[IMG: Congratulations to Cllr Brian Laming] Photo: Cllr Brian Laming, the new Lib Dem Councillor for Oliver's Battery & Badger Farm, Winchester. Also available on Flickr here. The Liberal Democrats have won today's by-election at Oliver's Battery and Badger Farm, Winchester City Council. LD Brian Laming 894 (53.9%) Conservative 604 (36.4%) Labour 161 (9.8%) Turnout 51.1% LD hold. Councillor Brian Laming commented: This is a real honour and a tribute to the local Lib Dem team and their work over the years. I'm also really grateful to the hard work from the whole Winchester team across the last few weeks ...
Lunch today with top Lib Dem blogger and Baltophile - Cicero. As usual he was very keen to impress on me the positives of all things Estonian - including their system of 30% flat tax. I've never been convinced by the proponents of flat tax - usually because they are a bunch of ring wing nut jobs or US tea party loons. But Cicero made the case that it actually can be progressive (in the true use of the word) and is fearsomely efficient - the 'fiscal drag' (the amount of money lost through collecting tax) is miniscule as a ...
Cornwall Council is currently in the process of cutting 40% from its budget for some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. The Supporting People budget funds services for people who are vulnerably housed as well as projects such as the foyers which provide a roof over the head of young people who would otherwise by homeless. Yet at the same time the Council found about £5000 to send our Chief Executive on a four day trip to New York for a conference. The details of the event are written up on the West Briton website. It is right ...
Vote Labour because the Liberal Democrats have been insufficiently successful in overturning Labour's legislation.
On Thursday February 17th Shotley Grove Road will be closed to enable tree-pruning and a diversion will be in place. A plan of the closure and the diversion route can be seen here
Brenda Namigadde is to be deported to Uganda tomorrow. From Chicken Yoghurt: The British Foreign Office advises visitors to Uganda that 'homosexuality is illegal and social tolerance of it is low.' David Kato could certainly confirm that. If he wasn't dead. " A Ugandan gay rights campaigner who last year sued a local newspaper which ...
The new Mid Sussex District Council Parking Strategy has now been published. You can read it here. The strategy was preceded by a technical report, published last year, which has curiously vanished from the MSDC website. I was unimpressed by the parking strategy and felt it did very little to address the sort of concerns that were expressed in East Grinstead at the time of the last car parking charge increase. Below is the text of the speech I made to council in response to the publication of the parking strategy. "This strategy replaced a previous parking strategy which was ...
[IMG: clive hart celebrates] Here follows the content of Cllr Clive Harts, response, to Cllr Mark Nottingham's recent claims, I was considering emailing him to ask if he would be resigning, I take a guess the answer would be Yes but hopefully the party faithful will beg him to stay INTENDING, should that be I am? Any way enjoy! Please note no responsibility is taken for these comments but as someone who believes in the right to express oneself. RESPONSE TO MARK NOTTINGHAM'S 'OPEN LETTER' TO ME Cllr Clive Hart ___________ Mark Nottingham's wildly inaccurate and defamatory allegations made in ...
It appears that payoffs for casualties of the cuts, certainly for the higher echelons of officers at Thanet council, will be generous, how do I come to that conclusion, well if the Thanet Times is to be relied on, reporting that Chief Executive of Thanet council is to leave for an undisclosed sum, could perhaps be decoded as Thanet council has offered an embarrassingly generous pay off, which of coarse will not be available to the lower orders, that is, frontline staff, and the ruling tory group have no wish to look weak and feeble. Further evidence would be past ...
Today I went for a late afternoon walk around Leigh woods and the avon basin. There wasa very cool chill in the air. Around 10 mins into my walk I stumbled on a camera crew and BBC presenter. They had their camera pointed in the direction of a fallen tree which had been carved into the form of a crocodile. I'm not quite sure what the story was. I asked whther it was about the forests story of the day and they said yes. The whole forests issue has just exploded today. As a walker and climber this is a ...
Earlier this evening, I had the pleasure of meeting boxing legend Ken Buchanan and taking part in a photocall to mark Ken becoming President of Dundee's West End Boys Amateur Boxing Club. Here's Ken with one of the club's younger member tonight. Its a real tribute to the hard work of Emilio Places-Rey and his colleagues that the West End ABC has grown into a fibrant boxing club and that someone of the stature of the Tartan Legend is now club President.
