So last week I read Batman and Robin issues 15 and 16 and The Return Of Bruce Wayne 5 and 6 all within one week. I've only just stopped giggling – nobody should get that excited in that short a space of time. The trades will need to come with health warnings, and maybe some ...
[IMG: Mia Sofia Pizza Express pizza] Tonight it was Hammersmith & Fulham Liberal Democrats, whose AGM I was speaking at (and where there was an spookily life-like cat cuddly toy), which means there are now two more local party speaking slots left for me before Christmas: Saturday's Hillingdon AGM (talking about winning elections) and then Wednesday's Islington Pizza and Politics (talking about electoral reform alongside the Electoral Reform Society's Alice Delemere). Both events are open to Lib Dems from other areas and details are on Facebook here (Hillingdon) and here (Islington). Hope to see you at one or other, and ...
The Spectator held its annual Parliamentarian of the Year Awards ceremony earlier this evening. And congratulations to Nick Clegg for being named the magazine's Politician of the Year. You can find the full list of awards on the Spectator website. Incidentally, you don't have to be a right-winger to win one of them. Ed Balls was named Parliamentarian of the Year.
Today saw severe flooding across Cornwall which has affected many thousands of people. In Launceston we were not immune as Lorraine Conway's picture shows. The Kensey burst its banks and properties in Riverside were badly hit. The flooding here could have been a lot worse without the swift action of council staff who conducted an emergency clean of the gulleys in areas likely to be hit. Unlike Mevagissey, Lostwithiel etc, Launceston is fortunate that if we flood it is because of the run off from the hills surrounding the town and so we get some warning. That doesn't make it ...
I said I would push the movember attributes of five Liberal Democrats, the first was Councillor Jeremy Rowe. The second was Callum Leslie, Vice President of Liberal Youth Scotland and candidate for the Mid Scotland & Fife regional list. The third is Councillor Nigel Clarke, who is Lib Dem councillor for Brentwood West. The fourth is Ross Chmiel, a Lib Dem member in Edinburgh. The fifth and final is Chris 'give a hug' Wiggin, an active member of Liberal Youth from York. I am doing this because it is so important that we unite to fight cancer, whatever strain it ...
Two Aldi supermarkets on the Planning Committee agenda today, along with the control building for the Seamer wind farm and some technical reports and protocols. Enough to keep us going for 3 hours! Earlier this year the residents of the area of Stockton near Yarm Lane convinced the planning committee that the site proposed for a small supermarket was not so near the High Street that it would have
I said I would push the movember attributes of five Liberal Democrats, the first was Councillor Jeremy Rowe. The second was Callum Leslie, Vice President of Liberal Youth Scotland and candidate for the Mid Scotland & Fife regional list. The third is Councillor Nigel Clarke, who is Lib Dem councillor for Brentwood West. The fourth is Ross Chmiel, a Lib Dem member in Edinburgh. I am doing this because it is so important that we unite to fight cancer, whatever strain it is. Movember is the fundraising project for the Prostate Cancer Charity. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer ...
I said I would push the movember attributes of five Liberal Democrats, the first was Councillor Jeremy Rowe. The second is Callum Leslie, Vice President of Liberal Youth Scotland and candidate for the Mid Scotland & Fife regional list. The third is Councillor Nigel Clarke, who is Lib Dem councillor for Brentwood West. I am doing this because it is so important that we unite to fight cancer, whatever strain it is. Movember is the fundraising project for the Prostate Cancer Charity. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. One man dies every hour from the disease in ...
Members of the Friends of Roundhill committee met with the Council's tree officer today to look for a patch for planting a variety of small fruit trees. The trees have been obtained by More Trees for Bath from The Woodland Trust as part of their Jams, Jellies and Chutneys campaign. The Friends and More Trees for Bath will be planting the trees on Saturday 27 November from 10 till...
We are bitterly dissappointed that on November 25th The Council Executive will be considering a report recommending the closure of Culverhay. In our view the report does not give adequate consideration to the proposals put forward by Culverhay and we will be at the meeting making another attempt to convince the Executive to keep Culverhay open and to start a process to allow it to become...
