And so we get to the most difficult Beach Boys album for me to write about. Not because it's musically more difficult than any other album, but because it's much harder to find new things to say about it. While I only know of a tiny number of books that deal with the Beach Boys' ...
[IMG: Leeds Student's piece on disaffiliation, from the 19 Feb issue.] Leeds Student's piece on disaffiliation, from the 19 Feb issue. Same method, different questions, to pt. 1. The Union's sole function should be to help students have fun: No. I shouldn't have to explain this. The Union Trustees must have the final say on policy: Yes, see 1:3. Militant activists should be invited by the Union to debate their policies on campus: Yes. As a strong believer in free speech, I don't believe anyone should be banned from debating on campus because of their viewpoints. The Union building needs ...
No they are not. Something that the news media don't seem to have picked up on is that Somerset only received a 2% cut from Westminster. That amounts to £8m. Yep, just 8 million. Somerset County Council, and its' Conservative leader Ken Maddock decided that SCC should cut £34m, that's £24m more than they had to cut. They passed £14m of this on to the Conservative run Mendip District Council, that's more than the total cut's they received. These two councils have so far done the following to achieve the cuts they want (not need) to make. 100% Cut to ...
Today saw the publication by the Government of the Carbon Plan. This was a key plank of the Liberal Democrat manifesto in 2010 so it is fantastic to see it being delivered in Government by the Coalition. "Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister backed cross-Government action plan on climate change has been launched today which sets strict actions and deadlines that Whitehall will have to meet to ensure that the Government lives up to its 'Greenest Government' ever aim. The Carbon Plan: Shows that the delivery of the Government's low carbon agenda is the shared responsibility of the whole of ...
A final thanks to all those who have contributed to today's focus on Youth Justice. I trust, dear readers, you have found the debate enlightening and challenging and those of you heading for Sheffield will join us for the debate on Saturday afternoon. We have a fringe event on Friday evening at 8pm in Suite 5 in Jury's Inn. Peter Oborne will be chairing a debate with Tom McNally, Simon Hughes and others on Youth Justice in an Age of Austerity. In the midst of all that I personally find unpalatable about the Coalition this is one area where I ...
Here follows a public service announcement for local residents and people who visit Redlands regularly (via the Council's Highways Dept): "a footway closure that will take place along the western footway of Redlands Road between Acacia Road and London Road, as shown on the attached plan, to enable the University of Reading to repair the listed boundary wall of there London Road campus, which is in danger of collapse. Pedestrians will still be able to use the footway on the eastern side of Redlands Road along this length of road. The majority of the works will be undertaken from the ...
Since I became Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice last May I have been working with Ken Clarke and the other Ministers within the department to make radical changes to the criminal justice system. Our plans are about finding out what works - the methods of rehabilitation and punishment which actually reduce crime. One of the key aspects of this vision is preventing and tackling offending by young people. In England and Wales the number of children aged 10 to 17 grew rapidly during the course of the 1990s and into the second term of the Labour government ...
And now for something a little different: Leeds University Union is holding its student executive elections soon, and as such, I'm going to go through all the positions and all 41 of the candidates to see who I'd vote for LUU. Luckily, LUU have teamed up with Unlock Democracy and created a "vote match" webapp to streamline this process: twenty questions are given, with a yes/no/open minded option. So, without further ado, the questions for Education Officer: The Union shouldn't stock products that harm the environment: this is good in principle but may be hard to implement in practice; what ...
Tue 8th
22:36
Just when you thought Taiwanese animated news couldn't get any more bizarre.....along comes Charlie ...
Monday's meeting of the Yardley Constituency Strategic Partnership was mainly taken up by reports from those delivering Working Neighbourhood Fund projects, which are now coming to an end. The main reports, by Ingeous and BEST Network, were similar to the extent that they both said they had achieved their targets in terms of engaging unemployed clients and putting them on the various training and confidence building activities they run to help them get back to work. It was a more mixed picture in terms of actually getting people into sustained work (defined as 13 weeks or more). Some targets were ...
I've just finished making my notes on 'Self' – chapter 5 of the DD307 Social Psychology Matters course book. Again, it's been an interesting and thought-provoking read. I was particularly taken by the phenomenological approach to self as illustrated by the Ashworth and Ashworth research into how carers can better relate to Alzheimer's sufferers. It struck me as being an eminently sensible and reasonable approach – and one which was generating "proper" knowledge that was genuinely useful. However, I found myself sniggering all the way through the case study on "Vince" (and "Esther" too for that matter), which formed one ...
Today is the 100th International Women's Day and it's been covered extensively online. Here are a few of my favourites. Kayleigh, one of the fabulous F1 crowd I hang around with on Twitter, shares her thoughts as a woman working as an engineer in F1. Lily Greenan is 100% spot on when she writes for Better Nation about domestic violence and the need to have a proper conversation about men behaving badly. Carolyn has bad news for those of us hoping to see more women in Holyrood after the election - and although current figures look not so bad for ...
I think that peugeot, have used the slogan "drive of your life" occasionally to promote their product. Having driven a couple of their vans, I just wonder what Is meant by the slogan, since the first one I had seemed to be haunted, the electronics apparently deciding when I should use headlights dipped and full beam, even after I took the vehicle in to have the fuel pipe moved from the exhaust and the computer reset the lights including dashboard still had a life of their own. Tonight the replacement broke down resulting in a four and a half hour ...
