This Bill had its second reading in Parliament today. The key issues in the Bill are: - accountability of the police and the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners (elected) - the introduction of new licensing laws to curb binge drinking - minor changes to Universal Jurisdiction so that the Director of Public Prosecutions decides on arrest warrants for foreign war criminals who come to this country as opposed to district judges - ensuring that Parliament Square can be used for protests, but not used as a permanent encampment. - new powers to deal with legal highs There was a ...
By now I was expecting an early Christmas present, in the shape of the arrival of my trial electric car, which I have signed up to leasing for a year, as part of the Government funded CABLED trial. However Tata have just announced the latest in a series of delays which means delivery of the car is not now expected until March next year. While frustrating, it is of course the purpose of such trials to discover the glitches in a product and have time to put them right, before they are sold on the general market. Meanwhile the steadily ...
Last year, Rage Against The Machine managed to steal the top spot of the Christmas chart from the X Factor winner, Joe MacThingy. Personally I wasn't bothered about that campaign. We swapped a song released on a major label for a song, ahem, released on the same major label. It didn't exactly feel like the machine had successfully been raged against. Last year's success has prompted several copy-cat attempts to flashmob the Christmas number 1 using online social networks. One of these campaigns has come up with the perfect riposte to the bland muzak churned out by Simon Cowell's televised ...
When writing about the rise of Tim Farron last month, we made the following prediction: "He will become one of Ed Miliband's sternest critics whilst agreeing with almost everything he says." So we are pleased to see Tim's reaction to Miliband's latest attempt to split the party as follows: 'Labour spent years "sucking up to Rupert Murdoch and George Bush - why would any progressive even give them a second glance?"' Meanwhile as if to answer Tim's question, Richard Grayson, a self-appointed victim of the party's desire to practice pluralism, is not so much coquettishly glancing, as giving the Labour ...
britishrailways.tv This film was made in 1962, seven years before the line closed. Some still dream of reopening it.
One of my Italian colleagues, Niccolo Rinaldi, has just returned from Gaza. He reports that Israel's partial lifting of the blockade has ensured that there are plenty of goods in the shops, although with 70% of the population receiving UN food aid there aren't many being bought. Worryingly, he also reports that there are very few women now to be seen on the streets of this teeming conurbation - in stark contrast to the situation in the more secular West Bank townships. His comment reminded me of a conversation I had in Gaza nearly 5 years ago with the wives ...
I came across a fantastic website today with some of the best political art I have ever seen. I hope the artist does not mind me putting some of the images he has created here. As a portrait artist myself ... Continue reading →
Ed Miliband announced today that the former Liberal Democrat policy chief Richard Grayson will be contributing to the Labour Party's policy review. I fear that the Labour leader may be disappointed with the outcome. I knew Richard when I was a member of the Federal Policy Committee for several years. I found him an amiable figure and it turned out that we had both attended Hemel Hempstead School at different times. In fact, the same teacher had taught Richard, his father and me. But my chief memory of Richard's part in the committee's work was that he could get impatient ...
Tonight I did something new. Something I never thought I would actually ever do given my propensity for disliking Christmas rather strongly. A Carol Concert in Trafalgar Square under the lights of the Norwegian Christmas Tree seemed like just to tonic after ... Continue reading →
Pat Glass about Michael Gove: Evening Chronicle November 10th 2010 I have met with Michael Gove on a number of occasions since he became Secretary of State for Education in May of this year and have found him to be a charming man with a genuine desire to improve educational outcomes for all children. Michael Gove about Pat Glass in the House of Commons: Hansard November 24th 2010 The hon. Lady has been an impressive lead Member for children's services and education in the past, and she speaks with authority. The question for the people of Consett is simply whether, ...
A long day yesterday, I thought I would relax chill out and blog a little, however on arriving home once I fought past decorations Christmas trees and blooming Santa's, there by the main tree (M&S) was the wi-fi box with an unfamiliar orange light (usually green) showing. A quick attempt to surf the web with my phone confirmed my worse fears, the internet is broken, all I can tell you is this evening has been an emotional rollercoaster, at times I had that yes sorted feeling, only to realise no I haven't, eventually I cracked and phoned technical support, thirty ...
Manchester Schools are set to receive up to £430 per pupil a year for each poorer pupil they teach under details announced by the Coalition Government. It means that Manchester stands to gain up to £6.4m extra cash in the coming year to help towards improving teaching and learning in schools and boost achievement of the The extra cash will be given according to the number of pupils on free school meals and whose families earn less than £16,000 per year. It means that Manchester It was one of Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats main pledges before the election, known as ...