I've just become a godmother - not to a cute wee gurgling baby, but to a UN Agency, the new UN Women. This is a brand spanking new organisation which aims to promote gender equality and women's rights all over the world. The Godmother idea is quite a clever one from VSO. They don't want this new agency to sink without trace. In the next few months crucial decisions will be made about future funding. Our Government will be deciding how much money to give to it. Given that the Overseas Aid budget has been protected from the cuts, there ...
The E&A Committee started a little later than advertised. The Chair welcomed those present and asked for any declarations of interest. Cllr Rennie declared a personal interest in the occupational health item by virtue of being on the Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service Authority. The full agenda and reports for the meeting can be found ...
[IMG: Amazon Kindle] Glasgow South Labour MP Tom Harris has but down a Commons Motion calling for VAT for e-books to be set at zero percent. So far 45 MPs have signed the motion and they are from most of the parties represented at Westminster: Alliance, Conservative, DUP, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and SDLP. I was made aware of this motion because of a link to my blog from a post on the blog for Cambridge University's ebooks service. The motion points out something which I hadn't thought of before. e-books produced within other jurisdictions are not necessarily subject ...
Housing is a complex commodity. Economists think about the demand for housing as having both a consumption and an investment component. Trying to integrate the two components is a challenge. But is this approach sufficient? Economists differ in their views on the success of conventional approaches to understanding housing markets, particularly in the light of ...
What is happening in Reading at the moment. It appears that Reading Council Tax payers have under previously Labour control council were paying for local Trades Union officials. Over the last 8 years this has cost Reading around £1.4m. The new Conservative/Lib Dem coalition of course now want to stop these payments. Details can be found on Conservative councillor Richard Willis blog 'Reading Labour Party Corruption Exposed - Part 2' This was riased in Prime Ministers Questions yesterday, so expect to hear more. Labour councillor John Ennis defends Labours position on this in his blog 'Willis's obsessions have now reached ...
[IMG: Final March of the Ents] This will not happen... Around 18% of English woodland is state-owned. The rest is private and used for a range of commercial, agricultural, and other purposes. After the government's DEFRA consultation on the future of the Forestry Commission it is likely the public share will fall, in favour of the third sector and some commercial interests. There will be a range of regulatory changes to protect the minority of heritage forests that are principally used for tourism or are sites of special scientific interest. Predictably a range of anti-market national and local campaigns have ...
Again, from the City Council : DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL : ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL (SOUTH TAY STREET ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS) (VARIATION OF WAITING RESTRICTIONS) ORDER 2010 Dundee City Council proposes to make an Order under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, the effect of which will be to facilitate environmental improvements in South Tay Street. Full details of the proposals are contained in the draft Order, which together with a Statement of the Council's reasons for proposing to make the Order may be examined during normal office hours and without payment of fee at Dundee City Council ...
The City Council advises : THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 : SECTION 14(1) THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be restricted to a speed limit of 10 mph by reason of ironwork repair works being carried out HEREBY RESTRICT the speed of any vehicle in Riverside Drive (from Tay Rail Bridge to Tesco roundabout), Dundee. This notice comes into effect on Sunday 30 January 2011 for one day. Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. A convoy system will be in operation to allow traffic to pass the works safely. For further ...
More Paul Magrs: I managed to listen to the second and third parts of his latest series of audios staring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor before setting off for Moldova last weekend and forgetting my MP3 player, and now that the January Big Finish releases are out I shall listen to them before I finish the Demon Quest sequence. I rather liked The Demon of Paris, set in 1894 in the world of Toulouse-Lautrec, with Baker's Doctor and Susan Jameson's excellent Mrs Wibbsey investigating both why the Doctor's face appears on the famous Aristide Bruant poster (which of course ...
Thu 27th
17:22
Area Forum - Date, Time and Place - St. James centre, Laird Street, CH41 7AL February 2nd 7pm-9pm
The next Area Forum for Bidston & St. James and Claughton ward will be held this time in Bidston & St. James. It will be next Wednesday, 2nd February between 7pm and 9pm at the St. James Centre on Laird Street. If you are unsure of the location this map should help. There will be ...