Test Valley' Borough Council's cabinet is being recommended to accept Lib Dem proposals to drop charges for street parties to celebrate the royal wedding. The council originally intended to charge a £25 administration fee for granting permission to residents to close roads for street parties for the wedding on April 29th but Lib Dem borough councillors objected to this. St Mary's councillor Mike McGarry tabled a motion to last month's council meeting calling for the charges to be dropped. "The extra bank holiday gives residents an opportunity to forget about the economic crisis and join in a national celebration. The ...
Householders now have to pay a new flat fee for planning advice. As well as fees for planning applications, Test Valley Borough Council has also introduced charges for pre-application planning advice. This is despite the unanimous decision of the Borough's Scrutiny Committee that pre-planning advice for householders should remain free of charge. "Planning officers admitted that pre-planning advice was free to encourage householders to make good quality planning applications", says Scrutiny Committee member Cllr Mark Cooper. "Charging for the service will discourage its use, and will cost everyone extra time and money sorting out poor quality or inappropriate planning applications". ...
My friend Mike has pointed out to me in the comments to yesterday's linkblog that I unaccountably failed to link this. As well as commenting here (and on various other blogs by Good People such as Millennium and Andrew Rilstone) and having his own excellent blog on programming (see the sidebar), Mike is a palaeontologist, ...
britishrailways.tv
Together with my colleagues on the Parish Council Jo Freeman and Bill Stiles I took part on Sunday morning in Uttlesfords Big Clean Up. This was an initiative which I have publicly backed at the Council to have a district wide war on litter. Litter has a depressing affect on the street scene and the whole quality of residents lives. I spent a couple of hours on Church Road clearing the verges and copses of litter. Together with my colleagues we filled several bags full of discarded cans and bottles. We also recovered the remnants of a hoover. Although Stansted ...
Responding to the public war of words between Peter Hain MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Wales and Carwyn Jones, the Leader of the Labour Party in Wales, Peter Black AM, the Welsh Liberal Democrat Chief Whip said: "Carwyn Jones is meant to be the leader of the Labour Party in Wales but his own MPs are now openly revolting against his government and his leadership. There will be many people who are now confused about who speaks for Welsh Labour - Peter Hain or Carwyn Jones. "It is hard to see how Welsh Labour can be a strong ...
It's not really Pancake Day - we should I suppose call it by its proper name, Shrove Tuesday. I am a bit over-excited tonight, having discovered that I am a tiny bit awesome in the pancake making department. Enough previous attempts have ended in disaster to convince me that I simply can't make pancakes but, at the suggestion of my husband, I used a different pan tonight and they turned out really well. We had savoury ones with a chicken, white wine and tarragon sauce and sweet ones with maple syrup and ice cream. I am now so pleased that ...
As Obama said, "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible...". If there is anyone out there who still doubts that George W Bush and his coterie were not the biggest bunch of schmucks ever elected to run a democratic country, consider the case of Valerie Plame Wilson, who appeared on Radio 4's On the ropes today. The story is also told in
A number of evening and Sunday services will be withdrawn from the 4th April in Suffolk. The full list is at the Suffolk On Board website. Liberal Democrats did try to amend the Conservative budget in order to retain these services. Unfortunately our amendment was not accepted. In my area bus changes and withdrawals include: 87A Stowupland – Stowmarket – Sproughton – Ipswich Evening and Sunday service withdrawn 87B Stowmarket – Sproughton – Ipswich Evening and Sunday service withdrawn 88B Stowmarket – Sproughton – Ipswich Evening and Sunday service withdrawn 90 Ipswich – Hadleigh Evening and Sunday service withdrawn 91 ...
Spoke to our PCSO (Police Community Support Officer) today and he informed me that another morning was spent yesterday tackling dog fouling. A number of people were spoken to and I believe 3 fixed penalties were issued to people not picking up after their dogs. This was on the Deganwy to West Shore section of the cycle track. Varying excuses ranging from "I didn't see the dog do it"!! to, I was not paying attention as I had to text my friend. Yesterday, I had a ward walkabout with my colleague Councillor Sue Shotter and as we were walking by ...
The latest pot holes on the road that link Lytton and London Road (we must get a name for this road one day) have been filled. This is the second time repairs have been made to the road in the last few months. Whilst I am pleased, I am left wondering whether this is the most cost effective way of repairs. The latest holes were clearly cracks waiting to develop when the first hole was
Back in the early 1980s there were many Labour activists who were convinced that the party had been defeated by Margaret Thatcher because it had not been socialist enough. I never quite understood the logic of that, but it was widely believed. Today we see a mirror image of this argument among some Conservatives. The lustre is going off David Cameron, they insist, because he has not been right-wing enough. A good example comes from Simon Heffer on the Daily Telegraph site this evening: Much of the disaffection among voters is bred of the feeling that Mr Cameron has taken ...
Many schools complain about the invention of social networks at the problems they cause with e-bullying. I know from reading the national and local press that Facebook, My Space and similar are disliked by schools. They can help create witch hunts to hound teachers out and support networks for teachers facing disciplinary action. These campaigns can become viral, but rarely do. The hounding and bullying from young people to other young people has caused suicides and emotional problems, just today I read this story (Daily Mail link for reference) of what Facebook users can do. Now, I am with schools ...
