Birmingham has now received details of its Formula Grant from Central Government. The Formula Grant provides the majority of funding towards the nett cost of the Council's services and is much larger than the amount raised by Council Tax in the City. On a like for like basis Birmingham's Formula Grant is being reduced by 10.2% in 2011/12 and 7.3% in 2012/13. The Council also gets funding from a number of specific grants. When you add in the nett impact of the changes in these grants the overall 'spending power' of the Council reduces by a little less than the ...
Last week saw the Second Reading debate on the 'Savings Accounts and Health in Pregnancy Grant Bill'. This Bill abolishes the Child Trust Fund, cancels the savings gateway scheme and the health in pregnancy grant. Naturally, Labour are opposed to the measures, and accuse the Government of abolishing these as a matter of dogma. What they don't tell you is that these were introduced at the very end of the Labour administration, as a time when it was already clear that the country couldn't afford them. They weren't even very effective as a means of supporting the most vulnerable. Let's ...
It's refreshing to be part of a campaign that's not linked to any one specific political party, nor to a local single interest, but which spans all parties and those with no party links and which is about something as fundamental as voting reform. This afternoon a small group gathered in Eaglescliffe to hear about the campaign across the North East region and how we can be involved. When we were
Now anyone who follows me on Twitter will know that I suffer something of an epic commute in the mornings. I took to the nightmare that is South West Trains this morning in my usual manner. Because I give myself ... Continue reading →
The Walking Englishman has a map and photographs of a walk in the countryside around Bonkers Hall - or Nevill Holt as he calls it for a some reason. Although the walk lies entirely in Leicestershire, this is precisely the area in which I imagine Lord Bonkers living. This photograph, showing Nevill Holt, comes from the same article. There are hundreds more walks on the site.
I'm going to review every available Beach Boys CD, including the solo albums, to try to provide a buyers' guide to the band's music. (I'm also restarting my Doctor Who reviews and trying to do at least one comics post per week.) If these are popular I may turn them into a book like my ...
The news is coming through this week that Cardigan Court is set to close under HMRCs rationalisation programme. This is a real blow to the town after a strong campaign led by local residents, Cardigan Town Council and Ceredigion County Council to keep our court open. The closure of the court was proposed under the original plans, announced in July, but the Lord Chief Justice recommended that Cardigan, along with a number of other courts in Wales should stay open. However, the Conservative Courts Minister Jonathan Djanogly confirmed in an oral statement yesterday that Cardigan would be among the courts ...
Having spent most of the day in meetings in London and then travelling back I have not had much time to post anything. However, on settling down today and perusing the web I was struck by one particular item. The Daily Telegraph amongst others, reports that the failure of MPs to provide evidence to support nearly £14 million in claims has led the nation's official auditor to refuse to sign off the accounts of the House of Commons. They say that in a highly embarrassing move Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, found that the Commons authorities had ...
The Western Mail reports that WRU chief executive Roger Lewis has pledged to run a "people's campaign" with the aim of securing a Yes vote in the referendum on more powers for the National Assembly. Mr. Lewis, who had been asked to chair the 'yes' campaign by the First Minister, said the campaign strategy would be to keep the message simple: "I believe passionately in Wales, and I think it is vitally important that the Assembly is given the tools it needs to do its job. "Of course the Assembly should have the right to make laws that apply in ...
The government is pressing ahead with plans to get doctors to manage the NHS should they? In a word no or NO NO NO at least that is my view. Its simple the police don't run the judicial system because their expertise is in catching crooks and enforcement. At the risk of being struck off from my current surgery, here's why I think it would be wrong. First off, over the last few years doctors, particularly GP's have dramatically increased their earnings while reducing the hours they work. Clearly a doctor should not have to work too many hours but ...
It's Season 14, and my 15th write-up of my rewatching of Who. I usually try and note my thoughts on these as I am watching them, but the system doesn't always work, so I'm afraid these are a bit late (I'm already on episode three of Horror of Fang Rock) and a bit more disjointed than usual. I had forgotten the rather spooky start of The Masque of Mandragora in outer space - it's been a while since we had any scenes set in the featureless void - and the somewhat unnerving switch to the new control room, though we ...
