Just a note to wish all the residents of Hastings & Rye a happy, healthy and peaceful new year! My good wishes particularly to fellow public sector workers who will face some difficult and uncertain months ahead. 2010 has been quite a year for us. The General Election campaign which started in 2007 came to ...
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Continuing my regular monthly stat porn figures for anyone who is remotely interested in who reads my little blog, what stories they read and from where they read it, the monthly summary of my visitor stats according to google analytics is as below for December 2010. The busiest day on my blog last month was Saturday 18th December, the day I was suspended from Twitter and this was down to the story about the tweet from ITV slagging Nigella Lawson off. Last month I had 2,351 absolute unique visitors, a great increase on last month. They made 2,980 visits and ...
Who is your Liberal Voice of the Year? Vote in the Lib Dem Voice poll. Anthony Wells on UK Polling Report look at Liberal Democrat prospects. His findings are not undiscouraging. Still... "it's worth remembering that a fair chunk of those lost Liberal Democrats haven't gone to Labour, or to minor parties or anywhere - they just don't know what to do. Those people may yet defect to other parties or sit on their hands, or they may be won back for the Lib Dems in the fullness of time." Should I stay or should I go? asks Welcome to ...
I just snapped a shot of the offsets of my time server since I changed over the box . [IMG: from www.pool.ntp.org] It is very clear where the change happened — the offset drops off a cliff — but then the machine appears to swing wildly for a couple of days, hunting for stability but overshooting each time. Then, suddenly and for no apparent reason, in the middle of the Friday afternoon this behaviour ceases, and a gentle curve moves the offset slowly towards zero.
I hope my blog readers all have a peaceful and healthy 2011.
I like to think I don't get too introverted, I like to think I've something to add, I like to think, I like to expand, I don't give a flyer if you struggle to understand. I blog therefore I am. Fellow bloggers this week seem in melancholy mood, blogging is not what it once was, well neither are a lot of things, my looks, my future, even the laptop is beginning to look bloated and full, my blog has recently attracted the sort of fixated nutters I try not to emulate. I don't think that anybody is saying that blogging ...
I spent New Year's Eve in London and around midnight watched the fireworks going off all around the city, from parties nearby to far off to the east. The largest was, clearly, that on the South Bank around the wheel. The most memorable event was seeing lots — 50 plus — of candle-powered lanterns floating across London from somewhere to the west of me. Quite beautiful and very calm. Unlike the amusing sounds of different nearby parties shouting out a countdown entirely separate from the other parties! I think there was maybe six minutes between the first 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-HAPPY NEW YEAR! ...
From Kirsty Williams, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats: 2010 has been a challenging year for many. There are some positive signs but the economic recovery will be slow and uncertain. The Liberal Democrats made the right decision to be part of turning things around in government. Of course, in government, some decisions will be controversial, particularly in a time when there is not as much money as we would like. But having a stable majority government to steer us through difficult times is of vital importance. Coalition government is a new experience for many in England. In Wales, as ...
My new book, Sci-Ence! Justice Leak!, the ultra-expanded Hyperpost book, is nearly finished. I'm hoping that over the rest of the long weekend I can complete the last six parts, which I'll be posting (at least some of) to here as they're done. At that point, I'll be emailing the draft to Pillock (I *will* ...
Heavy-handed wheel clamping firms face the axe in 2011, and it can't come soon enough for many motorists. There are one or two sites in Chorlton that have been exploited in this way. For years private clampers have plagued parts of the UK, with drivers targeted despite only being away from their cars for a few minutes. Last summer, the Government announced plans to bring an end to unregulated wheel clamping companies operating on private land. Tackling cowboy clampers is a long-standing Liberal Democrat manifesto commitment; and the Freedom Bill will be in place by early 2011, banning firms from ...
With fifty-six teams out of one hundred and six surviving the qualifying round and the first round proper, and only one million, forty-eight thousand, five hundred and twenty opponents, hopes were high amongst the ranks of the Liberal Democrats. And it turned out not to be too bad a week... So, here are some of the highlights from the second round; Easiest victories Jonathan Haggart's 'Bandwagonesque' were comfortably better than 'Woohoo', winning 72 - 29, although they did start the day more than six hundred thousand places further up the league table. Meanwhile, Carrie Henderson's 'Excaledonia' defeated 'Athletico Sandyford' 67 ...
I am not a great admirer of the Hugh Dennis and Oz Clarke programme, but a story about them in the Ludlow & Tenbury Wells Advertiser touches upon two subjects that have interested this blog in the past. They are the Sun Inn, Leintwardine, and the eating of squirrels.
