Continuing with my Dancing on Ice commentary, tonight saw qualifier number two. But first of all, as I did last week, we start with a vintage performance by Torvill and Dean. This time it's the 1982 British Skating Championships and one of my favourite routines of theirs - Barnum. This is what I'm talking about... The 2011 In-Take This year has seen the 16 contestants split into 2 qualifying programmes of 8 each with only 6 from each qualifying for the competition proper. This week was the second qualifying programme. Former Neighbours soap star Craig McLachlan gave us a showman's ...
I must have been looking the other way. An article in today's Observer (which appears online under a different title here) mentions that back in December the Government withdrew the so-called Two-tier code for public service employment (as notified here). The code is designed to stop the emergence of a two-tier workforce. It regulates the ...
Diana Diana kick your feet up Lust bears his teeth and whines For he's picked up the scent of virtue And he knows the panic signsIt is back to Rob Young's Electric Eden for inspiration, but we are a long way from "All Around My Hat". Here Diana is the quarry not the huntress and is pursued through Comus were a band based at Ravensbourne College of Art and then in Beckenham and were championed by the young David Bowie. They were very much a band of the early 1970s. The recording of their first LP was hit by strikes ...
Ed Miliband has criticised unions for threatening to strike on the day of the Royal Wedding. My question for Ed, since he's trying to woo Lib Dems (and if there is any leader who is as ill suited to wooing as Ed Miliband, I've yet to see them), perhaps he could tell us when he will break Labour Party links with those Unions, should they go ahead. Will he ask his MPs to leave the ASLEF group of MPs, should ASLEF go ahead with their strike, and will he fore go any money these unions would wish to throw the ...
All, We've just started delivering a special edition of the Liberal Democrat Focus newsletter. Unlike our normal publication it's a newspaper format, and contains more news about what's going on in the District, and what the Lib Dems would do differently on the District Council. You can download a copy here. As always, let me know what you think. Regards, Philip
This is the text of an MSDC press release fronm 12th Jan. "The Better Mid Sussex (BMS) Advisory Group met on Thursday 6 January 2011 to discuss plans for town centre improvements in East Grinstead. As part of the town centre improvements, Mid Sussex District Council is eager to see community benefits being delivered alongside any town centre development and these benefits formed an important topic of discussion at the BMS Advisory Group meeting. Developers have shown interest in the Queens Walk area of the town and as a key landowner in that part of East Grinstead, Mid Sussex District ...
A new leaflet is currently in the process of being delivered across the ward. If you'd like to read the leaflet on-line it's available via the Election Leaflets Website (click here). Of course delivery is a lot easier the more people do it. If you'd like to get involved and help the local team please get in touch. Alternatively if you'd like to come and talk to us face to face our next King's Hedges surgery (at the Arbury Community Centre) will be on Saturday 12th February from 10 to 12.
My column from Friday's Liberal Democrat News. Same old, same old England didn't just retain the Ashes in Australia with three innings victories: they retained the Ashes with three innings victories, every one of which was clinched during the shipping forecast. You could hear those vital overs described in plenty of other places, but there was still something wonderfully old-fashioned about the way the Radio 4 announcer's voice broke in with "And now the Shipping Forecast, issued by the Met Office on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency..." and the latest news from South Utsire. Another Radio 4 institution ...
Well, I finally saw this film that I've been eagerly anticipating to watch since I read about it as blogged here. The reviews from the those who had seen it have all been fantastic so I knew I was letting myself in for a real treat. So much so, that I couldn't resist buying 'The King's Speech' book when I happened to fall upon it in Aberystwyth's Waterstones last Thursday. It was written by Lionel Logue's grandson and gave an account of his life, including of course his time as Bertie's speech therapist. It was full of original source material ...
Wallington South Safer Neighbourhood Team Ward Panel Meeting This was the postponed meeting rearranged from December. As the ward councillor representative I provided the regular update on matters of interest in the area. I spoke of the planning application for Wallington Square, progress on the Wallington Integrated Transport Package, explained that we had now exhausted ...
