Not my homework for the day, but a very interesting concept which I intend to explore further. Asset Based Community Development is a way of identifying the strengths of a community and then using them to develop the community. It was just one of the many topics which came up in conversation at tonight's annual "Town and Gown" dinner - a chance to cement further the relationships between the
Cabinet papers outlining proposals for the future of Surrey's much loved library network make for a depressing read. The Mobile Library Service will be axed and static libraries reduced to a 'core network', with many smaller branches likely to be handed over to volunteers under what is laughably described as a 'Big Society Arrangement'. [IMG: library.jpg] These proposals are officially just a consultation but as the proposed savings are already contained in the budget plans, I wouldn't expect a last minute reprieve. There doesn't seem to be a Plan B if voluntary support can't be found so some of these ...
Conyers School was the starting point, where I was giving a presentation on Fairtrade to Year 8 pupils on behalf of the Stockton Fairtrade partnership. I really welomed the chance to talk about this with the young people, and although it meant doing it 4 times over it meant a lot of pupils ! I was impressed that they all listened, asked some good questions - and nobody said they weren't going to ask parents when home if they were using Fairtrade goods. I was encouraging them to use pester power for that, and asking for Fairtrade chocolate and other ...
Video on the Scaling Question, posted with vodpod
Over Christmas I enjoyed the TV adaptation of Nigel Slater's Toast - I used to wear jumpers like that in the 1960s - and have since read the book. It is a remarkable piece of writing and, being divided into short sections, is ideal for reading on the commute to work and back. Take a heavy novel with you and the train can be past Wigston Junction before you remember who is who and what has been happening. Slater even mentions Malcolm Saville twice. One thing worries me. Slater tells the story of his boyhood and adolescence through the food ...
Browsing in a Paris bookshop, in about 1983, I remember looking through a bande dessinée set in a post-breakup Belgium, Flander under authoritarian rule and Wallonia kind of free and easy. Does that ring any bells for anyone? If you know it please tell me; I'd love to track it down now.
If there's one person about whom I could easily be provoked to make a Tweet which could get me charged by the Crown Prosecution Service, it is Katie Hopkins. Putting my venom aside, I would simply pick her up on one comment on Question Time last night. She said, in terms, that we should get rid of "Choop". She meant "TUPE" which I have always heard referred to as "toopee". But pronunciation aside, TUPE is or are the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations. It/They mean/s, broadly, that if an activity or business is moved from one owner to ...
Forestry Commission land for sale: comment by 21 April Government's rural affairs department, Defra opened a consultation yesterday about the future ownership and management of the public forest estate in England - land managed by the Forestry Commission on behalf of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. A copy of the consultation document is available through the DEFRA website (www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/index.htm) and the Forestry Commission website (www.forestry.gov.uk/england-pfe-consultation) It sets out the rationale for a move away from the Government owning and managing significant areas of woodlands in England and the principles which will guide the Government in ...
Fri 28th
20:45
If you put additional comments on your online tax self-assessment form, don't, whatever you do, pres...
...Because the form won't accept carriage return. Trust me, it took me over an hour and a lot of cutting and pasting to find out. ...Only 3 days to go, by the way.
This is humour, I should emphasise, from "Harry and Paul". (Hurrah for them.) But after events this week, it's a bit near the knuckle or bang on the button, whichever way you want to look at it.
As custodians of the public purse I think it is vitally important that local councillors spend Council Tax payers money in line with local priorities - after all it is residents' hard earned cash they are spending. When councils are forced to reduce the amount they spend it is even more important to ensure they are spending it on things that matter to local residents. Labour councillors have found themselves in very hot water on this recently. Last October, following the Comprehensive Spending Review the Liberal Democrat-Conservative Coalition of Reading Borough Council conducted the first ever public consultation about which ...
