At the Stakeholders Meeting last night we discussed progress to date on the Wallington Integrated Transport Project and planned work for the next two weeks. We also considered three options for the new bus shelters in Woodcote Road. The group agreed to order two of Transport for London's new shelters and electronic 'Countdown' equipment to show the expected arrival time of buses. These shelters will be £10,000 cheaper than the ones that were originally proposed and we hope to use the money that has been saved on a surface treatment for the new paving to make more resistant to dirt ...
Evesham's manager Paul West will look back on this game and wonder where his team were in the first half. With a litany of defensive errors and an absence of attacking competence by the Robins, the game looked to be a decidedly one sided affair. A passage of smart interplay carved the Evesham backline apart and Zac Costello's clumsy lunge left the referee with little option but to point to the spot. Linden Dovey dusted himself down and calmly sent the keeper the wrong way. Evesham were restricted to hopeful long-balls and Stourbridge's goal was rarely threatened. Stourbridge were playing ...
Today's Guardian had a third editorial In Praise of... Tin Tabernacles: No one knows how many such manufactured places of worship still exist, though the number is diminishing. Some were at best rudimentary; too many have grown rusty, shabby, even offensively derelict. Yet the best have an aura and grace you would hardly expect from the work of jobbing construction companies like Dixons of Liverpool, or Humphries of Croydon.Which gives me an excuse for posting another photograph of the church at White Grit.
Scottish voters waited so long for the establishment of devolution but two stories from this week make me wonder what all the fuss was about... The first story concerns the decision to abolish prescription charges completely, reflecting the SNP's longstanding manifesto commitment. Unsurprisingly given their longstanding tendency for spending other people's money, Scottish Labour backed the Nationalists with only the Lib Dems and Conservatives opposing. Whilst Ross Finnie stated the Lib Dem opposition to the measure , the implication in his wording was that if there was no funding squeeze, the principle of free prescriptions is perfectly valid. I wish ...
After the usual long debate, Birmingham City Council's Budget was approved by a meeting of the full Council on Tuesday. It felt like the day the music stopped and, as with the children's game, there were not enough chairs to sit on. It has been argued long and hard as to why we ended up in a situation where, as a nation, one pound in every four the public sector spends is borrowed. However, whoever is to blame (and as is usually the case in such complex stories, I believe there are many culprits, rather than one), the inescapable truth ...
POLYBIUS 200-118 BCE, THE HISTORIES Polybius was born in Megalopolis in Greece and was the son of the leader of the Achaen League, a confederation of Greek city states which had some success in reducing the domination of the Macedonian monarchy in Greece. This was a struggle for liberty, in the ancient sense of living in an independent state, in which citizens had equal rights and participated in government. The Macedonian monarchy under Philip II and Alexander the Great had largely undermined that antique liberty, by subordinating those states and reducing the power of their institutions of self-government. The Achaen ...
On tuesday night I sat with Lib Dem colleagues in a meeting room at Bury Town Hall where we received a briefing on council proposals to "transform" the way Bury Council provides services across the Borough – a briefing being provided to all 3 parties on Bury Council. During that meeting we were informed that during the summer officers will be reporting back on their reviews of council services. I think it was fair to say that there were concerns voiced by a number of us about what this could ultimately mean for some of our services, even if we ...
Positive results from the clinic on how Andrew has helped change how I am coping with living with HIV.
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending the official opening of the Dundee Carers Centre new offices in Argyll House, West Marketgait. Later, after a meeting with the Communities Officer for the West End on the new West End Local Community Plan 2012-14, I attended the latest Community Spirit Action Group meeting, the residents' group covering Cleghorn, Ancrum, Polepark, Pentland, Tullideph and surrounding areas. There was an excellent presentation from Ian Treanor of the Dundee Energy Efficiency Advice Project. Ian's presentation covered insulation, income maximisation and the price of fuel/fuel social tariffs. We also discussed numerous local issues including road ...
Nick Cohen writes on the Spectator's Coffee House blog: I cannot find precedent for the collapse in liberal and academic standards Howard Davies, the LSE's director, presided over. The Cambridge spies met at Cambridge University, as their name suggests. They did not, however, work for Stalin with the blessing of the university's chancellor, vice chancellor, senate and masters of its colleges. Ouch.
Below is a text of a letter published today in the local press. The Herts & Essex Observers caption was 'No Banking on the Tories' My letter is in response to one published last week by a prospective Conservative district council candidate. She stated that the Lib Dems lived in a funding fantasy world and that during our Administration between 2003-07 we had squandered the councils reserves. "Daphne Wallace-Jarvis trots out the tired old Tory line about how local Conservatives are good with taxpayers' money, but there are quite a number of facts which tell a different story. Here are ...
