Sky are shocked to learn that the Lib Dem MPs, who approved the Coalition agreement without a single vote against, have said that they're going to keep their word and stay in the coalition. Funnily enough, I always thought that, when they signed into a five year agreement, they did it with the intention of keeping it. Also, if they were going to break the agreement, surely they wouldn't announce it to Sky over the phone, of all people. I mean, given that Sky is Murdoch's favourite tool to shoehorn public opinion into supporting what he wants surely every Lib ...
This was advertised on TV today, first I have seen it, apparently it's been running for some time. Look at the APR!! WOW!!
My money is on Elizabeth and Nigel Pargetter both getting killed in an horrible accident. Maybe they both fall into the ha-ha.
By the time you read this, I'll be partying. At least I hope the Sudafed and Nurofen will have kicked in by then. I have a nice bottle of Elderflower Fizz for the Bells cos I'm driving. Hogmanay is fantastic, but it's not the same without the Rev I M Jolly. Rikki Fulton's dour Church of Scotland Minister giving his reflections just ahead of the Bells was a feature of our ritual for most of my early life. He was a very funny man and this clip is from 1986. Enjoy!
On Wednesday evening, I got the bus from Filadelfia in northern Paraguay to Mariscal Estigarribia, the last inhabited place in the Chaco on the Paraguayan side of the border with Bolivia. It was pitch-dark by the time I was dropped off on a long, straight road and was advised by a passing soldier to carry ...
Coming soon!
As 2010 draws to a close, I break from tradition and instead of caught in Spidey's web, I bring to you instead, Spidey's New Yers Honours List. My humble tribute to those wonderful people who have made this year much ... Continue reading →
There's no Liberal Democrat who, I believe, came into politics to hurt people, to cause them hardship or grief, to make them unemployed or to pay more for the things they need. Quite the opposite. We might not like the idea of people being dependent but, as Liberals, we want people to be free from whatever diminishes their life force - to be part of the social-economic fabric of society so that we are all the richer. A majority Lib Dem government would be faced with hard choices today and as a coalition with the Tories we have more compromises ...
Ten resolutions:Make less commitments to do stuff I know I won't have the time or energy to do, thus disappointing less people. I am really bad for this. My brain is relentlessly optimistic about what I will have the spoons for, and I say to people I can do that! and then other commitments or a bad day of depression get in the way, and then I feel guilty, and then I beat myself up... It's not a good cycle. Join the gym at the bottom of the road as soon as health and finances permit, and get back to ...
Over the past few months I've repeatedly heard the phrase 'the cuts are ideological' flung as a venomous insult at the coalition. And yet I cannot remember ever being told what the particular ideology that the cuts embody is. Nor have I been told what the reasons are that those who use the 'the cuts ...
Throughout the festive season, LDV is offering our readers another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which have appeared on the blog since 1st January, 20109. The sixth most-read LDV op-ed of 2010 was by a long-standing Lib Dem member who preferred, for professional reasons, to remain anonymous, and originally appeared on 22nd January ... Opinion: UK Border Agency plunges colleges into crisis I wrote recently about the train-wreck that is happening before our eyes with the new student visa rules. Well, there has been a new development. The UK Border Agency has abruptly suspended the visa-sponsoring ...
I've been a little unwell this week, and haven't been able to get anything new written. So for New Year, I'm giving you a story I wrote a little while ago: Jeeves And The Singularity by Andrew Hickey Now, it's a rummy thing about my man, Jeeves, but while he's the best valet one could ...
With the new year is planned a slightly new look for Gyronny Herald. However, as I learn how to change things, this may involve it moving gradually, until I get it just how I want it. Therefore, I ask readers to bear with me - I am sure it will not take me too long to ...
Today, whatever you think about some of the decisions being taken by Lib Dem Ministers and Secretaries of State, you can no longer claim, with any credibility at least, that we are not to be taken seriously.
I know I don't have to explain to local folk why there is such anger about the council's failure to deal with the snow, but for those from further a field these photos (all of bus routes) were taken a week apart.