Fri 28th
20:14The extraordinary transformation of a cool kiddies TV presenter into a sensible sports reporter
When my daughter was smaller, I used to watch CBBC with her. One of our favourite programmes was Newsround and especially Gavin Ramjaun, or "Gavvie" as we used to call him. The geat thing about Gavin was that when he read the news, if you weren't interested inwhat he was saying you could, instead, entertain yourself by looking at his hair and his T shirts. Here above is a photo of "Gavvie" in his CBBC days. So we were a little gobsmacked that Gavin has now transformed himself (below) into a sports presenter for grown-ups on Daybreak. Hair all smoothed ...
My column from today's Liberal Democrat News. Marring my Sunday Sunday mornings were not made for television. They were made for having a lie in, for not shaving and for wandering into town, ordering a skinny latte and almond croissant and reading the papers. So you can imagine what a sacrifice it was for me to get up... To be honest, I watched The Andrew Marr Show (BBC1) on Monday evening via the BBC IPlayer. I am glad that I did, because if I were compiling a list of the people I would not want to encounter first thing on ...
Ceredigion's Welsh Lib Dem MP Mark Williams has re-iterated his call today for a direct train service between Aberystwyth and London. It comes on the day that the Wrexham and Shropshire rail service to London closed. The service was reinstated in 2008 after a gap of 41 years, but has been scrapped by Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway (WSMR) after a fall in customer numbers. A direct Aberystwyth to London service was turned down last year by the Office of Rail Regulation because of the effect it would have on existing routes. Mark Williams MP said: "The Wrexham and Shropshire ...
Fri 28th
18:29
Why would the Tories want to put about rumours of an electoral pact with the Lib Dems?
Today's Herald carries a report which states fairly categorically that a Conservative Cabinet Minister has confirmed that there will be some level of electoral pact between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives at the 2015 General Election. What a load of complete and utter nonsense! I suspect that every campaign in every seat, every by-election will be scrutinised in greater detail than ever before to see whether one party seems to be soft-pedalling. You would think by now that journalists would know that squeezing the vote of the party in third place is an essential part of winning any seat. ...
My council colleague Robin Teverson has been hard at work in the House of Lords pressing Cornwall's case for clarification over the rights of second home owners to cast a vote in elections based on their holiday homes. The issue has been a longstanding one in Cornwall where around one in twenty houses is a second home and, in some areas, the figure is more than one in ten. There is a fear that second home owners are choosing to use their votes in Cornwall and could swing elections even if they spend very little time here and have no ...
A couple of days ago I blogged that Cornwall Council only had five days left to comply with new regulations requiring the online publication of all spending over £500. Yesterday, the Council achieved this aim. You can find all the facts and figures here. No doubt there will be a number of news stories coming out of this publication as people discover just what our council tax is spent on. But congratulations are due to the Council for meeting the deadline and publishing the data.
It's always shocking to see brutality, and the wails of aspiration from younger people, in places to which I've travelled. What's really shocking is the knowledge that there's a hard cancerous underbelly of a security apparatus, unseen by a traveller's eyes, for fear of driving away tourism dollars. In such countries you are aware of ...
The most famous child of the Holocaust is Anne Frank but around 1.2 million Jewish children died during this period. The children who were killed were Romani Gypsies, Polish, German children who were disabled and Jewish. These children were either killed when they arrived at the camps, killed immediately after birth, killed when they were born in the camps and those over the age of 12 were used for medical experiments. Other children died of starvation or from illnesses they caught from living in unhygienic conditions in the camps. There is very little recorded of the children's experiences of the ...
Research published in this week's New Scientist suggests an approach to bringing up children that can make a significant difference to their life chances. Inter alia, it improves health, reduces anti-social behaviour and enhances personal finances and, to cap it all, it has negligible cost. Two studies, one of New Zealand children growing into young adults ...
An unusual question for Ros, but she's always willing to ask a question if someone asks (within reason, mind), and it serves as a reminder of how under-represented women have traditionally been in the fine arts... Question Asked by Baroness Scott of Needham Market To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of representation of female artists in the collections of the National Gallery; and whether they have had any discussions with the trustees of the National Gallery on this issue.[HL5791] Baroness Rawlings: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has had no discussions with ...