One of the arguments often used against proportional representation is that it will lead to a dull form of politics where all the parties are clustered on the same narrow strip of ground. Nonsense, the advocates of PR have taken to replying. Under proportional systems parties have to make more effort of make themselves distinctive. Is that true? And if it is true, what do voters in other countries make of this state of affairs? The Liberal Democrat policy of having no rise in tuition fees - and ultimately abolishing them - was clear enough. But we were only ever ...
Here's the letter I've received from Sarah Teather (I won't get too excited - it wasn't a personal one. Schools across Cheadle Constituency will get an extra half a million pounds from the "pupil premium" - a key Lib Dem policy delivered in Government that targets extra money to poorer children wherever they live. Dear Iain Today the government unveiled further details of the Pupil Premium - a key Liberal Democrat policy which will ensure the most disadvantaged children in our country get the help they need. From April next year every school in England will get £430 for each ...
From the Guardian: There were unconfirmed reports today that ...the Times's Tom Baldwin is on the verge of being appointed the Labour leader's principal media strategist. Tom Baldwin was a Newbury Weekly News reporter in the early nineties. – And an excellent one too. He had excellent local political antennae – mostly developed – ahem – in close conversation in convivial environs. Tom was fresh from Uni then. NWN former editor, the late Lew Cummins used to boast of having to escort him to the washrooms in the morning to get him tidied up ready for reporting duty. I met ...
Oxfordshire Country Council's Conservative leader Keith Mitchell CBE has been attracting plenty of attention on Twitter of late. He has been less than impressed at the protests by students over tuition fees, and wasn't afraid to use all his wit in expressing this. First came this tour de force... ...which got him coverage on the regional news. Now today he comes up with... Oh man, this guy should do stand-up! Sure, water cannons have in the past resulted in permanent blindness, but at least you get a good wash! LOL! But Keith's side-splitting material doesn't just stop at mocking protest. ...
You couldn't make up such a blog post title but, as ever, reality really is better than fiction. It's quite apt really as it turns out that this is my 100th blog post. 93 of those have been written since I re-started this blog back in September with the other 7 from early 2009. I'd hope that my varied take on the world keeps viewers interested. There's plenty of 'political' blogs out there and plenty of 'sport' blogs and plenty of 'entertainment' blogs but this is very simply and very uniquely, my blog, and because of that, you get to ...
Thanks to Great Food Leicestershire and Rutland magazine for pointing me to this short film by Nick Hamer. It's the largest covered market in Europe, you know.
Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat Voice A couple of years ago I made a complaint about my MP, Richard Benyon. I feel a shiver of guilt even writing the word "complaint" now. I suppose I am very English about complaints. I don't like making a fuss. I have bumped into Richard off and on since 1992 and always found him to be "a nice enough cove", as P.G. Wodehouse might put it. Making a "complaint" about such a harmless fellow just didn't seem British. But occasionally I feel I must put pen to paper, as I did in this case. What ...
After decades of centralisation, localism has yet to happen in the UK. Before it can re-establish itself, it sounds like central government Communities Secretary Eric Pickles might encourage the wholesale sell-off of public libraries. Developer money moves faster than local campaigns. Voter participation in local affairs is currently low, and the ability of voters to raise funds will always be limited. Developers may therefore be getting a window of opportunity, free of community opposition, going from the following measure: Giving local people and organisations the right to buy community assets like shops, pubs and libraries. If a council decides to ...
Today saw the Government announce the local government settlement for the next two years. The announcement is complicated but has given rise already to a lot of spinning from Cornwall Council as they try to justify their decision to cut huge amounts early - despite advice from numerous Government ministers not to do so. At the emergency budget ten days ago, the Conservative led administration forced through a budget based on an assumption of a government grant cut of 30% over then next four years. The Government had announced that the average local government cut was to be 26-28% and ...
While I am firmly in the "Don't Be Afraid of the Big Bad Tories" camp of coalition collaborators, isn't RedandYellowandGreennotBlue a magnificent user id? Spotted on Nick Robinson's Newslog (presumably that is much better than a weblog somehow?). Apparently, "It's worth remembering today that the communities and local government secretary has spent his life studying how to get his way in politics." I often think that's more a flaw than a virtue. From ardent left winger to the Tory right – sounds like the type dedicated to ruling over us rather than representing us.