Richard Morris take A View from Ham Common and finds he rather likes Stephen Williams' plan for distributing shares in the banks that were rescued by the taxpayer: "the government may well get a greater return on its investment than a 'conventional' privatisation as well, and everybody, not just those with capital to invest, owns the banks". A Scottish Liberal reflects on a year of blogging. "Hundreds of witnesses and suspects have already been interviewed, right up to the highest levels in the former HBOS, as part of what has been described as 'the largest fraud investigation in UK history' ...
I was wandering into Sainsbury's earlier when I bumped into a fellow Councillor who is a Conservative. It amused me no end that when I told her I ws shopping for pancake ingredients she replied that she too was out celebrating Shrove Tuesday and would be very much enjoying an evening of crepes! And there wasn't ...
Lembit Opik wants to be Mayor of London. No doubt Lembit wants to be a lot of things too - celebrity, gigolo, astronomer, stand up comedian and so on. But what he has conclusively proved over the last few years is that he is not a politician. Throwing away a seat that has been liberal for all but four of the last 140 years ought to be a salutory lesson, but it is clear from his actions since that he has learned nothing from his rejection by the good people of Montgomeryshire. He's carried on as if it never happened ...
I tripped across this little tale about the Observers Science Editor Robin McKie and his encounter with Yuri Gagarin. At least he had the excuse of being only eleven years old. Three years ago I was fortunate enough to attend the Interplanetary Explorers Conference dinner when they splashed down in Edinburgh. My right hand, I often boast, has shaken three hands that have been in space! The astronauts and cosmonauts I met were real super men and women. They were such brave and inspiring people and they were in Scotland speaking to school children up and down the country ...
OK, best to start with my cards on the table. I am a smoker, I have been for around a quarter of a century (with a few brief flashes of willpower in between) and I work in the pub trade. You could say that these factors cloud (no pun intended) my judgement on the issue ...
From time to time situations arise in our community which are upsetting. It only takes a few anti-social families to wreck an area. And no matter how great the will of the community anti-socialable behaviour officers, or the police, or locally elected representative, nothing can be achieved without the co-operation of the wider community. When asked to do so, please take time to keep a diary of anti-social behaviour. This is the only way that action can be taken through the courts to prevent the continuing nuisance. Right now, I know of a situation in Tithe Farm. In order to ...
The fairer votes referendum has, unsurprisingly, caused a little bit of difficulty for the coalition, but perhaps not in the way you might have expected. The issue is not so much about the two parties disagreeing, everyone knew that would happen and provisions have been made, but more what happens to the losing leader. An ...
You can tell there is an election coming. Today I received in the post a Residents' Survey from the Wells Conservative Association. This blatant piece of electioneering (I wonder if they are declaring the cost of sending that in their campaign costs?) is a barely disguised 'vote for us' leaflet. It tells me what a great job the Conservatives have been doing, reminds me that they 'brought down' Council Tax rises and intend to freeze the Council Tax this year. It tells me that they have improved recycling in the area and have achieved 'Measures' to support local jobs and ...
European Commission proposals on energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions have been damned by a North West Euro-MP. The Commission published its "Climate Roadmap to 2050" on Tuesday which details how to slash greenhouse gas emissions across the EU ... Continue reading →
George Monbiot is continuing to provide a source of disappointment for me personally. Given that I've based significant chunks of my opinions on decarbonising the economy on his book Heat, the mistakes made in his current attempt to bring the entire economy under his analysis are somewhat dispiriting. Another example is out today. George is ...
As I've mentioned before, Jasper Fforde is one of my favourite authors. His latest book "One of Our Thursdays is Missing " is a brilliant work of fiction – but contains a rather worrying flaw. Well, I say a "worrying flaw" – I mean an error. All books contain errata – I think that's a given – but outside of academia, Jasper Fforde is the only author I know who offers upgrades to his books. Here's a sample from the original Thursday Next "patch" 5: Using a fine black pen make the following corrections: 6: Go to page 32 and ...
There they are, the 27 members of the mighty, overbearing, all-powerful, unelected European executive that overrides national sovereignty and reinforces the rules of the European Superstate with every passing day. Or so you might imagine if you listened too much ... Continue reading →
Tue 8th
17:24Is this the first concrete sign that Sarah Palin will not run for the Republican Presidential nomina...
On May 2nd, the day of the first Republican candidates debate in California, Sarah Palin is now scheduled to be at a Fundraiser 848 miles away in Denver, Colorado.
Somerset and Avon Police have announced a surprising and possibly doomed project: to increase intelligence in Chard. I note that TESCO is already in on the act. We at the University of Chard of course welcome any opportunity to get our hands on public money, ahem, I mean to increase the educational opportunities in South Somerset. It won't cost you £9,000 to get a degree here !
It probably shouldn't take me two posts to write about one leader's speech to conference, but I thought that this part was so important that it deserved its own star billing. The election takes place on 5th May. By my daughter's birthday on 5th June, this is what Tavish expects that ministers in a Liberal Democrat government will have started to do.1. Reform to the support we give to enterprise, to set up the development banks, to get money to thousands of small businesses who have been let down by their banks.2. A stronger role for local colleges to deliver ...