Earlier this week, in the dying days of the last decade, we launched our search for the Liberal Voice of 2010, to find the individual or group which has had the biggest impact on liberalism in the past 12 months. And as is our tradition, we're looking beyond the ranks of the Lib Dems to find the greatest liberal who's not a member of our party. Our thanks to all who put forward nominations — here is the short-list of 12 (in alphabetical order): Bob Ainsworth, former Labour secretary of state for defence, for his controversial public call for the ...
Happy New Year and thankyou to all our readers! Here are a few statistics which sum up the past year on LDV: 384 authors have written a total of 3239 posts. (For more on how to write for us, click here.) Readers have visited our site 1,473,760 times, making 3,140,977 pageviews. Our busiest day was Friday 7th May, the day after the General Election. This is typical for political websites the day after an election, and a reminder to defer that lie-in until after you've updated your site with results and commentary. The surge in readers the day after Polling ...
So its a New Year and all over the place, people are talking about the things that they want do in 2011. I'm no different and for reasons discussed to death, there are lots of things that are going to change this ... Continue reading →
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 fifth most-read LDV op-ed of 2010 was by Lib Dem MP Jo Swinson, and originally appeared on 3rd November ... Jo Swinson MP writes on tuition fees Today the Government has outlined its response to the Browne review, and the future of higher education funding. This is arguably the most challenging issue for Liberal Democrats in the coalition so far. Our party has long prided itself on its commitment to ...
...Some photos I took over the Christmas break around Bude, Cornwall. Black Rock beach, Widemouth looking south The church of St Michael and All Angels at Bude Bude breakwater and Summerleaze Beach Crooklets Beach Bude, looking south towards Compass Point
On Christmas Day I appeared for less than a second on Strictly Come Dancing - but I was seen by millions! In fact, a surprising number of people have told me that they spotted me. It was during the introduction to Vince Cable's dance (and didn't he do well?), when they showed him speaking at Party Conference and I was smiling in the audience. I was vain enough to check out the news item that it came from, and when I did I realised once again why I admire Vince and why Coalition was the right thing for our party ...
I read 278 books in 2010, counting the ten volumes of the Bloody Sunday Report as a single work (and I seem to have mislaid another book somewhere in my counting). This is down a bit from 2009's 346 and 2008's 374, mainly because I've been watching a 25-minute episode of Doctor Who every day, usually on my commute, and then writing it up. (Total page count however is down only to about 91,000 from 100,000, so in 2009, so I've been reading longer books.) 65 (23%) were by women (20% in 2009, 12% in 2008) and 24 (9%) by ...
2010 was another busy and eventful year for me personally and politically. The early months were dominated by my role as General Election Agent for Nigel Rock in the parliamentary contest for Kenilworth & Southam. We succeeded in pushing Labour into a poor third place and establishing the Lib Dems as the clear challengers in this new constituency. In June I became Chair of the newly created Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee on the County Council, a demanding role covering a wide range of council activities. Key campaign successes were in helping to get Project Transform cancelled, and persuading the ...
Is that the multi million dollar question? 2010 was a year I suspect many Liberal Democrats will not forget in a hurry. It was a year we entered government for the first time in a generation and was also the ... Continue reading →
Sat 1st
17:14
One highly popular politician who eschews email in favour of the old fashioned dog and bone
[IMG: Andrew Cuomo] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: Patja An interesting article from the New York Times on the style of newly sworn-in New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo. He uses the phone overwhelmingly to get people on side, while doing something rare for politicians – actually listening. The calls are often long, unstructured and featuring unpredictable silences. Says one person who has been called: When you get a phone call from Andrew, sometimes he is so subtle that you hang up wondering what it was really about.
It would be fair to say that, when it comes to dancing, I need to be persuaded. Ros is less backwards in coming forward, it would be fair to say, but when an invite came to travel to Bedford for what was described as a 'proper Hogmanay', I was only too happy to accept. For those with decent memories, two of the key members of Team Ros in the contest for the Party Presidency were Bridget and Keith Harris. Keith created, built and maintained the amazing web presence and back office database, whilst Bridget ran the campaign. I don't know ...
A full list of Liberal Democrat manifesto commitments which have been implemented by the government is below. This list was prepared for internal Liberal Democrat use. : Lib Dem Achievements in Government
In the coming weeks and months the Northern Ireland Executive will have to see what can be done to sort out the historical underinvestment in the water service in Northern Ireland, but at the moment the concentration ought to be on getting everyone reconnected to the mains as quickly as is humanly possible. The time for knee-jerk reactions is not now.