There is now a major investment for schools in Bath through the Pupil Premium.In its first year the programme will target £625m extra funding to the poorest children in school, with this figure rising to £2.5bn each year, by the end of this Parliament.In year one, every school is guaranteed an extra £430 from the Government for every child on free school meals and every looked-after child.In Bath
I'm fed up of the lack of constructive debate and the tribalism from Labourites. Be critical of the coalition by all means (I am myself!) But name calling (2 examples today were scum and c***s) doesn't inspire me to take ... Continue reading →
Looking in more detail at the NUS website some things are clear.1. this page confirms:NUS's Aaron Porter saying:"Graduates might have to contribute more overall, but that must not involve higher student debt on graduation or the cap on fees coming off, as we suspect the Browne review will recommend."2. This page has the following:"With the outcome of Lord Browne's review of higher education
I was talking the other day to a friend about how the current political situation could spark an increase in Lib Dem support in the coming months and years (after all, our membership is rising, I'm told). He asked, not unreasonably, where he could read such a view expressed in the mainstream media? Right on cue comes this piece in The Independent by Mary Ann Sieghart, which I heartily recommend. What do people think of her arguments?
After the difficulties of last week, it's good to see some news that's a lot less bad than the fearmongers of Labour and the Greens make out, with the fears of frontloaded, double figure cuts to council budgets coming to nothing. Better still, the poorest families in Reading will see an investment of over £1.3 million in the first year of the Pupil Premium. This money will increase further over the course of the Parliament, and be extended to help more children. The news on council budgets is good as it had appeared Eric Pickles had done pretty badly for ...
[IMG: Description unavailable] Image by The CBI via Flickr NUS President Aaron Porter will stand for a second term. He revealed his intention in an interview in the Guardian, naturally. Before becoming President, Porter served as a Student Union Sabbatical President, and 2 years as Vice President Higher Education of the NUS. Porter has been under a lot of pressure in recent weeks having, unfairly, been seen in some way at fault for the unacceptable behaviour of people protesting on his behalf. Allowing the protest to be called 'Demolition' probably didn't help though. Despite strong media performances and a determination ...
Ed Miliband has made me an offer, well Okay, not just me apparently every Lib Dem. He wants us to work with him to shape Labour policy. He says many Lib Dems are "ashamed" at the direction the Coalition Government is going. Well so far as policy is concerned if Lib Dems were to shape Labour policy it would end up remarkably like Lib Dem policy and I don't think that is his plan - especially as he has recently rec-confirmed his socialist beliefs. As for being ashamed, I can't speak for the rest of the Lib Dem members but ...
Ed Miliband has asked Lib Dems to help draw up Labour policy. I'm not sure how I can get involved in this. but I am tempted. I guess this is a political ploy to split the Lib Dems between left and right. This won't be as easy as Ed thinks as many Lib Dems are left and right across a number of issues. Plus I haven't forgotten what Ed said "that he had a plan to make the Lib Dems an endangered species, and then extinct". Also think its a myth that orange bookers are on the right, they just ...
Localism was one of the reasons I got into politics; the obsession that the Labour Government (and before that, the Thatcher Government) had with emasculating local decision-making bodies was deeply opposed to some of my core beliefs. It was one of the reasons I joined the Liberal Democrats, and one of the reasons I wasn't ...
Bury Schools are set to receive up to £430 per pupil a year for each poorer pupil they teach under details announced by the Coalition Government. It means that Bury stands to gain over £1.8m extra cash in the coming year to help towards improving teaching and learning in schools and boosting achievement. The extra cash will be given according to the number of pupils on free school meals and whose families earn less than £16,000 per year. It means that Bury gains an estimated £1.825m. It was one of Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats main pledges before the election. The ...
This is a full account of how I arrived at my decision to abstain in the vote to increase tuition fees. It was clear from the moment that the Coalition Government was formed that the vote on tuition fees would be the most difficult vote for the Liberal Democrats in the whole five year term ...
Having met Tim Farron and worked on his presidential campaign team, when he sends out a press release, I actually hear it in his voice, talking just a tiny bit too fast, full of energy and passion for whatever the subject is. We're in for a treat over these next two years. I sometimes worry that our press releases are too safe, too predictable, and dare I say it, too boring. No danger of that with Farron around. I am absolutely sure he's going to end up in trouble at some stage, but I'd rather have someone speak their mind ...