This is the first of Magrs' Doctor Who novels, and also the first to feature the peculiar Iris Wildthyme, who claims to be a the Doctor's girlfriend from the old days in Gallifrey, driving around in a Tardis in the shape of a double-decker London bus. I find Magrs a bit variable but this was a good start to his Who career, a quest narrative set on the peculiar magical planet of Hyspero, with everyone looking for their own particular goals, including a couple of additional companions picked up on the way. The Doctor/Sam relationship is back on form, and ...
Councillors Monica Coleman, Jayne McCoy and I have received a number of letters and email from people who are concerned about the proposals to reduce the height of the wall between the Old Town Hall ( Orchard Hill College and SCOLA) and the alley besides Barclays Bank. This was due to be considered by the Council's Planning Committee last night but we asked for it to be postponed to allow further discussions to take place. There will now be a meeting with representatives of the Friends of Wallington Library and of the Farmers' Market who are the main objectors. Detail ...
Thu 27th
15:57
The date of John Nettles' last lead performance as DCI Tom Barnaby on Midsomer Murders
The producer has previously explained that Midsomer Murders' DCI Tom Barnaby will not die, but simply retire. The reason, he explained, is because there is such a vast (presumably lucrative) industry engaged in showing repeat cycles of Midsomer Murders at numerous times around the world on cable and terrestial TV. If Barnaby died, viewers would be completely confused when they see a repeat a few weeks later showing him alive and kicking. A press release from the Midsomer producers says: February 2nd will see the airing of DCI Tom Barnaby's final case 'Fit for Murder' in which, as ever, nothing ...
Councillors were never going to agree to save money by cutting local lollipop services, in spite of inaccurate newspapers reports that this was "expected". The media got it wrong. Reducing the number of school crossing patrols - and saving £93,000 - was among a great many possible savings options put to councillors today (Thurs 27 Jan) but it was immediately rejected by all three political parties. So that's the end of that particular rumour, among lots that are currently circulating. Sefton's tourism and leisure departments were also suggested as possible areas for very significant financial cuts. But councillors did not ...
The agenda and reports for last night's Standards Committee can be viewed by following the link. Apologies in advance if I've misquoted anyone, but with no microphones it was hard to tell what some of the speakers were saying as there were side conversations going on. The Chair started off by welcoming everyone and introducing ...
Thu 27th
15:20
LibLink: Tim Farron - Easing of control orders makes this a proud day for civil liberties
Lib Dem president Tim Farron writes in The Guardian's Comment is Free about the Coalition's reforms of control orders, restoring greater freedom for UK citizens. Here's an excerpt: With details of reform of counter-terrorism laws unveiled in the House of Commons, today is a proud day for those who cherish the freedoms that we in Britain have enjoyed for centuries and that our ancestors fought and died for. ... the proposals detailed mark a decisive move away from the paranoid, authoritarian state presided over by Labour. No longer will people who have had no charge brought against them be locked ...
Cllr Blakeley said he had read it two to three times. It was so open he was disappointed. He wanted it put on record his concern at the amount of time complaints too. Non-complex complaints should have a 6 month deadline. Complaints could be dealt with by an external Monitoring Officer. It was an open ...
Changing government policy is a relatively easy thing to do; it's the implementation that seems to cause the most problems. And so, when Theresa May announced last July that the government would end Labour's shameful and illegal policy of deportation of gay and lesbian asylum seekers to countries where their lives were in danger – ...
Apparently, two thirds of the Liberal Democrat manifesto was in the Coalition agreement or has since been carried out by the Government. That's a pretty surprising figure, given that we are the junior partner in the Coalition. But you wouldn't know it from the national press, which is dominated by Conservative and Labour big money. They, of course, delight in jumping on the issues where we did not get what we wanted. So it is down to some of us to point to all the things that Liberal Democrats did offer in their manifesto and which they have delivered. The ...
The committee then moved onto agenda item 6 and the discussion paper. Labour commented first. They said they would like the independent Chair to come to the next full Council meeting and meeting the groups. It would be useful to get a feeling of things. It had been raised in the past. He said he ...
In the current economic climate and the agenda towards a more carbon neutral future, Gainsborough has become set for a world's first. Gainsborough will lead the way with what's believed to be the world's largest straw pelleting plant. Ideally placed, the town is going to benefit from the construction on the Lib Dem created Somerby Park, when the plant comes on line. The straw pellets are to be shipped to Drax Power station. I believe this can be a huge benefit for the town's businesses who are able to service this multi-million pound investment by Drax. I think it's a ...
