, which wasted several years and millions, due I think to incompetence, costing many millions to the local economy. during the last few years, when Margate should have been reaping the benefit. Despite KCC trousering some ...
When you do that, you insult me, upset me and annoy me. My friends are people I am very loyal to. On social networking, I will block you until you work out your argument and apologise if necessary. In real life, I won't comment upon anything in public, the only person I will talk to ...
We were really pleased to have a presentation on the Cheadle Green archeological dig at last week's Cheadle Area Committee. This is that presentation - enjoy. Excavations at Cheadle Hall Sept 2010
Thanks to the staff at Univerisity Hospital of South Manchester (UHSM - formerly Wythenshawe Hospital). I was there for another of our regular, though unplanned, visits with one or other of the children. On this occasion the finger wasn't broken, luckily, and as usual I was very impressed with the staff and the speed with which we were seen. From walking in, initial check, x-ray to second consultation took about 40 minutes.
Following the Liberal Democrats' internal elections, Liberal Bureaucracy is dissatisfied with the rules for them: "Why on Earth don't we allow candidates for the Presidency access to the membership list? After all, they're meant to represent the members, and the more able they are to reach them in the campaign phase (and don't worry, the £7,500 spending limit prevents anyone from going mad...), the better." The Guardian claimed that "anti-Tory" candidates did well in those elections. As Caron's Musings points out, all the candidates were anti-Tory. Northern Neil argues that "What we need is less graduates not more tuition fees". ...
I'm working on a Batman post, but it's taking longer than I thought (should be up tomorrow). In the meantime – links. Scientists build 'Maxwell's demon', turning information into energy. A huge list of places you can educate yourself online for free. Bob Temuka talks about horror films. British General stopped Russians from killing James ...
Tim Farron MP has won the contest to be our new Lib Dem president. He's a great speaker - and he is against raising student tuition fees. Good! (Oh, and trivia - he's MP for a constituency where I used to live, went to the same university as I did, and one of my sons is a Tim.)
The voices in my head ...
Our beach has been changing for generations. Once high tide reached where Lord Street stands today. All the land in between right up to our sea wall used to be "golden sands" but progressively became mud flats like large areas of our beach are today, has been reclaimed over the years. As the sea receeded and the grassy mud flats developed, our forefathers built out. To take Southport closer to the sea they built: the Marine Lake, Municipal Golf course, Victoria Park, Princess Park etc. Two recent letters in the Southport Visiter complaining about the state of the beach north ...
[IMG: Gerry Adams At Dublin Castle Before The Official Result] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: infomatique Gerry Adams is standing for an Irish parliamentary seat in Louth...an interesting move by that wily old fox, which (if Adams can muster up sufficient dignity to apply for a job working for the British Crown - guffaw, guffaw) will result in a British parliamentary by-election in West Belfast before 2012 (i.e when the next Irish election is called). RTE Radio One tonight suggested that this could presage a run for Irish President by Adams, at some stage. If he can't get enough ...
Airport security for my short trip to Jersey last weekend was intrusive enough, but I found this quite appalling. It appears we may already have let the terrorists win.
My cunning plan for rewatching Who from the beginning has now brought me to the point where the next few posts will be of complete seasons - Season 13 in this case, with the Hinchcliffe / Holmes era getting into full swing. Well, Terror of the Zygons is a great start to the season - tight writing, memorable aliens, Baker and team on form, John Woodnutt excellent as Broton/the Duke, the UNIT team all together for one last time, and not least the late Geoffrey Burgon's memorable incidental music, a cut above the usual. It's a real shame that the ...
There's a fascinating minor schism currently echoing through the radical Left right now, one which can be clearly see in the video to which this blog post refers. It concerns the relationship between direct action and the democratic process, and the disavowal by Aaron Porter of what one might call the extra-curricular activity at last ...
Iain Dale has posed the question why Elwyn Watkins, the Liberal Democrat candidate up against Phil Woolas, didn't sue for libel instead of looking to have his election result over-turned: To my mind, the way these kind of disputes should be resolved is not to take them to 'election courts', but instead through the libel courts. It's interesting that the LibDem candidate didn't go down that route. I wonder why not. [IMG: Phil Woolas] I think the answer is very simple. Imagine he had sued for libel and won. Then what? He'd have got a libel payout (nice), Phil Woolas's ...
