Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of Broxtowe Borough Council. A special welcome to the new readers that we have this week. I mentioned just before Christmas that I was hoping we would hit a new target for readers by the end of the year. We didn't quite do it, but with our first subscriber of the new year we got there. We already have a new target to work towards for new readers, which is to have a further 1000 new readers by Easter. We'll see how ...
Today with my partner Helen and my friends Spidey and Sophie I went to say goodbye to HMS Ark Royal. Not much to say right now (too tired, but here are the photos)
Thanet council is hardly renown for its strategic thinking and planning has often been in the frame for its ability to cock up. It seems that planning bods can never do enough for developers and the recent decision to allow a development of 3 storey housing in Margate which will result in the closure of the Pharmacy Gallery in the old town after millions have been spent on Art and culture. What always surprises me is how over the years Thanet planning have got away with so much, a particular costly balls up, was the one in Ramsgate in which ...
I spent a freezing cold but very enjoyable day today down in Portsmouth with @cjmillsnun, H and @_bertieee saying goodbye to HMS Ark Royal at Portsmouth today. The ship is being decommissioned in the bext few days and is open ... Continue reading →
We had a jolly good time this afternoon in the Hergé Museum in Louvain-la-Neuve. This is despite the fact that Louvain-la-Neuve is a true hell-hole of Sixties architecture, a place that only exists because of the Belgian language conflict and whose most prominent features are pot-holes and car parks. Readers acquainted with the English city of Milton Keynes should consider what it would be like with no soul and no money; that will give you something of the flavour of Louvain-la-Neuve. However, it hosts various important institutions, of which the largest is probably the Université Catholique and one of the ...
Earlier this week I reported the exciting news that there are plans to rename the town Meerkat Harborough. If you want to ensure that the honour of being twinned with Meerkovo goes nowhere else, then hurry to Aleksandr Orlov's Facebook page and post your nomination for Market Harborough on his wall. Not that I understand Facebook.
I was born in the wrong decade. My University friends always commented on it when they'd look through my CD collections. I was born in 1982 and I am very fond of the music of my 'yoof' in the early 90s. But having said that, as anyone who knows me will testify, I've got a really eclectic taste in music. From classical, to rock to Brit Pop and back again. But I've always had a particular soft spot for the 50s and 60s. It'll be my father's influence for sure. His musical taste lived through me during my formative years ...
A planning application is soon to be made to redevelop another old industrial area of Tyseley and transform it into residential housing. The area is made up of a strip of land between Knights Road and Tyseley Lane. It includes the scrapyard at the top of Knights Road, which is likely to please nearby residents, who have complained to me about the impact on the use of that site on them. Some 50 or so new homes would be built if the plans go ahead. In general I am a supporter of the conversion of this type of poor quality ...
I went down to Abbey End in Kenilworth today to support Kenilworth Youth Club members and workers in their campaign to save the Youth & Community Centre from the effects of threatened massive budget cuts by Warwickshire County Council. Lots of people were signing the county-wide petition calling on the Conservative administration to "withdraw the proposal to cease the whole of the youth service in Warwickshire." A full write-up of the event, together with photos, is on the What's In Kenilworth web site: http://www.whatsinkenilworth.com/ Sign the petition at:
I have been thinking for some time that I have reached the age when a man should own a Harris tweed jacket. So today I went to Northampton to buy myself one. It hasn't changed my character. So far, at least, I have not subscribed to the Daily Telegraph or made sarcastic comments about anyone's Latin homework. The gentleman who served me said a lot of young people are asking for tweed these days because of Matt Smith (who, incidentally, comes from Northampton). But it turns out that he has a closer connection with Doctor Who than that...
The Daily Telegraph reports: The pay packets of Britain's university heads rocketed by as much as a fifth last year, just as institutions lobbied for a huge hike in student tuition fees... More than 950 university staff, including all vice-chancellors, were paid more than the Prime Minister - an eight per cent increase on the year before. One senior administrator at Oxford was given a salary of almost £600,000, thought to be the highest-paid university post in the country... Sally Hunt, general secretary of the Universities and Colleges Union, added: "Staff and the general public are tired of the hypocrisy ...
The council have submitted their planning application for the proposed new super-school on the site of Moorside Primary's playing field. Thanks to all the people who came to the last consultation meeting - lots of issues were raised and it's clear that there continue to be some real concerns about the plans. It's equally clear that, ...
