The more right-wing-also known as the 'Orange Book'-element of the party is very well represented in the upper echelons of the Government, but we social liberals don't have many people at Secretary of State level to represent our views.
Oh, the Telegraph does like its little series doesn't it? Bless them. Now we have three LibDem ministers who have been "caught" on tape saying what we thought they believed anyway. Michael Moore thinks the tuition fees disaster was a disaster. Steve Webb has raised lots of detailed points about the child benefit changes. And Ed Davey is worried about the housing benefit changes. They all express their views in trenchant terms. Good for them. They have not had their brains dewired on entering government. It is, in fact, reassuring that these ministers, all of whom are of very high ...
This amateur film is a piece of railway history as it shows the Leicester & Swannington just before it closed in 1964. The line already looks derelict, so it is a surprise when a train turns up towards the end. The Leicester & Swannington was one of the first railways of the steam age, built to bring coal to Leicester from the west of the county. 15C has a few photographs of the line today
My Birkdale Ward colleague Simon Shaw has been left "confused" this week after listening to an i-player recording of a recent Radio Merseyside programme. This was of the Roger Philips Show last Friday. This featured Sefton's Labour Leader Cllr Peter Dowd who rejoices in the exalted title of "Executive" Deputy Leader of Sefton Council. To understand Simon's "confusion" you have to be aware the context which is that Sefton Council's 10 member, all-Party Cabinet has 4 Lib Dem members, 4 Labour members and 2 Conservative members. Labour are the second largest party, which means that their leader, Cllr Peter Dowd ...
I've been late to catch up on the Vince Cable/BSky2B/Telegraph story today due to those definitions of obligations at Christmas. But ultimately, people who feel that Murdoch owning 100% of BSky2B and the Sun and the rest of his socially manipulative empire is ok are missing some important moral questions. We currently live in a country where the most read papers shape the opinions of the masses.
Today Royal Assent was given to the Act scrapping Labour's ID cards. Good news.
Many of us have been waiting ages for a senior British politician to stand up to the Sky empire. We remember how in 1992 Tony Blair at the click of the fingers flew half way round the world at the Sky calling. Well said Vince.
To be fair, there aren't very many people I'd back if they were in a war against Vince Cable. This is the guy who gave this party economic credibility. His message wasn't so different to our long standing principles of delivering a sustainable, green economy, but he was able to articulate a credible, professional response to the economic turmoil of the credit crunch, that was absolutely right for its time. When he was acting leader, I respected his decision not to attend any events surrounding the state visit of the Saudi King on human rights grounds. He is a good ...
I've had the full range of emotions in my experience of Vince Cable over the years. Determined and assiduous are two words you can certainly use to describe the Business Secretary. Naive was not a word that would have come to mind..... The script is incredible. The villains of the piece are many. The unprincipled sting organised by the Telegraph, pursued by its twisted hatred for the coalition and any Liberal Democrat who isn't David Laws. The bizarre action of Robert Peston, whose worldview is indistinguishable from the Telegraph and every bit as creepy as his TV presence. The appalling ...
I suppose Vince's remarks were unwise, but that is easy to say. Personally, hardly a day goes by without me saying something seriously unwise. What they also seemed to me to be was overwhelmingly true. We may not actually be at war with the Murdoch press, but if we are not at war with corporate privilege and monopoly power as Liberal Democrats, then we need to be. That is the abuse of power which now threatens our liberty, just as Murdoch tightening his grip on the UK media is a threat to our freedom of speech. The role of Liberals ...
Beneath all those reports about Vince Cable being the victim of a honeypot Torygraph sting was a story concerning an apparent homophobic remark by George Osborne toward Chris Bryant. Here's a brief summation of the controversy. After accusing the Chancellor of being Baron Hardup - a name perhaps more appropriate for Mr Bryant considering his penchant for posing in tight underpants - the Labour MP advised that he ought to play the role of Prince Charming instead. The Chancellor as quick as a flash replied, "at least I'm not the pantomime dame!" Oh how we laughed! This is what taxpayers ...