There is one God, who by his Word and Wisdom made and ordered all things. His Word is our Lord Jesus Christ who in these last times became a man among men, that he might unite the end with the beginning, that is, Man with God. Therefore the prophets who received from this same Word ...
Corporations have neither bodies to be punished, nor souls to be condemned; they therefore do as they like. So said Edward Thurlow, the 18th century Lord Chancellor. Andrew Simms and David Boyle's new book Eminent Corporations does much to bear this view out through its histories of eight famous British companies from the East India Company to Virgin. They tap into a rich lode of history with which I was largely unfamiliar. The pattern is set in the first chapter on the East India Company, which is contributed by Nick Robins. Remarkable figures crop up, where many famous names are ...
In 2003, Oliver Letwin declared he was a Whig, and that Iain Duncan Smith had Whiggish elements. The article by Rachel Sylvester on Letwin in the Telegraph goes a long way to explaining the thinking of the Conservative side of the coalition. It reinforces my view that the coalition has led to the Whig's returning to power.
Earlier this month I visited the site of the first new Council-owned and Council-managed housing in Reading for 20 years. This is quite an achievement given the pitifully small number of new council homes built by the previous Labour government. This development of 'extra care' flats will provide excellent new homes for the over - 55s in Reading. When completed the development, on the former Avenue School site on Basingstoke Road in Katesgrove will consist of 27 one-bedroom flats and 13 two-bedroom flats for rent. The new homes are expected to be complete in spring 2012. The brand new accommodation ...
A couple of weeks ago I was privileged to attend the launch of the new Action Plan for carers in Reading, as part of national Carer's Rights Day. This plan details real commitments to carers made by Reading Borough Council, NHS Berkshire West, the Princess Royal Trust Carers' Service, Crossroads and JobCentrePlus. It has been developed by members of the Reading Carers Steering Group which includes local carers and it is an excellent example of co-production. It calls on local agencies to do more to support carers and help carers live happier, healthier lives. I never cease to be amazed ...
It seems to be true – blog regularly and thou shalt receive visitors. A warm welcome to everyone who has dropped by; thanks to everyone who's left a comment. Initially, most of the comments were just the automated posts clogging up the filter. It's nice to get hundreds of comments saying, "I've been reading your blog with interest and I value your opinion", but it was starting to sound insincere. Thank for all the attention, spambots, but I don't think there's a future for us.
Petulant children. That's what Labour call those of us who turned our noses up at the idea of helping THEM develop THEIR party's new policies. Well, if they are so desperate to get our input (perhaps they are really struggling for inspiration?) who am I to deny them? So here is a list of my suggestions for some radically new policies for the Labour party. 1) No more torture. A real headline grabber this one. It's going to be a hard sell within the Labour party, if their last term in Government is anything to go by, but I think ...
This afternoon, I was interviewed for tonight's STV news about my concerns regarding the City Council's SNP Administration education 'savings' proposals that propose a so-called "City Campus" for senior pupils that would see pupils having to travel between schools for classes. I have called for a proper explanation of how this would actually work but judging by comments made by the SNP Education Convener in tonight's Evening Telegraph, she has "yet to fully consider transport for the plan." Announced, but not thought through. Astonishing. Thereafter I had the pleasure of attending the launch in the City Square of Stagecoach Strathtay's ...
Also at today's Cabinet meeting, there was an item on CCTV in Cornwall. This title was slightly misleading as only schemes in the mid and west are affected. East Cornwall (including Launceston) CCTV schemes receive no money from Cornwall Council. The basic issue is that the Council wants the local town councils to contribute to the costs of the monitoring operation. An inquiry by the scrutiny committee recommended that Cornwall Council continue to fund the monitoring operation. But this recommendation was not taken up the Cabinet who proposed that the affected councils stump up around £10,000 each to contribute to ...