Emily Davison was a women I admired. She understood liberty and the true cost of gaining it, a true icon and defender of liberty in this country. The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies is the only feminist group, in ... Continue reading →
..."A health time bomb" is how BBC1′s Panorama described the cigarette counterfeiting crisis facing Britain, in last night's programme "Smoking and the Bandits". The scale of the illicit trade on tobacco is eye-watering – an estimated £4billion in lost tax revenue in the UK every year according to Panorama – though I have seen much bigger figures elsewhere. The reason why the counterfeit tobacco trade has mushroomed in the UK is obvious... "80% of the cigarette price is tax, making our country the second most expensive place in the world to buy cigarettes". And so the proliferation of knock-off cigarettes ...
Following on from my recent blog posts about the return of the comic leg-end that is Alan Partridge to our airwaves, we continue with the series. He's back hosting Mid Morning Matters on North Norfolk Digital Radio (with new sidekick Zoe Scott). Episode 11 sees Alan playing 'forced celebrity breeding'. Ideas include Stephen Hawking with Pamela Anderson and Kylie Minogue with David Dickinson . He also hosts agony aunt Polly Maplin from the Norfolk Herald during which Alan admits his equicidal episode..
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 ...
....yet the Liberal party survived, kept alive by a rump of elderly 'awkward nonconformists' dedicated to their version of Liberalism. And from the mid 1950's a slow revival set in, given a boost by the Suez crisis and the reactionary colonialism of British Foreign Policy as Conservatives proved that they were not Liberals in disguise. By the end of the decade the party organisation had improved and the progressives had won their fight with Economic Liberals who had departed, some to found the Institute of Economic Affairs..... William Wallace writing in the Journal of Liberal History
There was speculation that once the referendum was over then normal hostilities would resume but surely nobody expected that the conflict would develop in quite such a dramatic way as a meltdown within Wales Labour and the Plaid Cymru education spokesperson launching a public attack on her own government. The BBC report that in a statement issued by the Welsh Labour press office on Monday, the Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Hain said that after last week's Yes vote in the referendum that "people are now asking 'what is the point of Plaid Cymru?'" Mr Hain has now ...
It must be bash The Herald week. I've mentioned the misleading headlines and questionable motivations of the Glasgow-based newspaper in the previous few posts. Listening to Callum Leslie interviewing Robin Harper MSP this morning on freshair.org.uk, I was intrigued that the discussion turned to the media depiction of Lib Dem policy as one of "giving out free heroin" - especially as it was Callum himself who introduced the motion at Conference. Lest we forget, The Sunday Herald had proclaimed that "Lib Dems back move to give addicts NHS heroin". While slightly less hysterical than the Scottish Sunday Express (which incorrectly ...
Today is the 100th annual International Women's Day, a day to celebrate the achievements of women, and inspire others. Not that you would know it from the BBC website though. There is no mention of it on either the front page or the news page. A quick search reveals a couple of articles hidden in ...
The duty of the police is to protect and maintain the peace; I would not disagree with that obligation. Nor will I protest at their right to a decent pay, but the police should not be treated differently. If the ... Continue reading →
After the poor result for the Lib Dems in Barnsley Central last week, I read quite a few articles in the press and also online, theorising why the Lib Dems had gone from 2nd in May 2010 to 6th in 2011. I also recieved a huge amount of trite emails and postings from Lib Dems 'spinning' the result with comments like 'well it was always a safe Labour Seat'..Let's face facts it it was a non campaign! The recent article in the Daily Mail by Dominic Carmen about his experiences of campaigning in Barnsley Central should send out worrying signals ...
A Gatley resident has got in touch, concerned about a "double-hit" PayPal phishing scam where two emails arrive warning of a possibly fraudulent transaction. They're spaced out a little, to make it seem more genuine (especially as he had sent the first one to PayPal's phishing department so thought the second might be a reply from them confirming a real issue). PayPal has a good guide on Phishing. As a general rule: Companies should never ask you for your username and password in an email. Don't trust the address an email appears to come from – they're easy to fake. ...
Some of these I answered yesterday, but there are some more people have now. Q. Why isn't the question about religion compulsory? A. It always has been voluntary (as far back as I can recall for at least the last 100 years). I'm not sure why it is now, but there used to be discrimination ...
Tue 8th
14:11
No, Scottish Liberal Democrats aren't for handing out heroin like sweeties - the truth behind the lu...
RTFQ That was my mantra before sitting an exam. Read the Flippin' Question*. Making sure you understand what you're being asked is fundamental. Otherwise, you can go off on one, write pages and then realise that you are not really giving the examiner what they want. Take it from one who knows. RTFQ has a twin, RTFM, applicable to journalists in particular. It stands for Read the Flippin' Motion* before you write a headline which completely misrepresents what the Scottish Liberal Democrat (or any other but I only really care about ours) Conference has voted for. "Lib Dems back move ...