A Travel Planning Project has recently completed in King's Hedges whereby residents could opt to have a personal travel plan drawn up with the aim of increasing their usage of sustainable transport. The results showed that use of sustainable transport increased by 35% - against a national average of only 11% - after the plan was drawn up by the researcher. This is a very encouraging figure! The results for the survey, including an evaluation report from an earlier trial in Orchard Park are attached. Of course it's always difficult to tell in the short period of a study like ...
According to a fragment of info, on Clive Harts Twitter, Labour top bods had a meeting, and that's the wonder of twitter, little detail but broad brush strokes. Just what did they discuss, exit strategy, regime change, the May elections, sometimes more is less and less can be more, anyway answers on a postcard to the usual address.
I had a letter in last night's Evening Telegraph, agreeing with a resident who had complained about the really bad potholes in Colinton Place. I had reported this problem to the City Council and, perhaps ironically, last night, a constituent e-mailed me as follows : "Hi Fraser, Just to let you know that the rest of the pot holes in Colinton Place have been filled today. Hopefully the good weather will continue and the pot holes won't come back any time soon." I am of the view that the road really needs proper resurfacing and asked the City Council about ...
"Attacking on the deficit only drives the Lib Dems towards the Tories. Preparing for what will happen next would be a more realistic approach for Miliband if he wants to drive a wedge between these friends," argues Olly Grender in her latest New Statesman blog. David Boyle, on the New Economics Foundation blog, asks what is most important about public services. The answer, he says, is not whether it is owned publicly, privately or in the voluntary sector. Max Atkinson announces the judges and the shortlisted entries for his Defend a Doomed Dictator Speechwriting Competition. Toby Young has received the ...
The books I am reading: The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes (specifically The Hound of the Baskervilles), by Arthur Conan Doyle; The Fall of the House of Usher and other Stories, by Edgar Allan Poe; Matrix, by Robert Perry and Mike Tucker (Past Doctor Adventures). The book I am writing: The Life of Sir Nicholas White, by Nicholas Whyte. The book I love most: The Lord of the Rings, I'm afraid! The last book I received as a gift: Of Blood and Honey, by Stina Leicht, kindly sent to me by the author. (Unless one counts Bookmooch, in which case it's ...
Yep, the Poverty Commission (which is being renamed to focus on issues of fairness as well as poverty) will happen! It looks like it'll kick off later this month. I can't say more at the moment as there are still a few details to tie down. But will blog again about it when everything is sorted. There'll probably be opportunities for people to come along to meetings or provide evidence. So watch this space!
I was deeply disappointed to learn that David Cameron had a downer on it and was somewhat mystified at him preferring, what he referred to, as "muscular liberalism". I would describe myself as a practitioner of muscular liberalism and I do not see it as counter to multiculturalism. Indeed respect for other cultures is an important component of it. Step forward Nick Clegg to who also sees the importance of multiculturalism in an open society. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12638017 It is good to see a real liberal leading from the front on this.
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. Today, Baroness Brinton, of Kenardington in the County of Kent, made her maiden speech in the House of Lords during a debate to call attention to the global and domestic challenges for women in the centenary year of International Women's Day. Her words are reproduced below. My Lords, I rise to speak for the first time ...
Under fire Scottish Justice Secretary, Kenny Mcaskill has waded into the debate over the ugly scenes at last night's old firm cup replay saying: "There is a deep-rooted and unacceptable social issue involved - which has a great deal to do with Scotland's damaging relationship with alcohol, and little to do with football. "The issue is far wider than clubs and the game. It is about a culture of violence fuelled by alcohol." But he is wrong. The root cause of violence at old firm games is good old fashioned sectarianism. Both sets of fans revel in their respective medieval ...
I very much enjoyed reading the speech that Nick Clegg made today in Luton, on "An Open, Confident Society: The Application of Muscular Liberalism in a Multicultural Society". This is a very impressive statement of where the Liberal Democrats and the Coalition Government stand on these matters. Among many interesting passages, I was particularly struck by the following sections: The Prime Minister has recently argued that we need to assert confidently our liberal values. I agree. Politicians have a huge responsibility to lead by example, and engage in the often difficult arguments around immigration, multiculturalism and liberty. That is why ...