Formal Consultation on Opening a Sixth Form at St Gregory's: 6 Dec 2010 - 10 Jan 2011 In September 2009, the governing body of St Gregory's conducted a consultation on a proposal to open a sixth form. The proposal was prompted by parental demand and Government policy which encouraged outstanding schools to expand and spread their ethos by opening sixth forms. A comprehensive consultation
At today's meeting of Cornwall Council's Cabinet, there was an item on the agenda about proposed junction improvements in the Camborne, Pool and Redruth area. I used the opportunity to ask when the Council would get round to improving the horrendous congestion in Launceston. The bottleneck at Newport is caused by the roundabout at Newport Square and the narrow bridge over the Kensey. Yet there is virtually no other option for those trying to access the A30 from Holsworthy or Bude. Many thousands of vehicles each day are caught up in the normal town centre traffic causing huge delays. The ...
With Christmas Day falling on a Saturday this year, there will be no change to your bin collection day, everything will be collected as normal. This also means that no extra waste will be collected. If you haven't received any of your new containers or have any concerns about the new recycling scheme, please call the Council's Contact Centre on 01454 868000. You can find some tips on the Council's website. Yate SORT IT! centre The Yate SORT IT! centre will be CLOSED on the following days during the holiday period: Saturday 25 December Sunday 26 December Saturday 1 January ...
I have been metaphorically, and at times literally, hiding under the duvet to avoid the whole tuition fees shambles last week. It seems to have been painful for all concerned and rather painful to watch. It certainly won't go down in history as the Liberal Democrats finest hour. I should say from the outset that I am not an expert in student finance and I haven't chosen to take the time to make myself one. When you get beyond the easy campaign statements of 'F*ck Fees' and similar, the arguments for and against the government's proposals seem to get increasingly ...
As I blogged yesterday, Cornwall Council's Parking Panel has voted through its plan to raise parking charges in Launceston significantly whilst cutting prices in other parts of Cornwall. They have also approved the plan to increase season ticket prices from £195 to £600. Whilst the Council spin machine claims that they have listened to and made changes based on the responses from more than 1000 people who replied to the formal consultation, the truth is that these changes are marginal at best and do nothing to ameliorate the fears that most people have over the rises. Of those who responded ...
When David Cameron announced that he had agreed with other leaders an EU budget increase of 2.9% , and that was that, I accused him of not having read the Lisbon Treaty. "Was he not aware that the European Parliament had equal powers in the making of the budget?" I asked. Whether or not he has read the Treaty the Prime Minister got the politics right and I got them wrong. In the face of the European Council's refusal to change its position, the European Parliament simply backed down. So much for my assertion last month that the Parliament was ...
We were important than we realised, even before we went into government. The Guardian has details of cables discussing the Liberal Democrats, obtained from Wikileaks, sent back to the US by its London embassy. A lot of the material is a convoluted account of events early in Nick Clegg's leadership when the party abstained on the question of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, having in the past called for one. The (rather tenuous) grounds given were that we wanted a referendum on our membership of the EU as a whole. It is all ancient history now, and a reminder ...
Mirror Dance won the Hugo award for 1995; the other nominees were John Barnes' Mother of Storms, Nancy Kress' Beggars and Choosers, Michael Bishop's Brittle Innings and James Morrow's Towing Jehovah. The only other one I've read is the Kress, which I really didn't think was very good. This was the year that the inexplicably award-winning Robert Sawyer got a Nebula for The Terminal Experiment, but the BSFA shortlist included three excellent books - Baxter's The Time Ships, McDonald's Chaga and Priest's The Prestige. (Baxter won.) I'm a huge Bujold fan, and Mirror Dance is the start of the superb ...
I have finally summoned up the energy to start trying to interact online. i have been in hospital since 8 november of which some of the time i couldn't really have told you what was happening. its like being slapped by a giant frying pan! I'm still not there yet. need lots of support from nursing staff, and am getting very good care. i wanted to let you all know that i have read all your kind messages they all help and makes me smile. i'm not sure i'll be out by christmas, but i'd rther know that i can ...
A new Shepway Council website has gone live at www.shepway.gov.uk which is designed to make it easier to find the key information you want from Shepway Council.