After the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election, where we grew our vote share and didn't collapse as a party, the Liberal Democrats have proved that they will not fade away and the front page of the Spectator, depicting a dying yellow bird, is a bit premature. But unless we begin to build a distinct identity with the public again we will lose seats and influence nationally even if we get the same share of the vote. First of all, let me say that I would rather remove myself from politics than sanction a merger or permanent coalition with the Tories ...
As I'm sure you are aware if you have been travelling around the County lately another hard winter has passed and the effect on some parts of the road network have been to cause serious damage. The pictures on the right and below show the effects the winter, not to mention tens of thousands of motor vehicles, have had on the old brick speed humps on Campkin Road (just outside Arbury Community Centre). The County Councils highways team have already been active in the area and most of this damage has already been repaired but, as this report shows (courtesy ...
Sun 16th
20:01
speaking for a minority of Tory Councillors Terry Jones accuses the majority of disunity....
Yet more claims that Southport Tories are united came from the beleaguered Chairman of Southport Tories Cllr Terry Jones. They have little credibility as there are now more 'unofficial ' Conservative Councillors in the town than official ones! Lady Lesley Watson, wife of Sir Ron(former Leader, LGA bigwig and by some margin the most impressive of Tory councillors) spoke out on behalf of her husband.She said: "To suggest the actions of Cllr Jones and a few others are for the good of the residents of Southport is a travesty of the truth. They are inflicting huge damage on the party". ...
Yesterday I chaired another meeting of the Roman Way Forum. As usualthere was a good turnout with a lively debate on a number of local issues and I am grateful to the local police and Testway Housing who sent representatives to answer residents questions. The main topic of debate was as on previous occasions the appaling state of local roads. Residents raised a number of recurring issues including potholes (many of them dangerous) on Smannell Road, King Arthur's Way and various parts of Roman Way uneven paving stones and unsafe footpaths overgrown trees insufficient grit bins and inadequate snow and ...
This afternoon, I helped the Angus LibDems' campaign in the Carnoustie and District by-election and their excellent candidate Charles Goodall. Pictured (right) are Charles and myself in Carnoustie earlier today.
Many vulnerable people in the country fall prey to the postal lottery scams that regularly come through the letterbox from Australia, USA, Holland, Hong Kong and sometimes from the UK. These usually promiss fantastic prizes which seem to be guaranteed and ask for money to be sent. They are scams and next month is Scam Awareness Month. See link for more details. I am helping Hampshire Trading Standards on this campaign because of my help to some older people I know in the county who have fallen prey to the scams. Mail posted from within the UK can be ...
I always thought the best way to discourage people from dropping litter was to supply bins for them to put it in. Not according to Test Valley Borough Council. They have recently refused a request for an additional bin outside King Arthur's Hall. I raised this at last week's council meeting when I asked the following question of the cabinet member responsible for environment. The Council's corporate plan includes six SCHEME priorities including -Protecting and enhancing the environment with "targeted improvements to create cleaner safer neighbourhoods, promoting pride in the local environment" and - Maximising capacity and impact by "increasing ...
The Two Tunnels route is in the local paper again this week, this time because the chair Frank Tompson has been given an award in recognition of his voluntary work for Sustrans. Frank has done an amazing job from the very start of the project until now and fully deserves his recognition. More information by clicking on the following Chronicle link:- Keep updated on the progress that Two Tunnels are making by following their blog:- http://two-tunnels-bath.blogspot.com/
Here's a YouTube video of Bobby Kennedy's grandson. He is Joseph P Kennedy III, aged 30, who is an Assistant District Attorney for the Capes and Islands in Massachusetts. He made this speech in the Massachusetts Capitol to mark the anniversary of the "City upon the Hill" speech by J.F.Kennedy.
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 204th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (9th-15th January, 2011), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. Daring to whisper ...