I said I would push the movember attributes of five Liberal Democrats, the first was Councillor Jeremy Rowe. The second is Callum Leslie, Vice President of Liberal Youth Scotland and candidate for the Mid Scotland & Fife regional list. I am doing this because it is so important that we unite to fight cancer, whatever strain it is. Movember is the fundraising project for the Prostate Cancer Charity. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. One man dies every hour from the disease in the UK. This is a cause that I feel passionately about and I'm asking ...
We have reported the overflowing bin by the YMCA in the Mount Road and asked the Council to empty it quickly.
From the Stroud News & Journal: A new beer launched this week may help to make the public spending cuts easier to swallow. Called Neil's Coalition Brew, it has been launched by Stroud's Conservative MP Neil Carmichael to celebrate the historic Tory-Lib Dem government. Produced by Nailsworth Brewery, it was launched by Mr Carmichael and Lib Dem district and county councillor Dennis Andrewartha, who stood against Mr Carmichael in the general election, at the Village Inn, Nailsworth on Friday.One local drinker who has tried the brew is quoted as saying: ""It's a bit bland but it's good."
Yes, you read that right. At Rememberance Day service in my church (St John's, London) the sermon was given by a Muslim, Jehangir Malik OBE, Director, Islamic Relief UK. Recently, there has been a lot of violent attacks against Christians and Catholics in Iraq, India and Pakistan by Muslims. As a Christian, I feel angry that different religions cannot get on around the world and I feel especially worried about fellow Christians who are living in fear for their lives. That is why I was touched when Mr Malik said, 'I want to say how appreciative and moved I am ...
I said I would push the movember attributes of five Liberal Democrats, the first is Councillor Jeremy Rowe. I am doing this because it is so important that we unite to fight cancer, whatever strain it is. Movember is the fundraising project for the Prostate Cancer Charity. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. One man dies every hour from the disease in the UK. This is a cause that I feel passionately about and I'm asking you to support my efforts by making a donation to The Prostate Cancer Charity. To help Jeremy Rowe, you can either: ...
Further proof that my job is totally awesome: if anyone else spent two hours of their workday looking at Bettie Page, they would probably be skiving. Me? I get paid to do it. Also, I got to alphabetise each card by caption. It's like cataloguing, but instead of books, I had pictures of a hot woman! :)
I've not been impressed with Cheryl Gillan's performance as Secretary of State for Wales. It's not because she's a Conservative. It's not because she represents an English constituency (she is Welsh in all fairness). It's just because, well...how can I put it diplomatically and tactfully....it's because I don't think she's very good at her job. I wasn't a fan of Peter Hain either. Yet, despite the fireworks that have been lit by both Hain and Gillan since May, they're actually quite similar I feel. Their attitude and the way they communicate is so off-putting. It's the old 'ya-boo' politics speak ...
After all the issues about safe crossing I raised during the traffic lights replacement at the Tullideph Road/City Road junction, I am pleased to see the new traffic lights are now working as of today.
It would be fair to say that the noble Lord Phillips of Sudbury is not one to be bound by such things as Party whips. Andrew is more the kind to do what he thinks is right and liberal, which may not put him always on the side of the angels, whoever they might be. One of his personal bete noires is ID cards. Having been a prominent voice opposing them during the Labour administration, he has taken up the cause of those foolish enough, or obliged, to have paid for one. It is his view that they should be ...
Today's Scottish Budget was a typical John Swinney fudge. It is lighter on detail than it should have been and it is disappointing that John Swinney wouldn't give the figures for more than one year. You might have concluded that John Swinney does not expect to be Finance Cabinet Secretary this time next year. You would be right. The one year only budget is a dangerous way for every school, hospital and college in Dundee and elsewhere in Scotland to try and plan ahead. Hard working staff have no way of knowing what to expect from the SNP. They can't ...
I visited Gaza on a cross party delegation back in March. It was a trip that will forever stay in my memory. I've always had an interest in a wide range of foreign affairs and they don't come any bigger than the Middle East. Achieving peace and stability between Israel and all its near neighbours ...