Love bites could kill. It must be true its in the Daily Mail I bet that's put a dampener on your night :-) H/T Mark Wadsworth
11) Nicholas Sagovsky, Ecumenism, Christian Origins and the Practice of Communion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, ISBN 0521772699). I read this as part of my efforts to come to a clearer sense of what I should do if the Church of England ends up out of communion with the Episcopal Church in the US (with whom my natural sympathies lie). I'm not sure it actually helped with that, but it was certainly an interesting read. Almost half the book isn't directly about the Christian understanding of the concept at all, but about its forerunners in the political thought of Plato ...
I doubt that there were many people surprised by the announcement the week before last that RBS the parent of the Nat West Bank had been fined £2.8million for its shoddy handling of complaints. I certainly didn't raise an eyebrow. ... Continue reading →
Ok, so it'll be 6 minutes of your life you won't get back, but this video of an elephant seal coming for a cuddle, available on You Tube here, is so sweet. You can't watch it and be grumpy afterwards. Thank you to Cowrin on Twitter for pointing it out.
I've barely newly satisfied my urge to make a rare appearance to the cinema to watch 'The King's Speech' and now, like a street full of buses, another film has grabbed my attention. This time, a world away from Colin Firth's Golden Globe winning performance, it's Yogi Bear in 3D that has captured my imagination! Hey there, Boo Boo!Like many of the Hanna-Barbera cartoons, there was something wonderfully avocative of childhood with Yogi Bear. Although a late 1950's / early 1960s invention, generations of children have embraced this playful character's harmless attempts to steal 'pic-a-nic' baskets from visitors to the ...
Myths Myth 1 The NHS is being cut. Fact We are increasing the NHS budget above inflation year-after-year - something which Labour opposes But this does not mean that we can continue to put up with inefficient services, because of the rising demands on the NHS due to an ageing population and better technologies. That is why we are modernising the NHS - but any savings we make will be ploughed straight back into patient care. Myth 2 The changes weren't in either of your parties' manifestos Fact They were in both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat manifestos. The Conservative ...
Bankers bonuses have provided a convenient side show for a lot of the media and trade unions, who rage against the bonus culture and believe that its this that is the root of all banking evil. Truth is, the crash didn't just come about because a lot of men (and the odd woman no doubt) got paid an excessive amount of money to take silly risks. It was far more complex than that, and had as much to do with poor regulation and systemic weaknesses than bankers greed. Its good to see that the Independent Banking Commission established by Osborne ...
City councillors have been sent details of the planned activities for this year's Dundee Women's Festival, taking place between 28th February and 13th March. There's a huge range of events, film, drama and workshops and the Festival Programme 2011 is now available from Dundee Voluntary Action at their Number Ten Reception, 10 Constitution Road. You will soon be able to download it from DVA website and there's also information on Facebook.
Earlier today, I spoke in the City Square at the Commemoration Event of the dreadul events in Gaza in 2008/9 in which, during Israeli bombing, many innocent Palestinean civilians were murdered, including 357 children. The event was organised by Tayside for Justice in Palestine and included an art installation by Dundee artist Pat Donachie that depicted deaths of the 357 children - an installation of shoes and coffins to which he has added all the names of the children who perished. As well as being a commemoration, the event also saw the launch of fundraising for a Scottish ship to ...
Surgical treatment for complex gynaecological cancers will continue to be provided at the RUH following new government guidance on "service reconfiguration" a B&NES Council panel heard yesterday. Liberal Democrat Councillors and Don Foster MP have been campaigning since 2007 against a proposal to move treatment to the United Hospital in Bristol. Service changes are now subject to a 'four tests' process, brought in by the new government, rather than the 'substantial variation' test which was previously considered and invoked by Councillors on the Council's health panel. Under the new tests it has been decided that the reconfiguration proposal should not ...
I'll be doing a proper post tonight, I hope – I apologise to my regular readers for the lack of them while the book's been being put together. The book should be out very soon now – I've heard back from David Allison, Holly and Plok will both be getting their thoughts to me sometime ...
Sat 22nd
15:54
Does money grow on trees? No, but £200,000 of Cambridge City Council money is going on trees.
[IMG: Cherry tree] Ambitious plans to spend a total of £200,000 over the next four years planting trees across Cambridge are being launched by the city council. The move supports the Liberal Democrats' manifesto pledge at the last council elections to replace every tree on council land that needed to be removed. 'Though the city will continue to change, as it always has, Liberal Democrats on the City Council are committed to nurture its timeless tradition of fine architecture, conservation and open space both in what wehave already and what is new. In pursuit of this we will ...invest in ...