There's been a lot ofwailing and gnashing of teeth from the Reading Labour Party about some of the budget papers. A lot of noise and precious little about what they'd do about it. The best we've seen so far is Jo Lovelock doing her Mrs. Lovejoy impersonation screaming: "Why won't somebody please think of the children?" Perhaps it would have been better if she'd asked her husband to do that over the toast and marmalade whilst he was running Reading's Children's Services into the ground. The truth is that New Labour and their apologists are in denial about the serious ...
All, Just a quick reminder that Shipston Community Arts are having their next meeting this Friday, 21st January, at 6:30pm at The George in Shipston. You can find details of how to get there here. The group is looking to develop community Arts in Shipston on Stour and the surrounding area – and hopefully to create a Community Arts Centre in the future. The group has the support of Warwickshire County Council. I've chaired the past couple of meetings to help get things started, but we have found a new Chairman for the steering group in Tim Porter. Many of ...
Took Nigel Slater's advice and cooked a slow roasted lamb for dinner, having first smeared it in a paste of garlic, cumin and thyme. It was delicious. I almost fell off my chair in shock when young F, usually very sceptical of any new taste especially if it is a sauce, was moved to declare that he liked the gravy. Sadly I did not have chickpeas in stock for Nigel Slater's recommended accompaniment, but boiled potatoes, steamed carrots and peas with a dash of mint seemed to do the trick. Slow roasting is such a great way of cooking meat. ...
The description of this blog warns that bad science jokes may appear at any time. I now intend to make good on that threat. Readers of a non-mathematical disposition may find the following content disturbing. The origin of this limerick is unknown. It can be found on various websites, and was also included as an aside in the Analysis III course lectured by Dr Anthony Manning at the University of Warwick in 2010. In words: The integral t squared dt From one to the cube root of three Times the cosine of three pi over nine Equals log of the ...
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Over 660 party members have responded, and we're currently publishing the full results. To read Part 1 — What Lib Dem members think about the party and its leadership — click here. What Lib Dem members think about the Coalition and its future LDV asked: Do you approve or disapprove of the Coalition Government's record to date? (Comparison with November's figures.) 60% (67%) - Approve 28% (23%) - Disapprove 11% (10%) - ...
[IMG: Building works on Great Pulteney Street] As an architecture student two of my main interests were environmental sustainability and architectural history. However, the needs to conserve both energy and historic buildings are often in conflict. This is frequently demonstrated by the single-glazed window, which has been at the centre of a regulatory struggle between English Herritage and Building Control for decades. The Bath Preservation Trust and the Centre for Sustainable Energy have collaborated to produce a survey about this balance. The value judgements are very difficult, but please do spend five minutes completing it. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2KK6NMF
Just a quick link to my article in the latest issue of Liberator magazine – find it at http://www.liberator.org.uk/article.asp?id=210704161. Buy the magazine! socialise this: [IMG: add 'Buy Liberator and read it!' a Del.icio.us] [IMG: add 'Buy Liberator and read it!' a digg] [IMG: add 'Buy Liberator and read it!' a Stumble Upon] [IMG: add 'Buy Liberator and read it!' a FaceBook] [IMG: add 'Buy Liberator and read it!' a Twitter]
Last night I watched invictus- the film about Nelson Mandela and the rugby world cup in South Africa. It's a good film to put things in perspective. At times politics in the UK can seem difficult and conflictual, but the situation is nothing compared to the problems faced in South Africa working to end apartheid. A theme that came out prominently in the film is the desire to move past history and to reconcile; to act in the interests of the future of the country, not based on hurt from the past. Probably something we would all do well to ...
In December the Lib Dem group submitted a whole raft of questions on the proposed budget from April 2011. One of these was about the future of the library service. We asked: Will all libraries be divested? What will happen to the mobile library service? How will the current integrated service be protected? Answer: In line with the New Strategic Direction, we do not expect that the council will be a direct provider of library services in the future. The council's Chief Executive has confirmed in a newsletter to council employees that some libraries will close. We suspect that the ...
Back in 2000, Susan Kramer was the first (and in many ways most successful) Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of London. Here is her party political broadcast from that campaign, featuring several familiar faces including a young Mike Tuffrey and also Susan's husband, John, who died tragically early in 2006: Also available on YouTube here, and for a young Lembit Opik see here. Thanks to Pete Dollimore and Rob Fenwick for their help in rescuing this footage from an old video tape.