Just got an email from the Liberal Democrats reminding me that conference early bird rates expire tomorrow evening. Always one for a bargain, I duly went onto the site to register for Spring/Autumn conferences. Imagine my surprise at having to agree to the following in order to register .... "I confirm that I understand I will be contacted after Spring conference to submit compulsory security information required by West Midlands Police to complete my autumn accreditation. I understand that until that information has been supplied, my registration for autumn conference cannot be completed". How times have changed....I thought it was ...
Wed 15th
17:01
Releasing a PDF eBook is Like Writing an iPhone App - and I don't mean that as a compliment!
The unsurpassed guru of mobile phones, Tomi T Ahonen, has released his latest book for free! [IMG: The Insiders Guide To Mobile] The book, "The Insider's Guide to Mobile", is an invaluable guide to anyone in the mobile industry. I've read through a few pages of it and it is smart, funny, useful and a hugely important tome for anyone in the industry. There's just one small niggle I have with it. It is released as a PDF. PDF is a terrible format for ebooks. Releasing a PDF ebook is the publishing equivalent of releasing an iPhone app. 99% of ...
I have a post on Liberal Vision's site entitled "The State is the ultimate expression of society".
Regular readers of Liberal Vision will be surprised to see the above title as this site doesn't tend to promote the State. Do not fear, there has been no sudden change of heart. At the weekend, I was out with a Labour voting friend and inevitably we discussed the tuition fee row/debacle/progressive policy (delete as appropriate). His justification for why university education should be entirely funded from general taxation was based on his view that "the State is the ultimate expression of society". Two things struck me about that phrase. The first was that this view underpins a lot of ...
[IMG: Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...] Image via CrunchBase Facebook itself is not without controversy. There remain issues around privacy and the selling of data that the site has. That said, there is no doubt that Zuckerburg has profoundly changed the way we live our lives, socialise and communicate. No longer generation X, there is now a generation will forever be the 'Facebook generation', and Mark Zuckerburg has risen from a college dorm geek to multi-billionaire by making it happen. [IMG: Enhanced by Zemanta]
Today sees the Coalition Government pressing ahead with its proposals on the NHS. One of the things that I was really pleased to see in there is the end of mixed sex wards. When you are ill you tend to feel vulnerable. At times you are dressed in gowns that won't do up at the back. You never look at your best (this said by the girl who will not put on make-up for the school run!) and you want to feel safe and secure. These may be views that people say should not matter when you are ill, some ...
Well, it's one way of avoiding answering questions: Also available on YouTube here. Hat-tip: Campaign Reboot
If you have been in the town centre over the last year or so you would have seen Dave Holby rowing around the world, with out leaving the Malls shopping centre. This was to raise money for Breakthrough Breast Cancer. This incredible challenge has inspired local musicians to put together an CD album @the breakthrough Album' to raise even more. You can buy the album from Itunes via CDs own
We all know it's easy to `have a go at the Lib Dems` well I like to give it back: `Since you began that rant Britain has had to pay £100,000 off the interest on Labour's debt` `It'll be difficult for Labour to let people down from a blank sheet of paper` `You got any ...
Over on Stumbling and Mumbling, Chris Dillow has put up a post about whether the X-Factor is a proper subject of polite discussion. He concludes that it is, and pokes a little fun at the 'haters' who dislike its revelation of music as merely a commodity, and not something beyond the grind of capitalism. I'd ...
Inspector Gilbertson joined us at yesterday's Cheadle Area Committee - here's some of the points he mentioned. Police have been visiting pubs across the area - not looking to find anything wrong, just to support the licensee and show a presence. The Prince of Wales and Horse & Farrier in Gatley have both had recent visits. Police and traffic wardens will be working together to punish illegal parking both outside schools and in key locations around the area like Cheadle High Street and Ashfield Road. Known offenders have been visited by police to warn them not to reoffend. Police will ...