An interesting debate amongst the intellectual arm of the left-wing blogosphere was kick-started on Norman Geras' blog on January 1st, in reaction to some Guardian stupidity. It concerned democracy, what that term represents, and the relative capacity of voters to engage with it. I'd like to stick my oar in briefly on the latter subject, ...
What a sad figure Lord Taylor of Warwick is! Many of us remember the somewhat disgraceful behaviour of some members of the Conservative party in Cheltenham at the 1992 election. Taylor lost and our Nigel Jones won, amidst acrimony based on racist allegations. A friend summarised the election, perhaps unfairly, as "All the Liberal Democrats felt sorry for the Tory and voted for him, and all the Tories voted Liberal Democrat". However, there is strong evidence to suggest that race played little part in the election and that the Liberal Democrats would have won anyway (Richard Holme had a near ...
The committee then moved onto item 5 which prompted a lively debate about Freedom of Information Act requests. Jane Corrin said Wirral Council got "quite a lot of FOIA requests". There had been 617 between January and September of last year and Wirral Council was currently getting 70-80 per a month. The requests tended to ...
Ivan Lewis MP has publicly suggested that the threat to close the Longfield Suite is a Conservative ploy to boost Lib Dem votes. His comments, in this article in the latest Prestwich Advertiser, are an outrageous falsehood, and I challenge him to produce any evidence to back up his claims. If he can't, he should ...
Next month some work's going to start on Allerton Road, L18. The Council says that improvements will be going on to streetlights etc and its all being paid for because of an agreement made between the Council and Tesco as part of a planning application. While this is going on though, there'll be times when the traffic is one lane rather than two lanes, which will have a knock on effect for anyone driving that way into town or back on the 86 bus or one of the others that goes along that road. So this is really a bit ...
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The meeting moved onto consideration of item 4 Use of recording media at meetings (which had previously been discussed at the last Standards Committee meeting). Cllr Blakeley said that this had arisen because a councillor had taken a photo of another councillor and then reproduced it in a leaflet. He said the report "wasn't what ...
Alex Salmond was at his smuggest at First Minister's Questions today. He rightly anticipated that Scottish Liberal Democrat leader was going to ask about high pay in the public sector, as this is something that we are very concerned about. After our intrepid researchers had discovered that we were paying out almost £53 million more to people earning more than £100,000 than we were last year, despite John Swinney's promises to tackle it, Tavish tackled Salmond about it last week, asking: A year ago, the First Minister told me that high pay had already been dealt with. We asked the ...
Looks like some welcome changes in the government plans for our forests according to the papers today: The government is to make a partial climbdown tomorrow over proposals to sell off England's woodlands, following pressure from campaigners and Liberal Democrats. The environment department is expected to announce that up to 80,000 hectares of England's most cherished woodlands, such as the Forest of Dean and Cannock Chase, will be put into charitable trusts with the requirement that their current goals are maintained.
This casting call for a new Sky Atlantic HD series, "Hit and Miss", worries me. To summarise: They're after someone to play the leading role, a trans woman, in a new TV series. No problem? Well, yes, they actually want "a male to female pre-op transsexual" to play the leading role. I'm confused. Are they going to have a genital check at the casting to make sure someone is pre-op? How will they actually know someone is transsexual? Will anyone explain to them the difference between a noun and an adjective? For the answer to these and other exiting questions, ...
Thu 27th
13:16
Replacing Andy Gray is tough but replacing Richard Keys...not so much. Step forward Mr James Richard...
Whatever you think of what went down at Sky regarding Richard Keys and Andy Gray one question still needs to be answered - who will replace them? I'll have a look at who I see as some of the candidates. First we'll look at the #1 co-commentary position - Andy Gray's old job. Internally Alan ...
I spent much of yesterday listening to Scotland Questions, PMQs and the terrorism statement in the House of Commons yesterday, but unfortunately missed out on much of Holyrood's budget debate because I had to go out. I'm just catching up on it now. I was quite amused by Linda Fabiani's outraged and defensive reaction to a simple question from our Robert Brown. All he did, when she was talking about the effect of the VAT increase, and implying how evil UK taxation was, was to ask what the rate of VAT was in independent Ireland. That is typical. When they ...