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. Here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week ID cards to be scrapped at midnight tonight (8 comments) by Helen Duffett Economy shrinks by 0.5% (67 comments) by Iain Roberts Labour's plan to scrap the EMA (71 comments) by Iain Roberts Lib Dems GAIN Marl, Conwy (and other by-election results from Jan 20) (29 comments) by Helen Duffett Anti-terrorism review: 6 questions to judge the government by (38 comments) by Mark Pack 5 sample LDV Members' Forum threads Of mergers, pacts, alliances and secret deals ...
[IMG: BOLTON, UNITED KINGDOM - NOVEMBER 27: Ian Holl...] Image by Getty Images via @daylife Blackpool manager Ian Holloway will offer his resignation as Blackpool manager, it is being reported. He threatened to quit if Blackpool received any punishment for making 10 changes to their team against Aston Villa last November, a game Holloway's side lost 3-2. Yesterday Blackpool were handed a fine of £25K for the incident. Wolves had been given a similar fine, but suspended, for the same offense. It seems crazy that the Premier League can decide what a manager's 'strongest' team is, particularly in this age ...
Fri 28th
15:53
Katie Hopkins doesn't speak for women everywhere. Feminists recoil in terror at her Question Time ra...
Last night whilst watching Question Time my twitter feed just about blew up. What politician had said something to upset everyone? No-one. For once the devil was the fifth panelist who is really there to make everyone else look smart. Step forward Katie Hopkins, former 'star' of the Apprentice. She defended Andy Gray and Richard ...
In answer to my previous post: yes. Gladeside park has opened! I remain disappointed that the construction company were unwilling to open it earlier. I had worked with the Council officers to deal with possible insurance and safety issues. I hope to get a pic of it soon!
Labour's filibustering in the House of Lords in many ways echoes the current tactics of Republicans in the Senate: using delaying tactics to avoid issues coming to a vote when they know they will almost certainly lose a vote when it comes. The Wall Street Journal reports how the US version is being addressed: Senate leaders announced on Thursday a package of rule changes that seek to reduce the stalemate and gridlock that has characterized the chamber in recent years. But lawmakers failed to agree on a limitation to the use of the filibuster—the right of any senator to hold ...
As I sit here, from my nice safe desk in an anonymous building somewhere in Essex, I can see the internet. Not just Twitter, not Facebook, not any of a million other websites but the "routes" that tell service providers how to reach each other. There's a hole in those routes right now, where Egypt used to be. I can see one small bit, Noor Group, is still online but that's it. This isn't good and neither is the violence but it's not what I wanted to write about. I want to write about Vodafone. There's been criticism levelled at ...
YouGov are becoming increasingly notorious for their ridiculous daily polls, but this one is particularly amazing. It asked respondents what they would do for a million pounds, and then split the results up by the party they support: View full size Yup...32% of Labour voters would get naked for a national newspaper, and were also the happiest to have sex with someone they find physically repulsive. Lib Dem voters though were the least social, with 22% of them saying they could go a whole year without human contact for the cash! As the saying goes - lies, damned lies, and ...
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, Baron Stoneham of Droxford, of the Meon Valley in the County of Hampshire, made his maiden speech in the House of Lords during a debate on Tourism. His words are reproduced below. My Lords, it is an honour and a privilege to speak to the House for the first time. I would like to thank ...
Due to another outbreak of the norovirus, visiting has once again been suspended. This also affects Clatterbridge hospital (with the exception of the Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology). Dr Katy Kidd, director of infection control said: "Anyone who suspects they may have norovirus, or has been in contact with someone who has it, should not visit ...
Planning Advisory Group This was a single item meeting to discuss the implications of changes to the Government's national policy guidance in respect of backgarden land and proposed revisions to Sutton's specific policy on backgarden land (DM30) within the proposed submission draft of the Site Development Policies Development Plan Document. Officers highlighted that Sutton had been at ...