Off to Cardiff for our Welsh Spring Conference tomorrow. One thing that I have noticed is the increased security, photo ID and passes in all sections of the building, I suppose this is the price you have to pay for being in government. I will be proposing a motion to Conference and will blog this later on how it went. Lot's happening locally, the fruits of our work should shortly be seen. Spoke to a resident today who at the Marl Ward Election voted Labour but confirmed support for me in the Assembly Election (That was good to hear). Other ...
Well its a holiday week away from the office and a great opportunity to bag some walking. I found a nifty walking festival based out of Crickhowell in Wales. Its great with allsorts of walks of all lengths. It gets pretty booked up so I bagged my two walks a few weeks ago. Today's beastie was a 12 mile circut from Tir-y-nant which is north of Llanbedr and took in the ridge cirucit of Peny Gadair Fawr, Waun Fach and the slopes of Cwm Banw. I have no idea who measured the walk but by God it felt like 14 ...
I plan to post on the blog any planning applications that come in that I feel people would be interested in knowing about. I know that notices are put up and letters sent out, but there is always someone who wanted to know but who didn't see a letter or a notice in time. This one, which has a deadline of 23 March for comments, is for the scout hut on Garston Old Road. The idea is to change its use to a day nursery which would be in connection with the existing nursery at Clarendon Montessori College. The City ...
Dignity and restraint by some Labour Councillors have been evaporating since the country saw fit to remove the Labour Party from power last year. In Gateshead they are indignant with rage that the Lib Dems have formed a Coalition with the Conservatives rather than keep them in office. This of course ignores the complete lack of interest within Labour ranks last year in forming a Government with
Keep me covered, I'm going in. I'm linking to Jonathan Freedland's article on antisemitism in today's Guardian, and I am asking everyone reading this to please do me a favour, that being: to slowly read Jonathan Freedland's piece, think about what it has to say and then draw your own conclusions. By calmly writing what he writes, and by not exaggerating the extent of the problem, Mr Freedland has succeeded in making some points that I have, on various occasions, tried to make. Nobody is arguing that it is wrong to criticise Israel or its government, just as it is ...
I know that a lot of the posts I write here are negative and attack the decisions being made by the Conservative run administration at County Hall. Today's report from the Library Working Group is altogether different however. This was a well thought through and well researched piece of work led by Indie Cllr John Pollard and which makes recommendations about how our library service should develop in the future. I don't agree with absolutely every conclusion, but the document does set out a vision for the service and shows how, with the right investment, we can build on a ...
This guide from the Campaign to Protect Rural England has useful advice on how to apply for a legal order to get litter cleared where an organisation is failing to keep its property clean. Applies in urban areas as well as rural. How to Apply For A Litter Abatement Order Another useful legal remedy to bear in mind is Clause 81 of the New Roads and Streets Act 1991, which covers the maintenance of utility boxes and the like on our pavements. If a firm is failing to look after them properly, then again there is a legal route you ...
The BBC has given an official response to complaints (such as mine) that it has banned the use of "reform" as in "electoral reform". As I wrote: Given that the phrase "electoral reform" has been a widely used term for decades to describe all sorts of different proposals to change the electoral system and given that it has been widely used by proponents on all sides of those exchanges too, I'm surprised that you now are of the view that it isn't an appropriate phrase for the BBC to use. But what really baffles me is the continued use of ...
The bare bones of today's call-in meeting on the issue of parking charges are that the decision was made not to refer the matter back to Cabinet. But the meeting served to highlight what an arrogant and ill-founded decision it was to increase parking charges so massively. I realise the 'arrogant and ill-founded' are strong words, but time after time, officers were unable to produce any evidence for their decisions and relied on statements such as "We assumed..." and "We thought..." Councillors across the board became frustrated with the lack of hard evidence to back up the decisions that have ...
(Read POSTCRIPT FIRST)* It would be true to say that I rarely, visit the pages of Top Thanet Tory Cllr Simon Moores, Weblog, I know, if you're a regular you will be thinking, Flaigy your missing out on Thanet's most witty, respected and creative talent, who is in no way boring, prone to hypocrisy or suffering from an inflated ego or any of that malarkey. Still that said I'm not sure whether Simon is desperate for publicity, since his current posting appears to criticise me for allowing "the same person" to post comments on this site, or as Moores puts ...