As you may have heard, the question of whether Colchester should apply for status has come up again. The Department for Culture has announced that there'll be another competition for city status in 2012 to coincide with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Colchester applied for city status in the 2000 and 2002 competitions, but was unsuccessful on both occasions. (For those of you abroad, yes, this is one of those strange British quirks whereby a place can only become a city if it's designated as such by the monarch – but it's also quite confusing for us to go the US, ...
Thu 27th
13:05
Uneasy Conservative grassroots seek voice in Coalition, with launch of new Conservative Policy Forum
If you thought it was only the beard and sandals element of the Liberal Democrats that were still finding it hard to come to terms with life in the Con-Lib coalition, think again. Today heralds the start of the Tory grassroots fightback, as the new Conservative Policy Forum is launched. A lot of the coverage around the current government has revolved around dissent from the Liberal Democrats, and Party President Tim Farron has threatened to lead a rebellion once again, this time against the proposed sale of forests. However, there is much discontent from the Conservative grassroots, who think that ...
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day and the national event in London will bring together survivors from the Holocaust and subsequent genocides, politicians, religious leaders and dignitaries. In addition hundreds of local events will be held across the UK giving everyone the opportunity to get involved in some way. The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust took over responsibility for delivering HMD from the Home Office in 2005 and six years on our aims remain the same as they did then – to ensure that we remember the victims and honour the survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution and those from subsequent ...
The Bury Times today carries details of the cuts that are proposed by the Council at the budget in a few weeks time. Obviously the proposals are just that - proposals - and there'll be a vote on the night on various other options put forward by the political parties. This has been coming for a ...
There are many cliches in politics but sometimes a cliche is what is needed. Government plans for reforming control orders mean the end of curfews and their replacement with 'overnight residence requirements'. They will also no longer be unlimited, instead they will have a two year duration. So that's all right then. The new rules will be similar to the old control orders in that they continue to ride roughshod over existing legal standards in this country, like the right to trial, the presumption that someone is innocent until proven guilty and, dare I say it in my humble lay ...
The on-going dispute between the RMT Union and Arriva Trains Wales took another dramatic, ridiculous twist yesterday when the former turned down a 12% pay increase over 2 years for its train drivers from the latter as reported in today's Western Mail. If accepted, Arriva state that the offer would've taken the basic rise of an Arriva Trains driver up to £39,117 for a 35-hour four-day week. The RMT Union however claim that in all actuality, the rise is closer to 8% with an extra 2.5% in addition by making it compulsory for drivers to work occasional Sundays. Either way, ...
I present in evidence: While the celestial event could take place before the end of 2012, it may not occur for a million years. Ahem.
This is an article written for the Bristol Evening Post and was published by them earlier this week: Bristol is a divided city. I'm not talking about north and south of the river, or Stoke Bishop and Southmead. It's more about health and education than how much money we've got. People in some parts of ...
It is not only Tuna fishing policy that needs changing. Its EU fishing policy that needs changing too. With half the catch being thrown away we certainly have got ourselves into a mess with the EU regulations. These need changing to protect fishstock, the seas and the livelihoods of our fishermen. Sign up to Hugh's campaign HERE Food production can be improved as is being shown with the regulations changing on chicken farming.
An e-mail arrives from Pembrokeshire Against the Cull, welcoming the latest bovine TB statistics issued by DEFRA which continues to show a significant reduction in the number of cattle slaughtered in West Wales over a 12 month period. The latest figures published by Defra for January to October 2010, show a reduction in West Wales of 35% over the equivalent period in 2009. PAC say that overall, since the introduction in 2008 of the stricter testing regime and subsequently improved cattle control measures, the proportion of cattle slaughtered is down by over 51%. As their spokespeson argues these figures indicate ...
President Obama's second State of the Union address, delivered in the early hours of yesterday morning, has been widely praised as the President's most centrist speech yet. It was delivered to congressmen also partaking in the bi-partisan spirit, with some sitting with 'dates' from the opposite party. Obama himself made a clear declaration of bi-partisan intent from the podium saying "what counts is not whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow." The entire audience, wearing ribbons to commemorate the shooting in Tuscon, got to it's feet. The President started his speech by congratulating the ...