Some of these reviews can also be found on Amazon.In December 2010 I read the following books: 1. Incandescence, by Greg Egan - Good: 3/5 This is a book in at least two parts, maybe three, all of which work well on their own, but never really gel together. The first two parts, the two fictional ones, concern two parallel journeys. The first, and the most accessible, is by a post-human from a decadent galaxy-spanning multi-species civilisation of the far future. While he is on a journey and quest for knowledge he is ultimately rather a shallow creature - both ...
Not long ago the Lib Dems triumphed in their successful campaign for fair treatment for the Gurkas. Then at the last general election we witnessed "Cleggmania" - which lasted briefly but was sufficient to bring in many new members to the party. It all went wrong on May 6th. The general election result saw a net loss of seats for the Lib Dems, and then of course coalition with the Tories. A coalition with Labour was not an option once Labour decided to exclude the SNP. The Lib Dems need some good news stories, but with the possible exception of ...
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. Here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week Nick Clegg's New Year message to Liberal Democrat members (36 comments) by Helen Duffett Opinion: It is time to get out of the Coalition (173 comments) by Paul Elgood Diffindo! Has Daniel Radcliffe hexed the Lib Dems? (11 comments) by Stephen Tall Convictions for historic gay sex offences to be erased (12 comments) by Helen Duffett Simon Hughes takes up education post (83 comments) by Mark Pack 5 sample LDV Members' Forum threads Police Demand New Stop ...
Thanks to those who have filled in my unread books poll; this is more of a bit of fun, a tradition started by the librarything community, of listing all the books one has read during the year and seeing who else has read the same ones. (There's a discrepancy of 10 between the list below and the monthly tallies, mostly due to counting the Bloody Sunday Report as a single entry below but as ten separate volumes while I was reading it.) View Poll: #1662670
2010: a year in StatPornThe Numbers. Google analytics gave me the following numbers, which do not include people who read via RSS, facebook import, or LJ/DW friends pages: 38,883 Absolute unique visitors62,160 visits, just over 45% of which were new.31,603 (81%) of my visitors came from the UK, and 4 from Qatar (Hello Nicki and friends!)Average page views is 1.60, and average time on site is 1 minute 45 seconds, which considering that both of those include search bots is not bad. Referral sites - 67% of traffic. The rise of the aggregator has has an effect this year; aside ...
Part 32 in a series of posts blogging the experience of reading Atlas Shrugged for the first time. I've now finished the book, and this final post and the one preceding summarise my thoughts on the work. You can find the first post in the series here. In the preceding post I discussed the possibility ...
Fri 31st
16:05
Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account-Oscar Wilde
I love Oscar Wilde who always had a mad quote for everything. I may look drunk in this photo the way Oscar often was but I can assure you I was overdosing only on sugar in a Santa outfit. A child's version of madness! Here are my 10 wishes for a brilliant year ahead for everyone. 1. The job cuts and financial cuts won't cut us off at the knee. 2. The LibDem coalition will learn how to sell the best parts of our party policies. 3. Science advancements will be made to make life better for the disabled and ...
Just before Christmas we covered the government's plans to give the vote to prisoners serving sentences of less than four years, a delayed response to the adverse court ruling on the current rules from 2005 which the Labour government had not yet properly responded to. Unsurprisingly, the plans have triggered opposition in some parts of the Conservative Party, including from Paul Goodman over on ConservativeHome: "The essence of the Clegg/Harper case is that the Government has no alternative. However, there at least four". Carl Gardner on his Head of Legal blog explains the legal background in more detail: Obviously this ...
This Conservative leaflet is from the February 1974 election, where 27 year old Tom Arnold failed to defeat the Liberal Michael Winstanley in Hazel Grove. Arnold had more success in the October General Election, becoming one of the youngest MPs in the Commons and holding Hazel Grove until 1997. The leaflet is good quality, though far more text heavy than anything any of the parties would put out today. One interesting point to note is that, although Arnold makes a virtue of living in the constituency, he's also happy to make a point of having stood in a different constituency ...
Was on Radio Tay News this afternoon talking about the Empty Homes Initiative :
Best wishes for a happy 2011!