Sat 22nd
15:54
Does money grow on trees? No, but £200,000 of Cambridge City Council money is going on trees.
[IMG: Cherry tree] Ambitious plans to spend a total of £200,000 over the next four years planting trees across Cambridge are being launched by the city council. The move supports the Liberal Democrats' manifesto pledge at the last council elections to replace every tree on council land that needed to be removed. 'Though the city will continue to change, as it always has, Liberal Democrats on the City Council are committed to nurture its timeless tradition of fine architecture, conservation and open space both in what wehave already and what is new. In pursuit of this we will ...invest in ...
Norfolk County Council has actually been ASKING the public about the services they value. Not so Tories in Suffolk. So in Norfolk they are saving their libraries and school crossing patrols. The philistine approach being adopted in Suffolk beggars belief. Click here for yesterday's article from the East Anglian Daily Times:
With the resignation of Alan Johnson and the promotion of Ed Balls to the shadow chancellor brief Labour now have someone with an economic background in the most important role outside of the Leader of the Opposition's office. In fact given the current economic situation it could be argued that the shadow chancellor is even more important than the LOTO right now. He is being heralded to great cheers by most within Labour and is lauded as an economic big hitter by much of the media. However there are three reasons why I think Ed Balls may not make as ...
This is an Anglia TV story about the Cootes Family that went to live next door to Sam Hallimond in Los Monterisinos.Sam and Vanessa have now got their son with him in Spain, but his previous daughter is lost to them in the English adoption system.
I was on the receiving end of a little mocking from a local journalist this week regarding the quality of headlines here. I agree, most of my headlines are a little bleh but then again I am a) not paid to do them and b) don't have the capacity to stretch an article to breaking point in an attempt to catch the eye.. Take the headline to this post. It is also a headline in Today's Telegraph with the following sub-headline The Earth could find itself with a 'second sun' for a period of weeks later this year when one ...
Former UKIP candidate and press officer asks How do you turn on a TV set? Bwa Ha! (I know that this has nothing to do with party allegiance. I know that this has everything to do with Tim spending most of his life online and not watching much TV. I know this is a very silly post. But I'm posting it anyway, because it's funny)
In recent months, LDV has been bringing its readers copies of our new MPs' and Peers' first words in Parliament, so that we can read what is being said and respond. You can find all of the speeches in this category with this link. Yesterday, Baroness Kramer made her maiden speech in the House of Lords during a debate on the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Amendment) Bill [HL] . Her words are reproduced below. Baroness Dee Doocey also made her maiden speech in the Lords yesterday; we will be featuring it tomorrow. My Lords, as I rise to make my maiden ...
The Debian project has announced that from the release of Squeeze (Debian 6.0) their GNU/Linux kernels will be available without non-free binary blobs (usually device-specific firmware).
The aftermath of Oracle's purchase of Sun and the subsequent forking of a number of open source projects, has highlighted the necessity to protect the integrity of the commons and to keep commercially sponsored open source projects honest, and true to the principles of free and open source software.
Labour's ID Card Scheme, having racked up £330 million pounds in costs was scrapped at midnight. Any existing ID cards can no longer be used for travel or for proving identity. The information held on computer as part of the scheme will be erased and the equipment shredded. This comes at a further cost of ...
The Derwent Valley Partnership (the AAP for Consett and neighbouring settlements) Forum, previously postponed because of pre-Christmas snow, took place on Thursday evening. The agenda was significantly changed because of the change of date - the budget consultation was no longer incuded as that consultation has finished - and the county council presentations were on the Customer Access Point or CAP (ex-Woolworths), "Employability and Jobs" and "Winter Maintenance" - the last of which I had to miss as time was over-running and I had another meeting to attend. In response to correspondents I can confirm that the CAP on Front ...
The UK's CPI annual inflation rate rose to 3.7% in December 2010. The RPI- which includes mortgage payments- rose to 4.8%. The Bank of England continues to hold the Bank rate at a record low of 0.5%, while issuing over £200 billion of reserves to pay for asset purchases. The banking system is being bailed out by a negative interest rate of close to 4%. Yet to pay for this the United Kingdom has created record public sector deficits. According to the ONS, at the end of November 2010 total public debt- not counting the interventions to recapitalise the banking ...
[IMG: Bath Guildhall] On Thursday the full council debated the Joint Local Transport Plan. While this is a 130 page document with nine supplementary documents still to come, all of the attention is on one thing. Even the report acknowledges that the main method for delivering the transport improvements are ten major projects across the greater Bristol region, worth £600M. The problem is that none of them have been given government funding. Only one is in BathNES - the Bath Package, of Park & Rides, bus roads and bus stop improvements. The coalition government has told B&NES to think again ...