Herts Highways apparently have been out to visit one of the 'non hazardous' potholes I reported earlier. Apparently it does not exist... The highway fault you reported on www.hertsdirect.org has been investigated and processed as stated below. Reference Number: 1597391 Subject: Non Hazardous Pothole Description: Reported: 15/12/2010 09:31:28 -------------------- Street: Whippendell Road Town: Watford Borough -------------------- Status: Unable to Locate Notes: There is insufficient information on the actual location of this pothole. Please report again with more information -------------------- Track progress at Hertfordshire Highways - working to improve your roads ****Disclaimer**** The information in this message should be regarded ...
new single Britain will have accrued another £300,000 worth of debt. Money spent on the super-rich and NOT ON SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS and JOBS Thanks New Labour!
The Liberal Democrats at county hall have called on the Tory controlled county council not to abandon home to school transport. Lib Dem spokesperson on Children, Schools and Families Ron Tindall said: 'We quite understand that the county council must look for savings and that the current provision is greater than the statutory minimum. 'Nevertheless, a great deal of parents and children rely on the current system to get to and from school. If is is reduced to the legal minimum, there will be more cars on the roads and more people using expensive bus services. 'We propose that the ...
So the government have a economic plan 'B' in the event of a down turn. Shocking. Politically of course this gives Labour some extra ammunition. However I have a different prospective on this. Surely it is sensible to have a plan 'B' and even a plan 'C' so that the government can respond quickly to any economic difficulty. I would question why this is being worked on now and why this plan is not already prepared, just encase.
To Tories like the intellectually limited Nadine Dorries who are worried about a 'non-aggression pact' between their party and the Lib Dems at the next election, or concerned about the prospect of a longer-term period of co-operation, let me reassure you: I - and thousands of Lib Dems like me - have absolutely no intention of reducing our aggressive dislike of you and your ilk and opposing you in almost every arena possible, or of toning down our desire to increase fairness and democracy in our country. I pledge that I will always oppose the Tories wherever I find them, ...
Recommended reading for Lib Dem Councillors and local campaigners from the last seven days. Been a big week for local government: Local Government Settlement, Localism Bill and the Pupil Premium - so here are just a few highlights: On the Local Government Settlement: Pickles finds £85m to ease pain of front-loaded cuts (Municipal Journal) Local councils 'face average 4.4% cut' (Independent) Cuts in council services to be deeper in wealthy areas as Coaltion diverts millions into poorer towns and cities (Telegraph) On the Localism Bill: Pickles hails 'ground-breaking' shift of power in Localism Bill (Municipal Journal) This localism bill shows ...
Tonight sees another meeting of Bury Council, when all 51 of us local Councillors assemble to talk about various things. There are four motions for debate tonight - Green Energy, Pensions, Bullying and one on the future of Local Area Partnerships. There's also a speech from the head of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, an update from the Leader of the Council about what he's been doing for Bury, and the opportunity to question him. I'll be speaking in some of the debates, and have tabled some questions to ask the Leader. Time pressures mean you can never quite ...
Southern Railways are conducting surveys about what improvements passengers would like. If you could spare 2 mins to tell them about how East Dulwich railway station could be better that would be fab: http://www.southernrailway.com/survey I'd prioritise betting rid of those 4 steps just before the ramp up to platform 2, more shelter space on platform 1, an indicator board at the entrance to platform 1 (so I know if I time to fetch a newspaper or snack), stairs directly at the start of the ramps so I can sprint to catch trains when time tight, and also asked about why ...
It's been a week since I wrote to Ivan Lewis MP about tuition fees. If you recall, he wrote to me asking for my views on the matter, and I told him I opposed the government. I asked him what his solution to higher education funding is, since Labour don't have one. Fair enough if people don't want to vote Lib Dem any more over this issue. I disagree with that stance, but respect it if that's how people feel. It would seem odd though to leave the Lib Dems for Labour over this, as Ivan seems to want, since ...