I am nearly in my thirties now, and so expect very soon to be engulfed in the type of general bewilderment that I can feel growing within me daily. One such contributory factor to my general slack-jawed wonder at the mysteries of the modern world is the Phil Woolas saga, which has in the last 24 hours made me question whether or not I have gone truly mad. As I understood it, a couple of weeks ago Mr Woolas, the Labour MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, was found by an election court to have deliberately and knowingly lied about ...
On November 30th the Leader of the Council, Councillor Simon Henig, and the Assistant Chief Executive, Lorraine O'Donnell, will be attending the Derwent Valley Partnership Forum at Bishop Ian Ramsey Primary School, Medomsley. This is the Forum of the Area Action Partnership for our locality including Consett and the surrounding villages as far as Dipton, Burnopfield and Hamsterly. They aim to introduce a consultative session on the budgetary and service implications of cuts that have to be made in Council Spending, giving you a chance to have your say on how the council should seek to maintain its service levels ...
At last week's Local Area Partnership the issue of the former Cusson's soap factory was raised. It was knocked down last year, and now all that remains is the unsightly pile of rubble. I raised the future of the site with the Council some time ago, and now that it's been publicly raised again they have got back with some news. I am told that no development proposals for the site are currently being considered, but that work will soon be undertaken to try and secure and clean it up. Unfortunately, as is too often the case with private land, ...
Nothing much except Airdrie have gone and covered their match day programme commemorating Remembrance Sunday with a picture of Nazi, not Allied, soldiers heading off to war. The usual harbingers of doom are demanding resignations, but it's only a mistake ... Continue reading →
The Liberal International Executive Committee that has ended in Cape Town was hosted by South Africa's Democratic Alliance — the country's Liberal force that has had even more transmutations and name changes than Britain's Liberal Democrats. I've been following the South African Liberals' fortunes since the days of Alan Paton and the termination of the old ...
David Laws' account of the negotiations that led to the Coalition agreement is due out next Monday. According to the publishers: The Liberal Democrats' and Conservatives' decision to form a Coalition government has changed the face of British politics. This book sets out the inside story of how this momentous event unfolded, and how - together - the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have started to address the challenge of a massive government budget deficit. 22 Days in May is the first detailed Liberal Democrat insider account of the negotiations which led to the formation of the Lib Dem/Conservative coalition government ...
The other day my dad was visiting me in Guildford and he drive me into town so we could both do some stuff at the banks. We ended up parking in the same road we normally do, a side street just off of North Street. When we got to the ticket machine we found that the charges had gone up, 70p for thirty minutes. Now, I appreciate that Surrey is a wealthy county but that kind of charge seems extortionate to me. Anyway, we paid £1.40 for an hour like we normally do. However, when the ticket was printed out ...
The long-promised Welsh Language Measure continues to provide grief for Plaid Cymru Ministers, with yet another article in this morning's Western Mail, accusing them of not going far enough. Thery say that the Welsh Language Board has written to the Minister for Heritage, Alun Ffred Jones, asking him to introduce amendments, particularly concerning the definition of equality between English and Welsh: With just over two weeks before Assembly Members vote on the proposed Measure, the board has called for an amendment to "state clearly and without any restrictions that the Welsh language has official status in Wales". It said the ...
I am having a sort of debate with Labour AM, Alun Davies on this subject over on Wales Home. It takes the format of an article written by each of us separately so really it is two opposing polemics, but you may wish to have a look.
Mon 15th
15:05
How bullying nearly destroyed my life - and how I wish things like #bigmarch had been around for me
Earlier today, I did a brief post about how I supported Beatbullying's Big March to kick off Anti-Bullying Week. Now I want to tell you a bit about why. I've been procrastinating like anything to avoid writing this post because although I know the events I'm going to describe took place a long time ago, they cast a long shadow. Their stranglehold on my life is long gone, but the memories are not. I might have teased my sister for posting something inane on my Facebook wall a while ago when she has important work she needs to do, but ...
Lib Dem Voice has again published the results of their Liberal Democrat member survey, focusing on the performances of the leading Liberal Democrats. They report that "Kirsty Williams' ratings have had a boost this month, perhaps thanks to her visibilty at conference"
Many left-leaning liberals in the media are outraged at what they consider to be broken pledges on the part of Nick Clegg. Johann Hari writes in The Independent, "In just a few days after the election, he cleared a space in his swanky new ministerial offices and staged a bonfire of his principles". Aside from the fact this article is laced with hyperbole (look carefully – barely a paragraph without some emotive language!), I can't help thinking this is exactly not what the country needs. I don't mean that in a patriotic sense; I believe this country will operate perfectly ...