I was at a dinner with the Prime Minister last night. Admittedly, the intimacy of the occasion was somewhat undermined by the presence at the dinner of more than a thousand other people, and I didn't actually meet Mr Cameron, but I was privileged to hear him deliver this very interesting speech. The dinner was organised by the Community Security Trust and the attendees included Parliamentarians from across the parties, including such Liberal Democrats as Chris Huhne, Andrew Stunell (particularly relevant as the Minister for Community Cohesion), Lord Dholakia and Lord Palmer. I strongly urge everyone to read David Cameron's ...
I'm not going to lie. I prefer being in coalition with the Conservative party than Labour. Even advocated it before the election. Us "orange bookers" have received a lot of unwanted attention and criticism for an allege coup d'etat over ... Continue reading →
Over at Comment is Free today, Jeremy Browne and Nick Harvey argue for the need for an international arms trade treaty, and that Britain must lead its creation: On Monday the second round of negotiations to establish an international arms trade treaty (ATT) began at the United Nations headquarters in New York. These negotiations, and the need for better regulation of the arms trade, could not be timelier. The courage displayed in the popular uprisings across the Middle East and north Africa over the last month has been fascinating and inspiring. But the shocking retaliatory brutality, especially of the Libyan ...
I must confess that my knowledge of the whole situation regarding News Corporation's proposed takeover of BSkyB is not as extensive as it ideally might be – and I haven't the time to do something about that at the moment. ... Continue reading →
Nick Clegg has been talking for a long time about "new politics", creating pluralism where politicians work together rather than bickering for tribal purposes. This is a positive message and one that goes down well with voters, however it isn't going to happen, not without radical changes that wont be forthcoming. Yesterday over on the Lib Dem Voice there was a review/summary of Deputy PMQ's. I haven't seen it but by all accounts Nick Clegg was taking flack from all sides, this goes with the almost constant ridicule in the press, mainly due to non-stories such as the 3pm close ...
Britain's deficit obscures any differences between the Lib Dems and Tories. What is the glue that holds the coalition together? In the early days, Oliver Letwin, one of the coalition's founding fathers, suggested that because it was a friendship rather than a marriage there was a certain politeness - the opposite of the familiarity that breeds contempt. But a coalition needs more than that. It needs more than common ground on localism or an obvious chemistry between the two party leaders. And here is the irony. One of the central forces that holds this Coalition together is the structural deficit. ...
Yesterday's attempt by the Bangladeshi government to oust Muhammad Yunus from Grameen Bank is a new low in that country's grubby politics. Using the pretext that the 70-year-old Mr Yunus is past the usual retirement age of 60, the bank's ... Continue reading →
WARNING This article and pages it links to, contain information about pornography and sex education which may be offensive to Daily Mail readers. These are the hurried lunchtime writings of a chap with too much on his plate. So, O2 has apparently angered the Internet Gods by switching on its Adult Content Filter. This means anyone who wants to look at adult material on the web will have to pay a fee to prove they are over 18. Of course, their filter is broken – so it's caught sites like Google Translate and B3ta and banned access to them. And, ...
Swimming is an excellent way to stay fit and healthy, but a large proportion of adults cannot swim or feel nervous in the water. To help them take the plunge to learn to swim or simply improve their technique, a new range of swimming lessons aimed specifically at adults are being launched by St Albans City and District Council, in partnership with its leisure centre manager, Leisure Connection. Available at Harpenden Swimming Pool and Westminster Lodge, the eight week course costs £24 for new customers and is open to all those over the age of 16. Swimming as a non ...
Well - I managed it - 920 steps in an official time of 6:35 which makes me the 77th fastest male (or 79th fastest overall) I think there were about 1,000 runners in total. Not sure what I was expecting - but I think I'm very pleased with that.I'm especially pleased that my total fundraising so far stands at £1,540.60 for Shelter. If you want to donate - there's still time - head to www.justgiving.com/russell-eagling
One of the questions which has vexed us all for many years is "Why do Mums go to Iceland?" The people who own the supermarket chain are clearly as baffled as I am, but I bet that most mums don't go there to spray offensive graffiti onto the walls. Sadly, one local resident did just ...
This morning the Sefton Council cabinet met at Southport Town Hall to recommend a budget to put to the full council this evening. The Lib Dem group having been working hard to come up with a budget that will produce a 0% council tax rise and sensibly handle the reductions in expenditure that are being demanded of us as part of the overall deficit reduction plan. Labour so far have not produced an alternative budget proposal . They have voted against most of the reductions in expenditure but to date they have not made a serious attempt to produce a ...