Liberals frequently find themselves in the middle of debates. That on poverty is little different. What is poverty and how it is measured is an academic discussion, but one that has far reaching consequences for welfare policy and those impacted. The Institute for Economic Affairs, the leading free market think tank, has examined this issue through Poverty Fellow Kristian Niemietz's new monograph "A New Understanding of Poverty" . On the wings of this discussion are the two best understood concepts, absolute and relative poverty. Preference for those measures tends to ascribe to the right and left wings of politics respectively. ...
This morning's Saturday Surgery was the first at which our new "Save the Longfield Suite" petition saw the light of day, and probably as a result of that today's surgery was the most popular yet. We received over 100 signatures in the hour we were there, as well as talking to local people about lots ...
A couple of weeks ago Ivan Lewis MP wrote another letter to me in the ongoing debate about tuition fees he started by writing to me (and copying in the Bury Times) in October. You can read what I said when I got the latest letter here. I didn't reproduce it on here at the time because it ...
The Conservative-run County Council has announced that it intends to close Low Furlong in October 2013. The Council will consider its position on Monday – and the document can be found here. Liberal Democrats on the County Council have opposed simple closures and in Shipston there are particular concerns because of the dementia care services it provides and because there is not enough provision in other homes locally. The County Council has suggested that it will look at alternative provision, including working with other organisations or even private providers to create an alternative. This is all well and good, but ...
My usually Saturday post of my Photo-a-day entries for this week: Saturday Perfect Saturday night viewing Sunday Finally we get out for a lovely Sunday afternoon stroll and see the moon rise. Monday There's no way I'm posting photos of the class, or me in a tracksuit, I know some of you have delicate stomachs, but here's proof that I actually went to Zumba and did real exercise. Tuesday Look what I won in a competition! Wednesday Purple mash! Thursday I have to confess that I didn't have anything for yesterday, so I thought you might like this cute photo ...
Yesterday I got the tragic message from Jon Ball that, "Many of you know that Becky Harvey has been very ill for a number of years now. Sadly, Becky passed away this morning at home in Devon. I'm fondly remembering the time we shared and the amazing energy and sense of fun she had". Becky was one of the online pioneers in the Liberal Democrats, playing a key role in the creation of a role at party headquarters dealing with the internet – which I ended up filling – and being one of the key volunteers helping me to run ...
Two weeks earlier, Ros had been brushed off by the redoubtable Baroness Hanham, but she's plucky, and was back with a follow-up... Wednesday 22 December 2010 Access to Work Question Asked by Baroness Scott of Needham Market To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Access to Work fund can be used to assist local government councillors in the furtherance of their duty.[HL5161] The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham): Councillors of all principal local authorities are treated for Access to Work purposes as in employment, and thus provided they meet the general eligibility criteria ...
The Nine Years' War lasted from 1594 to 1603; its consequences were catastrophic for Ireland, in that the old Gaelic order was weakened to the point that its leaders chose exile in Europe rather than continue life in their devastated homeland; the political impact in England was massive as well, in that it caused the spectacular end of the Earl of Essex (whose expedition to Ireland is the only contemporary event directly mentioned in any of Shakespeare's plays). In this book, Hiram Morgan does not tell any of that story. He ends the narrative in 1596 when Hugh O'Neill, the ...
... some of them made campaign videos on good old VHS tapes and sent them to voters, as this example from then Lib Dem MP Brian Cotter shows. And yes, even then Lib Dems rolled out Vince Cable for an endorsement. Watch out too for a brief view on screen of the second ever national (federal) Liberal Democrat website. Also on YouTube here. Thanks to Pete Dollimore and Rob Fenwick for their help in rescuing this footage from an old video tape.
Link me till I... lart? Project Iceworm – There's something about the phrase "nuclear-powered research center built by the Army Corps of Engineers under the icy surface of Greenland" that makes you realise that maybe we are living in the cool parallel universe with the wacky uses of technology Voyager 1 at edge of Solar System – Fascinating account of a thirty year journey and interview with one of its creators Congratulations, Mr Karimov! – European Voice welcomes a dictator on his visit to Brussels Betelgeuse and 2012 – Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy explains why the 'my friend definitely ...
The issue of the stock transfer is a tricky one. On the one hand I can understand that a local Council and its tenants would prefer that their homes continue to be managed by elected Councillors and their officers, on the other hand the maths just do not add up. If we are to raise the quality of Council homes to a modern standard as well as tackle the many issues of dampness, poor heating and draughts that lead to poor health and high fuel bills for tenants, then we need to invest significant sums of money. Although Councils do ...