The net upshot of the day today: Vince Cable disagrees with Conservatives (shocking news, I know) Vince Cable tells people he thinks are his constituents the truth when asked (grounds for questioning his judgement on this, yes, but isn't it rather odd to see the Daily Telegraph thundering about how awful it is that a politician told the truth?) Yup, there was something significant in the Telegraph publishing what it claimed was a "full" transcript but which in fact clearly had been edited – though the reason wasn't one I'd expected Decision on Rupert Murdoch takeover plans has been moved ...
There is disruption to Refuse & Recycling collections across the County due to this severe weather. The advice is to leave your bin/box's out and they will try and empty them as soon as possible. If you have any concerns please phone 01492 575337 I will update you in the next couple of days as I receive more information.
[IMG: Gordon Brown] Image via Wikipedia Do you remember when people liked Gordon Brown? When he was the substance to Tony Blair's shine? Well...that wasn't 2010. No, 2010 was the year Gordon finally was forced into an election. You could almost hear the 'ITS TIME, TO FACE, THE MUSIC' X-Factor voice. The year started looking like there would be an electoral wipeout for the Labour Party, and by May 6th the only thing that people knew about the election is that Labour had lost it. However, they had somehow not done as badly as people thought they would, and were ...
[IMG: Gordon Brown] Image via Wikipedia Do you remember when people liked Gordon Brown? When he was the substance to Tony Blair's shine? Well...that wasn't 2010. No, 2010 was the year Gordon finally was forced into an election. You could almost hear the 'ITS TIME, TO FACE, THE MUSIC' X-Factor voice. The year started looking like there would be an electoral wipeout for the Labour Party, and by May 6th the only thing that people knew about the election is that Labour had lost it. However, they had somehow not done as badly as people thought they would, and were ...
Tue 21st
17:31
Liberal Democrat Court Circular: your guide to forthcoming introductions in the Lords...
It is with breathless excitement that 'Liberal Bureaucracy' can bring you news of our newest Peers, who are beginning to don ermine for their big day, being introduced to the House of Lords. And whilst introductions smack somewhat of a conveyor belt at the moment (there are as many as three a day in the coming weeks), it is useful to know when our corner of the red benches becomes more populous. Today, in fact, saw the first of the fifteen new Liberal Democrat Peers to be introduced, so step forward Lord Sharkey, who was introduced about three hours ago ...
Robert Peston on BBC News today revealed that the Daily Telegraph failed to report everything that had been said in the conversation Vince Cable had with reporters who were pretending to be constituents. What the Telegraph didn't reveal is his ... Continue reading →
I like a good film and I enjoy the whole cinematic experience - I have ever since I was a child. Having said that, I don't go to the cinema half as much as I should. Mostly that's down to a lack of time as my work commitments take over but also because I often find there's little on that I want to watch. I've always liked 'real-life' stories - particulary if they are actually based in reality. There are rarely that many about so I'm not often found chomping at the bit waiting to go to the cinema with ...
And the Blackwall Tunnel Is not looking too chipper either. Just an explanation as too lack of fresh content, wi fi won't talk to laptop and laptop keeps stopping to give me an incompressible reason not to do as told. Will try system restore and await a new wi fi do-berry, after firing a few unkind words into ISP, would look forward to an evening in front of the other box but not sure what the traffic lottery will throw up or once in front of box whether Mr Puss will again settle down by the skyplus box and block ...
The BBC reports accurately "Israeli air strike on Gaza as tensions rise". It says that it was last updated at 07:44; it also says that: "The rockets fired by Palestinian militant groups into Israel rarely cause injury or damage, but they do cause widespread fear." Presumably it will be updated soon to reflect the fact that one such rocket has today injured a schoolgirl after exploding near a kindergarten. It's only Tuesday, and thirteen of these rockets have been fired this week alone, ten of them arriving on Monday. What would be happening to British public opinion if these rockets ...
The fantastic Google Ngram Viewer enables one to see how prevelant words have been over a period of time. Hat tip to Tyler Cowen for this comparrison of the use of Liberty and of Freedom in English over the past three centuries. [IMG: liberty] Use of Liberty in English writing since 1720 [IMG: Use of Freedom in English writing since 1720] Use of Freedom in English writing since 1720
Recent revelations from Wikileaks have revealed comments about Nick Clegg that I made at a private event. That might be a problem for some but I personally don't want to see Assange end up in jail for what he has revealed about me or anyone else. To paraphrase a British diplomat talking to Hilary Clinton about other Wikileaks revelation "You should hear what he says about me in private!" Disclosure is far more important than that in a democracy which seeks to keep its public servants accountable. Revelations may be awkward for some, but those who have most to fear ...
