Snow came to Birkdale this weekend. The trains didn't run and folk had to don their walking boots and hike to the local shops. The Village was busy and all the shops appeared to be doing an excellent trade.The Churches together in Birkdale were out despite the snow singing carols. Everyone was talking to those they met. I'm sure the novelty will wear off but for now everyone seems to be enjoying the weather. As you can see my dog Toby had a great time !
Thursday was a busy day with cabinet in the morning, a briefing on the local government settlement and a rowdy fully council in the evening. The scene was set in the morning. Although Labour hold 40% of the seats in Sefton's all-Party Cabinet and have a leader who is Deputy Leader of Sefton Council , it was our clear impression that Labour were disengaging from the process-opposing the cost savings that were proposed and putting forward no alternative. The Tories voted throughout and broadly speaking took the maximum cut available-which given we have to find £44m is not an untenable ...
I first met Richard Kemp at the Young Liberal Conference in Morecambe in 1971. He was a delegate from Leyland YL's . A couple of years later he moved to Liverpool to work along side David Alton. He has now risen to the exulted position of Leader of The Lib Dems on the Local Government Association. It is this capacity he has written to Nick Clegg urging that Pickles is ditched. As the BBC reports:In his letter, Mr Kemp urged Mr Clegg to "rein in" Mr Pickles and he accused the two ministers of failing to acknowledge the effect government ...
I have written before about 1990, the drama series about a dystopian future starring Edward Woodward and shown in 1977 and 1978. The good news is that several episodes from the first series can be found on Youtube. The video above is the first part of the first series - just follow the links in Youtube after that. I have not watched much of it yet. If old programmes turn out not to be as good as you remember them, it is worse than a disappointment because it spoils your original memory too. But see what you think. Do remember ...
The first edition of this book was published in 1969, and the pre-1969 text takes up slightly more than half of my fourth edition from 1994. This earlier core is an excellent historical analysis of a paramilitary movement which had at one point been central to Irish politics and had steadily been moved more and more to the fringes, as decade after decade crucial members of the leadership either defected to democratic politics or died (often through violence). Coogan has got deeply into his subject and assembled names, dates, numbers (though I can't quite believe that the I.R.A. still had ...
Not got somewhere to stay after your bust up in the club after you chatted that girl up – the one who's boyfriend was the DJ? During the fisticuffs the constabulary arrive and take you off the hands of the club owner. Fear not, you will not be without somewhere to stay. You will be ...
What, on God's green Earth, has got into the British press? Essentially the news is that Winter is cold and that... oh dear people will have to change their travel plans. Admittedly that is mostly to do with the inadequate preparation by BAA and some slightly questionable decisions by BA. Does it really deserve this Olympic level whinge? Britain is becoming a spectacularly miserable place. The whinge factor in the press is about the same as your typical 6 year old- and it adds nothing and achieves nothing. The same nonsense as the Daily Mail's "No to Berlin Time", or ...
Ground breaking comedy that inspired much imitation. If you have never seen it you can now buy series one on DVD.
I have, on behalf of residents, raised the possibility of improving the National Express Dundee Service Number 5 at the west end of Perth Road - with Simon Mathieson, the new Acting Director of National Express Dundee. As one resident advised : "Is it time to have another look at the Routing of Service 5 at the far end of Perth Road? Westbound, it goes up by Maggie's Centre into Ninewells and returns, eastbound, through the Technology Park via Apollo Way and on to Perth Road past Millbay Terrace. For the residents of Millbay Terrace and Clovis Duveau Drive, the ...
Another week closer to Christmas and I have not done any Christmas shopping, nor do I need to for the first time in years which is a blessed relief! Instead I shall bring some Christmas cheer to my readers with ... Continue reading →
The Lib Dems went into coalition to get as many of our manifesto policies put into practise as we could, given our 57 MPs, and to provide a strong, stable government to get the country out of recession and sort out the deficit. Here's how we're getting on. Lib Dem Achievements in Government
Today, Sunday December 19th 2010 is a day of some significance in the history of British football and specifically in the history of Manchester United. For today sees Sir Alex Ferguson emulate Sir Matt Busby one final time as manager at Old Trafford - today see's him become the longest serving manager in the history of that famous club. Sir Matt Busby When Ferguson took charge from 'Big' Ron Atkinson in November 1986, United had gone 19 years since winning a league title. That league title of 1967 had been won under Sir Matt Busby. He was the man who ...