Over the years we've covered Andy Coulson many times on this blog, over both his extremely high salary when working for the Tories (much higher than salaries levels Tories were criticising others for having) and also – more importantly – the phone hacking allegations. Although yesterday he resigned, he is unlikely to depart the political stage quickly or quietly as the long queue of people at various stage of taking legal action over allegations of phone hacking mean the details of who did what and with whose knowledge will continue to be newsworthy for a good while yet. The official ...
Our voices will be heard Cath Elliot talks movingly about her grandma in preparation for women's history month (tags: history feminism)
I wasn't in to see 10 O'Clock Live on Thursday, so I'm a bit late in reacting to it, and it's probably not fair to judge it on the very first episode. But when has that ever stopped anyone? Well it certainly wasn't terrible, I guess. I should probably preface this review by saying that ...
Here's your starter for ten in our Saturday slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate... One of the achievements of the Liberal Democrats in Coalition Government so far has been to ensure that no Trident replacement is orders during this Parliament. At the next election the party will be able to say, "We said we opposed Labour and Tory plans for replacing Trident – and those plans haven't happened". But is that going far enough; should Britain retain nuclear weapons at all – and if not, when and how should it give them up? Agree? Disagree? ...
The Liberal Democrats are seeking assurances that the Conservative Administration's plans to charge families for the use of county facilities will not penalise those who cannot afford to pay. Chris White, Lib Dem Leader who asked a question at the meeting of the county council's ruling Cabinet this week, said: 'There is in principle no problem with those who can well afford to use services like children's centres paying for them, as they would a private nursery. 'But it would be outrageous if, for instance, those on low wages or on benefit were asked to pay charges. We will monitor ...
I have been contacted by many Hull people with regards to Hugh's fish fight. Now before I go any further let me state from the outset that I find most celebrity chefs self opinionated bores (no jokes in the comments page please) and I never watch their programmes, as a result I have had to play catch up this morning. What I have read and seen has shocked me. In a nutshell the current Common Fisheries Policy leads to the discarding of fish on a vast scale; for example, half of all fish caught in the North Sea are being ...
Just a reminder that the Council's Trees for Years giveaway is happening today. For more details click here.
i) births and deaths 22 January 1950: birth of Pamela Salem, who played Toos in The Robots of Death (1977) and Rachel Jensen in Remembrance of the Daleks (1988). 22 January 1993: birth of Tommy Knight who plays Sarah Jane Smith's adopted son Luke in the Sarah Jane Adventures (2007-). 22 January 2008: death of Kevin Stoney, the day before his 87th birthday; he played Mavic Chen in The Daleks' Master Plan (1965-66), Tobias Vaughn in The Invasion (1968), and Tyrum in Revenge of the Cybermen (1975). ii) broadcast anniversaries 22 January 1966: broadcast of "The Abandoned Planet", eleventh episode ...
For some time now, there have been concerns expressed by councillors with disabilities that, instead of support, they are encountering barriers that prevent them for being as effective as they might be. After hearing of a particularly egregious case, Ros felt that she needed to raise the subject... Question Asked by Baroness Scott of Needham Market To ask Her Majesty's Government what public funds are available to assist elected councillors with disabilities in the furtherance of their duties. [HL4737] The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham): It is for each council to decide what ...
Clarke Carlisle made news on Thursday by becoming the first footballer on Question Time. He has ten GCSEs and answered his questions well. He reinforced his credentials as a clever player when he told the audience that he voted for the Liberal Democrats. It seems so obvious that Liberal Democrats told the electorate that cuts had to be made and presented the way cuts had to be made. Cuts are never popular but Clarke was impressed with political honesty. Compare his views with Alan Johnson in my blog on the 9th January. He couldn't remember what was said before the ...
Chisinau to host Conference on security and mobility in Europe - Moldova Azi I'm chairing a couple of sessions at this. (tags: moldova) Continuity Errors by Steven Moffat Moffat's first ever Who story; readers will recognise some similarities with the most recent TV story, "A Christmas Carol". (tags: doctorwho) Results for the Referendum of Southern Sudan | Southern Sudan Referendum 2011 Running tally of the referendum count. I wonder if the pro-unity vote can close the gap? (Actually, no I don't.) (tags: sudan) The Doctor Who News Page: Audio Go: Target Update Tremendous news - David Fisher to write a ...