I rather like Stephen Williams' plan that all UK shareholders should be given equal shares in the two banks in which the government is majority shareholder. It seems to me an entirely fair way of returning our investment into the hands of the people, and when the shares get sold the government recoups its money (which sits outside of the budget anyway). What's more, the government may well get a greater return on its investment than a 'conventional' privatization as well, and everybody, not just those with capital to invest, owns the banks. The problem with conventional privatisations (alright, one ...
Apparently, the Church of Scotland is "on course for schism", according to The Herald. Why should we care? A friend of mine, who happens to be both gay and a regular churchgoer, read this piece in the newspaper and rejected its assertions out of hand. It was exaggeration, he claimed. A product of the imaginations of journalists. And if he doesn't seem to take much interest in this, why should anyone else? I'm more than familiar with the imaginations of journalists. But there is an important issue at the heart of the matter. The reason the Kirk is allegedly set ...
Politics never ceases to surprise, not least in America where a US Senator who wants to reverse the current Nevada state law that allows legalised brothels in counties with less than 400,000 residents has met an unenthusiastic response from lawmakers. Senator Harry Reid believes that these legalised brothels send the wrong message to business leaders mulling over whether to invest in the state, during a period of historically high unemployment: "Nevada needs to be known as the first place for innovation and investment, not as the last place where prostitution is still legal," he told lawmakers, arguing that many companies ...
just over 100 years ago a Liberal government decided that young people should no longer be routinely tried in the same courts as adults. Thus was born the juvenile, now youth, court system in England and Wales. During the last hundred years much has changed in penal policy, both corporal and capital punishment have been abolished, and the prevention of re-offending has taken on a greater importance over the punishment of offenders. There is also a live debate about the minimum age of criminal responsibility. For some, magistrates, and especially lay magistrates, sometimes seem like the ogres in the system. ...
The Cheadle Area Committee has been meeting at the Ladybridge Residents Club in Cheadle Hulme for some time, so we've agreed to move our meetings to the Upper Rooms in Cheadle (above Tesco) starting from May.
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Almost 10,000 people in Cornwall will stop paying income tax on April 1st thanks to the Liberal Democrats. And 200,000 more local residents will see their tax bill cut by up to £200 a year. The tax cuts come as part of the Lib Dem commitment to raise the income tax threshold to £10,000 per year. In the first tranche, the tax-free limit was raised to £7,000 in last year's budget and the Party is committed to making sure that no-one earning less than £10k per year pays any income tax by 2015. This change will be particularly beneficial to ...
The hefty census envelope arrived yesterday. With over 40 questions about each individual in my household it's certainly comprehensive. However I'm struck with the contrast with the 1911 census. That could fit most households on one page. Names (please identify who is the "Head" of household and who is the "Wife of the Head", which speaks volumes), marital status, and new for 1911, the married women were asked how many children they'd had and how many were still living (clearly nobody cared about the death rate of children from unmarried mothers in those days), which gives food for thought. One ...
At 12.01 todayI learnt that there was an additional item for Wednesday's county council cabinet. As usual, the public are allowed to attend,and since it is scheduled for tomorrow Idon't suppose that even this undemocrtic administration will insist on three working days notice of questions from the public. The report is short, so I include it in full for your information. Purpose of the Report 1 The report asks Members to endorse the Department for Education's proposal for new sponsorship arrangements for the Consett Academy following the withdrawal of Durham University from the role of lead sponsor within the Durham ...
Our census questionnaire hit the doormat yesterday. As usual the census is stirring up a bit of controversy. Simon Beard is worried about the data being managed by Lockheed Martin, a defence contractor. I'm not overly bothered by this, but I do find myslelf getting exercised about how to answer question 20, "What is your religion?" The British Humanist Association has been urging people to tick the box for "No religion" if they are not practising members of a faith, rather than tick "Christian" if they are merely baptised, or write in "Jedi Knight" as a general wind-up. As I ...
Society has gone badly wrong in the way in which it deals with those crimes committed by young people. There are far too many children coming into contact with the criminal justice system. Children can appear in the adult Crown Court charged with grave crimes or if they are jointly charged with an adult. Under those circumstances, a child is confronted with the full rigour and formality of the court process. Following a finding by the European Court of Human Rights that the applicants Thompson and Venables had been a denied a fair hearing before the Crown Court, a Practice ...
The team have been informed about a meeting at Impington Village College hosted by County Cllr Peter Downes about schools becoming Acadmies. Cllr Downes is the Liberal Democrat spokesperson on education on the County Council. Peter has been vocal in his criticism of the move to academy status. The meeting is at 7.30pm in the Gropius Hall at IVC. The flyer says: An opportunity for teachers, support staff, governors, parents and pupils in Cambridgeshire to have a free and frank discussion of the key issues facing schools and our education system as some schools consider converting to 'academies'. * What ...
The Welsh Liberal Democrats will be using their opposition debate in the National Assembly this week to call on the Labour-Plaid Government to increase the use of personalised budgets for social care patients and scrap the 'one size fits all' current model. Veronica German AM, Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Minister, is calling for a radical change in social care to end the 'one size fits all' approach that ensures that many in Wales do not receive care packages appropriate to their needs. Instead, the Welsh Liberal Democrats will make tailored social care a priority in their election manifesto, using ...
Obama is to restart Guantanamo military commissions after a two year freeze on new military trials for detainees. Perhaps he has to now pander to the right due to the change in the democrats furtunes in the mid term elections. Still its very disapointing, its just another election promise which he has gone back on. See the Obama Truth o meter.