There was one principal local council by-election that took place on Thursday 27th January 2011. The Lib Dems held the seat. There were no parish or town council results reported to ALDC. [IMG: the Olivers farm winning team] Oliver's Battery and Badgers Farm is perhaps the best named ward of any I know in the UK. It's in Winchester and it's still held by the Lib Dems. This was an excellent campaign led by an excellent team. We were defending on three levels: inevitably the coalition, the Lib Dem led council and the exemplary district and County councillors for the ...
The History of Egypt over the last century has seen two major revolutions: one in 1919, which dispatched the British as direct overlords, and one in 1952 which dispatched the monarchy. When I heard that the flag of 1919 was being waved in Egypt again, I began to realise that the prospects for the Mubarak government are not looking good. They are being very foolish to arrest Mohamed El-Barradei- he may be the only way that the regime can escape with its life. Once the bazaars are pulsating with this much anger, it could be that the regime does not ...
Geeks Of London kicked off the new year with a gadget meet up. It was great seeing so many weird and wonderful gadgets. I think it would have been a good idea to give everyone a 30 second slot to talk about what they'd brought to show off. As for me, I took along an iPad competitor from 2004, my MP4 watch, and my now ubiquitous video glasses – from which I recorded the highlights from the event. Many thanks to Nokia Ovi for sponsoring the food and drink.
Last night at North Area Committee a few issues that affect the ward were discussed. Firstly we had many Friends of Arbury Court Library along, and I'd like to promote the meeting they are holding at 7pm on February 2nd. This meeting is to formalise the group and come up with ideas to support it, and the other libraries threatened by the Conservative County Council. They are also staging a "read-in" at the library on Saturday February 5. The report back from County Councillors suggests that Milton Road library is under bigger threat, but the local Liberal Democrats are campaigning ...
Cllr Holbrook suggested they use North West Employers. The officer answered that was part of the subscription. Cllr Green said he had written something down and read out the motion (which wasn't circulated to the members of the public present). His motion proposed a subcommittee in the proportion 2:2:1. It was agreed it was not ...
Cllr Davies said he took a slightly different view, but would not push it to a vote. He said if they involving recruitment people that they would have a wide knowledge of the pool of talent. In addition they would have a knowledge of contracts in the private sector and local government. He said they ...
Baddiel & Skinner famously sang of England's '30 Years of Hurt' in their footballing 'Three Lions' epic of 1996. As it happens, that particular English heartache now extends to 45 years and counting. But that's nothing. Because British tennis fans have got a lot more hurt to mull over. To be precise, we've been waiting 75 years since the last British man won a Tennis Grand Slam - Fred Perry winning his 8th and final Grand Slam at the US Open in 1936. He was the first player to win each of the 4 Grand Slam titles but no British ...
Jo Lovelock has been quick to squeal now that her use of council tax payers' monies to fund Reading Labour's donors is public knowledge. I'm not surprised by her leaping to the defence of paying over £100,000 a year to bribe union officials because let's face it that's what it is - a bribe. In fact the amount is more than that if you take into account that the unions have use of three offices rent-free. The matter of payments for full time union officials did not come before the Personnel Committee when I was on it. The agreement is ...
Cllr Davies said he accepted that. He hoped the appointment would be a success. There have been examples elsewhere and he made an assurance that it would be a permanent appointment. He then went on do talk about performance management, delivery and details. Cllr Green said there was consensus, but he would start from the ...
Cllr Green said there was a performance management framework. Prior for the previous Chief Executive wanted to spend more time with his family, a 360 degrees set of proposals had been approved which included performance appraisals for the Chief Executive. This covered expectations and objectives and would be revisited. It was a good idea when ...