Thu 3rd
14:43
Everything you ever wanted to know about... Policy and the Parliamentary Party (part 3)
In the first two parts of this mini-series, I looked at how policy is made, and how its creation is managed. Today, I want to look at its failings, the implications of those failings, and how future policy making might be shaped. As a party of perpetual opposition, our inclusive but often ponderous policy-making regime allowed members to influence core policy, in the knowledge that it would be a means of attacking the Government, but was unlikely to be applied. Occasionally, that led to somewhat populist ideas being espoused but, if a Government did something in a field where our ...
Predictable Peter(Dowd) was on his soap box again at this morning's Cabinet Meeting. He's predictable but becoming quite boring. I may have stated this before but having taught in Primary Schools for over 21 years I have seen lots of young children(often boys) who seek attention in a variety of ways. Acting the fool, being badly behaved, bullying and, of course, standing tall and making the most noise. Peter has his soap box. People that crave attention crave an audience. They feed on the feedback they create. The only solution is to deny them their audience and the attention they ...
I am not entirely clear why the National Archives chose this day to release thousands of documents about close encounters. They have certainly attracted attention, far more it has to be said that the referendum on Assembly powers also taking place today. Nevertheless, the stories that are revealed are quite entertaining. The Daily Telegraph says that the phenomenon of extra-terrestrial encounters and alien abduction was discussed at the highest level of government and security services worldwide, including at the United Nations (UN), the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and was even the subject of a debate in the House of ...
I am not sure whether this is Rocky Horror or the Hokey Cokey but they certainly do politics differently down under. According to the Daily Telegraph Australian Liberal Senator, Mary Jo Fisher felt so passionately about denouncing the government's climate change policy that she decided to choreograph her argument to the famous children's party song the Hokey Cokey, or the Hokey Pokey as she described it: Twirling around in the chamber she told colleagues: "You put petrol in, you take petrol out, you put petrol in and you shake the tax about." She also illustrated her points on carbon tax ...
If you can't make it to Putney on Sunday (or if you prefer pancakes, or if you want to stalk me) then come along on Tuesday next week instead to hear me talk at Swiss Cottage Liberal Democrats. The details are: [IMG: Pancakes] 112 Goldhurst Terrace, London, NW6 3HR As it's Shrove Tuesday, this will be more a case of pancakes rather than pizza with the politics as Dr Mark Pack gives a talk entitled "The AV referendum: why we've got it and how to win it", followed by a Q&A session. The nearest tube is either Finchley Road or ...
[IMG: Newsletter screenshot] The March edition of my monthly email newsletter about the Liberal Democrats hit people's inboxes this week. As before it looks to provide something extra for people who want to know more about what's going on in the Liberal Democrats than you get from following the general news but for whom reading lots of political blog posts each day isn't their thing. There's going to be a bonus mid-month edition in a couple of weeks, reporting back on the Liberal Democrat spring conference in Sheffield. If you'd like to get it by email shortly after conference ends ...
Lib Dem Leader Ruth Davis used her budget statement last week to back the proposed South Glos Council Tax freeze and warn against hidden cuts in the Conservative budget proposals. Explaining why the Lib Dems could not support the Tory budget, Cllr Ruth Davis said, "I wouldn't want anyone to be deceived by this bland balanced budget with its cover up of words like 'savings'. Many of these 'savings' have yet to be worked out and until you make the details public there will be no guarantee that these 'savings' will not actually be CUTS. I want to highlight that ...
Yesterday , the UKBA quietly announced some changes to the tier 2 ICT route and section j (IT worker) minimum salaries for tier 2 general and ICT. Tier 2 ICT can only be used for graduate level jobs. The following SOC are no longer considered graduate level:5242 Telecommunications engineers 3131 IT operations technicians 3132 IT user support technicians 3131 includes system administrators and 3132 includes DBAs. The following are still allowed:1136 Information and communication technology managers 2131 IT strategy and planning professionals 2132 Software professionals Many of the minimum appopriate salaries have been increased in the section j code of ...
At the request of Pam King, residents on Ashfield Road were consulted on amendments to the yellow lines on Ashfield Road and Ashfield Crescent. Of particular concern is one resident, living near the library, who often has problems safely getting in and out of his driveway. The outcome, following the consultation and a decision at Tuesday's area committee, is for a short additional stretch of double yellow lines past the side of the surgery on Ashfield Road, plus a single yellow line across the front of the surgery and double yellows around the opposite corner by the school. We've also ...