'We don't do God' Alistair Campbell famously quipped about New Labour's approach to anything religious. It was a very pragmatic stance, given that Britain is largely a secular society these days, albeit with a still established Church of England. And it also helped keep Tony Blair's somewhat messianic Christian views in check. But what does the liberal-minded member of society who wishes to respect both believers and non-believers do about Christmas? There are some who don't even want the term 'Christmas' to be used. I disagree - to me it's a perfectly legitimate term, whether you choose to celebrate Christmas ...
You might remember, some time ago, me posting about social micropayment website Flattr, and how I had closed beta invites, and all that jazz. For those of you who don't remember, this is a little video which tells you what flattr is all about: The good news is that flattr is now out of closed beta, which means you can all join up. If you join up I can flattr you and you can flattr me, and it's all good! :D [IMG: Dreamwidth] [IMG: Livejournal] [IMG: Blogger] [IMG: Facebook] [IMG: Tweet this] [IMG: Delicious] [IMG: Flattr this] [IMG: LibDig] [IMG: ...
The Wales on Sunday reports that a survey by Macmillan Cancer Support has found that cancer sufferers are being let down by a lack of vital support during and after treatment. Almost two thirds of those surveyed said they did not receive any information about coping with the effects of their illness or treatment after they had received their initial care. And 56% of patients questioned said they did not have a named nurse, doctor or social worker to turn to in the first year after their treatment. More than nine out of 10 claimed they had been offered no ...
Snow Couple by Marine lake Although I'm getting older and certainly feeling older, I still love to see snow. I know it's inconvenient and potentially quite dangerous, but I still get excited when snow falls. It certainly took my mind off the troubles being faced by the council when we went out with our camera to make the most of the heaviest snowfall for decades. Hope you enjoy the following: Our dog "Sulby" in Hesketh Park Same dog same park Birkdale Beach Hesketh Park - spot the geese Botanic Gardens
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 200th 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 (12th -18th December, 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. What advice ...
Ed Vaizey has announced plans for UK ISPs to block porn sites, with them being unblocked only for those who get themselves put on an 'opt-in' list. This is apparently to protect children. Now, I'm no fan of porn or the porn industry, but nor am I a fan of other people deciding what I ...
If you suffer from depression, you are not supposed to talk about it. Don't tell your boss they say, they'll think you're mad and can't do your job. Don't tell your friends as they won't know how to talk to ... Continue reading →
X-Factor winner Matt Cardle is this years Christmas number 1. He saw off competition from duet partner Rihanna, and ummm, a singing bird from TV cartoon Family Guy. He won with a cover of Biffy Clyro "Many of Horror". He restores the trend of X-Factor winners taking Christmas number 1, after Rage Against the Machine claimed top spot via an online rebellion last year. Happy Christmas Simon Cowell!
I am very sorry to hear that Anthony Howard has died. As I recalled back in 2005, I learnt a tremendous amount from the New Statesman under his editorship: When I was in the sixth form I used to hurry down to Preedy's after school on Fridays to buy their only copy of the New Statesman. I usually got it, though I do recall missing out on the controversial issue produced to mark the Queen's Silver Jubilee. In those days before Princess Di and the royals' sell out to celebrity culture, it was still controversial to attack the monarchy. For ...
Joanna Newsom's "Have One on Me", her third LP, is Uncut magazine's Album of the Year. It finds her occupying territory somewhere between Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush. This song, a lament for a child who is lost or never was, is described by the BBC Music review as "is lonesome country that builds into a majestic strut of spindly electric guitar and oriental melodies". This live performance was recorded in Amsterdam in May of this year.
- In the last two weeks I have left the house exactly five times:To go obtain sick note and then take it in to work, which took me three days to recover from.To go to Ninja Games to obtain boredom-busters, which took me two days to recover from.To go to Tesco to obtain food so that I do not starve, which took me a day to recover from.To go to the tattoo parlour and see Bob about sorting out his web presence, which took me a day to recover from.To go to the National Media Museum to interview Tony for ...
In this morning's Observer, Andrew Rawnsley concocts a marvellous conceit in which he finds elements of Tony Blair and Mao Tse-tung within the coalition government. His basic proposition is that the government are talking of unleashing a "cultural revolution" in the public services and of hailing devolution of power away from the centre using Mao's old slogan: "Let a thousand flowers bloom." He says that there is a belief among the senior members of the government in the creative chaos of individual decision-making and that this is the glue which binds David Cameron's liberal conservatives with the Cleggite liberals: Just ...