Vince Cable's secret interview with the Telegraph is dominating the news agendas. First because he claimed to be prepared to walk out of his job and bring down the government and now with a leaked report (which apparently the Telegraph chose not to publish) about declaring war on Rupert Murdoch over the latter's bid for a full takeover of Sky. Could Vince have chosen two issues which were more suited to shoring up his position with the Liberal Democrat base? First of all he is making clear that he is unhappy with a lot of what his Conservative colleagues are ...
On March 29th Cheryl Gillan came to speak at a packed public meeting at Misbourne School about the government's plans to build the HS2 line, straight through the Chilterns AONB. She was asked if she was prepared to defy the party whip over the issue. To loud applause she told the audience: "This route is not part of my party's manifesto, but I would defy the party whip. be very, very sure of that" At the time it was completely hypothetical. There was a Labour government. It was their plans, their route under discussion. The Tories didn't have a plan ...
It seems my theory that the coalition represents a return to some sort of Whiggism was wrong. Apparently, I should have been calling my Whig watch series Mao watch. On the BBC website, Brian Wheeler has provided a comparison between the coalition and Mao's administration.
There is a well used political maxim that it is better to have your rivals within the tent abluting out than without the tent abluting in. In respect of Business Secretary Vince Cable's incautious remarks to two Telegraph journalists it might be added, in either case, unzip first. Some of the wilder speculation on what this all means, has called for Vince to consider his position, or for Cameron to sack him. This would not help the Coalition. Nick Clegg needs Vince Cable in the tent. Outside the tent Vince would displace Simon Hughes as the leading senior voice of ...
So it looks like the coalition is finishing the year just as it started in May, with a Liberal Democrat resignation. Vince, for whatever reason (stupidity, tiredness or planned) has not only voiced his concern over the direction the coalition is taking, but also over inflating his own self worth.History tells you that no-one is indispensable and Vince Cable's latest opinions are not so much a
If there is one issue where destiny seems be demanding the Liberal Democrats to be bold, it is the issue of Britain's dysfunctional banking system. Ninety per cent of the banking industry goes through the Big Six in the UK, some of which are not actually UK banks at all - and, in those circumstances, it is hardly surprising that they don't do the job that needs doing. Funding local enterprise. A fortnight or so ago, things were looking quite bleak, at least for the coalition's will to act. George Osborne had indicated that he wasn't going to force the ...
I'm a big fan of Groupon – the money saving site – that's why I'm so disappointed with their latest campaign. A nice simple set of banners. [IMG: Groupon Advert] [IMG: Groupon Advert] Let's gloss over the missing apostrophe in this one though... [IMG: Groupon Advert] Which leads to the Groupon mobile friendly site. [IMG: Groupon Mobile Friends Site] Well formatted mobile site. Free text field for an email address and a drop down list of cities they support. There's no notion of what they'll do with the email address – which is very naughty – but the worst is ...
Welsh Liberal Democrats have called for the Welsh Assembly Government to convene an emergency meeting of the Cabinet to ensure an effective response to the severe weather crisis and to make sure that Wales is prepared for the what could be a prolonged cold snap over the Christmas and New Year period. The Welsh Liberal Democrats have previously used their time in the Assembly to call for the Government to put in place a proper plan for dealing with severe weather. Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Economy and Transport Minister Jenny Randerson said: "The Welsh Liberal Democrats recognise that this is ...
[IMG: Nine lessons] The new (male) curate at my parish church (St John the Evangelist, Hills Road) spoke in his sermon last Sunday of the feeling that Christmas has 'started' when you've been to a carol concert. While Christmas started earlier for me (lots to do!) I very much enjoyed the Nine Lessons Carol Concert at St John the Evangelist on Sunday evening. The main stained glass window is illuminated on these occasions: together with a vast array of candles, there was a very atmospheric scene for the musical celebration that followed. A big thank you to the choir, clergy, ...