I have to say, when news of the Royal Wedding broke, my first reaction was to wonder where Kate Middleton's great grandparents were from. Wherever it is, it's sure to become a place of pilgrimage, nay, a tourist mecca over coming years. I needn't have worried, as the Sunderland Echo tonight brought me the front page news that Kate Middleton has "deep family roots on Wearside". I have to say, I hadn't had Kate down as the kind of lass you might see in the queue for a stottie at Greggs. But how wrong I was – apparently Kate Middleton's ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 195th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (7th-14th November, 2010), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. At least Nick ...
I commend this excellent piece by Simon Jenkins in today's Guardian. I don't agree with what he says about the Liberal Democrats' prospects at the next General Election, but I strongly agree with the advice that he offers to the vocal minority of Lib Dem activists who are critical of the Coalition. His points are bluntly put and none the worse for that! Definitely worth reading.
What do you get when a group of sci-fi and horror loving geeks with a liking for smut and sometimes downright strangeness decide to play with some headphones and recording equipment? The answer is a podcast called My God! It's the Baggage Man which is coming our way soon. It involves our Jennie so profanity in abundance and Doctor Who geekery will not be far behind. They have done a wee trailer on their site. I did wonder if there was a way of embedding it here because they've invited whoever hears it to inseminate it at will or something ...
In the usual style of the Chronicle it says politicians to close Culverhay, lets get this straight it is the Conservatives that want to close Culverhay, at the Full Council, except "two independents" from Radstock and Timsbury who have voted to support the Conservatives on every big issue on the council.The story in the Chronicle paper is belowhttp://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/
Last night I visited Old Bedians Rugby Club in Didsbury to see how their Mo's were getting on. A number of the Old Bedians players have joined the Manchester Mo's team for Movember and are growing very well in fact a lot better than mine! I was particular impressed with Pat Doherty who had joined a ...
I was pleased to see that Kirsty Williams' response to the Labour/Plaid draft Welsh Assembly budget today was a reasonable, measured one. At the moment, the political debate nationally and in Wales, is rather loud, rather angry, and is some cases rather hypocritical. The old Punch and Judy style politics of the old, despite the talk of a 'new politics', remains. That for me is down to the Labour Party who can not and will not accept blame for the economic mess that they bequeathed the country back in May. Until they accept responsibility (which of course they won't) then ...
VN is intrigued as to what a young Prince does to celebrate his last night of pre-marriage freedom. Elegant dinner? Night club with friends? Fancy dress party? Probably best not to let the bro organise that one... [IMG: prince_harry_nazi-tm.jpg]
According to Channel TV Stuart Syvret has been jailed for 10 weeks.Former Senator Stuart Syvret has been jailed for ten weeks and faces heavy fines after being found guilty of breaching data protection laws.This looks like an attempt to put the frighteners on people critising the failures of the rule of law in Jersey.
Hello Partington Close. Following the Stroud Green Road saga and the successful efforts to dethrone Beaumont Rise, you are now the pothole of my life. After months of chasing about the huge pothole on Partington Close, it's first secured a line of paint around it and now - a plastic cover too. Progress, of a sort: [IMG: Partington Close pothole] There are a couple of serious points behind my pothole sagas. First, it's easy for some people to mock - and they do - concerns about getting potholes fixed. But take the example of the Partington Close one. It's slap ...
A twin travelogue treat to tempt Lib Dems to go and help in the Oldham East and Saddleworth election rerun: If you choose your delivery round carefully, you can see some pretty scenery in the constituency – Chris Davies MEP gives us a glimpse of the countryside while urging us to turn up soon: Video also available on Youtube here. Next, Lib Dem President-elect Tim Farron takes us behind the scenes at Campaign HQ – those leaflets won't deliver themselves... Video also available on YouTube here. Full details and directions to Oldham East and Saddleworth campaign HQ are here.