Jonathan Lord, the newly elected MP for Woking today seems to have failed in one of his earliest pledges to residents in Woking. On the Woking News & Mail website today we found out that Woking Magistrates Court is to ... Continue reading →
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has a new website (Drupal based - the gradual march of free and open source systems in government online systems goes on). It's got many good features but the lack of an obvious RSS feed is a surprising omission. Thanks to Simon Dickson though, who worked out what the URL should be from how other government Drupal sites work, I've now got one added to my newsfeed. If you want it too - it's http://www.dpm.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/feed/news
[IMG: Iain Dale, British author, journalist and Cons...] Image via Wikipedia Readers will know that today is a landmark day in the political blogosphere. It is the first day we will not have 4 posts from Iain Dale. Yes, Iain Dale has shut his diary, one of the most influential political blogs around. Iain has said the response to him stopping blogging has been 'like reading my own obituary', so this post isn't going to go on about how influential his blog was (even though it was one of the inspirations for this one,) or how readable and insightful the ...
If you ask a Lib Dem member or voter how they will know when the Lib Dems are doing as they wanted or imagined, they often describe a final result, a finish line as it were. They describe a situation in which lots of things will be better. When they describe such a final result ...
Well done to Goose Green School for such great results after a difficult few years. Talking to parents, teachers, officers I think they're now on a roll. The latest set of Key Stage 2 test results for Primary schools in our area and nearby and in order of higher results are: School name, % English, % Maths, % English & Maths, Value Added from age 7 to these tests. Dulwich Hamlet Junior 93 91 89 100.6 St.Anthony's RC 90 90 86 100.9 Goose Green 82 85 79 100.7 Heber 92 76 76 100.5 Bessemer Grange 74 91 74 102.3 St.Johns ...
The indignation of students and the protests which are mainly directed against the Lib Dems tell us something unsavoury about democracy. Undoubtedly, the Lib Dems have managed the situation of university tuition fees very badly, but they would have met opposition even without 'the pledge'. [I dealt with the issue of fees previously, so this is not about fees].However, NUS did a disservice to
Driving to school today (I can't walk - it is 2.3 miles and way beyond the reasonable distance that primary school children should have to walk!) I was really struck by the number of potholes I drive over on a daily basis. Herts County Council continue to ask residents to phone in or login and report the potholes. The problem I find though is that I drive to school thinking 'I must report that!'. Then get home, load my work email, make a coffee and forget. So, this morning I have reported 5 potholes - it has taken me nearly ...
Wed 15th
09:40
Whoniversaries 15 December: Pennant Roberts, Sarah Hellings, Time Warrior #1, Nightmare of Eden #4
i) births and deaths 15 December 1940: birth of Pennant Roberts, who directed The Face of Evil (1977), The Sun Makers (1977), The Pirate Planet (1978), Shada (unbroadcast but would have been 1980), Warriors of the Deep (1984) and Timelash (1985). 15 December 1945: birth of Sarah Hellings, who directed Mark of the Rani (1985). ii) broadcast anniversaries 15 December 1973: broadcast of first episode of The Time Warrior, starting Season 11. First appearance of both Elizabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith and the Sontarans. Scientists are being kidnapped through time to the medieval castle of Irongron, where his mysterious ...
Well done Caroline Pidgeon for becoming the London Lib Dems first choice to become a Greater London Authority (GLA) Assembly Member in the 2012 elections. Last time Caroline was our thrid choice. So well done her in moving into our prime spot. The following table lists our top five candidates in preference order: 1. Caroline Pidgeon 2. Stephen Knight 3. Bridget Fox 4. Shas Sheehan 5. Jeremy Ambache
Following a ballot of London Region conference reps, the Liberal Democrats have announced their London Regional Executive for 2011: AMBACHE, Jeremy BRADLEY, Steve DOLLIMORE, Pete DUFFETT, Helen EMERSON, Merlene GREEN, Matthew HORSLER, Andrew JOACHIM, Margaret STANTON JONES, Elizabeth MELTZER, Robin PADDICK, Brian SHEEHAN, Shas TRETT, Adrian WILSON, Michael ZULETA, Lorraine I'm delighted to have been re-elected! Thank you to those who voted for me.
I caught up with the Politics Show the other day and cursed the format that gave we viewers in Scotland Eric Pickles and missed out the interview with Chris Huhne. I was not impressed with the way Pickles was going on about how Councils needed to collect rubbish weekly as "it's a basic human right that your tikka masala carton isn't festering in a bin for a fortnight". We can do without Tory ministers spreading such ill-informed bile and not saying one word about how important it is for the environment to encourage re-using and recycling. We've never had a ...