Suffolk County Council's ruling Conservatives have shown where their priorities lie. They are cutting subsidised bus services, closing Bury Road Park and Ride and ending the eXplore card, which entitles young people to a half fare on buses in the County. At the same time they are keeping the road maintenance budget intact. Surely some savings can be made from this service? Of course potholes must be filled, but with deep cuts to other frontline services, why are roads sacrosanct?
You may recognise this as the 'Queasy Mongoose' in Meerkovo, the latest addition to the wonderful world of comparethemeerkat.com. However, for those of us who live in Suffolk, it's probably better known as 'The Bell' in Kersey, where the advert was filmed. Kersey is probably best known in these parts for its 'splash', where a tributary of the River Brett runs across the main street, and it is a remarkable chocolate box confection of a village. And now that Ros and I have a little time to ourselves, Ros has taken to showing me bits of the county that I ...
Lib Dem local government leaders have called for regime change at the Department of Communities and Local government (DCLG). It is hardly a secret that relations between the department and local government are at an all-time low. This might be dismissed as simply councillors defending producer interests, but none of the Lib Dems quoted, Chris White, Gerald Vernon-Jackson and Richard Kemp are ones to romanticise local councils or deny their shortcomings. They just have a basic belief, which the government is supposed to share, that democratic local government has a part to play in representing and delivering services to people. ...
I'm totally delighted with Big Finish's rediscovery of Jago and Litefoot, two incidental characters from the 1977 story The Talons of Weng-Chiang. Jago is a down-at-heel theatre manager, Litefoot a police pathologist, and together they fight strange occurrences in late Victorian London. Big Finish brought the original actors (Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter) back together for a one-off story in 2008; it was so successful that they commissioned a series of four plays released last year (download or CD) and another has just come out. The plays are almost entirely without reference to Doctor Who continuity, so can be enjoyed ...
If you're a cricket fan, you can waste hours on the stats section of Cricinfo, finding out increasingly obscure, but interesting, information. Today, after looking to see where Shane Watson's 161 came in the all-time list – 28th – I took a look at the progression of the highest individual score in one-day cricket. If you want to see how the one-day game has evolved over the years, it shows some interesting data. Back in 1972, Dennis Amiss scored the first century in an ODI – 103 for England against Australia in the second-ever ODI. Nearly thirty-eight years and three ...
I took myself off yesterday to the M Museum in Leuven, hoping to catch the Anjou Bible exhibition (though as it turned out I was a month too late). I did browse in the permanent exhibition, and my eye was very much caught by the wonderfully colourful and heartfelt late nineteenth century rural scenes of Frans Van Leemputten: The Distribution of Bread in the Village Candle Procession at Scherpenheuvel (Triptych) (Both sourced from Wikipedia) But that wasn't the main attraction for me: I was much more interested in the Mayombé: Masters of Magic exhibition, of ritual artefacts from an area ...
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Over 660 party members have responded, and we're currently publishing the full results. What Lib Dem members think about the party and its leadership LDV asked: Do you think, as a whole, the Liberal Democrats are on the right course or on the wrong track? (Comparison with November's figures.) 61% (65%) - The right course 25% (23%) - The wrong track 14% (11%) - Don't know / No opinion Net right course: ...
Yesterday I did two interviews for BBC TV on housing - I know that this was picked up by several BBC radio stations as well because of the tweets that I have had. I have been a councillor connected with ... Continue reading →
A sow yesterday As the prospect of an elected mayor is already causing discord within the Leicester Labour Party, there is a strong case for returning to the traditional way of deciding who should fill the post. In their The Lore of the Land, Westwood and Simpson write: An odd story formerly current was that the mayor of Leicester was chosen by a sow. According to an article in the St James's Magazine in 1762, aspiring candidates would each sit with a hat full of beans in his lap and the new mayor would be the one from whose hat ...