Wed 17th
17:02
Labour-Plaid budget a missed opportunity on NHS waste, economic growth and pupil premium
The Labour-Plaid budget published today is a missed opportunity to build Wales's economic future, root out waste in the NHS and target funding at the poorest school children. Welsh Liberal Democrats want front line health services protected but that does not mean that savings cannot be made in NHS bureaucracy. It is no good protecting the health budget when there is evidence that £1 billion of the health budget is being misspent. Despite the drop in unemployment announced in today's figures, the economic recovery is still fragile. In these circumstances, it beggars belief that the economy and transport department that ...
Cornwall Council's Cabinet has rubber stamped their cuts budget which will see vital services ripped away from thousands of people across Cornwall. But, as ever, there remains money for refurbishing County Hall and other capital projects of dubious value. For the people from Camelford and Bude who turned up hoping for some good news on their leisure centre and pool, there were were no answers. Conservative Deputy Leader Jim Currie - taking the chair whilst the Leader dealt with flood matters - dismissed concerns about these facilities as being arguments over small amounts. Of course, the £30,000 it would take ...
What a relief! For a change, Prime Minister's Questions gave more cause for Tories to be uneasy than it did for LibDems. Don't get me wrong, LibDems care passionately about frontline policing. Of course they do. But the Tories tend to see it as more of a cojones (or should I invent the adjective "cojonal" here?) measurement issue - it's closer to the nerve with them. So I think there must have been a lot of uncomfortable shifting around on the benches behind David Cameron today. "Squeaky bum time", as Sir Alex might put it. For once there was a ...
The prospect of another royal wedding makes me feel old. The last big one seems like yesterday - my first few months as a reporter on the Oxford Star - but it is actually, by definition, a generation ago. Not quite sure what I've been doing in the intervening years. Washing up, I think. There are Liberals among us who believe their political beliefs lead them inexorably into being republicans. So let's mark the occasion by explaining why Liberals really ought to be constitutional monarchists. I suppose the reason I would describe myself like that is history. It is the ...
David Ward, Liberal Democrat MP for Bradford East, has been asking questions in parliament about how tax evasion will be dealt with.
David Ward has introduced a bill in parliament to save the cheque. He says it would be particularly difficult for more vulnerable people not to have the ...
It's not often I go gaga about a new album. I bought it on the strength of TT's performance on X-factor. Wow – I'm so glad I did. If you're looking for a stereotypical `m&s ballad album` please look away. This is an album that `divides the room` – and thank f*** for that. Rather ...
On one of her regular visits to Ashfield Road in Cheadle a couple of days ago, Pam King saw that a tree had fallen across the road from a private garden. Library staff said it had been there for a while. Pam got onto the Council right away and within the hour a team was on site cutting up the tree and shortly after it was all sorted. Many thanks to Pam and the Council team for getting it sorted so swiftly. And, as we never tire of saying, if you spot a problem, let us know. Sometimes everyone thinks ...
You'll see work has started on improving the Church Road/Gatley Road junction. This is not to put in traffic lights - I've heard the rumour, but it's not true. If and when we do put traffic lights on the junction, it will need a lot more consultation and work. This is more of an incremental improvement to make it a little safer and, as its in the heart of Gatley - looking better too. Here's the letter from the Council with the details. Gatley Road/Church Road crossing improvements
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Mark Stonebanks has just sent out the following message to people on the Friends of Fortune Green mailing list. Well done all involved! "In the last newsletter we told you about making a funding application to the Veolia Environmental Trust. We have just heard that we were successful in our application. We were awarded £16,440, which isn't the full amount applied for as it is a difficult funding environment. However, together with the £49,500 from Changing Spaces, £20,000 of Sager section 106 money and funding from Camden, 'stage 1' of our project is now fully funded. Stage 2, which is ...
Today Bilal Zaheer Ahmad, 23, of Dunstall was charged with soliciting murder over Iraq war blog which listing MPs that voted for the Iraq war. He of course was also charged for other offences under the Terrorism Act which I suspect had more significance. The danger with this charge is the usual freedom of speech after all this information is already out there in the public domain. For example the BBC has a list of who voted for the war. But I doubt the BBC will be prosecuted or Old Holborn who posted a list today. It appears you have ...