Guardian Cif posted a fascinating comment piece the other day under the title To avoid NHS privatisation, Lansley must change course. The author is clearly well-informed and provides a thoughtfully balanced assessment of the need for change. She demonstrates a sound grasp of the risks associated with a rushed or botched approach to reform. The ...
Yes Northern Ireland does have a water crisis. BTW Thanks to all the friends by text, Facebook or MSN who have enquired. We're doing fine here. Yes at some point there has to be an independent enquiry. Yes at some point people may have to take responsibility for their failings. However, that time is not during a crisis, when you need all the management experience you have trying to sort it out. However, what we also don't need at this time is mindless acts of sabotage to what is currently a sparse resource WATER so the act of wanton wastage ...
Having taken the time to think about what is really important, it is time for me to concentrate on my health...
Sorry for the annoyance caused by my poll yesterday; I think I had jammed too much HTML into it for those who share my reading tastes reasonably closely. I'm therefore trying again, leaving out the hyperlinks to reviews this time; hopefully this will work better. (Leaving yesterday's poll up, though, and will post grand totals from the two in due course.) View Poll: #1662925
Whereas on the twentieth day of the month of December in the year of our Lord two thousand and ten, a resolution was passed by being assented to by those by whom these presents are sent, Be it made known that this resolution will be made known to all and sundry upon publication of it ...
No not that Dave, I am referring of course to Dave Anderson the MP for Blaydon and my opponent in the general election in May. Dave spent a lot of time during the campaign saying that he was an honest guy and has been amongst the first Labour MPs to stick the boot into the Coalition government when one of the two parties has had to compromise on manifesto policies. During the election he regularly lauded his parties manifesto and just before it, voted for a referendum on having a referendum on the Alternative Vote. His party was the only ...
Readers of the Daily Telegraph, muttering into their breakfast newspapers about the revolting state of today's students, could usefully be reminded that violent protest has been an integral part of London's life for much of the city's history. The publication of a new edition of Clive Bloom's Violent London (Palgrave Macmillan) provides a dramatic sweep ...
Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader Tavish Scott has sent out his annual New Year Message. In it he talks about his priorities for the year - building a sustainable economy, restoring excellence in education and giving people more control over their public services. 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 ...
OK, so I don't blog any more – life happened, and politics drove me to despair – but there is some unfinished business. On January 1 2010, I made the following predictions: 1 – The Conservatives will win the General Election (which will be held in May) with a majority of approximately 50 seats. Well, ...
This morning's Independent contains an interesting article that suggests that despite facing the open goal of a Coalition Government implementing unpopular measures to put right Labour's ecoonomic mess, the opposition themselves are far from united. The paper says that a close ally of Ed Miliband has urged Labour to rally behind him and accept that he has a mandate for his policies: Maria Eagle, the shadow Transport Secretary, hit back at sniping at Mr Miliband's performance since he defeated his brother David for the Labour leadership. He clocks up 100 days in his job tomorrow. "Ed won, fair and square," ...
'Today marks a big culture shift within our immigration system,' said Nick Clegg two weeks ago, announcing plans purporting to end child detention. 'That practice, the practice we inherited, ends here,' he said. Sadly, it didn't end there. Liberal Democrats interested in these matters might take a look at two dossiers of evidence compiled by End Child Detention Now and published on openDemocracy. Mind the Gap! Coalition claims and realities for child detention in the UK tests the new 'compassionate approach to family returns' as expressed in government documents released on December 16
In the process of answering a letter in the Newbury Weekly News, I have researched the following lists, which may be of interest. The following measures to help young people have already been implemented by the government: A £2.5billion pupil premium to help the most vulnerable students Ending the detention of children in immigration centres Extension of 15 hours free education to all disadvantaged two year olds in addition to every three and four year old. £800 million investment in short break provision for disabled children and their families Maintaining the commitment to end child poverty by 2020. Extending flexible ...
Last night, my friend Conor and his flatmate invited Michael and me to their New Year's Eve party, in their flat in the Titanic Quarter. There were probably about ten people there, and we spent the evening playing with the Xbox, listening to music, and generally being social. There was also some alcohol consumption, but ...
New Year's Special Okay, so it is only the third of this series, but for New Year I had already planned for a special looking back at the eight most read posts onGyronny Herald. So here goes... In reverse order, № 8 - Duncan – a brother in torment The update is that he is back at ...