According to Nick Clegg, Cameron's 'Big Society' is liberalism in action.
Over the last few weeks many people have accused students of stupidity, idiocy, and even that they are spongers from the coffers of the public purse. This morning, I witnessed an incident that re-emphasized to me that actually the students in our society are the future professionals and future leaders of our land. Sitting on ...
[IMG: Map of the consultation area] After years of promising a review of the Finsbury Park Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ), the Council have at last given in to pressure from councillors and residents and are consulting households inside and outside the current zone about what parking controls they want in the future. The consultation started a few days ago and ends on Friday 17 December. Anyone who lives in the current zone and on roads north (up to and including Ridge Road) should have received a questionnaire through the post from the Council. If you haven't received this then you ...
Labour led Southwark Council have announced that over the next four financial years capital investment of £215M will be made to bring the last 33% of council homes up to the Decent Homes standard with a funding gap of £68. To bring these homes up to the Southwark Decent Homes standard will cost £529M. The coalition government recently announced a fund of £1.6 billion for local councils to bring all residential council properties up to Decent Homes standards, without having to transfer the properties to a housing association or Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO). The previous Labour government insisted that ...
It's time for a catch up on the latest Council meeting and let you know how I voted on the issues and why. The first main issue was the annual debate over the level of Council tax discount given to owners of empty properties. My view remains unchanged from a year ago which you can read HERE. In fact my view has become even stronger as there are now serious financial implications for the Council
So the Labour party are so lost at the moment that they have asked the Liberal Democrats to help them with the policy review. I don't think they quite heard us the first time back in May when they tried ... Continue reading →
Sunday: Anyone who ever talks to Captain Clegg will tell you this about him: he is PASSIONATE about tackling the root causes of the big freeze in social mobility. You cannot get him to shut up about the subject. And, for him, this means getting in at the earliest possible moment to give the bright-but-poor as much opportunity as the comfortably-off. So the Government is pleased to announce the Liberal Democrat's PUPIL PREMIUM will start this year at an ADDITIONAL £430 per pupil for every family earning less than £16,000. To put that in context, that's about an extra 7% ...
The Open Rights Group reports, Commissioner Neelie Kroes ... announced that the EU Commission wants to reform EU copyright ... "Today our fragmented copyright system is ill-adapted to the real essence of art, which has no frontiers. Instead, that system has ended up giving a more prominent role to intermediaries than to artists. It irritates the public who often cannot access what artists want to offer and leaves a vacuum which is served by illegal content, depriving the artists of their well deserved remuneration. And copyright enforcement is often entangled in sensitive questions about privacy, data protection or even net ...
On Saturday morning I went to visit the Council's homelessness hostel at Southview near the town centre. It was a very enlightening and inspiring visit, as we got a tour of the facility and met some of the people currently calling Southview home. The residents range from single people to large families, all vulnerably housed for a variety of reasons, whether it be through fleeing domestic violence or simply finding themselves out of work and unable to afford housing any more. I visited as part of my work on the Council's Homelessness Working Group, which is looking at the future ...
I've been quiet on the blog-posting front lately. Quite a few things have been going on, not least of which is that I have just bought a house! So there is a great deal to get sorted out. Add to that the fact that we had arranged to leave on a holiday to Hong Kong ...
As a governor of two local schools, both of which have considerable numbers of pupils who qualify for free school meals, the pupil premium of £430 per year extra for each and every one of those pupils will be very welcome. There's been a real squeeze on education spending in Manchester schools in recent years, with several primaries having to bring in redundancies. This extra money will go a long way to helping local schools to invest more in educating local pupils.
Here's some good news. Someone in the campaign for AV gets this storytelling thing. Last month, I was the guest speaker at the Hackney Liberal Democrats' AGM. At the end of the meeting, a man from the Yes to Fairer Votes campaign was given a bit of air time. He didn't give lists of reasons for voting AV. Nor did he spout statistics. He told a simple story about his time in NUS. The point was, when he went to lobby MPs, those with safe seats were much less likely to give he and his colleagues the time of day. ...
Saturday: After the disappointment of the Copenhagen Summit last year, when even President Barry O and Prime Monster Mr Frown could not wrangle a deal from the World Leaders... against pretty much ALL expectations that ANY progress could be made this year... the Climate Change Summit in Cancun has achieved a (moderate) success! And Liberal Democrat Climate Change Secretary Mr Chris Huhney-Monster was right at the heart of the process. Mr Huhney-Monster was proved RIGHT in his decision that it was more important to STAY and try and agree a deal than to come home to vote on Tuition Fees, ...