The grassroots campaign "Cage Against the Machine" has failed to get John Cage's "4'33" to number 1 in the charts for Christmas. The piece, which is silent, only reached number 21, leaving the way open for x-factor karaoke singer in chief Matt Cardle to claim the top spot. His is though under stiff competition from Rihanna. People had been trying to repeat last years success, when the brilliant Rage Against the Machine deposed Joe Mcelderry, but too many songs were floating around this time, and it seems mainstream powers will win out.
Ah yes, Eric Pickles has dragged the 'Winterval' legend out for another airing, as a stick to beat local government with. As has been pointed out elsewhere, it's just a story, based on a strategic decision, more than a decade ago, to attract people into Birmingham by bringing together a collection of winter festivals under one banner. But this latest outpouring merely continues a worrying tendency to focus on marginal issues as a means of disguising the very serious dilemma facing councils across the country. Here in the foothills of local government, I worry about balancing the books whilst maintaining ...
- Rubbish: 1/5Over the long weekend of the 3rd to the 6th of December, I went to Edinburgh. This trip was originally meant to be for the Edinburgh Christmas Open Go tournament, and I was also going to visit my little sister and do some important Drinking. As it happened, the Go tournament was cancelled because of SNOWMAGEDDON, but I decided to go anyway - I'd already got the time off work, I'd booked a hotel etc and anyway, the Go tournament was only part of the reason for travelling.Of course, no Go means I did some touristing instead, and ...
Amidst the stories surrounding the founder of WikLeaks, Julian Assange, today's Mail on Sunday, the headline appears Accusers went to police after he refused AIDS test It has to be said that the text of the story refers to an HIV test – but the headlines that which grabs the readers' attention is using incorrect ...
I see Cllr Phil North is still trying to justify, this time through the letter pages of the Andover Advertiser, the decision to award Test Valley councillors a payrise. His most recent letter (3 December) has already prompted replies in the letter pages of the Advertiser. The headline given to his letter aptly sums up its content - petty party politicking. He takes offence to a story about councillors pay rises and seeks to score political points off of it rather than justify the decision. For those (like Cllr North) who were not at the council meeting where the matter ...
[IMG: Jack Vance Emphyrio] Jack Vance's Emphyrio, published in 1969, is both one of his best books and an example of the limitations of much science-fiction of that era. Dominated by male characters, few of whom have much depth to them but are more rounded than the sparse collection of clichéd females (usually unimportant, almost always dull or manipulative), the plot also relies on a sequence of implausible coincidences and hinges on the conceit of one person seeing the truth that many others missed and his understanding of that truth being enough to bring social structures crashing down with only ...
Whoever wrote Section 245(1) of the 1918 Commonwealth Electoral Act, I salute you. [IMG: Penguins] Not only did you add in a provision that the legal obligation to vote in Australian elections does not apply to people who are not qualified to vote, you also added in a provision that being dead is a legally acceptable reason not to vote. A triumph of legal generosity. And now, excuse me whilst I go and read Part XVII, "Special Provisions Relating To The Polling In Antarctica". (I want to find out how to become an Assistant Antarctic Returning Officer.)
Porn is controversial. It incites a great deal of discussion, from those concerned with protecting children and those protecting women, over it's morality. Governments seem desperate to control it, even in the face of it's widespread popularity. This controversy makes it a wonderful "litmus test" for whether a society is really free. I've talked about it before in the context of wanting some answers over exploitation in pornography. Now we have Ed Vaizey, the communications minister, bringing it back into political debate after suggesting ISPs should force people to opt-in if they wish to view what the ISPs or the ...
I went out for a walk this morning in the snow just to see how bad it actually is out there. In a word? Horrendous. Cars slipping and sliding everywhere and footpaths and roads in many cases impassable. As I ... Continue reading →
As we freeze our way into Christmas and the New Year, I would just like to thank everyone for reading my blog over the last year. It's been a pleasure to bring you news from my perspective and thanks to everyone who commented, even the anonymous ones, which I personally don't like as I believe people commenting, should at least have the courtesy of using a name, although I admit, it could be a made up one! And yes, on that subject I did make a mistake by deleting the anonymous ones and causing some anger by it. I'm new ...
This evening we will find out who has achieved the coveted title of 'Christmas Number One' 2010. I'm not particularly bothered to be honest. I was very pleased that 'Rage Against the Machine' broke the 5 year stranglehold that X-Factor had on the honour last year but this year, whether it's 'Bird Is The Word' or Matt Cardle that gets it, neither will go down in the pantheon of famous Christmas No.1's. Or will they... A definitive list of our festive chart toppers since the charts began in 1952 can be found here but I wanted to pick my own ...