It's that time of year to see just what you have been reading on my blog in 2010. Normally this would be an easy task. Not this year, as well as blogging here, I was also blogging at the old address as well as the potential shift to WordPress which although didn't happen did get some hits. To make things worse in July I changed the template on the old site and forgot to reattach google analytics. So I have almost a month of missing data. However, I've spent so much of my life working with numbers, so I can ...
It is now the year of our Lord two thousand and eleven, and it is time for some stats from this blog. Monthly viewing figures Jan 2010 - 501 Feb 2010 - 136 Mar 2010 - 125 Apr 2010 - 116 May 2010 - 101 Jun 2010 - 73 Jul 2010 - 301 Aug 2010 ...
When historians looking back on Gordon Brown's career are searching for an epitah, they may well settle on the former Chancellor's claim to have "abolished boom and bust". Questionable at the time it was uttered, the crash of 2008 rendered it a nonsense, but there are lessons to be learned for the coalition as they try to unravel the mess left by the Labour Government. The comment mentioned above is an example of a Chancellor falling victim to hubris, and the Coalition must be careful to not to be afflicted by the same condition. Inflation and how best to prevent ...
And so the Presidency has been handed over, and my term as First Husband/Presidential Consort is over. Hasn't it been an adventure? We have travelled thousands of miles, by train, car and aeroplane, eaten precisely no rubber chicken, made a bunch of new friends and discovered corners of the country that had hitherto been merely places on a map - a number of which we quite fancy returning to. But this is far from the end for the Ros and Mark show. At midnight, we took up our new roles as members of the ELDR Council, and resumed past roles ...
I started this project on 1 July last year, and expect that I will see it through to the end on 30 June, but thought I'd just put down some notes at the halfway point as to how I have been doing this. I do the research for each day's anniversaries on the Tardis Index File (Doctor Who wiki), but rather than just use the individual pages for each date (such as the one for today) I use the list of pages linking to that date (again, such as the one for today) and follow through each link to see ...
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I know this is locking the stable door after the horse has bolted, but we ordered a snow shovel from Amazon, mainly because there was no way on earth we could get out of our street to buy one, at the beginning of December. We were assured that the seller, Real DIY, had dispatched it and it would no doubt get here some time. I first contacted Real DIY through Amazon on 20th December to tell them that it hadn't arrived. They didn't bother to reply. We're now at a stage where every single thing, including things ordered from other ...
Largely because I write posts for other sites, especially Liberal Democrat Voice, the most read posts on this site in the last year do not match up that closely with my own ten favourite posts from the last year. So here's my own top ten: If you want to understand modern government, understand the Office of the Public Guardian - or why having targets for sorting paperwork quickly isn't nearly enoughWhat Disraeli really meant when he said "England does not love coalitions" - more a case of self-interest than of constitutional wisdomYour handy guide to how to be a journalist ...
No new year's resolutions, but I'd like to persuade the Government to (1) activate S 9(5) of the Equality Act 2010, effectively making caste a protected characteristic along with gender, race, sexual orientation etc (2) review the countries listed as 'safe' in S 94(4) of the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act, particularly those deemed safe for men but not for women, with a view to restoring the right of appeal against refusal of an asylum application based on sexual orientation (3) preserve the requirement that local authorities should grant planning permission for Gypsy sites in accordance with the Gypsy and ...
Happy New Year everyone. With the rugby world cup taking place in New Zealand this year, thought I would post this photo that I took over there last Christmas. It might just look like a field, but if you've got very good eyesight then you will see from the sign that it is the site of the very first rugby game ever played in New Zealand. Back in 1870, Nelson College and Nelson Football Club played a game of rugby on this spot in Nelson. The game in New Zealand has come a long way in terms of popularity since ...
Happy New Year from your local Focus Team.
I have accepted the fact that I'm not going to get back to sleep this morning, so have come downstairs and made the first of many cups of Earl Grey I shall drink in 2011. That's a prediction that's bound to come true. I couldn't believe that I was awake at 8:17 when I didn't get to sleep till 4. It doesn't seem fair somehow. Mind you, I'm not going to complain too much because the Sinusitis I had yesterday responded to the drugs and seems to have shuffled off with its tail between its legs and because last night ...
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. You can read Part I of our round-up here. 6. Will any of the party's senior figures - within or without the Lib Dem shadow cabinet - take an official position offered by whoever forms the next government? When I posed this question I rather had in mind Gordon Brown's GOAT appointments — such as Lib Dem MP-turned-peer Lord (Matthew) Taylor's housing review, or Baroness (Shirley) Williams' advice on nuclear proliferation. What I ...