Ribble Valley Borough Council has put out an announcement today about road closures for the Freedom March on the morning of Thursday 10th March. Obviously strict security will be in force so please take heed of where you can and cannot go. Residents in Clitheroe are reminded that several town centre roads will close on Thursday when the Freedom of Ribble Valley is presented to the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment. The following town centre roads will be closed to non-essential traffic from 8.45am and all traffic from 10am to accommodate the historic event: Moor Lane, Castlegate, Castle Street, Market Place, ...
One of the things I have noticed is that my depression symptoms are a lot more manageable if I exercise. This is part of the reason why the last couple of months have been so awful: not only have I had legitimate reasons to be stressed out - work, finances, dealing with various government agencies, etc. - but I have been under doctors' orders not to do any exercise at all for a lot of it, and then only the most gentle exercise up until the last fortnight or so. My brain has not enjoyed this, and my body has ...
For those interested in reading the actual new guidance, it's available on the Prison Service Web Site now. And for those for whom this is all TL;DR, the summary is: It's generally a good document that falls into the two common traps with such things. Firstly, the assumption that the NHS is always right and secondly, that you can magically determine someone is trans just by looking at them without ever making a mistake. I shall start, which is all too common, by correcting two errors that have appeared in the press. Firstly, this guidance is from the National Offender ...
Tavish Scott used his keynote leader's speech to Scottish Liberal Democrat conference in Perth last Friday to slam the other three parties for their plans to centralise public services. It was clear how passionately he wants to see power given to local people, not grabbed back to Holyrood. He is particularly livid at the plans to create a single national police force which, if the other parties have their way, will go through on the nod.I completely agree with Tavish and have written before why I think a single police force is one of the most dangerous and stupid policies ...
Tue 8th
11:49
Birkenhead County Court - Chaotic Scenes as Politics clashes with the law - Council Tax protester hi...
I was going to write in answer to various Census questions people have posed but that can wait. There has been a large protest (and case adjourned) at the Birkenhead County Court leading to a number of arrests. From reading between the lines in the article, those arrested were for breach of the peace, assaulting ...
I didn't manage to sit down and post last weeks planning application, but there was one application on last weeks list. This was for "Installation of one non-illuminated double sided totem sign" at 414 Milton Road (reference 11/0180/ADV). There isn't anything on this weeks list. As ever see the City Council website for more details about an application.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child requires that states should set an age below which children cannot be held criminally liable - but does not specify a minimum age. A quick survey of other jurisdictions confirms that by comparison the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales - at ten years – is extremely low. Indeed, it is the lowest in the European Union. In other member states it ranges from 13 to 18. A survey of 90 countries by found that the most common age of criminal responsibility was in fact 14 years Taking into ...
Here is a short piece of mine published on Lib Dem Voice. In it I argue that Murdoch is part of scrap amongst right-wing newspapers which those of a liberal persuasion can observe without taking sides. It attracted a few comments, but of pretty poor quality. Mainly it was from people who so loath the Murdoch empire that they automatically oppose anything thing he does. Somebody launched a rant against the BBC licence fee. I have a wider concern. By focusing so much on Mr Murdoch liberals are in danger of losing a bigger and more important argument; they are ...
Over at the Adam Smith Institute, Dr. Eamonn Butler criticises Stephen Williams' proposals to give away the Government's shares in RBS and Lloyds to each and every person in the country. As Eammon notes, this form of privatisation proved disastrous in post-communist Russia, where citizens sold their shares too cheaply to oligarchs with deep pockets. Even if they hang onto the shares, Eammon doubts that they would become the interested shareholders that would ensure good governance of the company, as is surely desired. I agree with him, but I also see two further problems with this proposal. [Continue reading] Giving ...
It's not often that spreadsheets make me smile, but one achieved that outcome today. The spreadsheet concerned was one which outlined the benefits of the Lib Dem proposal to increase the Income Tax threshold. It was a major manifesto promise to increase the threshold to £10,000, and the coalition agreement provides for this promise to ...
A cross-party campaign group of European MPs has been formed to prevent the "hijack" of plans for radical reform of EU fisheries policies. North West Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies took the initiative to create the 'Fish for the Future' ... Continue reading →
Anger over Sefton Labour's 29% Council Tax Rise Plan - £427 increase for Band D houses On Friday last week I reported on the Militant-like behaviour of Sefton's Labour Group Leader Cllr Peter Dowd. My Birkdale Ward colleague Councillor Simon Shaw (Chartered Accountant of this parish) has carried out a detailed forensic analysis of Sefton Labour's truly appalling plans for Sefton's finances. Simon has produced some fascinating workings which show that Labour's approach would have cost local residents a massive hike in Council Tax of no less than 29%. Under Labour, Band D Council Tax would rise from £1477.68 to ...
Last night's Evening Telegraph reported on a number of recent break-ins in Marchfield Road, Pitfour Street, Rosefield Street and Peddie Street, together with my comments expressing concern about this. Intrusion into people's homes causes great upset and anxiety to householders, in addition to the theft of personal possessions. 　 I have no doubt that Tayside Police will be putting in significant resources to apprehending those responsible and the co-operation of any members of the public with information is vital.