PoliticsHome wonders: Lord Falconer may be leading a group of peers against the proposed referendum on voting reform. But what's really bothering him? Speaking in the Lords last month Lord Falconer identified concerns that the referendum would become a "secondary issue" in devolved regions with assembly elections. But what really seemed to bother him was the bill being carried by a constitutional novice, Conservative MP Mark Harper. Lord Falconer said: "His three interests are: travel, walking the dog and going to the cinema-none of which equipped him for the terrible task with which he found himself."
It is the start of Anti Bullying week, and I have taken the opportunity to write to the headmaster of my old school, Ballymena Academy, to seek clarity on the school's policy on bullying, particularly homophobic bullying. Dear Headmaster, I write to enquire what measures are being put into place in Ballymena Academy to prevent ...
News agencies are reporting this morning that Labour are seeking to have the AV Referendum Bill declared 'hrbrid' by the House of Lords this afternoon with the intent of burying it in committee. It is an interesting tactic considering that Labour are meant to be in favour of electoral reform. Their excuse of course is that they object to the equalisation of constituencies, which they consider to be 'gerrymandering'. The fact that the status quo of unequal electorates favours them, raises the question of just who is doing the gerrymandering? In today's Independent, Justice minister Lord Tom McNally warns peers ...
In an extraordinary move, Conservative blogger Iain Dale has donated £100 to Phil Woolas' appeal-fund to pay his continuing legal costs. On the day of the guilty verdict I spoke to Iain on his radio show, and disagreed with his ... Continue reading →
Today's Independent contains a more accurate account of David Laws book on the coalition talks in which he makes it clear that the main obstacle to an alternative deal with Labour was their Ministers. He says that a "truculent trio" of Ed Miliband, Ed Balls and Harriet Harman wrecked any chance of putting together a left- wing coalition after the last election: In the first "inside" account of how the Coalition was formed, Mr Laws, who was on the Liberal Democrat negotiating team, said Mr Miliband was at best "indifferent" to the talks, and Ms Harman was "patronising". Mr Balls, ...
The former Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, will be trying this afternoon to have the Bill which contains the AV referendum, be declared a hybrid bill, effectively derailing it. Not only is this claim ridiculously partisan, aimed at kicking a crucial government policy into the long grass, depriving people from having a say on the electoral system, purely to preserve Labour's unfair electoral advantage, but it is also completely flawed. The claim that this is a hybrid bill simply does not stand up, as Mark Pack cogently argues on LibDemVoice. *update* Lord Falconer's bid to derail it has failed.
Pupils attending Farnborough Road Junior School should be safer on their way to school - thanks to new guardrails put up near the Guildford Road entrance. My fellow councillor Simon Shaw serves with me on the Governing Body of Farnborough Road Junior School (he also serves on the separate Farnborough Road Infant School Governing Body). Simon and I happened to be outside the Guildford Road entrance earlier this year and we were both horrified to see one motorist drive up onto the pavement right outside the School - just as pupils were coming out. As if that wasn't bad enough, ...
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 ...
Dear Lord Falconer, You have me confused with your claim that the Parliamentary Constituencies and Voting Systems Bill is a hybrid bill (and so should go through a different and slower Parliamentary procedure). Now, I know that you have many more years of legal training and experience than me, so I wouldn't be confused if there was just the one reason for you appearing to be wrong. But there are three, you see. First, as you know when a Bill is introduced the Department of the Clerk of the House has to rule on whether or not it is a ...
Bus Users UK is holding a bus users' surgery this Friday at Keighley Bus Station from 10:15 to 3:15 so you can comment, complain or compliment the ...
I was really pleased to learn on Saturday that Tim Farron had been elected as president of the Liberal Democrats in one of the most closely fought contests for president. The president of the party is similar to the chair of the Conservatives or the general secretary of the Labour party. The post has more importance as it has the democratic legitimacy of being elected by all party members (and its one man, one vote - not a silly electoral college!) Tims role is to listen to the party in the country and to take that message back to Westminster. ...
Here's the captured video from MobileMonday's Trends in mHealth panel. Presented in glorious HTML5 and hosted on Archive.org Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
So, Tim Farron MP is to be the next president of the Liberal Democrats. In a ballot of party members, he defeated ex-MP and London mayoral candidate Susan Kramer by a smaller margin than some expected. Their merits and personal constituencies left the two candidates fairly evenly matched: parliamentarian vs. non-parliamentarian, rising male star vs. woman and safe pair of hands, career politician vs. graduate of professional life. There were few policy differences between them. Both candidates were somewhat vague as to how they would go about leading or changing the party organisation -- but the job itself is somewhat ...