Until very very recently, I would have expected the competition for the worst comment piece published by the Guardian in 2010 to have been easily been won by one of the innumerable post-May 'How dare the Liberal Democrats decide not to agree with me on everything' articles. But then, out of left field on the ...
Still finding some things frustrating. It's annoying that you really have to plug it in to the computer to do anything substantial managementwise, and having to "root" it to gain permission to get rid of pre-installed apps is bloody frustrating, irritating and pointless - and I still haven't worked up the courage to do it. Battery life is still awful, even after calibration, although extended ones are available... But they make the phone bigger :( HOWEVER, it has quickly become indispensible; part of the reason why battery life is such a problem is because I am on it constantly. A ...
Disconcerted Discursives: The Footsteps of Feminism in 2011 Kelly has her RSS feed set to url only, so I don't often click through to read what she says, but when I do and find something like this, I'm glad I did. (tags: feminism libdemmery unitednations vso)
Here's your starter for ten in our Saturday slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate... Directly-elected Mayors were introduced by Labour to a very mixed reception. Now the idea is back again with the Government pushing for more, arguing that direct accountability of an individual makes for better decision-making and more meaningful democracy. Agree? Disagree? Post your comments below...
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.34 "We will increase the funding of the most disadvantaged pupils, around one million children. We will invest £2.5bn in this 'Pupil Premium' to boost education opportunities for every child." The government has delivered on the key Liberal Democrat pledge of a £2.5bn pupil premium to bring extra funding to the most vulnerable students. Each child on Free School Meals in Haringey will start ...
Everyone has his own New Year traditions. Many countries have their own too. This evening whilst at a party in the flat of Conor, one of Andrew's friends in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast, we heard the ship's whistles of the ships in the Port of Belfast being blown for New Year. Normally, in the ...
Well what a year! A white-knuckle election; a new coalition government; Liberals in power for the first time in 70 years. I've recorded a short message reflecting on the events of 2010 and looking forward to what Liberal Democrats will deliver in Government in 2011. Click on the image below to watch it. Some people will continue to predict the worst for our Party - the same people who have been underestimating the Liberal Democrats for as long as we have existed. But we prove them wrong at every single turn. The next twelve months will be no different, because ...
It is a new year and I suppose there will be many resolutions made about losing weight, getting fitter or earning more money. I don't suppose there will be many resolutions about putting litter in bins but there is an article in this week's local paper about fines for dropping cigarette butts. I am not exactly sure how much it costs to drop a cigarette butt as the newspaper also reports that litter was dropped as well and the three people that are mentioned also incur costs and a victim surcharge whatever that is. It sounds like you have to ...
The Joy of Six | Tor.com | Science fiction and fantasy | Blog posts Tor's take on the Sixth Doctor (tags: doctorwho) tansyrr.com» Blog Archive » A Modern Woman's Guide to Classic Who: THE SIXTH DOCTOR YEARS: 1984-86 Tansy on Six. (tags: doctorwho)
Have a brilliant 2011.
Liberal Democrat Blogger of Last Year, Millennium Dome Elephant, is ten* years old today! So I bring very special wishes to him from top Lib Dem Peer Shirley Williams. It's an appropriate honour, because I'm very proud of him - and, of course, of my beloved Richard Flowers, top TV pundit, who helps Millennium with the typing. So here is a Lord... Hang on! She's just opened her mouth to offer a special birthday greeting, and it doesn't sound like Shirley at all. What? It sounds like a man. What? In fact, it sounds rather like Millennium. WHAT?! [IMG: Posted ...
New Year's Day: Today is my BIRTHDAY and... HOLY FLUFF! Daddy Richard's on the telly box! Run VT! Well, at least he didn't accidentally go to war with any media barons or make up coalition policy on the spot! Happy Birthday Me! .
Yes, yes, happy new year, hope you all prosper and all that stuff. However, let us not forget the unpleasant things about this time of year. Things such as: Adverts on at 10pm for furniture sales that closed at 4pmHas-beens and minor celebrities on various programs, seemingly timed to air simultaneously so they can saturate the air waves with inane comments and games based around the events of the yearPeople spamming facebook with New Year's salutationsNews reporters standing in the cold for hours and hours, telling us how exciting everything is while absolutely nothing happens in the backgroundThe overuse of ...