I am pleased to hear that the main board of Tesco have now given the green light to the final phase of the Swan development subject to agreement on a S106 planning agreement and S278 roads development agreement.
This morning's Western Mail contains confirmation of what we have long suspected, that when the Welsh Assembly acquires new responsibilities it does not get sufficient funding transferred to it to pay for these functions. They say that this includes the transfer of responsibility for fire and rescue, CAFCASS and the Arriva Trains franchise, all of which took place under the previous Labour Government. I raised this issue with the Finance Minister today but she was not interested in addressing the issue seriously.
I have just had the quick chat I hoped for with Ross Finnie about the Patients Rights Bill due to be debated at Holyrood this afternoon. He told me why the Liberal Democrats are so opposed to it and what he would do in its place. Ross started off by giving a bit of background about how we'd got to where we are with this Bill. He told me how the legislative process had started off with a consultation during which patients' groups had expressed a desire for something which brought patients' rights all together in one easily understood document, ...
Along with best wishes from seemingly the entire known universe, congratulations by the bucketful were being heaped on Prince William and Kate Middleton on the anouncement of their engagement yesterday. Now while I am delighted for them and wish them every happiness I was more than a little concerned by the hysterical response from the media last night. Three "documentaries" on the subject and all news coverage was dominated by it. Whilst it was undoubted relief to get a good news story it is somewhat worrying when the potential collapse of a neighbouring economy is sidelined on the main evening ...
Harriet Harman returned to face David Cameron in PMQs this week, as Ed Miliband is off on paternity leave. She, fairly successfully, took a line on cuts to policing. Looking passed the fact that Labour would have made Home Office cuts, she backed Cameron into a corner from which he failed to give a straight numbers answer. That said he did have the last laugh when she got personal with him over the photographer/videographer, rattling off a list of far more inappropriate Labour appointees....including Alistair Campbell. Covered by parliamentary privilege, (take note of its application Messrs. Chaytor et al,) he ...
I guess this is a warning about where you choose to host your web site if someone – anyone – might object to it. There's been some talk about abuse of police power with the ill-advised "Fitwatch" website takedown. For those unaware, the site hosted some useful guidelines on how to get rid of any evidence if you'd been anywhere near Millbank tower last weekend. I may disagree with the opinions in the article and with the occupation but given the "arrest first, find an excuse to charge someone later after digging through their stuff" approach taken by many police, ...
Interesting words and some honesty from senior Labour AM, Lynn Neagle in the chamber yesterday: I want to make one thing clear from the start: I do not shy away from the stark reality of the scale of the deficit. I am definitely not a deficit denier. I also understand that cutting spending is never easy and that it is often an incredibly painful process. It is true to say that, whichever party had won the general election in May, we would be facing some incredibly tough decisions here in Wales. However, the coalition Government has hard choices to make ...
Wed 17th
12:36
David Hall-Matthews writes in 'Renewal' - Coalition politics, a view from the Liberal Democrats
The Autumn 2010 edition of Renewal – a journal of social democracy – sees the Chair of the Social Liberal Forum David Hall-Matthews writing about the formation of the Coalition government from a Lib Dem perspective. The Liberal Democrats have always believed in coalition government - not just out of necessity, but also on principle. You cannot believe in proportional representation without thinking that rule by consensus is inherently desirable. Perhaps less obviously, if you believe that coalitions make for good politics, you have to be willing to try and find common ground with parties who may not seem to ...
It is nothing new for a government to be talking about improving electoral registration by matching data between different sources. What is different about Nick Clegg's latest comments on the subject, in a speech to the Hansard Society, is that the talk is now becoming much more specific, with pilot projects starting next year. Local councils, for example, hold name and address information about people in several different databases. If they are able to make use of the data from other sources to highlight either gaps in the register, or suspicious entries that may be the result of fraud, this ...
On a gloomy November day amongst more news of financial problems in Ireland and austerity measures in Scotland, Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their engagement. Brilliant! I cannot deny that I loved that piece of news. In a BBC Breakfast straw poll this morning the feel good factor amongst ordinary Brits rose to 7.4 ...