It will feel strange not heading up to Oldham this week. How I will miss the steep hills, murky weather and extremely irritated constituents who were receiving at least three telephone canvassers, four door canvassers and an untold amount of literature a day. Of course, By-elections are treated as a barometer of public political feeling and as a result immense money, time and effort gets ploughed in by all parties. After reading the newspapers, watching Newsnight, listening to the radio and following national YouGov polls, you could be forgiven for thinking that the result was going to be a foregone ...
This time lots of pot holes have been reported in Wansdyke Road opposite the Green
My stock answer when someone asks me why politicians are 'always squabbling' is that we are not and the reason why you think we are is that the media reports politics through the prism of conflict so all councillors agree to do x is not normally a front page story. In fact the majority of Council issues are dealt with through cross party consensus and most of the work is unspectacular and yes, at times, boring (unless your a bit of a geek like me then even some of that stuff is quite interesting!) I thought of this again on ...
Alert readers may have noticed my use of the word 'progressive' in inverted commas in the last post. The usefulness of this term for Liberal Democrats seems to be the source of some debate, most recently in Lib Dem Voice, and which I have previously addressed here. One can make a case for the use of the term 'Progressive'. It does have some historical validity, it is a suitable description for graduated taxation, and is a useful catch-all term for all those, of differing political traditions, whose goals are to improve the position of the less well off and less ...
...Presumably they only read the headlines of posts before they stick on their site, and are unfamiliar with the exact meaning of the term "Painting oneself into a corner". Here is my post "The Corner and Sarah Palin – Keep painting lady!" on the US website "The Daily Conservative" and here it is in its original form.
Ed Milliband has stated he would condem any Union striking on the day of the Royal Wedding. Milliband is in a very powerful position. He has managed to control his own election through Union sycophancy, putting him in charge of the new face of Labour. To the common observer, it would seem foolish, therefore, for the wannabe Prime Minister to criticise the actions and public relations of Unite and
On Friday we held the funeral for my Nan. It was a simple, mostly christian, ceremony held at Luton's crematorium. It was a lovely service, very fitting for the woman she was, and along with the tears there were many smiles as we celebrated the life of a lovely woman. My sister and my father both spoke. My sister read a poem, 'The Rose Still Grows Beyond The Wall' by A L Frink, which appears to be a popular poem to be read at funerals. My father talked a little of his memories of my Nan and of things she'd ...
Vince Cable has an essay in this week's New Statesman arguing that modern Keynesian economists are wrong to cite Keynes to justify opposition to the government's public spending reductions. The whole article doesn't appear to be available to non-subscribers but there is a summary here. The essay is a riposte to an article by Keynes's biographer Robert Skidelsky in October. Vince Cable comments: ... we should be sceptical about Keynsian economists, however distinguished, who conspicuously failed to anticipate the financial critis and now blithely ignore its consequences. Skidelsky's essay does not even make passing reference to the banking crisis, like ...
Further to the article in today's Scotland on Sunday about teacher absences from work due to stress during 2009/10, I have written to Dundee City Council's Director of Education asking what steps he will take to help reduce the high (4%) teacher absence level in the city caused by stress, what procedures are in place to help teachers in stressful situations and the support the council makes available. The Dundee figures are : Number of teachers absent with stress : 60 Number of teachers employed by local authority : 1,509 % absent : 4.0% The 4% absence rate of teachers ...
One of next weeks spectator sports looks like it will be Tony Blair's reappearance in front of the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war. It is far more serious than this of course. Thousands of lives have been lost in that conflict and it is important that we get to the root of why our Government took the decisions it did in entering this illegal war. The Independent on Sunday says that the former Prime Minister will face allegations that he "misled" members of the Iraq inquiry: Members of the five-strong Chilcot inquiry have grave doubts over the truthfulness of ...
This morning's Sunday Telegraph says that Nick Clegg is insistent that the "Liberal Democrats will win Oldham East and Saddleworth back at the next election", Except that the Liberal Democrat Leader did not say that at all as the party didn't hold the seat in the first place. This sort of misinformation is part of a general attempt to undermine the very good result achieved by the Liberal Democrats in the by-election. The other misconception comes from the assertion by the new Labour MP that the voters in her constituency had sent a message to the coalition government. Given that ...