One of the most powerful pieces of learning for me during 34 years of being in and out of custodial establishments is the capacity of their residents to respond to opportunities; to being appreciated and congratulated for work well done; to being respected for doing something worthwhile. It is the realisation that this might have been their first experience of any of this that initially takes the breath away, and always disturbs. Although, therefore, Governors have to concern themselves with secure and safe custody and, yes, maximising resources to provide opportunities for offenders in their custody, and doing what they ...
It has been a rude awakening for Downing Street Communications Chief, Craig Oliver. The new boy is already making headlines, after he missed the Prime Ministerial motorcade yesterday. It got worse for Oliver as he, a civil servant spokesman, and Business Secretary Vince Cable all put out contradictory statements about the future of Prince Andrew as ...
The European Commission will shortly hold its weekly meeting in the European Parliament and adopt some (very inadequate) proposals on improving energy efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions; I'll be meeting with the relevant Commisioners later today and expressing my displeasure. ... Continue reading →
Queen Edith's has a new police sergeant, Jim Stevenson. He presented his first report to the public at the South Area meeting at Homerton College last Thursday. In general, crime in Queen Edith's has decreased slightly over the last quarter, except for bicycle thefts, particularly in the Hills Road area and at Addenbrooke's. While the number of anti-social offences decreased, eight incidents on Queen Edith's Way of youths congregating and throwing things had been reported and more details were requested. There were 10 reports of abandoned vehicles. Sgt Stevenson also spoke of the benefits to police work of community intelligence. ...
South Gloucestershire Council is expecting to receive around £400,000 to help repair winter damaged roads from the Government. The Department for Transport has announced a £100million pot of cash for English councils to help repair potholes formed during the recent freezing weather. The money will be distributed on a needs basis and South Gloucestershire is likely to receive around £400,000 based on the same formula as last year when a similar scheme was rolled out. The DfT cash will be used to pay for priority schemes which range from pothole repairs to patching and complete resurfacing projects. The council has ...
It's been a great weekend in Cardiff at the Welsh Liberal Democrat conference. I don't say this lightly or flippantly for the sake of it but because I know it to be true - after all, this was my 19th Welsh Liberal Democrat conference out of a possible 20 since my first one back in Llandudno in the spring of 2002. This, on top of my 14 Federal conferences out of a possible 19 since my first one back in Manchester 2002 means I've been to a total of 33 Liberal Democrat conference in all! So I could be considered ...
Yes I know its shameless showing off, a bucketload of hubris and not to mention entirely co incidental... ...but The Guardian editorial this morning seems rather like one of my own pieces for Lib Dem Voice. Immitation, flattery and all that. A smug cup of tea awaits....
At Spring Conference we will finally get the opportunity to debate our Youth Justice policy – we have taken a "muscular liberal" approach – recognising that the present system fails not only some of our most vulnerable young people – but more importantly, society itself. Other countries, even the most unexpected, have a far more enlightened approach to youth justice, recognising that punishment and rehabilitation have to be combined with meeting welfare needs of children and young people who have often been badly neglected. Today a number of fellow Lib Dems express their professional and personal views of what our ...
I've been blogging for a little over a year now, although I've only been doing so in earnest from around the time of the General Election. In many respects, it's been a truly liberating experience. Blogging represents an opportunity for self-expression, to release frustrations and also serves as an outlet for my...er...creativity. As you may have noticed, my posts have become more regular over the last three months or so. The reason for this is simple: when I started blogging I wasn't sure how good an idea it was, whether anyone would actually take the time to read it and ...
For International Womens Day, 007 gets asked this question by M. Are we Equals?
This weekend's Liberal Democrat conference in Sheffield starts on the Friday afternoon with three policy consultation sessions: Facing the Future, Information Technology and Intellectual Property and Inequality. The Facing the Future policy working group is chaired by Norman Lamb MP and, as Norman explained on this site last autumn, is intended to set the party's broad policy framework for the next few years. Having such a key party leadership figure chairing the group is good news as it raises the chances of the group's deliberations and outcomes having an impact on what the Liberal Democrats in government subsequently do. The ...
Most of the media coverage of Nick Clegg's speech on multiculturalism in Luton last week, which I blogged about here, has focused on the differences with David Cameron's speech on the same subject a month ago. They variously describe it as a break or split within the coalition, or Clegg "taking on" or distancing himself from Cameron, and The Sun, in a typically restrained manner, talks of a "race war" between the two men. BBC News: 'Nick Clegg sets out vision of multiculturalism' – includes some video of the speech Mail: 'Coalition divided as Clegg says: We have to talk ...
Yesterday was my first sighting of the latest edition of the London Underground's Tube map, March 2011 edition. The main change is the addition of the new stretch of London Overground line running from Dalston through to Highbury and Islington: [IMG: London Underground Tube Map - Highbury & Islington detail] Also of note is what I think is a lovely little touch of improved design further south. The Overground line running down to Crystal Palace and West Croydon has moved fractionally to the left - for no apparent reason other than it therefore doesn't quite rest on one of the ...