This afternoon, the Scottish Parliament will be debating the Patients' Rights Bill. Surely this must be a good thing, to set out what patients can expect from their NHS. I mean, who could possibly object to Clause 1 (2) which says: Health care is to—(a) be patient focused: that is to say, anything done in relation to the patient must takeinto account the patient's needs,(b) have regard to the importance of providing the optimum benefit to the patient'shealth and wellbeing,(c) allow and encourage the patient to participate as fully as possible in decisionsrelating to the patient's health and wellbeing,(d) have ...
Recommended reading for Lib Dem Councillors and local campaigners over the last seven days: Three major political stories continued to dominate the national media: The violence at the NUS demonstration in London is reported by the Independent here as Student Riot Marks End of Coalition's Era of Consensus. Meanwhile the Guardian wonders if the Phil Woolas Affair is about the Soul of the Labour Party. The main Government announcment of the last week has been on Welfare Policy. Here are two Lib Dem views: Nick Clegg in the Guardian, Poverty plus a pound is not enough, and Steve Webb on ...
[IMG: Fabio Capello. http://www.postproduktie.nl/voe...] Image via Wikipedia Following a disastrous World Cup that saw England return far earlier than most expected, Fabio Capello has decided to experiment in tonight's match against France. The only team who managed to have a worse tournament than The Three Lions. The twenty three man squad contains some unfamiliar faces in the form of Cardiff striker Jay Bothroyd, Sunderland midfielder Jordan Henderson, and Manchester United centre back Chris Smalling. The rest of the squad contains previously capped players, but England find themselves without the likes of Rooney, Terry and Lampard due to various injury problems. ...
With matters Royal all over the media, this post on the estimable Jane's London blog caught my eye. She points out the sheer number of pubs in this part of town named after royalty and nobility. It was traditional to name pubs after the local landowner, or a patriotic hero of the day. Royalty were ...
This is not the first time, I've taken a risk by posting on my blog (29 June 2006: Warning, reading this blog may get you arrested.) but here we go. This morning, Bilal Zaheer Ahmad was charged with offences under the odious Terrorism Act for posting a list of those MPs who voted for the illegal Iraq War. (Story: Independent; BBC) This information is publicly available and here's where I take the risk: I'm going to link to it. Click here for the voting list for the Iraq War – scroll down to Page 6 Which site is hosting this ...
My good friend Brendan made a principled stand in favour of Condoleezza Rice yesterday: ... the interview [with Rice on the Daily Show] revived a lot of what I felt about politics in college: that neither nobility nor corruption is bounded by party lines, that tribalism can blind you to either, and that if someone says "it's more complicated than that" they might be right. (They might also be wrong.) I was politically naive in a number of ways, sure, and I ended up as a registered Democrat a few years later, but I'm glad my naivete pointed toward ambivalence ...
The big news yesterday apparently was "Prematurely Balding Squaddie to Wed On/Off Girlfriend". Otherwise known of course as the latest tedious royal wedding. That's right, the person second in line to be our Head-of-State has announced his engagement. [IMG: [William and Kate]] Image: BBC News Now, I'm very happy for the couple involved but I do have a number of objections – but not in the sense of if anyone knows of a reason why these two persons may not lawfully marry. The first is the fact that William is scheduled to be the Head of State as King. It ...
Microfinance epitomises Liberal Democracy and we must push the Department For International Development (DFID) to reverse the declining support the Labour years has visited on this decentralised, non-statist and very effective means of lending a hand up to the poorest people on the planet. In the picture is the cooking stove I bought in Malawi from a gentleman called George (not his real name). George was loaned the money by a microfinance charity so that he could buy sheet metal rather than scavenge for the materials he needed. [IMG: Malawi cooking pot - Shas Sheehan] It's pretty basic, utilitarian design ...