Well, today marks my third attempt to blog! Since we have entered government I have found myself having even more opinions than normal! So, here goes! Wish me luck!
I've signed up for the Lib Dem conferences, which should be interesting. I'll find out whether my experience of industry conferences is good training for surviving worthwhile sessions that are nonetheless deathly boring :) The process of registering had a few surprises, though. Had to provide my place of birth, and apparently for the Birmingham conference the police will require compulsory security information that Sheffield can manage without. Welcome to the UK, we have assigned you a number, and you will be assimilated...
Manchester City fans tuned into Match Of The Day on Saturday night safe in the knowledge that their strong performance over West Ham had put them joint top of the Premier League - an impressive achievement at this point of the season for Roberto Mancini. However, what should have been enjoyable viewing for the City followers soon turned into disturbing scenes. There in front of them was Gabby Logan presenting the first glimpse of the news that Carlos Tevez had possibly handed in a transfer request as she held up copies of the forthcoming Sunday newspapers. The Sunday morning came ...
This year I've had two pieces of casework highlighting huge delays in getting building certificates at the completion of building work. I've personally also had delays last year making me extra wary their might be an issue. A formal response to a question I posed at full council assembly shows me that a very real problem does exist that no administration has been able to resolve - largely I suspect this service has never been picked up on any radar as failing. For example this financial year 512 building certificates have been issued with the average certificate issued 42 days ...
A good post with lots of useful information over on the Financial Services Club blog, including this important point: The reasons for using social media in a bank appear to vary widely between the European and American view, as can be seen. In Europe, it is all about brand, customer engagement and talking through the crises, whilst the Americans is all about customer and brand.
London has a Taxicard systemthat provides subsidised door-to-door transport for people who have serious mobility impairment and difficulty in using public transport. Taxicard holders make journeys in licensed London taxis and private hire vehicles, and the subsidy applies directly to each trip.This Scheme is funded by participating London boroughs which includes Southwark Council. London Councils Transport and Environment Committee (TEC) manages the London Taxicard Scheme on their behalf with the Taxicard able to be used anytime, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. The Lib Dem London Assembly Leader Caroline Pidgeon has for some time been campaigning for ...
Once again it is the time of year for the Christmas Tree Festival held at St John's Birkdale. Lots of photos etc are on the church website. The week began with the Farnbourgh Rd Junior School Christmas Concert held in the Church and finished with a great sing along of Christmas Carols. I was surprised and delighted that one of my favourite carols was requested Powered by mp3skull.com The Coventry Carol (Medieval Baebes).
I welcome the announcement that Rochdale, Heywood and Middleton schools will receive around £3.3 million extra funding next year thanks to Liberal Democrat plans for a 'pupil premium'. The coalition government has announced the details of the policy, which was one of the Liberal Democrat's four main pledges at the general election. A total ...
I have today launched my December 2010 update to West End Community Council. Topics covered include : + Winter Maintenance challenges + Road closures + Further graffiti vandalism + West End Christmas Week outcomes The Community Council meets on tomorrow night (Tuesday 14th December) at Logie St John's (Cross) Church Hall at 7pm. You can download a copy of Fraser's update by clicking on the headline above or by going to http://tinyurl.com/weccdec2010.
I am linking to my piece at the back bench business committee about secret prisoners and contempt of parliament.Those interested in these issues will find it interesting.
Jonathan Calder has bemoaned the lack of Lib Dem blogging activity about the announcement over the weekend that the Pupil Premium will give schools £430 per year for every pupil from a family on low income. There's no doubt that the Pupil Premium is welcome, but it won't be greeted with unbounded joy. At the same time as it is being introduced, we are losing the EMA - which I would argue is vital in places like North Cornwall. PP is also a shadow of a scheme that has been running for a number of years in North Cornwall and ...
Labour leader Ed Miliband has just finished the first of what he promises will be a monthly news conference. In it he made a 'big, bold, offer to the Liberal Democrats'...oh hang on... He was standing in front of a window though. Miliband's seduction technique is a rather odd one. Having attacked, and vowed to destroy, the Lib Dems during his leadership bid. Furthermore, Ed Mili is reported to have been one of the biggest barriers to a Lib-Lab coalition due to his behaviour during the negotiations. He is now asking them to join with him to fight the coalition ...