Two episodes in, and 10 O'Clock live still doesn't quite seem to know what it is yet. Is it a comedy programme? Does it offer insightful analysis of the weeks biggest political stories? Does it just fill half an hour for politicos before flipping over to Question Time? Yesterday Alistair Campbell was the main guest, being interviewed by a clearly nervous David Mitchell. Did we learn a single thing from it? No. The normally brilliantly funny Mitchell wasted 10 minutes asking predictable questions about the Iraq war. Campbell didn't even break a sweat, Mitchell didn't crack a joke.The interview summed ...
One of the saddest things I read this morning about the killing of Ugandan gay activist David Kato, is not the fact that he was killed for being gay, but that some haven't noticed the effect of their words. We had a recent sentencing on a homophobic murder in Trafalgar Square, but we didn't have the national press calling for gays to be hung weeks before. However, the words of Giles Mulhame the managing editor of Ugandan weekly show no remorse. His paper on 2 October 2010 published a picture of Kato with his address details under the headline "100 ...
Cllr Davies said it was "important to have consensus". He was not specifically seeking to creation division. He agreed over the shared Chief Executive issue. This happened to a couple of London Boroughs. Given the geography and the fact we were the 9th largest Metropolitan Borough in the country and 3rd largest in the NW ...
Daddy's Birthday: Daddy Richard is trying to convince me that he is NOT REALLY OLD, but I'm sure he is WELL over the hill! Honestly! He is SO doddery that he has tripped over and fallen on the SELF DESTRUCT BUTTON for the SECRET VOLCANO BASE! What a NUMPTY! (And yes, that really IS the one from James Bond!) Still, there is HOPE! We have been listening to Ms Betty Driver on the Desert Island of Discs and SHE has been pulling pints on Consternation Street since longer than Daddy has been ALIVE! Happy Birthday Daddy! .
This year's awards are much simpler to enter. No forms; no word limit; no format. If you can send me a convincing reason why you should be given an award by Friday 25 February, you're in. In fact, if you think there isn't a category suitable then you can even ask me to create one. Yes, we're cutting out the bureaucracy, localising the decision-making and building the system around the convenience of ... you. Our judging panel this year will be chaired by Cllr Richard Kemp, Leader LGA Lib Dem Group and will comprise: Tim Farron MP, our in-coming Party ...
Cllr Green continued by saying that "where we are, sharing is not the right thing to do". He had always been fond of sharing a Chief Executive with the PCTs/hospitals. However the health service had its own set of issues. The PCT would collapse but we will work it all through. Wirral was the 9th ...
The officer said that the report was around the appointment of a Chief Executive. Cllr Green said he had asked for it. There were options and issues in three key areas. The committee's views were sought. Cllr Green said a selection committee of eight was too big. It had to come back and be ratified ...
[IMG: Canadian Parliament] British political commentators love looking to the US. It's why mention "TV leader debates" and you won't have to wait long until someone mentions the 1960 JFK versus Nixon affair but you'll have to wait an awful long time until someone mentions the earlier 1950s pioneering effort in Sweden. Some of this US-fixation has a decent excuse - the US is the world's dominant power. Some has a hard-nosed practical excuse - no foreign language knowledge needed to follow American politics. But some is circular - we pay attention to the US, because we know about the ...
The officer noted the lower absence rate but said they would keep an eye on it. People having flu in this quarter would affect it. Cllr Green said it was a lot of people. Cllr McLaughlin said he should use flu-like as it was seasonal and swine flu. th fine. Cllr Mitchell said his youngest ...
Cllr Davies asked what the speed of the decision would be. He was answered that it would be made within the next couple of weeks. Cllr Green said it was a "very, very big exercise". It was a "huge exercise" that was "emotionally and physically demanding". It was the "biggest exercise ever done" and had ...
Twenty two years, 5 months and 2 days ago, at almost exactly this time, I celebrated my wedding in the Hawes Inn in South Queensferry. It was lovely to look out on the Firth of Forth, to see Bob's native Fife in the distance and the two majestic bridges. Today, on a similarly sunny but a lot colder day, my lovely friend Andrew Reeves marries his partner Roger, also in South Queensferry, but across the road and a bit further along. He's written a really beautiful and poignant post this morning explaining exactly why they have chosen today. I'm looking ...
