I've written before about some of the cock ups of the US news networks when it comes to affairs outside their shores. Recent notable examples were when CNN thought Townsville was the capital of Queensland (its Brisbane), after they realised that Queensland wasn't actually in Tasmania. And Fox News once thought that Egypt was actually ...
Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat Voice I do like Ed Miliband's short opening questions. They always get David Cameron tied up in a convoluted response. This week it was: "Following the Liberal Democrat conference at the weekend, is the Prime Minister planning any new amendments to his Health and Social Care Bill?" The government is "anti-cherry-picking" was Cameron's (very) abridged reply. He was a day early for DEFRA questions (warf, warf). Ed Miliband repeated his question to "give the Prime Minister another go at answering". No "Cherry picking", no "price competition", reform and "extra money", said Cameron. Get away from "pre-scripted ...
Last August I wrote: In truth, the economic arguments against nuclear power were always stronger than the safety ones.But events in Japan make that seem a little overconfident. Ah, you say, that is in Japan. We don't have tsunami in Britain. But perhaps we do. A few years ago I watched a television documentary which suggested that a flood that took place in the Bristol Channel in 1607 may have been caused by a tsunami. With commendable honesty, a Burnham-on-Sea tourism website has a page discussing the theory: The flood occurred around 9am on the '20th January 1606', although in ...
There are many Lib Dem concerns with the Coalition Government's NHS white paper (cached – note, crown copyright.) Some of them were documented in the motion we passed at spring conference last weekend (cached.) To summarise, the white paper provides some evidence as to why the NHS is "failing" and needs to be "fixed", and then lays out a radical reorganisation (most famously including replacing the quasi-local civil service bodies called Primary Care Trusts, of which there are about 150, with consortia of local GPs set up as private companies.) Firstly, the "failing". The coalition criticises medical outcomes and some ...
And so, rather earlier than I might have predicted, David Cameron has lost patience with the bureaucracy. And like Tony Blair, it is clear that he doesn't really get it. What do I mean by that? Simple, if you really want to overcome years of administrative inertia, you need to bring the Civil Service with you. By attacking the senior ranks, the very people who will give the instructions to the likes of me, you make it all the more likely that they will be unenthusiastic. And to change, you really need enthusiasm. But it's about much more than being ...
The campaign to save this Shropshire village primary school now has its own website - Save Stiperstoens C of E School.
Governments are known to 'bury bad news' when the media is otherwise distracted. Nations do too! The Suez Crises was a great cover for the Soviet invasion of Hungary. And so we see that the awful devastation in Japan and the full-scale military attacks by Gaddafi on rebels is overshadowing the violent and racial oppression of protestors in Bahrain. The video, above, shows thuggish police shooting a detained protester and leaving him to crawl away in obvious agony and paralysis - what became of him we cannot know. The King of Bahrain has effectively declared war on the majority population ...
Local Campaigner and prospective Lib Dem Councillor for Herontye ward, Tony Joannou-Coetzee, recently met up with the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, at the Party's Spring Conference in Sheffield.It was clear during this event that Nick supports the work of Lib Dem councils up and down the Country and is aware of the issues that face communities in their daily lives. Indeed he made the comparison between two north-west cities; Sheffield and Manchester citing how the former, run by a Lib Dem authority, had achieved far greater success in managing the impact of the Comprehensive Spending Review than their Lancastrian ...
I do like Ed Miliband's short opening questions. They always get David Cameron tied up in a convoluted response. This week it was: "Following the Liberal Democrat conference at the weekend, is the Prime Minister planning any new amendments to his Health and Social Care Bill?" The government is "anti-cherry-picking" was Cameron's (very) abridged reply. He was a day early for DEFRA questions (warf, warf). Ed Miliband repeated his question to "give the Prime Minister another go at answering". No "Cherry picking", no "price competition", reform and "extra money", said Cameron. Get away from "pre-scripted questions" he said. Miliband replied ...