John Hemming, MP for Birmingham Yardley, can now proudly declare that his constituency office is cruelty-free. John has taken the step to ensure that all his cleaning products are genuinely cruelty-free, only using those approved under the BUAV's Humane Standard.John Hemming has joined forces with the BUAV to Clean Up Cruelty; supporting the campaign to end animal testing for household products
National narratives take time to embed themselves but once they do it is difficult to escape from them. The current narrative about the Lib Dems is that they have betrayed students on tuition fees and are therefore just like the rest of 'them' (see comments on this post). But maybe it is Nick Clegg's reasonableness ...
When I started this series of posts – looking for strengths in the Lib Dems in the mainstream media – there were few positive stories to report. It seems interesting that in the Lib Dems worst week that I can remember there seems to have been more positive stories to report. I think we should ...
Yet again, the Premier League action did not disappoint this weekend as both the top and bottom of the table were shaken up and things just got that little bit closer. With three of the top four playing each other there was the chance for the gap amongst the top teams to be extended or shorted, while at the bottom, Wigan, Wolves and West Ham were all scrapping away for the points. With Manchester United against Arsenal not taking place until tonight, the game of the weekend was undoubtedly at White Hart Lane, where Tottenham welcomed Chelsea. Tottenham, who have ...
"I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament and to pressure the government to introduce a fairer alternative" That was the NUS pledge that I signed. The new proposals are fairer. So – those who are angry at me and feel 'betrayed' do at least need to look at the comparative proposals and see if they are 'fairer'. It would have been much easier to vote against – in a constituency like Hornsey & Wood Green where some Labour voters supported me – but as popular as that might have made me – why would ...
Congratulations to my MSP Angela Constance who was yesterday appointed as Skills and Lifelong Learning Minister in the reshuffle following the resignation of Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson who reckoned that I feel that I could have done much more to ensure that members of the public who were caught up in a difficult and frightening set of circumstances were better informed of the situation.I don't really get the rush to resign, to be honest. Ministers have taken a great deal more grief and stayed in office. I agreed and still do with Kenny MacAskill's decision to release Megrahi, but he ...
Many of you may have noticed that what was once the closed down petrol station by Glasson's Garage (leading up to the Fire Station) has recently been refurbished. The smart new premises is called the Coffee Spot and run by a local young proprietor, Lee. I finally got chance to drop by there to sample the wares last week and will definitely be back for a return visit. Loads of nice coffees and hot chocolates, made with fresh frothy milk. Free wi-fi and a range of papers to chill out with. Whether you're just there for a pitstop or fancy ...
... discussing the vandalism concerns - click "play" to listen.
Before I progress with my tale, I should clarify something which seemed to cause some confusion elsewhere. I was not successful in my application and so will not be representing the Liberal Democrats at the Assembly elections next May. But I still hope to help in some small way. My application did cause some comment in the Welsh media. One called it 'entertaining'. I will say this to the nationalists. Ceredigion is a beautiful part of the country with some wonderful people - you do not have to be born in Wales to appreciate that fact. To return to the ...
And now we move on to the meat of the discussion from the Government Equalities Office Transgender Workshop. Although as I previously discussed, the meeting was held under the Chatham House Rule, the nature of the meeting means that there would also not be much to say about government policy or likely changes anyway, even if I could. This is because it was a chance for us to let them know our views rather than the other way round. Indeed, even if nothing else I think the meeting was very productive just because it did bring so many people together ...
The tensions that lay at the heart of the defence establishment under Labour have been laid bare today after the former Defence Secretary, Bob Ainsworth, told the Daily Telegraph that the retired head of the Armed Forces, General Lord Dannatt could not be trusted as he was "constantly going public" in criticising the government and should have resigned. The paper says that Mr Ainsworth had to work with the general through the toughest period of the war in Afghanistan but suggested that the relationship was impossible as the officer leaked information to the Telegraph. Mr. Ainsworth also admitted that, in ...
Welsh Liberal Democrats Assembly Member, Peter Black has expressed fears for the future of Mumbles Coastguard Station after a leaked report suggested that more than half of the 19 Coastguard centres in the UK could shut. The suggestion is apparently part of a review that may also see plans for a private company to take over the UK's search and rescue helicopter fleet. Mr. Black has previously expressed concern that the helicopter service operating out of Chivenor and which covers the Bristol Channel and South Wales, might be cut back from a 24 hour to a 12 hour service. "These ...