The Council are consulting about a proposed loading bay outside the Tesco on Fortune Green Road. You have until 15th February to make any comments. The problems at 'our' Tesco aren't generally as bad as they are outside the one in the middle of West Hamsptead - but things can get pretty hairy in rush hour times - and its not pretty when two 328's meet each other head on. A loading bay would give a bit more room at this pinch point. If you'd like to copy us in to any responses you have - you can email ...
The coalition agreement's commitment to devolve more powers from Westminster to Scotland was one aspect that helped it win strong support from Scottish Liberal Democrats as further devolution has been a long-running Lib Dem demand. Now the Scotland Bill is moving through Parliament to turn those commitments into action. The BBC reports: Scottish Secretary Michael Moore [Lib Dem] said the Scotland Bill, giving Holyrood increased responsibility for borrowing, would bring a new phase in devolution. Mr Moore said the legislation contained the right balance of powers and would give Holyrood greater accountability... The most eye-catching proposals in the Scotland Bill ...
I'm sad to see that Fonthill Lodge School will be closing this year. www.fonthill-lodge.co.uk Best of luck to staff and students who will be relocating.
We will stop the deportation of asylum seekers who have had to leave particular countries because their sexual orientation or gender identification puts them at proven risk of imprisonment, torture or executionThere it is, clear as day, from page 18 of the Coalition Agreement. At the time, it was so reassuring to see. Under Labour, LGBT people had disgracefully been told to be discreet if their country of origin took a dim view of their sexuality. It was good to see in black and white that the Coalition, even with Tories in it, took the right, humanitarian approach. Today the ...
PEOPLE OF EARTH YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE Don't Panic there is not a Vogon constructor fleet poised above us in the ionosphere, at least I hope not. But there is axe axe being wielded by the BBC over some of its online content. One of those sites is a quite remarkable site, it is a social media that was popular before Facebook reared it's head, it was an online encyclopedia of Life, the Universe and Everything before Wikipedia became the de facto font of all knowledge. It is a place where people have made friendships, many have then taken that online ...
SPONSORED POSTI love me a Segway! I only wish they were street legal in the UK. Anyway, Bing have paid me to say... Brian's technological adventures lead him to a store in Los Angeles where he experiences the greatest invention of all time – the Segway. Now watch the video. If you're interested in sponsoring a blog post – get in touch. View Poll
Earlier this week, I attended the regular meeting of the Oversight & Scrutiny Committee for Health & Social Care for Sefton Council. I think this is a fantastic committee that is chaired superbly by my lib dem colleague Anthony Hill. The meeting on Tuesday included a presentation by Hannah Chellaswamy; Acting Director of Public Health (NHS Sefton & Sefton Council ), Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Our strategy for public health in England Basically under the new proposals the responsibility for public health will return once again to the Local Authorities, after an absence of 40 years. At the meeting there ...
Fri 28th
09:54
Improving your local party through better use of members: developing a motivating feedback system
What communication have you had from your local party in the last year? A newsletter? Requests for funding? Requests to help out with a campaign? Emails about local party information? Emails about AGM/Conference? Have you ever been asked for formal feedback about the local party? Our Party President informs us that the key to any ...
Given the work that was undertaken not so long ago to provide dropped kerbing along much of the Perth Road east of Sinderins, I was concerned to have received this from a constituent recently : "... coming back from church on Sunday I met a neighbour. He was having great difficulty trying to get on to the pavement with his scooter at the bottom of West Wynd - east side. There has been scaffolding there for a while - it's gone now but the workmen have put back a high kerb instead of a low one. You can see it ...