This song, below, is at the top of my playlist at the moment: "Little Lion Man" by Mumford and Sons. There's something about its basic honesty which I like. It's had 14.6 million hits on YouTube, so it's quite popular. Warning: Contains strong language.
Bradford high tech electronics company Calibre UK has contributed its expertise to the Science Museum's "Who am I?" installation. "Our PremierViewProHD Image Warp Processors take the projected images, warp them electronically back into shape, ...
[Originally posted on Liberal Democrat Voice, 31/12/10] I started this discussion of current developments in policy towards housing by noting that it is an area in which the tensions in inherent in balancing "the fundamental values of freedom, equality and community" are absolutely central. Housing policy needs to strike a balance between the individual and ...
Although I am currently struck down with the dreaded lurgy, I am trying to look back on the more positive aspects of the past year! 2010 began with a cold snap and plenty of snow, but this didn't stop myself and the South Hams team campaigning, leading Tony Barber to victory in the Ivybridge Filham by election. From one extreme to the other, then I was off to a Tinchy Stryder concert for my sister's birthday! March held some sadness, as one of Camborne's great men, Brian Lessiter, sadly passed away. The church was standing room only for his funeral. ...
I thought I'd better check out what predictions I'd made for this year, and was slightly relieved to discover that I hadn't made any. A shame, really, because I hadn't done badly with the ones I'd made for 2009. Anyway, who could have predicted a Government with Lib Dems actually doing proper Lib Demmy things in it? I'm hoping that future generations will reap the benefits of what we've managed to achieve, that success will be there for the taking for all based on ability, with their postcode of origin completely irrelevant. So, I can't do my crystal ball check, ...
The footsteps of feminism in 2011 seem to be based around the VSO Campaign to watch UN Women. On this morning's Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4, they had a usual "lacking in teeth" debate about the rebranding of UniFem and how women could be empowered by the new marketing of rights of women. And I wanted to scream at the radio - FEMINISM IS NOT ABOUT MARKETING! One thing that we discuss at great
I started this discussion of current developments in policy towards housing by noting that it is an area in which the tensions in inherent in balancing "the fundamental values of freedom, equality and community" are absolutely central. Housing policy needs to strike a balance between the individual and the aggregate - neighbourhood, city, regional - outcomes if it is going to deliver economically and socially (and environmentally) successful settlements. In this last post I will reflect briefly on changes in where this balance has been struck over time. In the post-Second World War period housing policy was directed at improving ...
With a hat tip to Mark Thompson..... 1. All three main political party leaders will be in post at the end of the year. However, there will be continual media speculation about the future of all. 2. The Coalition will still be in Government. 3. A Conservative Cabinet member – my bet is Liam Fox – will quit in an attempt to become the spearhead of anti-Coalition feeling in the Conservative Right. 4. Liberal Democrats will do surprisingly well in the May 2011 elections, taking (or regaining) control of a number of Shire districts and making a small net gain ...
Just when David Cameron and Nick Clegg thought that they might be able to relax over Christmas, The Independent publishes the results of some research that is guaranteed to send a chill down their back. They say that Government MPs are rebelling against their parties' policies on a scale not seen since 1945. During the Coalition's first seven months, dozens of Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs, including many elected for the first time in May, have repeatedly defied House of Commons' whips to vote against the Government: The findings suggest the Coalition - which has a Commons majority of 84 ...
Over on the Yes for Wales website, Lee Waters points out that a failure to secure a 'yes' vote in the Assembly powers referendum on 3rd March could set back devolution and undermine the status of Wales within the United Kingdom: The needs of Welsh communities are not widely understood in Whitehall. That's the view of Wales' former top civil servant, Sir Jon Shortridge. His view was backed up by Head of the Civil Service, Sir Gus O'Donnell. He put the failure to take Welsh interests in account down to "forgetfulness‟ amongst Whitehall Chiefs. Scotland never gets forgotten in Whitehall ...