John Hemming, having looked at his bio, is a bright lad. It gets on my nerves when intelligent people publicly indulge in what I call "semantic masturbation" using "logical illusions". Particularly on national issues such as tuition fees, where MPs are supposed to raise the level of debate. Hemming tries to re-write history by claiming the NUS pledge simultaneously meant voting against an increase in fees, and voting for an increase in fees, as long as the latter included a "fairer alternative" of a system. This is the kind of self-contradictory logic that you'll get from a man who regularly ...
The Liberal Democrats are announcing today a major investment for schools in Haringey through the Pupil Premium. In its first year the programme will target £625m extra funding to the poorest children in school, with this figure rising to £2.5bn each year, by the end of this Parliament. In year one, every school is guaranteed an extra £430 from the Government for every child on free school meals and every looked-after child. In Haringey that could mean around £4.5 million in extra cash. For years, Labour told us that children in inner London boroughs were worth more than children here ...
Harriet Harman is a fairly typical British Labour politician. She comes from a wealthy, even aristocratic, background and was sent to St. Pauls Girls School- a private school- before studying politics at York University and joining a pressure group. She married a Labour activist- Jack Dromey- who she met on the picket line at Grunwick, but has maintained her feminist credentials in small things, such as retaining her maiden name, but betraying her Socialist credentials in large things: by sending her children to grant maintained and grammar schools, while publicly opposing the access to these institutions by others. So far, ...
broadcast anniversaries 13 December 1975: broadcast of fourth episode of The Android Invasion - last appearance of Ian Marter as Harry and John Levene as Benton. The Doctor and Sarah successfully thwart the Kraals. Hooray! 13 December 1980: broadcast of fourth episode of State of Decay. The Doctor kills the Great Vampire with a rocket through his heart and he, K9, Adric and Romana escape. Hooray!
I have just finished reading Will Hutton's long but worthwhile "Them and Us." Here's what he has to say about the Daily Mail in particular and the rest of the press (Guardian and Observer partly excepted!) in general. "The info-capitalist proprietors - Murdoch, Rothermere and the Barclay brothers - are happy to peddle the big narrative of a badly governed country with an overblown public sector being carried to the dogs by Eurocrats, liberalism, undue deference to political correctness and moral decay. ... Commonsense views are set against those of lying politicians and untrustworthy technocrats, which are confirmed day by ...
It disturbs me to read all the mainstream media reports of the recent tuition fees protests in which it appears that all the violence is initiated by groups of "anarchists" infiltrating an otherwise peaceful and lawful protest. Of course, we should be used to it, since it is the same story at all the G20 type protests, and before that the WTO protests. It's always black-clab, balaclava wearing "anarchists" who start the trouble. Or so they tell us. [IMG: Protests in Parliament Square] Well, I want to make one thing clear: this anarchist had a day off last Thursday, but ...
David Laws account of the coalition negotiations and his few days of ministerial office is a must read. Learn the difference between a traffic light coalition and a car crash coalition. Find out exactly where the hand of history was squeezing. David's account is most politically relevant for its description of how willing the Conservatives were to negotiate in good faith and compromise on policy, and how unwilling elements within the Labour party were to do the same. Shockingly the Labour negotiators didn't seem to agree among themselves, or have the authority to negotiate for the party. I'm shocked enough ...
The British know Michael Ignatieff as an engaging liberal academic and TV pundit, so Canadian disenchantment with him as Liberal leader must be puzzling. This article by Ottawa journalist Susan Riley takes a cool look at Ignatieff's strengths and weaknesses. For my part, the biggest disappointment about Ignatieff is his complete implausibility on climate change, something he shares with the leaders of the other two parties. It is a huge volte face from the Liberals under Stéphane Dion. The other off-putting thing about Ignatieff (which as a recent migrant from the UK, I'm probably more sensitive to than most) is ...
I saw Jon Sopel a few days ago interviewing Paddy Ashdown. He really gave Paddy a hard time but Paddy gave as good as he got. Jon would ask a question and not wait for an answer, then he would ask another question. It would be good to see this interview again but I can't see it on the iPlayer. I have written about Jon Sopel's interview techniques before when speaking with Liberal Democrats. If he isn't prepared to listen to answers then he really shouldn't be asking the questions. The reason why I am writing about him now is ...