Sunday morning's weather update from the council is below. The main message seems to be to check out Camden's winter web pages. As you will see if you follow the links below, the roads that the council is concentrating on are the bus routes. I'm afraid if you're not on one of the priority footpaths (and virtually no-one in Fortune Green is) it might be some time before the Council can get round to clearing your pavement. But remember - its an urban myth that you will get sued if someone falls over on a bit of pavement you have ...
Stumbled across this article in today's Observer. If nothing else it shows just how shallow Labour are. Rather than face the enormity of the errors both Blair and Brown are guilty during their time in office, it seems all Labour are capable of is spin & verbal abuse. For the last few months labour have been using the term ConDem Government, like it's a four letter swear word and they're school kids, looks like this might become a thing of the past since Ed Milliband has issued a decree that the term " coalition" is not be used because it ...
It's the annual 'pat on the back' night for those in sporting circles this evening as the nation chooses it's sports personality of the year. Now let's not get hung up on the 'personality' bit. The name of the competition was changed from 'Sports Review of the Year' in 1999 but it's the same competition folks. We know it's all about sporting excellence so let's leave it at that.The Crop of 2010So who's in the running this year? Well, with no significant footballing or rugby triumphs to look back on over the past 12 months, it's actually a pleasantly open ...
An open letter to Vince Cable from the National President of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents: Dear Mr Cable, The National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) would like to express the views of Britain's small businesses, those at the heart of their local communities, in response to the UK's proposed tobacco display ban. We do so with the firm support of over 60 backbench MPs who have called on you personally to look again at the proposed ban, as well as 33,000 small family businesses across every town and village in the UK. These MPs who have signed the ...
Well, it's been one hell of a long wait, but Iain Dale is back blogging again! Hurrah! After announcing: "I am giving up blogging." at 11.12am on 14th December, fans of Mr Dale had to wait a full 23 hours before he started blogging again at 10.29am on 15th December – on his "West Ham Till I die" blog. But, have no fear – he's back with a vengeance. He posted again on the 15th at 1.54. Then on the 16th at 10.15, and again at 12.29. Then on the 17th at 1.24. Then on the 18th back on his ...
Wow, what a difference a day makes? Yesterday I was watching Twitter via Tweetdeck while writing the last batch of Christmas cards when up popped the tweet from ITV News slagging off Nigella Lawson as shown in the picture below. I re-tweeted ITV News error tweet which in turn was being re-tweeted all over the place, in fact so much so that I ended up being a trending topic in London - some fame at long last. I then wrote a brief blog post which you can read HERE and then sent a link to that post to all the ...
After returning with frozen fingers from a twilight run on snow covered moorland I turned on the computer. Jim Hansen at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies provides data each month on global temperatures. These are his latest conclusions: "This has been the the warmest January-November in the GISS analysis, which covers 131 years. However, it is only a few hundredths of a degree warmer than 2005, so it is possible that the final GISS results for the full year will find 2010 and 2005 to have the same temperature within the margin of error. "The cold anomaly in ...
With the further snow falls, there will be additional challenges facing the winter maintenance operation, and I have highlighted with the City Engineer the situation facing users of the MS Therapy Centre in Peddie Street. I have, following a request, asked that the pavements on the east side of Peddie Street near the centre be improved to help users of the centre get access to it.
There's little new in the world. Although the Liberals would be supporting the Labour government just a few years later, Labour in Cheadle were keen to portray the Liberals and Conservatives as one and the same in the February 1974 election. In this leaflet from the Hazel Grove constituency, Manchester councillor Allan Roberts lays out his stall for Labour. It was always going to be an uphill struggle in this Conservative/Liberal marginal - the Liberals held the seat in the February election with Labour getting just shy of 11% of the vote. In '74 he was Chair of Manchester's Housing ...
I have always felt a little guilty about the picture I have painted more than once of the young Miliband brothers in their pyjamas listening to their father's tales of how Stalin had diverted the rivers of Central Asia to water the Uzbek cotton fields. Miliband père was on the far left, but he was no tankie. But today's news in the Observer that Ed Miliband has banned the shadow cabinet from using the word "coalition" to describe the government makes me think I may have been on to something after all. This is a crude and clumsy attempt to ...
A simple technique to increase voter turnout for those living alone: In one behavioural science experiment they called voters and asked them 3 questions: Around what time do you expect you will head to the polls on Tuesday? Where do you expect you will be coming from when you head to the polls on Tuesday? ...