If you are generally a supporter of the government, read Version A. If not, read Version B. Version A In excellent news that the government is taking cracking down on tax seriously, the government has appointed a heavy-weight team of tax experts to review the case for introducing a General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR). The selection of legal, judicial and tax experts means the case for a GAAR will receive expert scrutiny and make it very hard for the government to reject any recommendations for action. Version B In appalling news that shows how the government has sold out to rich ...
Given that Sion Simon's ridiculous 'review' was the only negative thing VN had heard about the 'The King's Speech', we went to see this film with a large sense of optimism. We were not disappointed. Even the most ardent republican could not fail to be moved by the struggles of a war time King determined to speak to, and serve, his people. So first let's deal with the things you probably know already. Colin Firth as George VI is simply brilliant, and does indeed deserve an Oscar. Geoffrey Rush's performance as his eccentric speech therapist is of a similarly high ...
Last week I received a leaflet about the switch off of analogue TV, and the switch to digital TV only. In Cambridge it looks like the switch starts on 30 March when the Sandy Heath transmitter will turn off analogue BBC2, and complete on 13 April when the other channels will go. Digital terrestrial viewers will need to retune after both days. There is a lot more information on the switchover website. If you have problems do get in touch and we will do what we can to help out, but I must confess I am not an expert on ...
The Danish Social Liberal Party is a centrist party with an ideology of Liberalism. In the 2005 elections the party received 9.2% of the vote and gained 8 more Parliamentary seats totalling 17. However in the 2007 elections the party only gained 5.1% of the vote and lost 8 seats. A major reason for this ...
I went to visit a new 'PassivHaus' in Hornsey. It is a terraced house belonging to Metropolitan Housing Association in a conservation area which has been retro-fitted to meet the Passivhaus standards From the PassivHaus website the following is a description of a dwelling that achieves the PassivHaus standard and typically includes: - very good levels of insulation with minimal thermal bridges well thought out utilisation of solar and internal gains - excellent level of airtightness - good indoor air quality, provided by a whole house mechanical ventilation system with highly efficient heat recovery By specifying these features the design ...
I joined Sue on her campaign to become the next County Councillor for the Marl Ward yesterday. The weather was absolutely atrocious and we all got soaked, that said eight volunteers braved the severe conditions and residents appreciated the commitment from Sue's team. Sue really is getting a positive response on the doorstep and when asked by residents, I was able to endorse her. I believe if elected Sue and I will be very effective for the residents of Marl and Sue really does look at the bigger picture, for example, she wants to scrutinise the Winter Gritting programme for ...
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Over 660 party members have responded, and we're currently publishing the full results. LDV asked: Some people believe that the gap between the earnings of the richest and the poorest in Britain is now unacceptably large and unfair. Other people think this the natural and acceptable result of a free economy, and that very successful people should be allowed to get rich. Which of the following best reflects your view? Here's what ...
The link is to a story in today's Sunday Telegraph.In recent months, I have reported on many disturbing examples of how our system of "family protection" has gone horribly off the rails, but none is more bizarre than this week's. As usual, I am legally barred from identifying the mother at the centre of this case or giving many other details, but she is in her mid-thirties, has various academic
So yesterday was a great day. Completely mad but busy. I had three conversations with different mums about how weekends weren't ours anymore but would we change it? Not a bit of it. First up a round of hair - helped by Vicky - Daisy's to straighten creating the full on rock chick look, and Ellie's for ballet. Phone call to confirm Joseph can start footie this term, rugby in a couple of months, and checking this week's swimming ducklings classes for Charlie. Joseph appeared fully clothed - as Batman or rather BatJo. Evident it was his wish to be ...