Arbury and King's Hedges residents are being urged to have their say on who runs their community centre. Trustees of the Arbury Community Centre are to be elected at its Annual General Meeting tomorrow evening (Tuesday, November 16). Councillor Neil McGovern, Chair of Trustees, said "With increasing bookings, a dedicated professional staff, as well as recent renovations our community centre is where it should be; right at the heart of the local community. As trustees we've done this by focussing on the unique needs of North Cambridge and providing a link between local group organisers and people interested in joining ...
I do like a good headline and I think this particular art form has reached its apogee on the BBC news website with this gem among gems: James Blunt 'stopped World War Three' I will be amazed if this can ever be beaten but I look forward to future attempts.
Mon 15th
11:55Guardian gets it wrong again - Federal Party Election results are not some great rebellion
Allegra Stratton in the Guardian seems to think that the success of Evan Harris and David Rendel in the Federal Executive elections signifies some sort of rebellion against the leadership as she describes "anti-Tory candidates" taking key positions. Well, er, excuse me, Ms Stratton, but I think it's quite clear that every single member of the Liberal Democrats is "anti-Tory". While I may be supportive of the Coalition, it'll be a very cold day in hell before I ever consider myself within very long bargepole distance of Conservative philosophy. I would expect every other member of this party, from Nick ...
Just for historical interest, the Labour Leadership elections results (September 2010) from Folkestone and Hythe Constituency Labour Party. Interesting to note the significant majority voted for David Miliband, and that of 117 votes cast, 94 were for Anyone But Ed...
Mon 15th
11:16
Council's auditor demands that his criticism of the accounts is debated at full council
COUNCIL'S AUDITOR DEMANDS THAT HIS CRITICISM OF THE ACCOUNTS IS DEBATED AT FULL COUNCIL As predicted by the Liberal Democrats, the Conservative-controlled county council has received a humiliating rebuke from its auditor over the state of its account who has used his powers under the Audit Commission Act 1998 to issue a rare 'Section 11′ notice, normally reserved for 'basket case' councils. In it he says the council needs to make sure there are adequate resources and skills in place to support the preparation of accounts the production of working papers needs to be improved so that they are available ...
Today, if you visit certain websites, you'll see a wee procession of brightly coloured avatars "marching" across the bottom of the screen. Those websites range from the JLS Official website (who says nothing good ever comes out of reality tv shows?) to the Demos think tank to Girlguiding UK and 57 other sites. This is all part of charity Beatbullying's Big March to call on the Coalition Government to take action on bullying. They want ministers to set up a commission to explore issues around bullying and take action. The particular issues they've highlighted are: The scope, breadth and effect ...
David Willetts is the closest the ranks of senior Tory politicians have to a bona fide intellectual - his nickname is "Two Brains". His most recent book is The Pinch: How the Baby Boomers Took Their Children's Future - And Why They Should Give It Back. The basic premise (touted amid much fanfare before the Election) is that the Baby Boomers had it pretty good - free education, rising house prices, a golden economy (not to mention all the fun and games of the Sixties). Their combination of large numbers (the Baby Boomers, born 1945-65, were originally the children sired ...
The Lib Dems just had their internal elections and, in addition to the excellent Tim Farron being elected, several of the people elected to the party committees are what the Guardian describes as "anti-Tories". Now, as the about me part of this blog says, I'm social liberal leaning. In fact, I'm more than social liberal leaning, I am a social liberal through and through. As such I naturally dislike the tories. I think Conservatism (capital C) is selfish, ignorant and immoral. Not that I hate every Tory supporter. I've met quite a few Conservatives over the years and most of ...
Since Cornwall Council's threat to close Launceston library and other libraries across Cornwall, I've received lots of messages for local residents in support of the campaign to keep it open. Below are just four of the emails I've received: Library User 1 "My parents are in their 80s and use the library in Launceston on a regular basis. Because of his eyesight, my father likes the large print books that they stock. We are dismayed to learn that Cornwall Council is proposing to close most of its libraries... the library is also invaluable in helping children to read... The staff ...
This weekend, the Guardian featured an article suggesting that the Lib Dem leadership were considering "selling out" on tuition fees in advance of the General Election. Which would be a big story, if only it was true.