Firstly, I'll hold my hands up and say that I am shamelessly copying Mark Pack's post in which he lists his top ten most read posts of the year. But I suppose imitation is the sincerest form of flattery in ... Continue reading →
This years predictions is a little tricky as there is no general election to speculate on (I hope). But lets see how I get on this time. 1. Piersmorgan will win his twitter war with Lord Sugar and gain more followers on twitter. Because of his new job hosting the US talk show on CNN, replacing Larry King. 2.Labour will have more council seats than the Tories after the local elections this year. Gaining from Lib Dems and the Tories. 3.The No's will win the vote on AV - The yes campaign really needs to step up it's game. 4.North ...
Dear Fraser, I want so much better for Scotland in 2011 than we've had. And I don't just mean the weather. People want a Scottish Government where we take the right, long-term decisions for the country, not for any political party. Take decisions that can build a stronger, better and more prosperous Scotland. So I want the New Year to start the process of building a better future for our country: to protect and create new jobs, to give real control to local people over the public services they depend on and to restore Scotland's reputation for excellence in education. ...
At what is a cold, bleak time of the year, it's lovely to have a winter wedding to go too. So it is that Alyson and I have been looking forward to the wedding of good friends Dewi an Jo since we got the invitation a few months ago. The wedding took place on Wednesday in Manchester, in its Town Hall and the reception in the Midland Hotel. It was a lovely occasion and was enjoyed by all. There were certainly many sore heads in the morning, that I can vouch for! But to Dewi and Jo, best wishes for ...
The week between Christmas and New Year has always been a particularly relaxing one for me. It's the only period of the year when it feels as if everyone is on holiday. The amount of e-mails and 'phone calls I get in this period is a fraction of what I normally receive as everyone is in the festive mood and unless there's an emergency, very rarely consider calling their local Councillor to worry them about their concerns. As a result, over recent years in particular, I've taken the opportunity of having a quiet few days during this period to catch ...
[IMG: LGA ALDC fringe Simon Hughes March 09] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: Liberal Democrats Michael White says that Simon Hughes should not have taken his unpaid role with the government, because it will sully his oppositionist purity. If Simon carried that on for life, one could justifiably ask the question "What is Simon Hughes for?" You could argue that the role could be undertaken by anyone. However, Simon is uniquely placed as an advocate to encourage those from poorer backgrounds into higher education. And there is definitely a great danger that the recent hoo-haa about tuition fees will ...
Southport MP John Pugh called on the council to say sorry for the failure of its gritting and yesterday (Wednesday) Jerry Mc Conkey, Sefton Council's Network Manager, apologised for the disruption.Dr Pugh said: "Amongst us citizens there is not a man or woman standing who thinks the council got it right this time or planned it well."The Southport Visiter has the full story. The Birkdale blog broke the news that angry Councillors were to hold a crisis meeting with the council officials in charge of the clear up. Can we thank all those who emailed their questions in advance of ...
Those of you who know me ought to be aware that I love a big, fast rollercoasters. I really need to go back to the States and experience some of the new rides since last I was there (1996). However, this year has certainly been one hell of a rollercoaster ride with its highs and lows and switchbacks and unexpected turns. This time last year I was sitting in Bathgate, looking forward to kick starting the local Lib Dems into the General Election year, then onwards to the Scottish Elections and the council elections beyond. The same old routine as ...
In the last part of my series of articles on The Importance of Teaching schools White Paper published by the government last month, I want to look at the proposals for changes to the measurement of schools' performance. The first two pieces were on exclusion and the range of languages included in the proposed English Baccalaureate. Contextual Value Added The value added by schools is in many ways more important that the actual raw results achieved - is a school good because its students have got the results commensurate with their potential when they entered the school, or because it ...
Had this blog been active at the time I would have written about the sad death of Kate McGarrigle in January. Latterly, she seemed to be more famous as the mother of Rufus and Martha Wainwright, but with her sister Anna, she produced a remarkable body of work that deserves to be better known. This, one of her best songs, has a wistfulnessthat it perhaps appropriate for the ending of a year and the start of a new one.