This graph from Google shows how frequently "chocolate" was mentioned in the vast Google Books archive. As you can see, the proportion of books which mentioned chocolate took a nose-dive in the mid-twentieth century: [IMG: Chocolate graph]
I have just received a response, reproduced below, to my letter to the education secretary. From private correspondence, I suspect they had not previously talked to GIRES (Although I do not know for sure – I'm weeks behind on much of my email!) so hopefully this did make some difference. Thank you for your email 25 November to the Secretary of State for Education copied to the Minister for Equalities, Lynne Featherstone and Dr Julian Huppert MP regarding your concern that the recently published Schools White Paper does not make reference to transphobic bullying. As you will appreciate the Secretary ...
I went to the launch last night of ParliOut – a new group formed to support LGB&T people in the Houses of Parliament – both Members and staff. This group will be an invaluable source of support to all LGB&T people in the Palace of Westminster and hopefully, it will also encourage other employers to follow this example. It is very important that Parliament has out LGB&T members and also sends out the important message that being LGB&T is not a bar to participating in civil society and public life. The Government also needs to do more to encourage more ...
Sunday: For my latest impenetrable disguise, I have slipped into a LYCRA BODY-STOCKING with matching NEON ACCOUTREMENTS - hmm, surprisingly comfortable, actually - in order to download myself into the local cinema's Internet-based ticket-booking system and obtain a seat for the movie TRON: LEGACY. The ORIGINAL Tron movie is almost certainly the MOST Nineteen-Eighties movie ever made. Seriously, it is! Essentially, or at least superficially, it's about a young man in a MULLET engineering a corporate takeover. It's got lasers and computers and wacky electronica; what could be MORE eighties than that? Except, of course, it's really all about GOD. ...
Three quick thoughts about the 'revelations' in the Telegraph today:- 1. It reveals how Vince Cable appears to have become the bête noire for the Tory right, bizarrely after having steered through Parliament student finance decisions which one would have thought they would have loved. The line of a reshuffle with a straight Cable/Laws swap is coming from their sources, something Liberal Democrats would do well to remember. 2. The Telegraph will stop at nothing to break the coalition and smear Liberal Democrats. Well, no surprise there. 3. Vince's view of the coalition and its programme remains somewhat Eeyoreish with ...
We take addresses for granted. How hard an issue can they be? Put an address on an envelope and it gets there, a gratifying proportion of the time. Stick a postcode in a satnav and it shows you a route which usually gets you to your destination. Add an address to a name and you usually have an unambiguous reference to a single person. The problem lies with the word 'usually'. Get an address wrong and a parcel doesn't get delivered; the ambulance or fire engine arrives too late to save a life; a Council Tax isn't collected; a household ...
Just a quick note to say hurrah that it seems that the Castle Market building will not be listed. Here is a quote from an e-mail I've received: PLANNING (LISTED BUILDINGS AND CONSERVATION AREAS) ACT 1990BUILDINGS OF SPECIAL ARCHITECTURAL OR HISTORIC INTEREST CASTLE MARKET, WAINGATE, SHEFFIELD, SOUTH YORKSHIRE I refer to the application to add the above building to the list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest. The Secretary of State has consulted us in our role as the Government's statutory adviser on the historic environment with responsibility for listing. We have considered all representations made, and completed ...
Cornwall Council is currently conducting a survey about waste collections. It's a massively important questionnaire because it includes the issue of moving to fortnightly collections for general waste. It's therefore a shame that the consultation is being conducted over Christmas when most people are busy with family and other things. However, over 1500 people have so far completed the survey and I would encourage all readers to do so too if they live in Cornwall. You can take part by clicking here. The big issue, as I have mentioned, is the potential to move to fortnightly general rubbish collections. The ...
The decision in respect of the Stopping Up Order at Hillside Terrace, Dundee has now been issued by the Scottish Ministers. The decision is as follows: The Scottish Ministers agree with the Reporter's findings and conclusions and adopt them for the purposes of their own decision, and accept the Reporter's recommendation that the Order should be confirmed with a modification. Accordingly the Scottish Ministers confirm the Dundee City Council (Hillside Terrace, Dundee) (Stopping Up) Order 2009, subject to the addition of a second Schedule to the Order containing the condition that: "1. Before Hillside Terrace is permanently closed lowered pavement ...