We've had a report of someone going through people's blue bins in the early hours on the morning on one road in Cheadle Hulme - perhaps looking for documents to help with identity theft. So just a reminder - don't put sensitive documents like bills and bank statements in your blue bin without shredding them first.
Mark Steel: A clear case of attack by wheelchair More on the Jody McIntyre incident: "Maybe this is how to win in Afghanistan. We recruit a multiple sclerosis battalion to roll mercilessly through Helmand province and the Taliban will run away shrieking in fear." (tags: disability police brutality) Women scientists must speak out : Nature News I'm not sure I fully agree with this piece, but it's thought-provoking (tags: science sexism feminism academia) Hillary Clinton Is Asked What Designers She Wears Moments After Making Point About Sexism -- Daily Intel You couldn't make it up... (tags: clinton sexism) Oops! 10 ...
The government has 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 child in their school on Free School Meals. Based on latest estimates from Sarah Teather MP, Minister of State at the Department for Education, this will mean at least an extra £371,520 for schools to spend on the students who need it most in the Thornbury & Yate constituency. Each year between now and 2015 the ...
As reported in last night's "Evening Telegraph", I was relieved to be informed that, as of this week, the 'missing' school crossing patroller problem (following staff illness and vacancies) at the Kelso steps crossing in Blackness Road is now resolved and a new patroller has been trained as is now on duty. Many pupils from both Blackness Primary School and Harris Academy cross there and parents were naturally concerned when the crossing was not being staffed by a patroller. Blackness Road is a very busy bus route and I was therefore pleased that a new patroller is again covering the ...
I was sad, but not surprised, to read Iain's last blog post yesterday telling us that he was stopping blogging. Over recent months it was clear that his other commitments (publishing and now a show on LBC every weekday evening) were so time consuming that his four or five blog post per day diet was no longer possible. Iain also said in his post that he was fed up with the viciousness and backbiting – presumably of comments – which populate political blogs. And perhaps, most important of all, he said he was no longer enjoying blogging. He is not ...
In the past, Nick Clegg has unequivocally condemned the blockade of Gaza, called for the EU/Israel Association Agreement to be suspended. Now, he's making speeches saying he got it wrong on Israel, speaking to pro-Israeli audiences while giving Palestinian campaigners the cold shoulder (see and is about to author a change in the Universal Jurisdiction law to protect human rights abusers including representatives of the Israeli regime from attempts to bring them to justice. I have raised at senior level the dangers of this stance, which runs the risk of unpicking years of carefully balanced and thought-out statements on ...
I have recently received concerns from residents about erratic post deliveries in parts of the Perth Road area - this could not be wholly due to recent weather as the problems of days without any deliveries appeared to start before the onset on the recent bad weather. Having contacted Royal Mail on residents' behalf, I have received the following feedback from their External Relations Manager : "I have looked into this and the office has been experiencing a high level of sick absence which unfortunately has impacted on deliveries in this area. We apologise to customers for any convenience caused ...
Wed 15th
08:02
Richard Grayson: he was high on intellectualism - I've never been there but the brochure looked nice
And so, farewell Richard Grayson. Or perhaps not. There has been much criticism of his acceptance of Ed Milliband's offer to take part in Labour's policy review and, whilst I for one won't be joining him, he does offer a potential bridge on the long road towards future collaboration with New Labour Mark III (ish). Now I have to admit at this point that, when I started in politics, I was of the view that there was only one thing better than kicking a Tory, and that was kicking one when he was down. I was young, and not frightfully ...
Last night I attended the West End Community Council December meeting. We had a very useful discussion with a member of staff from the City Council's Leisure & Communities Department about the possibility of increasing allotments provision in the West End. I also undertook the "shoppers' prizes" draw from West End Christmas Week with all at the community council meeting drawing the winners out of the hat. A list of winners of the great prizes donated by West End businesses will be published on this site, the Community Council site and on the West End Community Council noticeboard (outside Nisa ...