You may have difficulty believing this, but I was actually pleased to see the students demonstrating on the streets of London. No, really. I wish they had been demonstrating about something slightly more altruistic, but it was encouraging to see them. Call me a 1970s romantic, but to me the student generation needs to be on the streets more often. When I was at university, there were demonstrations every month, some of them quite small, but some massive - I was among 300,000 who turned out in Bonn in October 1981 to protest against the threat of nuclear missiles, and ...
Why are ministers turning stories into bad news? Perhaps the 'age of austerity' has addled their brains or are they are still operating in 'opposition mode'. Nick Gibbs's announcement of the Key State 1 results is a case in point. Now I know Nick Gibbs has an agenda to mandate synthetic phonics as the only way to teach reading - see the DfE Business Plan - and the contradiction between that level of prescription and 'freeing up the curriculum' is but one part of the muddle that is policy-making within Sanctuary Buildings at present. But, that's not the story here. ...
Jenny Tonge spoke on conflict prevention in the Lords debate on the Strategic Security and Defence Review on Friday. She referred to Israel's treatment of Palestinians and, as ever, a well-organised media response condemned her. It is instructive to see how by slight textual changes her meaning was misrepresented. You may say that Jenny should choose her words more carefully but to what
At the weekend the military authorities in Burma have released the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
No, this isn't a plot from a political satire but it's a bona fide news story: An error on Google Maps has caused an international conflict in Central America. A Nicaraguan military commander, relying on Google Maps, moved troops into an area near San Juan Lake along the border between his country and Costa Rica.* The troops are accused of setting up camp there, taking down a Costa Rican flag and raising the Nicaraguan flag, doing work to clean up a nearby river, and dumping the sediment in Costa Rican territory. La Nacion — the largest newspaper in Costa Rica ...
That's the subject for discussion at the Coningsby Club this Thursday night (18 November) where I'll be speaking on the coalition and its implications for the parties. My fellow guest speaker is Jonathan Isaby from ConservativeHome. Here's the blurb - (and no, I didn't write that blushworthy biography!) "These are fascinating and changeable political times, and the Coningsby Club benefits from, and must occasionally adapt to, Harold Macmillan's oft-quoted "events, dear boy, events." We are taking bookings up until Tuesday lunchtime for this week's dinner at St Stephen's Club (please disregard the note on the website about booking time). Whose ...
And so, after a rather shorter campaign than last time, we have a new President. As I had indicated earlier, this was a very difficult choice in personal terms, with my knowledge of both candidates of little help in differentiating between them. Worse than that was not having a consistent sense of what it was I wanted from the incoming President. There were days when I wanted someone capable of giving the leadership a tough time, holding them publicly to account, providing a rallying point for the members if need be. On other days, I wanted someone with the ability ...
We seem to be moving towards a Remembrance Season rather than a Remembrance Day. This year it covered a four day period, with Armistice Day itself on Thursday and Remembrance Sunday yesterday. In between my next door town of Morley held its own "Festival of Remembrance" on the Friday evening (at which the Choral Society to which I belong was invited to sing) and the national "Festival" followed on the Saturday evening in the Albert Hall. In my view spreading out the period reduces its impact and poignancy. The Guardian reported that many parts of the country fell silent at ...
i) births and deaths 15 November 1910: birth of Geoffey Toone, who played Temmosus in Doctor Who and the Daleks (1965) and Hepesh in The Curse of Peladon (1972). 15 November 1933: birth of Donald Pickering, who played Eyesen in The Keys of Marinus (1964), Blade in The Faceless Ones (1967), and Beyus in Time and the Rani (1987). ii) broadcast anniversaries 15 November 1975: broadcast of fourth episode of The Pyramids of Mars. The Doctor is forced to transfer Scarman to Mars, where he destroys the Eye of Horus, liberating Sutekh. But the Doctor manages to trap Sutekh in ...
I met my friend, Andrew Dangerfield who I have known since I was 6, on Friday night. He was celebrating. His article on the amount of strip clubs in the capital was the most read on the BBC website. Take a look. He is the clever one out of my friends!
Is all publicity good publicity? Something must attract us to a certain brand of car or any product or service for that matter. Advertisers spend a great deal of time and money to get their message over. I suspect there is something to this advertising business whether it is advertising on television or personal promotion. And that leads me to the latest series of I'm a Celebrity. Why do contestants choose to go on this show, live in the jungle and put themselves through the bushtucker trials? In particular why would Lembit Opik do this? It is not entirely unexpected ...