Utilitarians, ugh, they make me shudder. And for some reason those in authority who make me shudder most, when I hear them in the radio, are actually refugees from the old New Labour regime like Lord Browne or Lord Freud. There was something about New Labour, with its contempt for history and its narrow view of the world - measuring everything in terms of money - which made it the most utilitarian government in history. This is what I wrote on Open Democracy about the mismatch between Lord Browne's university funding plans, now partly adopted by the coalition, and the ...
As a passionate advocate of drugs policy reform, I was very excited on Wednesday evening about the prospect of a former drugs and defence minister coming out in favour of regulated drug supply. I thought someone with such experience could blow the debate wide open, and we could really start getting to grips with the issue as a nation. Sadly the debate that resulted was again loose and ill-defined. Was he talking about legalisation of all drugs, decriminalisation, prescription of heroin to addicts? Because the debate was poorly defined, it was allowed to spin out into sensationalism and I quickly ...
Last night just before bed I glanced at Facebook. Always a mistake the wrong side of midnight! I was surprised to see Vince's name repeated time and time again. A quick glance at the BBC told me why. Having known Vince for many years, campaigned with him and talked to him in meetings, I can jut hear him uttering the words he did to 'constituents' in his surgery. I don't think there are many Lib Dem members who have not in the last 8 months thought or talked about storming out or resigning. We may also have thought that some ...
Pushing even the weather and transport chaos into second place on the radio news this morning was the scoop from the Daily Telegraph that Vince Cable admits relationships in the coalition aren't always harmonious and that he could quit his role as business secretary if pushed too far. My first reaction to this was astonishment that a newspaper like the Telegraph would think it appropriate to use a 'sting' operation like this against a senior politician in a case that didn't involve crime or wrongdoing. My second was that disagreement, perhaps even strong disagreement, in the coalition is hardly news. ...
I am absolutely disgusted at both the Tories and those in control of the Fire Service in Suffolk for so easily abandoning the County's Fire control room. The decision to contract the service to Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority is even more difficult to understand now that the Regional Fire control project has been scrapped by Government, after lengthy delays. My colleague, John Field, and I argued the case that there were suitable alternatives in Suffolk, for example, the secondary control room in Felixstowe and the former police control room at Adastral Park. The Government has even offered help, but ...
Over the festive season we're running a series of posts on the main Liberal Democrat challenges for 2011. You can find all the posts as they appear here. Yesterday I took a look at the economy, an issue on which Conservatives and Liberal Democrats will sink or swim together. Where the parties will be directly fighting each other will be in the ballot box, both in the big round of scheduled elections in May, in by-elections all through the year and in the AV referendum, where most Conservatives will be lined up on the 'no' side. The combination of huge ...
Anton Vowl's 'It gets better' post really is a seasonal marvel and if – as Justin has suggested – it could help the sort of people who look for painless suicide methods, then why not do what you can to help? (Prediction: first comment will be pointing out ways in which I'm doing this wrong)
Tue 21st
10:13
Oh dear Vince, you mustn't be taped talking about bears and woods and that sort of thing...
The heavily edited transcript of theTelegraph's Cable tape is here. Nothing earth-shattering. Slow news day at the Torygraph, is it? The one potentially explosive line is this: ...they haven't yet done winter fuel payments, but that's coming, I think. But that is in the context of the universality of child benefit, so probably refers to ideas to end winter fuel payments to rich people, which is not altogether surprising.
Nudge Theory may have found its way into the government but there are lessons we can learn for activists on the doorstep to increase our campaigning effectiveness. Psychological experiments into political campaigning have shown that about eighty percent of what we've done in the past doesn't work so what should we be doing? Behavioural science ...
Labour took over Southwark Council earlier this year in May. Since that time 7 of their top councillors have failed to declare their interests correctly. In times of huge understandable concern over parliamentary sleaze this is unforgivable. One of them appears to have completed their declarations two weeks ago but the other 6 still haven't. This is despite numerous requests from officers over the last eight months as declaring all your interests within 28 days of being elected or a change in circumstances is a legal requirement under Part 3 section 17 of the Local Government Act of 2000. This ...