If there was a prize for the shortest op-ed this year, chances are it would go to Chris Huhne. His latest op-ed weighs in at just 117 words – though given those are 117 words in The Sun they reach a rather larger audience (even of Liberal Democrats) than many a longer piece elsewhere. Here is a brief sample: Before long, we'll all be plugging into the mains. For the full 117 words, see The Sun's website.
Yvette Cooper has the accolaid of being the subject of the only joke on the 10 o'Clock show that I've actually laughed at so it will come as no surprise to other to discover that I've turned down my personal invitation to see her in the flesh. The purpose of the visit is apparently to ask people what they want in the next Labour manifesto. You would have thought after being in government for all those years that she might have some idea what her party stood for and not have to get off the train waving a blank piece ...
The Murdoch BSkyB takeover has come to its inevitable conclusion since the Telegraph's sting on Vince Cable. There's two sad lessons to be learnt, I think. The most immediate one I'm sure Vince has already come to terms with. Despite the decidedly underhand manner through which he found himself removed from the case, it's generally a bad idea to wear your righteousness on your sleeve. It might find favour with like-minded souls, but has a habit of stripping away power. It must be painful having so many people agree with your opinion but not with how you choose to express ...
The chaotic goings on in Libya expose the weaknesses in modern journalism. I am particularly disappointed in the BBC, whose radio news is one of my main sources. The modern journalists job, it seems, is to relay the latest dramatic report, and pass on the odd rumour. Analysis isn't their job. And the biggest crime of all is to report news that is out of date, no matter that it may be more accurate than earlier reports. 24 hour news coverage simply tries to substitute quantity for quality. I can only stand it for short periods. The BBC was particularly ...
Councils can save a lot of money by sharing services. But even on that point, Wokingham Borough Council can't just be straightforward and say what's going on. Transformation is changing the way the council operates, from top to bottom. The Lib Dems are not opposed to change, if it works. For a long time we have been arguing Wokingham should share staff with other councils. The council now has a shared Trading Standards team, with at least as good a service and a substantial financial saving - but the figure isn't explicit in the budget papers, so if you want ...
Nick Clegg said this week that the Government will shortly unveil its plans for reforming the House of Lords. Answering questions in the Commons on Tuesday, Clegg said: The cross-party Committee, which I chair, has been considering proposals for a wholly or mainly elected second Chamber. The Government will publish a draft Bill shortly, which will then be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny. The Government hope that that will be carried out by a Joint Committee of both Houses. It's very likely that the second chamber will be renamed, to reflect the constitutional changes. Upper Houses around the world have a ...
Very saddened to hear today of Mark Hanson's tragic death. Mark had been a key player in many of Labour online initiatives and I often met Mark at events looking at the internet and its impact on British politics. Sometimes it with us both on the same panel, sometimes with him in the audience asking me a question and sometimes with me being the one in the audience. His contributions were always thoughtful, contained gems I could learn from and he always remembered how much people in different political parties have in common, whatever our other strong disagreements. My thoughts ...
Speaking at Britain's Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg urged the EU to rise to the challenge of the dramatic political change taking place in North Africa. He is correct that Europe needs to rethink radically its approach towards the region. He said that what is happening in ...
In an article in the Observer last month William Keegan wrote: "There is something barbaric about the way this coalition is setting about a deficit problem whose seriousness it has cynically magnified for its own political purposes." Alas Liberal Democrats are in this deception up to the neck. In an "all member" issue of Liberal Democrat News which I have just received Nick Clegg begins his front-page article: "Tackling the legacy of Labour's debt is one of the most urgent tasks facing the government," continues "Labour left us well and truly in the red" and later cites "the deficit and ...
Philip Green's report into how the government could save money was initially rather dominated by the way he has arranged his own personal tax affairs. Some of his ideas were also far from good – such as the idea that the government should become a slow payer of bills to small businesses – but there were also good ideas in the Philip Green report. The government has now come up with its response to the report and its plans for implementing many of the recommendations. What particularly caught my eye was the boost to open data: Spending on new information ...
We had an intermittent fault on our phone line which meant that about twice a day we had to reboot the router to get a new IP address. BT came out yesterday morning to fix it. Now we have no phone or internet at home. It might be back on Tuesday. Meantime, don't expect any ...
Last night the Labour/Tory Cabinet's budget was passed unchanged by Stockton Council. We proposed two things: First of all a transition fund to allow the youth clubs which are going to have funding withdrawn to stay open for a few months while they look for other sources of support or funding to carry on the work they're doing and perhaps be able to do it in a different way. We proposed using
Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat Voice Ed Miliband used his first three questions, at this week's Prime Minister's Questions, in stimulating a very earnest explanation of what the UK is doing about the crisis in Libya. This also addressed why RAF personnel are being made redundant at the very moment we need the RAF to be on stand-by to maintain a No fly zone over Libya. Ed Miliband's fourth question nuked the Prime Minister. Cameron didn't have an answer. It was stunning: The Government "are adamant that there is no need for cuts in local authority front-line services. Can he therefore ...