Tony Blair once said words to the following effect: if you're Prime Minister, whatever you do, you will be unfairly accused either of dominance or of weakness - you can't avoid being labelled one of those two things, he said. In the same way, I would suggest that if you're a grassroots Lib Dem blogger, you run the risk of appearing to be either a swivel-eyed loyalist or a rebel without applause. So I know that when I blog supportively about the actions of Her Majesty's Government, some of you have buckets of manure at the ready. However, I do ...
The welcome news of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell has encouraged me to look again over the Atlantic and ponder the next couple of years in American politics – something I had intended do about in the wake ... Continue reading →
Over the summer we reported the welcome news that Transport for London was making more of its data available for others to reuse: It's a smart move because it means the emphasis on working out how to make best use of the data shifts from TfL to the wider commercial sector. That means people can experiment (and fail) in a way that is much harder when politicians, media (and yes, bloggers) are looking over your shoulder waiting to shout "Waste of public money!" if an idea doesn't pan out. It also means that Transport for London can concentrate on what ...
I've been distinctly under the weather for the last few days - woke up on Wednesday with a very sore throat, and have been very grotty indeed since; struggled into Brussels for a meeting on Wednesday afternoon, and again for another meeting and a dental appointment on Friday (a journey that turned out more exciting than I anticipated) but otherwise have spent the last four days in bed. Almost certainly I picked up the bug from young F, who went down with it on Monday and has been hit rather worse, diagnosed with incipient (though fortunately not yet full-blown) pneumonia ...
This is great news and significant news – and not just because of the actuality for gay and lesbian military in the US which is obviously of prime importance – but for the huge message it sends out about equal rights. When we had begun to think that Barack Obama's mission might fail – as only last week there was no sign that this would be the result – it is just fantastic that the Bill went through (promoted by an independent Senator and a Republican) and that it passed with a healthy majority. This is the ending of the ...
Vaizey 'gives go-ahead for two-tier internet' OFFS stupid government. (tags: government internet noooooooo) Heartwarming Time Lord Christmas Song Hilarious Christmas message from Amy, Rory and the Doctor (tags: funny doctorwho music) Fantastic Films Weekend A new Facebook page for my favourite film festival (tags: film ffw) Beefheart Andrew's obit of Captain Beefheart is better than any other I have seen. (tags: obits) If you do this in an email, I hate you Hence why I have reduced the size of my email sig lots... (tags: funny email) Real life Tron Light Cycle: Yours for just $55,000 waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant (tags: motorbikes waaaaaaant) ...
Some people like regularly visiting a site to see if there's new stories of interest. Some people like subscribing to its news feed (RSS) and checking that way. But if you prefer email, you can instead sign up to get a daily early morning email with a summary of the previous day's posts from Lib Dem Voice, complete with a note of how many comments each post has got and convenient links to click on if any take your fancy and you want to take a read. [IMG: Hello inbox zero] Just go to our email sign up page to ...
i) births and deaths 19 December 1915: birth of Simon Lack, who played Kettering in The Mind of Evil (1971) and Zadek in The Androids of Tara (1978). 19 December 1923: birth of Elwyn Jones, who co-wrote The Highlanders (1966-67). 19 December 1961: birth of Matthew Waterhouse, who played the Fourth and Fifth Doctor companion Adric from 1980 to 1982. 19 December 2009: death of Donald Pickering, who played Eyesen in The Keys of Marinus (1964), Blade in The Faceless Ones (1967) and Beyus in Time and the Rani (1987). ii) broadcast anniversary 19 December 1964: broadcast of "The Waking ...
I remember the first time I held a man's hand in public. We had stones thrown at us. It was pretty terrifying and certainly made my 18 year old self feel reluctant to try it again! So I appreciate that coming out and being honest about yourself is not easy. I came out during the late nineties when things were becoming easier for LGBT people to be who they are, but when things were still pretty difficult. So I can only imagine what bravery and guts it took the men and women who came out before me, or whose attitudes ...
Last Monday I went shopping along one Morecambe street that used to be famous for its shops. I didn't take a photograph as the lighting wasn't brilliant (see my photography blogs for photos that I do take) but I would have shown you an empty street at 3pm. It is not a good time to be a local shopkeeper. Partly this is because our spending patterns have changed, but Morecambe is exceptional. The town is by the sea which means that no shoppers are drawn from the west and those from any other direction are hindered by our terrible road ...