So, that's how it's going to be, is it? The confidentiality of the MP's surgery breached by a couple of journalists wired up with a concealed microphone. I always thought that it was illegal to record a conversation without the other person's knowledge and consent. That's why, when you phone the tax credits office, or your insurance company, or your bank, they tell you that your conversation may be recorded. If the Telegraph hasn't broken the law, they've certainly been sneaky, devious, discourteous and lazy. I find it interesting that they've released the audio of Vince, but not of these ...
[IMG: Vince Cable] Undercover journalists expose what politician really thinks ... and it turns out to be what we all thought he thought anyway. Though it's understandable why the Telegraph has splashed the story, the news that there is lots of debate within the coalition over policies is hardly new or surprising. Certainly there's some embarrassment for Vince, but I suspect Oliver Letwin won't be too overjoyed at being splashed across the media as one of the most regular Lib Dem allies in coalition debates. Given that there is no hint of an allegation about laws or rules being broken, ...
Friday and two very conflicting views on whether London and Southwark had enough grit and salt. We had the Mayor of London stating London has "prodigious quantities of grit". Great news. But Labour Southwark Cllr for gritting Barrie Hargrove stated "We urge residents to look out for themselves" while stating "With current low stocks of grit we are being forced to reduce operations". This reduction has already seen shopping high street such as Lordship Lane left unsalted or gritted. In fact the first bout of snow had side roads and pavements left un salted or gritted so reducing the salting ...
I listened to thought for the day yesterday. It is a regular slot before work that I hear with all sorts of mostly religious contributors. This time was a prescher from the Iona community. He had something quite poignant to say. He reflected on the state of airports and stations full of people stuck because of the snow. There had been news reports of some of them whinging of how it was somebody else's fault for this - wanting the authorities to do 'something'. yet we are here on this earth - open to all of what the weather throws ...
Ed Miliband has invited Lib Dems to make suggestions for his 2015 manifesto. In doing so, he is treading a well-worn path: from Tony Blair, who borrowed Alan Beith's proposal for an independent Bank of England and a chunk of our policy on constitutional reform, to David Cameron, who borrowed a lot of our policy on civil liberties. Imitation is a form of flattery, but it isn't always sincere. I believe Ed Miliband spoke from the heart in his campaign for the Labour leadership, when he said that he would like to make us extinct. I've no doubt he would ...
BBC Sports Personality of the Year | PinkStinks Pink Stinks is an excellent campaign, and I fully endorse their stance on this. (tags: feminism sport media) Researchers plan for deeper cuts to science budget OFFS! 41%?!?! (tags: science cuts government) It gets better « Enemies of Reason This is why I love Anton (tags: thought) Lord Chief Justice approves use of Twitter in court (tags: journalism twitter) David Laws to return to the political front-line ... « The Opinionated Northerner Welcome news in this household (tags: government cabinet davidlaws kenclarke)
As the snow and cold weather continues concern grows that supplies of grit are getting low and may not be replenshed in time. Yesterday's Western Mail reports that Welsh councils are warning they are "a few days" away from running out. In a statement, the WLGA said that several hundred tonnes have been used by most local authorities in recent days. The organisation said: "To deal with the current salt pressures facing some authorities, mutual aid is already happening between the Assembly Government and those local authorities needing urgent deliveries. "As far as possible the WLGA is asking all local ...
When I talked before about the Liberal Democrats showing in public the behind-the-scenes disagreements in the coalition with the Conservatives rather more, this wasn't quite what I expected... Vince Cable has privately threatened to "bring the Government down" if he is "pushed too far" during fractious discussions with his Conservative colleagues, The Daily Telegraph can disclose... He believes that policies are being rushed through by the Conservatives and that ministers should be "putting a brake on" some proposals, which are in "danger of getting out of control". Mr Cable says that, behind the scenes, the Tories and Liberal Democrats are ...
Another day, another think piece about the Liberal Democrats. This time from Mary Ann Sieghart in the Independent. Writing last week in fact Ms. Sieghart suggests that the Liberal Democrats are emerging from the stresses and strains of coalition as a grown-up party of Government. Whether there will be anybody left to vote for us as such has yet to be seen but the author believes that there is hope: Personally, I prefer the grown-up Lib Dems to their student predecessors. They are now a more serious party, attuned to the complexities of government, and no longer just a populist ...