It has come to my attention that I made a couple of typos in my predictions for 2011 post. These occur in prediction 2 where, obviously infected by Ashes fever, I typed 'cricket' when I meant 'rugby' and 'India' when I meant 'New Zealand'. This is obviously an honest and genuine mistake and not in any way a hasty bandwagon-jumping correction to reflect the fact that a side that can lose so spectacularly to Ireland obviously isn't going to a World Cup final, while the English rugby side has suddenly become rather good.
Ed Miliband used his first three questions, at this week's Prime Minister's Questions, in stimulating a very earnest explanation of what the UK is doing about the crisis in Libya. This also addressed why RAF personnel are being made redundant at the very moment we need the RAF to be on stand-by to maintain a No fly zone over Libya. Ed Miliband's fourth question nuked the Prime Minister. Cameron didn't have an answer. It was stunning: The Government "are adamant that there is no need for cuts in local authority front-line services. Can he therefore explain why Conservative-run Bromley council ...
Yesterday the Scottish Parliament voted to scrap the charge for NHS prescriptions once and for all. This move was supported by the SNP Government and Labour, and opposed by the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. I have written often enough that I think that a small prescription charge for those who can afford it is not really a big deal so I'm glad that the Lib Dems stuck to their long held position on this. Health spokesman Ross Finnie said: "NHS Boards are making difficult choices on cutting nursing staff and hospital beds as they struggle to cope with the funding ...
Press Release Lib Dem Ministers Act on Capitalisation "I am delighted that at least Lib Dems in Government are listening to the pleas of local government. Today an increase in capitalisation is being announced which will increase by 50% ... Continue reading →
Heron Land Developments has announced the dates of two drop-in days, when people can view proposals for a new neighbourhood in North Yate. The area was identified for 3000 homes in South Glos's draft Core Strategy to meet the previous government's housing targets. Although planning authorities have been allowed to assess housing need themselves since the General Election, the current South Glos administration has decided to retain the 3000, despite local opposition. Heron owns most of the land north of Brimsham Park and would be the lead developer, responsible for the infrastructure for the new neighbourhood. This exhibition is not ...
We are currently awaiting the fourth visit from a well-known high street electrical retailer to fit a new hob in our kitchen. The first two visits led to a new hob being fitted, only to discover that the new one was faulty. The third visit occurred on the wrong day. No one was at home. ...
The five greatest Christopher Lee villains - Telegraph Lord Summerisle is NOT a villain! Edwoodwoodwood deserved to be sacrificed! Ahem. Still, worth clicking through to this for the clips. (tags: film) DC Women Kicking Ass - What if everyone in Gotham looked like Bat-mite? OMG MITEWING!!!! SO CUTE! Not so keen on Pammy Ivy. Batwomanmite is awesome, though (tags: comics) BBC News - Insurance and pension costs hit by ECJ gender ruling I approve of this ruling. Any court that gets insurance companies to assess people as individuals, and bans that bloody awful Sheila's Wheels advert in the same ruling ...
Langworthy residents were left angry and upset after January's Community Committee meeting where it was revealed by council officers that it was unlikely there would be enough money left in the budget to pay for much needed car parking and an access road behind the shops on Langworthy Road. I attended this meeting and raised my concerns about the council's priorities. By the time the Langworthy Road shop car parking scheme reached the community committee, it was too late as council officers wanted the money left over in the budget to be spent in Ordsall on some new 'super crossings' ...
As with other post-election books such as Britain at the Polls, Britain Votes 2010 edited by Andrew Geddes and Jonathan Tonge faces a dual challenge. On the one hand the growth of online political coverage means there is much detailed analysis which appears months before books such as this come out, and on the other hand the revitalisation of the long-running Nuffield general election series means there is less room for a successful book such as this. Britain Votes 2010 therefore, whilst a decent successor to the previous titles in the series, is also a book in part in search ...
[IMG: Watch Phone showing W3C] Like many people, I no longer wear a watch. I've got a phone which tells me the time and data – why do I need something cluttering my wrist? The Evolution of the WatchI wasn't always this way, I used to love high-tech watches. Throughout my teenaged years I had one of those calculator watches – enabling me to add up my pocket money and write "5318008" for instant humour. In 1999, I graduated to the seriously awesome Timex 78401. [IMG: Timex Ironman Triathlon Datalink] This was an immensely cool bit of kit. It could ...