A sore point for me twice a year, Britain's appalling honours system in which a few deserving recipient's get the recognition they deserve, lost in a fog of those, who receive awards for either looking after our political masters, having great wealth and bunging a few quid to charity, or those employed by the public sector at senior level who get rewarded for just doing a job. Myself I'd like to see awards for all, particularly those of us who have spent a lifetime in the private sector, supporting the wealth creating part of the economy, enabling the bankers to ...
Northern Ireland Water: "The trusted and reliable provider of Northern Ireland's most essential public service." There is failure and then there is causing a drought in Northern Ireland, one of the wettest parts of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland Water, until 2007 a state utility, and now a state owned corporation, have done more damage to reputation of the Province this Christmas than the more usual suspects, who like the pipes in the ground seem to be stuck somewhere between the 1860s and 1970s. NIW's priority at the moment is to fix leaks and restore supply. When normal service resumes ...
I comically nickname the Mirror `Pravda`. You know what you're getting with it – a daily dose of Campbellian spin. However, I'm curious to see that the Guardian has failed to pick up on the story of the £252m ID cards fiasco. I googled it and searched on the Guardian website. All to no avail. ...
Lib Dem Manifesto p.49 "We will protect existing childcare support arrangements until the nation's finances can support a longer term solution: a move to 20 hours free childcare for every child, from the age of 18 months." We have extended 15 hours free early education to all disadvantaged two year-olds, while keeping the free offer of 15 hours early education for every three and four year-old. We will be spending £300 million more on this by the end of the Parliament Lib Dem Manifesto p.52 "We will offer a week's respite for the one million carers who spend 50 hours ...
There has been much attention recently on the problems with postal deliveries in the east of the city, with a huge backlog of deliveries from the Royal Mail Sorting Office at West Pitkerro. However, as the Evening Telegraph reported last night, there are similar issues in at least parts of Dundee West. I first raised these earlier this month, but despite assurances from Royal Mail, I have this week received further complaints about erratic postal deliveries and late delivery of mail - complaints coming from the Pentland, Shaftesbury Road and Perth Road areas. I have raised constituents' concerns with Royal ...
With 2011 fast approaching, I have given the main site http://www.dundeewestend.com/ a bit of a make-over. Its not a hugely radical change to the existing layout but goes give the blog a fresh look and moves the sidebar to the left.
[IMG: Top Ten logo] Here in ascending order are the ten posts which got the most readership on this site during 2010: 10. £50 for a charity of your choice: a charity got a donation as I made a point about the exam result clichés the media still love. 9. A guide to understanding opinion polls: written for our clients at work (MHP Communications), it's no surprise that during such a heavily polled general election this post did so well for readers. 8. The triple lock: Liberal Democrats and deals with other parties: sometimes providing a few simple facts makes ...
Fri 31st
11:24
Calls to end alphabetic ordering of candidates on Scottish local election ballot papers
It's a well established pattern that candidates with names higher up the alphabet do slightly better in multi-member ward elections in the UK than those with names further down the alphabet. Other factors (including the perceived ethnicity and gender of a name, along with other information such as the party label) usually have a larger effect, but there is something of an alphabetic effect all the same. New research has shown this to be the case in the first STV local council elections held in Scotland, leading to calls for change. The Scotsman reports: Across Scotland there were 247 cases ...
There was a surprising amount of political news over the Christmas period, but, of course, much of it was overshadowed by the seasonal human interest stories. Three cheers for the end of ID cards! They were finally scrapped in the Identity Documents Bill on 21st December. I've written about ID cards before - the problem is not with the small credit card sized cards themselves. After all, we all carry photo ID with us when necessary, such as driving licences, passports and even Freedom passes. No, the problem lies with the national database behind it, and the many thousands of ...
I'm reliably informed that if I want to be taken seriously as a blogger again, then I must post some predictions for things that will happen in the next year. So, here goes: 1) Wolves will be relegated for the Premiership. Even when relegation is mathematically certain, Mick McCarthy will insist that things can still ...