We all have our favourite charities. My life has been fairly lucky, so one area I favour is children's charities. That's fairly common, for all the obvious reasons. Everyone wants children get a fair shot at life. It's fascinating to me that "children" isn't a word front and centre on the various party websites. We do talk about equality, social justice and families. The Lib Dems had the pupil premium as one of their four manifesto priorities, for instance, and rightly so. But when you look at any political website, things quickly move to a break down by department or ...
Iain Dale has been the Queen Mum of blogging: despite being occasionally acid, even his political foes like him personally and his blog has been innovative and interesting. Although it has been clear that he was losing interest in the blog- far fewer articles in recent weeks- it is still a slight shock to see the end of one of the most popular British political blogs. Yet in many ways blogs are becoming quite old hat, and the days of a one man political blog, like this one, may be coming to an end. Writing this blog takes time, and ...
I am in Westminster this morning talking to MPs about the Barnett formula so here is a cartoon to keep you going until later: [IMG: Dilbert.com]
In Northern Ireland the price of housing one prisoner for one year is £95,000, according to a recent report*: the similar rate in England & Wales is on average £45,000. The Cost Per Prisoner Place (costs relative to the number of available places for prisoners) is high - at £77,831 - significantly in excess of ...
Politicalbetting.comhas done what I thought I should do but did not have the time nor wherewithal to undertake. Ask the straight forward question "What would the tuition fee vote have looked like had the Scots (and others) had the good grace NOT to vote on English tuition fees?" Here are their results... MPs regional breakdown Aye votes No votes Abstentions Total England 311 209 8 528 Northern Ireland 0 12 6 18 Scotland 6 51 2 59 Wales 8 32 0 40 ALL MPs 325 304 16 645 As Politicalbetting.com says...."English MPs were 311-209 in favour of the measures with ...
For the last couple of weeks my husband has been telling me that I ought to make some kind of statement of loyalty to the Lib-Dems on this blog, what with people jumping ship, media obituaries for the party, low poll ratings, and so on. What has made me hesitate is that saying I'm staying in the party is a kind of null blog entry, like saying I'm not going shopping this afternoon, or that after serious thought I've decided to eat dinner this evening. I could explain at length why I think the people leaving the party, or wanting ...
The Evening Post reports that more than one in five children in Reading are raised in poverty. Senior Labour Councillor Mike Orton is described in the same article as being 'horrified' by the figures and keen to challenge the current administration of the Council to tackle poverty in future. I agree with Mike - these statistics are shocking and they highlight the scale of the task we face to try and make Reading a fairer, healthier, more successful Town for all residents. I am keen to make the Council focus more closely on what we can do to reduce child ...
This is mainly because I looked in my "things to link to folder" and swore hugely and loudly at how big it was. Words to the effect of I'll be pimholed if I'm going to manually code THAT lot were used. So I asked [IMG: [personal profile] ] matgb to help me set up autoposting from delicious, like wot he does. The first resulting post should come through in the morning, and I'm afraid it's going to be a biggie. After that they should be more reasonably sized. Do feel free to comment on, share, and whinge at me about ...
It costs £41 000 to keep a prisoner in prison for a year. Just imagine if that person was in prison for theft, the chances are that we would be paying more to keep the thief in prison than the amount that was stolen, and this is just the cost of prison. Add on to that the cost of the policing and the judicial system and you soon realise that the real losers are us. There must be so many other costs associated with prisoner rehabilitation and that should be a major goal for prisons otherwise we are paying out ...
Welcoming today's announcement that the East of England is to get £2.9 million of government support towards a £7 million electric car charging infrastructure network, Norwich South MP Simon Wright said:
The tactic support which the Liberal Democrats have given to the war on Afghanistan is even more shameful than the their role in imposing the most draconian cuts on local government for generations. Too many wedding parties have been bombed, the government of nuclear-armed Pakistan teeters constantly on the brink of falling into the arms of Islamic extremists due to the destabilisation of Afghanistan, hundreds of British soldiers have fallen and more civilians have now died than were killed on 9-11 & British forces are having no more success than the Soviets in bringing Helmand province "under control". The party's ...