As reported in today's Courier and on Wave 102 news (click on 'play' above to listen), I have written to Dundee City Council's Chief Executive David Dorward in the following terms : David I wish to query exactly what will be submitted to Scottish Government over our statutory consultee response on the Forth Energy biomass planning application. The vote on this matter at committee was exceptionally close - 14 to 13 in favour of the view that the council does not formally object to the biomass application at this stage. For those of us who are strongly opposed to the ...
Today's Independent reports on a ComRes survey, which asserts that David Cameron and George Osborne are more trusted to see Britain through its economic problems than Ed Miliband and Ed Balls, their Labour counterparts. The Poll also claims that People believe the poor rather than the rich will be most affected by public spending cut, suggesting that the Coalition Government has failed to convince people that those "with the broadest shoulders" will bear the brunt of the cuts while the most vulnerable will be protected. As this snapshot is by now yesterday's news it is likely that people have moved ...
Since Jack Allen Holdings won their planning appeal over the waste site in Garston (next to the Cressington Heath housing development) we've been working with local residents to find ways of stopping the plant being built. It wasn't just Jack Allen we were against. It was the whole idea of a waste plant in a regeneration area quite so near to people's houses. But Jack Allen was the immediate threat. If you look back through this blog you'll see several pieces about the various things we and local people have tried as part of the campaign. The current situation is ...
You see, when I write about topics such as election law and psephology, I frequently check to see what is said in peer-reviewed academic papers. Particularly when I'm disagreeing with what people have claimed in such academic papers because, after all, saying something is wrong without actually taking a look at it is a bit of a risky leap of faith isn't it? But seeing what James Delingpole says, I can see where I've been going wrong. Clearly if I want to be a serious proper writer who gets published regularly by the Daily Telegraph or the Spectator the thing ...
The internet may or may not have invented flashmobbing, if not it certainly enabled it to happen on a larger scale and turned it into an art form of some kind. As ever though, art transmutes into politics and thus these Candadian mothers have used the technique to make a very valid political point. It seems that Canada is up in arms about breast-feeding and whether it's really okay to do it in public. So a hundred mothers in Montreal staged a "nurse-in" protest at a downtown shopping complex last week, breast-feeding simultaneously before a curious crowd of reporters, mall ...
News channels are reporting that Nelson Mandela is increasingly frail and in hospital. BBC Earlier this year I visited South Africa and made the trip to Robben Island where Mandela was imprisoned. I learned a lot about his life and the struggle against apartheid. Whereas many transitions in African countries are marked by bloody conflicts, the transition from apartheid to democracy was largely peaceful. This is mainly due to the philosophy of non-violence and reconciliation that Mandela developed whilst in prison. He's 92 now, but still one of the greatest men alive. Get well soon, Nelson.
About to discover if Danish Dance Theatre is really my bag: ballet meets street dance tonight at Oxford Playhouse. # @sarabedford @helenduffett I'll be sure to have my portable rickshaw with me just in case... in reply to sarabedford # @aboutpower thanks for the #ff Alan in reply to aboutpower # @helenduffett The lack of my importance in your eyes was noted. Again. Dammit. *flounces* in reply to helenduffett # @caronmlindsay @helenduffett I'm intrigued... Which of us would be Ali C, which of us Charlie W? And does that make you Adam Boulton? in reply to caronmlindsay # @artesea @alexfoster ...
This post is in response to Andrew Cooper's "comment" on an earlier post , "Welcome to Ed Balls" (scroll down three.) Andrew suggests that disillusioned Liberal Democrats should join the Greens and then adds "just kidding." But it is not a joke: the Greens really are the only sensible alternative should Liberal Democrats decide to leave. Only those afflicted by what Andrew calls "elector amnesia" could possibly drift over to Labour, the party which, for 13 years, did so little to reform the constitution, broke its promise to introduce electoral reform, did so much to erode our civil liberties, were ...