[IMG: 2010] This year was crazy for me and it will take a lot to beat it. The first major thing to happen was to give up smoking in February. I used nicotine patches as I knew there would be no chance of success if I went cold turkey. I got them with prescriptions from the doctor and used each strength for 1 month each. Thankfully I'm still a former smoker but there's days where the temptation is still there and tobacco smoke is still the nicest smell ever. Next came the biggest event of the year. In March I ...
[IMG: new-year.jpg] Wishing you all every happiness for the new year. I couldn't possibly share my new year resolutions with you BUT, let's all pray for: LESS WAR LESS POVERTY LESS HUNGER LESS VIOLENCE GREATER TOLERANCE GREATER UNDERSTANDING GREATER RESPECT best wishes
Here are my predictions for the coming year: Labour will win the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election but the Lib Dems will be a close second.All 3 main party leaders (Cameron, Clegg and Miliband_E) will still be in post by the end of the year.The AV referendum will be (narrowly) won.Sarah Palin will do something that will effectively end her chances of being a serious candidate for the 2012 US presidential election.A Lib Dem MP will resign the party whip to either sit as an independent or join another party.England will win the Rugby World Cup.For the third year running ...
The Coalition Government did something today that Labour failed to do for no good reason - take a serious step to stop greedy, debt-ridden predators such as Enterprise Inns shutting pubs and imposing restrictive covenants to stop them reopening. The BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12097227) has the story, which fits in with the wider direction of the Localism Bill. It's likely that the Bill will give local people and communities the chance to place pubs on a 'most wanted' list and give them time to develop a bid if they're put up for sale. In Reading the Jolly Anglers was the most celebrated ...
Here's a curious detail about the voting record of MPs on the alternative vote: before the general election, the House of Commons agreed to introduce elections for select committee chairs using the alternative vote (and the first set of these such elections have now been held). Most of the Conservative and Labour MPs who have said they oppose AV for public elections were also MPs when this decision was taken – and not one of them forced a vote on the matter, let alone vote against introducing AV. Instead, they all let the introduction of AV go through. Now of ...
Fri 31st
10:15
The Lib Dems should back a state investment bank to regain the initiative on the economy
One major concern the public has is with the economy. One major problem them Lib Dems have is with the economy as the leadership changed its mind on the situation and what needed to happen to provide the security the population needed. The Lib Dems have been seen as sell-outs to the Tories as a ...
The excellent Leicester Civic Society has a webpage devoted to the campaign to save Aylestone Meadows.
Aslie Pitter – we salute you!
The Finkler Question, Howard Jacobsen Like most other readers, I suspect, I read this because it won the Man Booker Prize. It's ostensibly a comic novel in which the protagonist, Julian Treslove, cuts an absurd figure: a failed arts producer who is now reduced to earning a living as a lookalike, he envies his lifelong friends, Sam Finkler and Libor Sevcik, their widower status, begrudges their tragic losses. Treslove's character is a sipher for rootless lack of (goyish) identity. Mugged by a woman, this humiliation triggers a mid-life crisis in which he adopts a cultural Jewish lifestyle in the hope ...
to all readers of this site. In what has been the most tumultuous (and politically draining) year for a generation this site is still carving out its niche that seems to be strengthened by the way I've changed in 2010. It believes that there are only two real democratic workable political economic models – Scandinavian ...
BBC News - Pub closure loophole under review MOAR HUZZAH! (tags: pubs huzzah!) BBC News - Phone firms back common charger plan HUZZAH! (tags: phones huzzah!)
A year ago, Lib Dem Voice posed 10 questions, the answers to which we believed might shape the Lib Dem year - time to revisit them, wethinks. 1. In the 2010 general election, how many Lib Dem MPs will be elected? Will we increase our number from the current total of 63; or will we fall back? Will we increase our vote percentage compared with 2005, when we polled 22% of the popular vote? Or could we do, as we did in 1997, see our popular vote drop, but our Parliamentary strength grow? My prediction at the start of 2010 ...