We live in an age of bread and circuses, as did Juvenal. Actually I have no objection to "circuses" including royal ones. We all need cheering up. What I object to is the coming rationing of "bread". Despite all the noise about the government's deficit, Britain remains a wealthy country, but the wealth is concentrated. At a recent local discussion a nice comfortably-off lady (Somerset
Now here's your chance to find out more in a live Twitter Q&A session with RNID's Chief Scientific Advisor Sohaila Rastan TODAY - and RNID want you to join in! Chief Scientific Advisor Sohaila Rastan will be hosting a live ... Continue reading →
Can you offer support to a vulnerable young person? Homeless young people across the county are being offered support and accommodation through the Supported Lodgings Service. The scheme was set up by Durham County Council in 2003, jointly funded by the Children and Young People's Service and Supporting People to provide a room and support for 16 to 25-year-olds within family homes. The length of stay can vary from short stays to longer periods of up to two years. The young people are either vulnerable children, above the age of sixteen, or care leavers not yet ready to live on ...
The following piece by Dinti Batstone and myself appeared in the November edition of ALDC's Campaigner. It follows up on two common themes of ours – Dinti's on targeting European voters and mine about direct mail: It's been a case of two steps forward, one step back in many local parties when it comes to getting more out of direct mail over the last few years. As covered previously in of Campaigner, the emphasis on doing direct mail more often and to more people has sometimes come at a cost in variation. Rather than, say, one batch of direct mail ...
An intended side-effect of the government's decision to close the Strategy Unit is that some civil servants are being redeployed to beef up Nick Clegg's team. As the Financial Times reports, The addition of some more policy specialists will be welcome relief for his hard-pressed team. The sheer range of issues he has to handle has left them struggling to cope at times. Clegg's office was in danger or being branded a Whitehall black hole, from which policy submissions never re-emerge. That is good news as far as it goes, though as I wrote before, Whilst it's sensible to address ...
Some good news: the City Council has found funding to improve the area of green space behind Apthorpe Way and off Woodhouse Way. The play area is under pressure from parking and has been churned up be vehicles. Following consultation with residents the plan is to provide two extra areas for parking to try and reduce the pressure, and to fence off the green space to protect it. Local residents have been written to with details of the plan. Any concerns please do get in touch with the team. The picture shows Andy and Neil looking at the problem, hopefully ...
There seems to be a lot of talk at the moment about how marketing can make use of QR codes. I wanted to highlight a few ways in which 2D codes can be used for slightly more practical usage. There's nothing wrong with selling more cheese – but I think that only scratches the surface of these little squares of brilliance. You may have seen these Ringo.co.uk ticket machines. They are meant to be a convenient way to pay for parking tickets – but could QR codes make them more useful? [IMG: Ringo Instructions] The user's action is: call, quote ...
Good luck to Prince William and Kate Middleton. On their press calls yesterday, they certainly seemed like a couple who respect (and love) each other very much and their long association obviously bodes well for their future. At least there was no repeat of the cringeworthy "whatever love means" moment which even at the time looked like a match between a young woman who seemed to think it was fairy tale and a cynical bloke who looked like he knew he had to secure the family inheritance. The thought of joining a family steeped in etiquette where people are expected ...
So, full disclosure as always, I'm a royalist. I know, it's mad. I've tried being a republican! I've gone through my political beliefs and found there is no sensible reason for me to be a royalist. I've told myself this in the sternest of words. But I just can't help myself. I have an irrational loyalty to Her Majesty. This reluctant royalism does mean I'm very sympathetic to republicans. I agree with you on the political, constitutional and democratic arguments. You win. However after the (wonderful) news of Prince William's engagement to Kate Middleton yesterday I saw so much stupid ...
In 1964 British Pathe visited Porthmadog- or Portmadoc as it was billed in those days - and the Ffestiniog Railway. Click on the picture to see the resultant film on the Pathe website. That website also has eight minutes of silent black-and-white footage on the Ffestiniog Railway's centenary, shot the previous year. A couple of days ago I said I would go back to Porthmadog one day to take the Welsh Highland Railway. The nice people who run it read that post and have offered me a footplate pass when I do. A trip to New York, a Domino's voucher ...