It is the one question most people have asked, why now, why today? Simples. Ouch, I can't sit like a meerkat for long. On the 28th July 2009 my Mum was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Mum being Mum (you will soon realise where my stubborn streak comes from) she started to make a list of stuff she wanted to do before her death. However just six weeks later, she tragically lost her battle with this shit disease - only 3% of people survive for 5 years, pancreatic cancer has the worst survival rate of any cancer -and passed away on ...
i) births and deaths 28 January 1938: birth of Christopher Coll, who played Phipps in The Seeds of Death (1969) and Stubbs in The Mutants (1972). 28 January 1976: death of James Mellor, who played Sean Flannigan in The Wheel in Space (1969) and Varan in The Mutants (1972). ii) broadcast anniversaries 28 January 1967: broadcast of third episode of The Underwater Menace. This is the first surviving Troughton episode, the one with the appalling dance of the fish-people and "NUZZINK IN ZE VURLD CAN STOP ME NOWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!" I would swap it for any of the dozen lost Troughton episodes ...
[IMG: img_0530.jpg] The local campaign for the upgrading of the much used path between Hillside Road and Townsend Avenue is growing in strength. Local councillors Sheila Burton and Chris White are pressing the county council to identify who is responsible for the path and to spend some money on bringing it up to scratch. Sheila says: '"My children used this path to go to Maple school. To see it in this muddy state now is very daunting. We need to encourage as many pupils as possible to walk to school. This path needs urgent attention." We understand that Herts Highways ...
New figures released by the Welsh Liberal Democrats have revealed that Conservative budget proposals could see the spending gap between England and Wales rise to £881 per pupil. The new figures come the day after it was revealed that the Labour-Plaid government has allowed the spending gap per pupil to rise to a record level of £604 per pupil. The Conservatives have proposed to protect bureaucracy and senior salaries in the NHS by slashing budgets in all other departments including housing, local government, education, economic development and rural affairs. Specifically, they have proposed to cut the education part of the ...
Yesterday evening I attended a meeting of the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust Council of Governors. I am a Partner Governor of the Trust as part of my role as Lead Member for Health on Reading Borough Council and since I became Lead Member last May I have worked hard to build up a good relationships with our local NHS hospital to ensure Reading residents get the best possible care and services. We are very lucky in Reading to have an excellent local hospital on our doorstep. However, the Trust serves a large population beyond our area so it is ...
Fri 28th
00:40
'When you plant a seed, before it dies it won't produce' - prophetic words from David Kato
Some of us are very lucky, at worst we may get abuse shouted at us in the street. But in Uganda, you can end up dead as a result of fighting for your human rights. David Kato, Uganadan gay activist and 'grandfather of the kuchus' (as gay people in Uganda call themselves) led the campaign ...
Let His People Go: Sudan's Lesson for Secession « EJIL: Talk! My old friend Tim Waters: "the real danger to peace is not peoples' desire to form new states. It is the willingness of the present powers in this world to resist that desire with violence. Chaos and death are not consequences of opening Pandora's box - they *are* the box. We have stumbled onto that truth in Sudan, after 40 years and Niles of blood. We should not have to learn it all over again, in every war, and every generation." (tags: sudan) In the Dock, in Paris « ...
The Scotsman reports a Commons press gallery lunch with the Vince Cable. After itemising all the speculation about his future, it goes on: But at a Press Gallery lunch in the Commons, Mr Cable claimed that some of the policies he is supposed to be unhappy with, such as removing the structural deficit in the lifetime of the parliament, were originally his own ideas. He added that he was "proud" of the university reforms although he acknowledged that his party "took a serious hit" on the issue. He also highlighted the controversial privatisation of Royal Mail, pointing out that he ...
I used to work alongside occupational therapists and far from the caricature of making wicker baskets I thought they did a very professional job helping people adapt their environments so that they could do what they want to do. This is why I was surprised to hear a story yesterday. A friend phoned and said that her neighbour had been referred to the occupational therapist and rather than get a home visit they had a talk and were given a prescription for aids to daily living. They were to go to a local shop where they would receive the items. ...