Today's the day. The Welsh go to the polls today in the referendum on Welsh powers. Wales needs a strong and firm 'Yes' vote to show the rest of the UK that we are an increasingly self-confident nation and people who are willing and ready to take our own destiny in our own hands. To celebrate my patriotic Welshness on this important day in our history and in the development of our country, I have chosen some Welsh songs that proudly remind me that I was born a lucky man - I was born a Welshman. To begin with, our ...
The Estonian general election is coming to a climax, with the election day taking place on Sunday March 6th. Or rather the last election day is on March 6th, because for the past several days, Estonian citizens have been able to vote online. Indeed a record 27.4% of votes have been cast before today- the last possible day to vote online. These e-votes can still be changed, and should a voter change their mind, they may still go to a polling station and this will cancel the e-vote. However very few, in practice, choose to do so. Estonia has broken ...
So Jeremy Hunt has let his chums break all competition rules and expand their monopolistic empire, without a squeak? Given that Hunt's views on Murdoch are as well-known as Vince Cable's, without the assistance of the gutter press, I think it can safely be said that this decision was pre-determined. One law for the Liberal Democrats in the Coalition, another for the Tories, it seems. And what role, I wonder, did Hunt's bag-carrier, the Reading East MP, have in the decision? Either way, today marks a very sad day for the British media. Jim Naughtie was right about Hunt. socialise ...
I have been too busy this week to blog, however I have been reading the web so here is a selection of issues making headlines during the past few weeks. Local News This week councillors have been getting into trouble, In slough a councillor has been charged with illegal taxi touting and driving with no insurance in London. A Lib Dem councillor is accused of making a racist remark about a Labour MP on Twitter has been suspended from his party. He tweeted: "I'm waiting for the Labour guy to claim 'is it because I is black?' as a defense ...
Another books read meme: Tor.com have been conducting an online poll on the best sf/f novel of the last decade. I was slightly surprised to see it won by a book which I do not rate that highly myself, but anyway it gives me the material for another books meme, using the 50 books which got 51 or more votes. As usual, bold the ones you have read, italicise those you have started but not finished, and those you didn't like. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss Kushiel's Dart, by Jacqueline Carey A ...
i) births and deaths 3 March 1924: birth of John Woodnutt, who played George Hibbert in Spearhead from Space (1970), the Draconian Emperor in Frontier in Space (1973), Broton and the Duke of Forgill in Terror of the Zygons (1976), and Seron in The Keeper of Traken (1981). 3 March 2004: death of Sheila Dunn, who played Blossom Lefavre in The Daleks' Master Plan (1965), the computer voice of the Electromatic company in The Invasion (1968), and Petra Williams in Inferno (1970). She was married to television director Douglas Camfield. ii) broadcast anniversary 3 March 1973: broadcast of second episode ...
Unfortunately it's Julian Assange. However one wonders whether these two might reassure them that it can do the right thing...
Today's county council cabinet meeting which voted to provide the additional funding required for the Consett Academy, built on Belle Vue, was nothing if not predictable. A representative of the Consett Green Spaces Group and I expressed our concerns and reservations – not about Consett getting the new school it so clearly needs, but about what it will be getting and where. The rest was members of the cabinet taking the chance to extol themselves and slam their opponents. Having read the first newspaper report I've decided to put the whole text of what I said here, then you can ...
I'm going to start to do more local stories now and this is the first one. Please let me know what you think. At the moment, there are three thousand, nine hundred and sixty-four people on Guildford's Housing Registers. That's almost 4,000 people in need of affordable, rented or low-cost shared-ownership homes. But don't worry, after all, we're the third richest town in the country so I'm sure we'll be able to sort the problem out... Oh. Apparently, I assumed incorrectly. See, it turns out that the tories running the council aren't that keen on solving the problem and only ...
On the 2nd February I wrote about the Burghers of Calais and mentioned that I had read about them in Stephen Clarke's book 1000 years of annoying the French. In the same book I read about the French Revolution. Stephen tells us that the storming of the Bastille was not the major event that sparked events. In fact there was a long list of grievances presented to King Louis XVI. The Revolution could have stopped there and then as the king was fairly hopeful that the (fairly major) demands could be negotiated. The problem was the voting system. The clergy, ...