Well it's clear that the economic crisis in Ireland is absolute categoric proof that the Euro will collapse, that it has made Ireland's problems much worse and that Britain is so much better out of it. Shame none of that is really true. This isn't an article urging immediate membership of the Euro. It's clear that any referendum would be lost at least ten to one and that it is totally off the political agenda. Ireland is up to its neck in it for more or less the same reason Iceland got in bother. It's banking sector was far too ...
Paul Burstow, Liberal Democrat Minister of State, Department of Health launched the social care policy yesterday – so am pasting information on the new proposals below. Social care is essential for most people at some time in their life. It embraces the most intimate care for people, often at times of great distress. It is about helping people and their carers to live independent lives. This isn't happening at the moment. That's why the Coalition Government is moving away from the "business as usual" mentality of the last Labour government to tackle the broken system of how we care for ...
Surveying my desk this morning, I was reminded of this wonderful observation (source unknown). "The typical project goes through 6 phases: EnthusiasmDisillusionmentPanicSearch for the GuiltyPunishment of the InnocentPraise and Honour to the Non-Participants".
The Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty Williams has expressed her disappointment after the First Minister revealed that he has made no attempt to bring striking rail union and Arriva Trains Wales together to resolve disputes and avoid strike action. Rail unions are set to strike on Friday, which will have an impact on people wishing to attend the Wales v Fiji rugby game and further planned strikes could have a massive effect on the retail sector in the pre-Christmas rush. Carwyn Jones admitted during First Minister's Questions that he had made no efforts to settle the dispute between ...
I notice that both my feed of LJ entries to facebook and my feed of Delicious links seem to have stopped working. Any thoughts about what I should do to reinstate them?
More from diggerdydum , the second round in the contest to vote for the best (and worst) Who stories ever. Cast your vote by Monday. Poll #1: "This is not life. This is tickness." Choose up to four best stories from: Dalek, Fathers Day, Horror Of Fang Rock, Human Nature/The Family Of Blood, Partners In Crime, Terror Of The Zygons, The Daemons, The Dalek Invasion Of Earth, The Daleks, The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit, The Seeds Of Doom and The Time Warrior. Choose one or two worst stories from: 42, Daleks In Manhattan/Evolution Of The Daleks, The Idiot's Lantern or ...
broadcast anniversaries 17 November 1979: broadcast of fourth episode of The Creature from the Pit. The wolf weeds kill Adrasta; Erato eats the wolf weeds; the Doctor prevents Chloris from being destroyed. 17 November 2008: broadcast of first episode of The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith. The Trickster persuades Sarah to prevent her parents' deaths.
Saturday: And now for a word from Daddy Richard... So, I stood for the FPC... That might come as a surprise*, because I've not mentioned it on Millennium's diary, but the rules of the election said I couldn't use the Internet so I kept quiet. So, I stood for the FPC and didn't get elected. But I'm not downhearted. It was (obviously) STV, and I was eliminated at stage 47; but Alex assures me that means I came "23rd" out of 63! Or seven short of elected! And that's better than a slapped face, so I'll stand again in 2012. ...
Here at VN we are well up for a Royal wedding! Just look what a cute couple William and Kate make when discussing the proposal. Thank to Perez Hilton for the video.
Wed 17th
00:06
Motion to ban all Liberal Democrat members using the word 'values' when making podium speeches
No, dear Labour trolls, contain yourselves. This does not imply that such members do not have values. Far from it. In recent conferences, and tonights GLA selection hustings, (more of that tomorrow, try and contain the excitement,) it has emerged that many Liberal Democrat speakers love their values so much that they were keen to remind the audience they had them. Every. Single. Sentence. So we get it. There are still things that elected, and wannabe-elected, Liberal Democrats disagree with the Conservatives on. Great. That is why the coalition is made up of two different parties. But the word values ...
At the weekend I was speaking with someone who hopes to become a teacher next year. He told me a wonderful story about the incentives that are given in schools and I will share it with you. Raffle tickets were given to all pupils who worked well, who behaved well or were just there when a teacher thought that there was s good reason to give out a ticket. They were given out fairly regularly but one pupil only received one raffle ticket before he was permanently excluded (expelled to you and me) from the school. You guessed it - ...