Listening to I'm Sorry I Haven't A Xmas Carol while finishing Xmas shopping. Feeling Xmassy. #xmas # @stephenpglenn Many thx for #ff & have a great Xmas [IMG: :)] in reply to stephenpglenn # Mince pies, hot chocolate, watching Poirot, wrapping presents. *contented sigh* # @willhowells Am hoping it's better than last year's crock of ... This ep's vintage Poirot [IMG: :)] (Tho not quite Xmassy enough for perfectn.) in reply to willhowells # Where do girls learn to wrap presents properly? Was there a module at school I missed? # My diet today consists of croissant and mince pies... ...
292 million pounds turns out to be the cost of Labour's attempt to get Manchester residents on their ID register. A staggering waste of our cash which resulted in just 13,200 people signing up. This included people working for the Airport, who were put under a considerable amount of "encouragement" to sign up (at one point, it was suggested by the Government that it might be a requirement to work there) and with civil servant in London asked to encourage their friends and relatives living in Manchester to sign up. The result was an ID card which wasn't recognised abroad ...
Here's the list of the top half dozen posts since I began this blog in October 2010, starting with the most frequently visited: The poverty of Nick Clegg's "new" progressives Exit, voice, loyalty: what's a Libdem to do? A fairer future or no future for social housing? The continuing saga of Housing Benefit "reform": unaware ...
The Liberal Democrats have published a list of 67 manifesto commitments delivered or on their way to be delivered in eight months of government. Below and in subsequent posts we reproduce that list: Lib Dem Manifesto p.41 "Integrate health and social care to create a seamless service, ending bureaucratic barriers and saving money to allow people to stay in their homes for longer rather than going into hospital or long term residential care." Around 35,000 people will benefit from a £70 million cash boost announced by the Coalition that will enable the NHS to support people back into their homes ...
i) births and deaths None. There's quite enough for today as it is. ii) broadcast anniversary 31 December 1965: broadcast of third episode of The Highlanders. Polly overpowers Ffrench; the Doctor overpowers Perkins; but Ben is thrown into the cold sea... iii) dates specified in canon 31 December 1879: Queen Victoria issues the Torchwood Charter, as seen in Children of Earth (2009). (Though it must be a fake since she is referred to inaccurately as 'HRH', ie 'Her Royal Highness', rather than 'Her Majesty'.) 31 December 1930: setting of the framing narrative of the 2002 Eighth Doctor / Charley audio, ...
George is a graduate of the University of Dublin, Trinity College - his college tie is often to be seen around his neck. I'm sure that he will be pleased, and probably a bit surprised at the MBE that has been bestowed upon him - but I'm sure that all users of the Library at Stormont will be happy that he has been made an MBE, and join me in saying Thank you George!
As always suspected Labour p!$$ed away £292m of our money on a scheme they knew was unworkable. Here are two interpretations of the fiasco: Damian Green, the home office minister, said: "The Identity Card Scheme was intrusive, bullying, ineffective and expensive." And Andy Burnham, who oversaw the biometric cards while a Home Office minister, said: "The Tory-Lib Dem government are trying to make the cards a totem of what our government stood for- but I think they were a good idea and many people are still be in favour of them." Where Labour completely fail in their reaching out to ...
I took these photos in early December. Christmas had been going on prior to Bonfire Night and I mentioned yesteday how the logistics of putting up Christmas trees had a lot more to do with commerce than it did with Christmas. I read in today's paper that this particular tree in Lancaster is criticised in one letter because of the barriers and the adverts on those barriers. The author is correct. They look a mess. What really took my attention was the reply from the Lancaster District Chamber of Commerce who provided funding and put up the adverts. They think ...
Shifting into Fifth | Tor.com | Science fiction and fantasy | Blog posts Pia Guerra thinks that the Fifth Doctor is a Volvo. (tags: doctorwho) MegaTokyo - [579] Seraphim's Live Journal Theater Of course, in the days of Facebook it should be done with much shorter sentences. (tags: livejournal) Sunday 29 December 1667 (Pepys' Diary) "At night comes Mrs. Turner to see us; and there, among other talk, she tells me that Mr. William Pen, who is lately come over from Ireland, is a Quaker again, or some very melancholy thing; that he cares for no company, nor comes into ...