It is something of a disappointment to note that the proposed HS-2 rail link will now not be linked to Heathrow. Any such link is now set to be delayed until the 2030s. So London will have a substantially weaker transport system than Paris for several decades into the future. A weaker infrastructure reduces competitiveness, and as we are seeing this week cutting corners - for example on snow cleaning equipment- eventually ends up costing far more money than it saves. Yet that has been the British way now for several decades. "Make do and mend" might have been a ...
...too cloudy, and someone has put all this white stuff outside: The path Anne cleared down the drive yesterday is all but invisible!
i) births and deaths 21 December 1915: birth of James Cairncross, who played Lemaitre in The Reign of Terror (1964) and Beta in The Krotons (1968-69). 21 December 1991: death of Colin Douglas who played Donald Bruce in The Enemy of the World (1967-68) and Reuben in Horror of Fang Rock (1977). 21 December 1998: death of Roger Avon, who played Saphadin in The Crusade (1965), Daxtar in The Daleks' Master Plan (1965) and Wells in the film Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD (1966). ii) broadcast and stage anniversaries 21 December 1963: broadcast of "The Dead Planet", first episode ...
I am becoming quite fond of my little corner of Schiphol airport. I have put up my Christmas cards and a few bits of tinsel. I now have a boarding card for the 0800 to Manchester. This is the sixth boarding card I have had. It is very hard to understand why, time after time, they don't know a flight is cancelled until some time after it was due to leave and all the passengers have queued at the gate for hours. Of course, Manchester is a lot further from Ramsgate than Schiphol is, so even if the flight atually ...
I have love for a lot of people. Many of you reading this will be people I have said "I love you" to; I say it a lot, and every time I say it, I mean it. I love Mat and James. I love my mum and dad, and my brothers. I love Andy and Debi and David and Liz. I love my doggies. I love Imogen and Nicki. I love lots of people, and I am lucky enough to be loved in my turn by lots of people. All these loves are powerful and motivate me to do stuff ...
Hertfordshire Liberal Democrats have reacted angrily to the settlement imposed on them by the government - a 15% cut in grant next year and another 12 % in the year after. Malcolm Cowan, Liberal Democrat spokesperson on resources, said: 'We were used to south-east England being badly treated under Labour, now we are facing more of the same under the leadership of Tory local Government Minister Eric Pickles. 'We expected councils would be treated badly when he rushed to settle with the Treasury in the Comprehensive Spending Review and as a result fared worse than any other spending area. Now ...
Reminder Lunar eclipse tonight. Presumably the usual sacrifices to dark, forbidden gods will bring the moon back. Richard Holbrooke: an appreciation in spite of myself | peacefare.net by my friend Daniel Serwer, who knew Holbrooke all too well. (tags: war balkans) Man called hero after accidentally killing shark in Egypt - NYPOST.com The end of the Red Sea Shark. (tags: wildlife alcohol)
The accusation of Anne Widdicombe pre-Strictly-Come Dancing ...was that she would lose herself to the giddy world of fame (and presumably fortune) and be led like a donkey down the route of becoming some mad media tart.. She didn't... She consistently and eloquently explained that she understood perfectly the difference between being a serious politician in her hey day - and a dancing anachronism in her twilight years. With really heavy heart (witness my tribute to him ), I have to say that it looks like Vince seems unable to do the same.Vince is acting out the role of the ...
Latest news is being posted on the Sefton council web site including full details of which roads are gritted. More than 200 miles of road throughout the borough are being regularly gritted. But, even with special additives, gritting loses its effectiveness in the exceptional sub-zero temperatures, as national news bulletins have explained. All this is very well, but it does not explain how some of our most important roads and shopping areas are still dangerous. We were told after last winter's snowfall problems that lessons would be learned, but this has not been the case. We share the exasperation of ...
As I was driving back from London two things caught my eye. One was that the road was worn in one particular section of the motorway. It wasn't bad but you could see a slight dip in the road wher the weight of vehicles was taking its toll. You often see this effect much more obviously on some drives where the foundation is not good enough. It made me think. Is it worth building roads that are slightly wider and have space, say with a cycle lane, that could mean that the next time that lanes are painted the lanes ...