Liberal Bureaucracy: Ed Milliband wants me to show courage. The courage of a lemming, admittedly... The honourable Lady Mark does a masterful fisking of Ed Millibland (tags: libdemmery funny)
I've just read Millennium Dome's fantastic piece A Culture of Violence, reflecting on the tendencies in politics and culture which may have contributed to the recent shooting of a Democrat Congresswoman in Arizona. It's well worth a read, but I'm going to pick up on just one point: the significance of the "Unite Against Fascism" movement. This is a group that was created, essentially by the unions, to campaign against fascism. In particular, it opposes the BNP and EDL. Many student unions are closely involved with it. I can recall many candidates for various offices at Warwick SU who have ...
From the Local Government Chronicle: Furious senior Liberal Democrat councillors have labelled communities secretary Eric Pickles "incompetent", called for the abolition of his department, and urged the sector to take its concerns about his recent conduct to the top of government... The comments were matched by their Labour counterparts with Salford City Council leader, John Merry (Lab), calling on Mr Pickles to relinquish his post... Conservative councillors at the executive meeting were less vociferous but not one defended ministers during an hour-long discussion on the local government finance settlement, while LGA chairman, Dame Margaret Eaton (Con) said she was "saddened" ...
Sun 16th
08:47
Whoniversaries 16 January: Peter Butterworth, Romans #1, Terror of Autons #3, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
i) births and deaths 16 January 1979: death of Peter Butterworth, who played the Meddling Monk in The Time Meddler (1965) and The Daleks' Master Plan (1966). ii) broadcast anniversaries 16 January 1965: broadcast of "The Slave Traders", the first episode of the story we now call The Romans. The Tardis crew are relaxing in a Roman villa. The Doctor and Vicki decide to walk to Rome, and the Doctor takes on the identity of a murdered musician. Barbara and Ian are captured by slavers. 16 January 1971: broadcast of third episode of Terror of the Autons. Plastic daffodils are ...
It was fascinating listening to "Any Questions" on Radio 4 yesterday. Sarah Teather was batting for the Lib Dems and the mellifluously toned Emily Thornberry was doing likewise for Labour. During the course of the programme, Thornberry repeatedly tried to turn every question into one about the "harsh cuts" being imposed by the government. At no point of course did she make any attempt to highlight what she and Labour would have cut instead as indeed they would have had to have done. In the end Teather called her on this pointing out that Labour continually attack every single cut ...
Just to let those of you in Colchester know, the next meeting of the Castle Neighbourhood Action Panel will be on Tuesday 25th January, starting at 2pm in the Town Hall. Any residents can come along and raise issues that they want the NAP to deal with, or if you can't make it to the meeting, then please leave a comment or email me with your problem and I'll raise it for you. For more information see the Colchester Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership website.
And who can tell me which TV series that was the original title for? Tunisia: Lessons of Authoritarian Collapse – Interesting article at the Carnegie Endowment website on historical precedents for the sudden ending of authoritarian governments Tunisia' Jasmine Revolution – More information on the events, and some regional context, from Mona Eltahawy at the Washington Post Looking under the street lamp again – As well as writing good books, Charles Stross somehow finds the time to write interesting and thought-provoking blog posts too. This one is about how we identify the causes of a failure and go about preventing ...
An earlier post expressed my frustration at the difficulty in getting any response to letters asking to see the Government's letter setting out the Academy funding. Today I got a response, though it did little to lessen my frustration. It was from the Department for Education in response to my request to Lord Jonathan Hill for a copy of his letter. The response read as follows: Thank you for your letter of 24th December 2010 to Lord Hill about the capital allocation for setting up an Academy in Consett. The capital letter was sent to the sponsor, Durham University on ...
In the wake of the by-election in Oldham East and Saddleworth, Ed Miliband has called for disaffected Liberal Democrats to work with Labour against the planned cuts agenda. He has refused to gloat at the decline of the Liberal Democrats but I am afraid that I have to inform him that the percentage vote for the Liberal Democrats went up. It seems that it was a "tragic mistake" for the Liberal Democrats to enter into a coalition with the Tories, but far from being a mistake, I saw no option but to form a coalition with the Tories. A recent ...