Even before the coalition government, we were never going to win one of London's 'super' seats, which typically cover two or three of London's Boroughs. Figures from the last London Assembly elections show a consistent decrease in Lib Dem share of the vote in all of these 'super' seats. The reasons include your typical third party squeeze, backed by a fierce Mayoral campaign of Boris vs. Ken. 2012 brings with it not just the added challenge of being in a coalition government and the fierce criticisms we will face, but also a re-run of Boris vs. Ken. In the two ...
Following close on my last post – Andrew Gilligan in the Telegraph tells it like it really is in Haringey. You can read it here.
According to sources that I can't reveal, I can exclusively reveal that should the country vote No in the referendum on 5th May, we will be required to gold-plate every pencil used at polling stations. This will cost something in the region of eleventy squillion pounds, and it's clear that the country can't afford this expense at this time, especially when that eleventy squillion pounds could be used to pay for an elevator to the moon. So, what would you rather spend eleventy squillion pounds on instead of keeping our current electoral system? (When the director of No2AV feels free ...
A friend of mine has written the following letter for publication in Bradford's local paper, The Telegraph and Argus Sir Nigel Farage is entitled to UKIP's twenty four hours of glory following their second place in the Barnsley Central by-election. However, he and UKIP are surely getting ahead of themselves in prophesying that they will oust the Liberal Democrats as the UK's third party. Yes, the Barnsley result was a shocker for the Liberal Democrats. But as a political party we have a philosophical basis and one which is both broader, more intellectually coherent and more optimistic than the narrow ...
Don't forget that Liberal England is now accepting guest posts. So far eight have appeared: In praise of slow government - Simon BeardChildren and the surveillance state: Will the Coalition keep its word? - Terri DowtyStandards matter in higher education, not just participation rates - AnonymousA Woking class hero is something to be - Lisa HardingThe campaign for a Robin Hood Tax - Ian SullivanThe limits of the Big Society - Martin VeartCan hyperlocal news sites be the future of journalism? - Niall SullivanHow Edward Stourton misunderstood The Orange Book - Simon Titley If you would like to write one ...
1,980 Knowsley residents will pay NO tax at all and over 52,500 will pay £200 a year less tax Thanks to Lib Dems in Government, the people who will benefit the most from reduced income tax are those on the lowest incomes. That will take millions out of tax – and make it worthwhile for people to get off benefits and into work. The Lib Dems have calculated that in Knowsley it will mean 1,980 residents will pay NO tax at all from April 2011, while over 52,500 of us will pay £200 a year LESS in tax! "This is ...
I do wonder sometimes if elected politicians get up in the morning and say to themselves, time for a major blunder? I write this post, not for political point scoring, I can do that anytime with real facts and figures against the SNP, Labour and the Conservatives, instead, I write this post in sheer amazement and disgust. Only last month my good friend Caron blogged about Bill Aitken, the Conservative MSP who implied a rape victim was a prostitute just because the area she was attacked in was a known area for prostitution. You can read HERE why Caron felt ...
i) broadcast anniversaries 8 March 1969: broadcast of first episode of The Space Pirates. Space Pirates are destroying navigational beacons; the Tardis lands on one and the pirates blow it up. 8 March 1975: broadcast of first episode of Genesis of the Daleks. The Time Lords send the Doctor, Harry and Sarah to Skaro, where Davros is experimenting. 8 March 1982: broadcast of first episode of Earthshock. Paleontologists disappear and the Tardis appears in an underground cave system, attacked by androids under Cyber-control. 8 March 1983: broadcast of third episode of Enlightenment. Turlough is rescued by the Buccaneer, whose captain ...
The Ashtray: The Ultimatum (Part 1) - NYTimes.com Wow, I wish I'd been in those seminars. (tags: history science) In the Dock, in Paris - The Judgment « EJIL: Talk! The famous libel case brought over an online review: "On March 3, 2011, the Tribunal de Grand Instance de Paris issued its decision in the Criminal Libel Case brought against me based on a complaint by Dr Karine Calvo-Goller. It would appear that the Court ruled in our favor on all issues." (tags: freespeech)
I tend to keep my eye on the political situations in the areas I have worked for the last decade, after working for Lynne Featherstone MP as her head of office immediately after the 2005 general election for eighteen months, Harinegy is one of those on my watch list. In 2006 we were just 94 votes away from taking control of Haringey Council, unfortunately in 2010 that goal slipped, but the silver lining was Lynne holding her seat and then going on to become a Minister of State. Haringey Council run by old Labour for years has never been shy ...
Note from Herts County Council Hertfordshire Highways will shortly be undertaking repair works on Normandy Road between Dickens Close and Folly Lane. This work is part of Hertfordshire Highways' on-going Carriageway Maintenance Programme. Work is due to start on the 18th March 2011. The road will be close for approximately 2 days. In order to carry out the works in a safe and effective manner, it will be necessary to close the road. Whilst access to emergency vehicles will be maintained at all times, other vehicular access will be restricted during working hours. Pedestrian access will be maintained at all ...
I received a political leaflet through the door a few days ago from the Independent Party. They are part of the coalition at Lancaster City Council and as such I suppose they can claim the credit for anything good at this level of local government. On the other hand they also have to take collective blame. They can't claim anything at county level as they don't have any county councillors. They are the dominant party at town council level so they are able to freely take the blame or credit at this level. So much of what they had to ...