For our third wedding anniversary, Liz and I went to an amazing restaurant – Le Bel Canto (warning: Flash site with auto-playing music). The waiting staff are all professional opera singers – they serve the food and they sing to you. And, wow they can sing. Take a listen to this AudioBoo. Listen! The highlight of the evening was the communal sing-a-long – The Drinking Song from La Traviata. Thoughtfully, it included a complimentary glass of prosecco. Here's a recording of the outstanding opera singers – and our less tuneful caterwauling. Listen! The atmosphere is incredible – and highly romantic. ...
Fish is a great food source for the human race. But at present there is too much overfishing and bad fishing going on. Healthy oceans are a vital part of the life on earth and the degradation of the seas is something we need to come together on to keep them healthy and living and well stocked. I have just signed up to the Greenpeace campaign to change the tuna fishing practice of Princes Email to PRINCES Change your tuna: stop killing turtles and sharks in your nets As one of the biggest suppliers of tinned tuna in the UK, ...
Last night the audience at the Court Theatre, Pendley were at turns delighted, amused, and moved by an accomplished production of Bertold Brecht's "The Good Person of Sichaun". The young people of Tring School put on a polished and rounded performance, complemented by the high standards of music and singing that one has come to expect. All the leading characters were played with confidence and maturity, but the sensitivity and assurance that Lydie Harrison brought to the principal role of Shen Te and the convincingly dissolute performance by Greg Brown playing opposite her as Yang Sun were both outstanding. Particular ...
We're once again running a fringe meeting at the Liberal Democrat spring conference. This time we're looking at the internet and who is allowed to control whom: Who runs the internet? Wikileaks, piracy and censorship [IMG: Wikileaks] Libel law reform campaigner and former MP Evan Harris, website pioneer Mary Reid, James Blessing of the Internet Service Providers' Assoication (ISPA) and Jim Killock of the digital rights champions Open Rights Group debate recent issues about free speech and the internet with chair Mark Pack. Meeting Room 6, Mercure St Paul's Hotel, 119 Norfolk Street, Sheffield S1 2JE 12 March · 20:00 ...
Note from the county council Proposed Bus Stop Improvements - Holywell Hill, Hatfield Road and London Road, St Albans Hertfordshire Highways in conjunction with Passenger Transport Unit of Hertfordshire County Council are preparing to implement proposals to upgrade five bus stops in Holywell Hill, Hatfield Road, and London Road, St Albans at the following locations Holywell Hill - Northwest of Belmont Hill Holywell Hill - Southeast of Belmont Hill Hatfield Road - near Clarence Road Hatfield Road - St Paul's Church London Road - Outside Blue Arrow The proposals include the installation of easy access kerbing, localised footway works and ...
Just in case you had thought that the Daily Fail had changed its ways after its shock and horror over the behaviour of now ex Sky Sports sexists Andy Gray and Richard Keys (which had more to do with bashing a rival newspaper group), we see today how they really don't understand what it is to be a victim of domestic violence. They seem to think that a landmark and correct court judgement will lead to a stream of greedy women claiming a council house if their partner shouts at them. They really haven't got a clue. Anyone who has ...
i) births and deaths 27 January 1984: death of Douglas Camfield, who directed the third episode of Planet of Giants (1964), also The Crusade (1965), The Time Meddler (1965), The Daleks' Master Plan (1965-66), The Web of Fear (1968), The Invasion (1968), much of Inferno (1970), Terror of the Zygons (1975) and The Seeds of Doom (1976). ii) broadcast anniversaries 27 January 1968: broadcast of sixth episode of The Enemy of the World. Salamander is overthrown, but tries to take control of the Tardis by pretending to be the Doctor. The real Doctor opens the doors and Salamander is blown ...
Today's Financial Times carries an interview with Nick Clegg in which he signals the Coalition is shifting its attention towards promoting growth after the last eight months' focus on cuts: The deputy prime minister admitted the 0.5 per cent fall in economic output at the end of last year was "very disappointing" but said that rebuilding the public finances was an essential plank of restoring growth. Speaking to the Financial Times, Mr Clegg said he would tell world financial leaders at Davos that the coalition would not be deflected by increasingly strong Labour attacks on its economic policy. "We will ...
Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat Voice Good Lord! Ed Miliband and David Cameron actually agreed on something. They agreed that yesterday's growth figures were "disappointing". They even agreed that if you set aside the bad weather impact, the figures were flat over the last quarter. An amazing level of agreement at PMQs! Unheard of! Miliband asked about the causes of the disappointing figures. Cameron pointed to the UK's large deficit and the large banking boom and bust. Ed Miliband then asked Cameron to confirm that he still thinks we are "out of the danger zone" (Cameron's words from 15th December). We ...
Andrew Neil's "documentary" was interesting. 7% of the population privately educated, half the cabinet, one third of MPs; 20 MPs from Eton, 8 ministers. His main point was that social mobility has gone into reverse in politics. He identified the disappearance of grammar schools as the cause and proposed reintroducing some form of selection into education but not the 11 plus.I think we need to
There's an interesting Channel 4 News Fact Check here: It puts Ed Miliband's statement at Prime Minister's Questions yesterday: He (David Cameron) is going too far and too fast with deficit reduction and that is what is inhibiting growth in this country -well into "fiction" territory, stating that the government cuts haven't come into play yet. FactCheck quotes Jonathan Loynes from Capital Economics specifying three main reasons for the slow down in economic growth: First up, the effects of the last government's stimulus policies in 2008 have probably worn off by now. Then there was last year's downturn in the ...
Dalek Flowers « Paul Magrs Would you care for some tea? No? How about some flowers? Nice daleks apparently not a new thing, then... (tags: doctorwho) Discworld News January 2011 © PJSM Prints Next Discworld book out 13th October. Sam Vimes is out of his jurisdiction, out of his depth and out of bacon sandwiches... October the 13th seems a terribly long time away... (tags: pratchett) Come Dine With Me: how do they find these people? We must all watch come dine with me next week, and cheer for lovely Alex (tags: telly) Octopus Chair by Maximo Riera | Design ...
Here's a round-up of responses from Liberal Democrat figures and blogs: Tom Brake MP (Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs and Justice) Sanity and justice have been restored to British life. Today is a victory for those who have campaigned to restore the historic freedoms that Labour spent 13 years destroying. Control orders are gone, 28 days detention without charge is gone, indiscriminate stop and search is gone and the abuse of anti-terror powers by councils to pursue petty offences is over. There will always be a balance to be struck between freedom and security and ...
Cities round much of the world will be marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day today, as several years ago the United Nations designated 27 January, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. Last night, the Slovak Embassy in London held a memorial event that mixed glorious music (courtesy of members of the Slovak National ...
Those of us whose memories of economic and political data go back to 1970 and the freak Balance of Trade figures* which helped to scupper Labour's chances of getting elected for the third consecutive time know that it is unwise to jump to conclusions on data relating to to one period. Nevertheless Tuesday's figures showing that the economy has shrunk by 0.5% in the last quarter of 2010 is cause for concern. Another quarter of "shrink" (why do we call it "negative growth"?) and we are once again technically in recession - the "double dip" that the government has so ...
The website's back, so have some more links to celebrate: Richard Drax and questionable sexual standards – It's the twenty-first century, surely even Tory MPs (from outside Bedfordshire, anyway) are meant to be past this sort of idiocy? Irish Politics: A Pre-Election Primer – a useful introduction to the issues from Crooked Timber's Henry Farrell Come Dine With Me: how do they find these people? – Alex Foster explains how it came to be that you'll get to watch him cooking on Channel 4 next month Journal of Universal Rejection – "After submitting your work, the decision process varies. Often ...
Liberal Democrats promised to scrap control orders in their manifesto. Now control orders are to be scrapped, however we will have "surveillance orders" in their place. A Liberal Democrat victory? I would say yes. Predictably, though, some are saying otherwise. So are the new surveillance orders actually "control orders lite", as the Telegraph describes them? "Control orders" were all about punishment of people who hadn't been convicted of or even charged with any crime. They amounted to house arrest with tight restrictions. 16-hour curfews meant that a suspect could only be out of the house for a maximum of eight ...
Councillors demand changes to the way the county handles developers payments for community benefit following almost £500,000 being repaid to developers. Senior county councillors have demanded massive changes in the way the county council handles monies it received from developers to help mitigate the effect of developments and to fund such things as school places. Following a detailed scrutiny review senior county councillors have made 16 recommendations calling for root and branch changes in the way the council manages the current funds. A special scrutiny review of what are known as Section 106 agreements was called for by the Liberal ...