[IMG: a load of old docs] Arriving home tonight I was just thinking that it had gone quiet on the Cllr Mark Nottingham de-selection issue but it seems that this is not quite the case as documents, which I understand will be referred to tomorrow night, happened to drift into my inbox. As I understand it, Labour party members, will be meeting to discuss whether or not Mark Nottingham has somehow brought the party into disrepute , I have to say this sounds a bit far-fetched since my impression of Mark is one of a rather puritanical practitioner of labour ...
britishrailways.tv No, as it turned out. And I should like to take this opportunity of apologising to all women drivers for the commentary.
The BBC has been desperately plugging today - from Breakfast forwards - a story that tries to imply that future graduates will pay back huge amounts due to the coalition government's new tuition fees and student support policy. To quote their online article: 'The calculations assumed all the students borrowed a total of £39,000 - £9,000 in fees and £4,000 for maintenance over a three-year course - and go on to earn above the national average' So they borrow the maximum, aren't eligible for any bursary or grants due to low incomes and go on to earn above average graduate ...
From Sheena Wellington : The Friends of Wighton's monthly Cappuccino Concert is on Saturday 19th March. The performers this month will be the excellent Angus Folk, who will give a lively concert of traditional song. The event starts at 10.30am with coffee and newspapers, and the music will be from 11am. The venue is the Wighton Heritage Centre, upstairs in Dundee Central Library. Admission is £5 on the door (including coffee) and all are welcome. For more information please see http://www.friendsofwighton.com/ or call 07792 336804.
[IMG: Richard Farnhill supports the Save Our Cheques Campaign] As you'll see from the photo above, I'm joining up with the Cleckheaton Ward Liberal Democrat councillors to support the "Save Our Cheques" Campaign. The banks are planning on getting rid of cheques as a payment method by 2018, and I think that this is a mistake. Why? - Many older people prefer cheques as a form of payment, and they should not be forced into using electronic payments as the only viable alternative. Likewise, many Grandchildren enjoy receiving a cheque with birthday cards etc! - Charities are reliant on many ...
The Labour Party's rank opportunism is nothing new anymore, but it still is worthy of highlighting. George Osborne is under pressure to help motorists struggling with the ever increasing price of fuel. So naturally the front page of the Labour party website is adorned with this: Except it was the Labour government that put in place fuel rises ...
One of the things I like about cricket is that one player can change the whole course of a match and that the direction can change like the snapping of fingers. That happened this afternoon as England were heading for World Cup exit. The West Indies had plenty of time to sp four wickets in 20 balls saw England pull off a remarkable come back. What ever you say about this side they are not boring to watch!
Despite the plans for the new Bellway housing estate on Liverpool Road being submitted last Monday March 7th, many residents have complained they have not had access to them states Councillor Haydn Preece. "We have had concerns from residents on Liverpool Road about the danger of access to and from the new estate but residents have not been able to see the plans without travelling to Bootle which is wrong. After receiving a number of phone calls I have ensured the plans are on line now on the Sefton website and a hard copy is now in Ainsdale Library. Residents ...
This week I have been dealing with a few pieces of housing casework for Reading Borough Council tenants living in my ward. Apart from fixing problems for people this helps improve the service we give to all the Council's tenants. One elderly resident contacted me because he wanted to know when overdue repairs to his property would be completed. This can be very frustrating for tenants and I am pushing the Council to improve communications and reduce delays. I contacted the Council's housing department about this particular issue and got this response: "The repairs were part of our external repairs/redecoration ...
The Liberal Democrats are going to start the party's Yes2AV campaign proper tomorrow night. The launch seems to have been kept rather hush hush after the odd combination of Trots and pro-Gaddafi types turning up outside conference in Sheffield, but Leader Nick Clegg and President Tim Farron are going to appear at an event ...
Having failed to derail the AV referendum with his highly implausible legal arguments, Labour peer Lord Falconer (who served in the previous Labour government, and was one of those who put the pressure on to have the Iraq war ruled legal) is at it again. This time he is trying to argue that people should vote No to AV because it will bring down the Coalition government and hasten Ed Miliband into 10 Downing Street without having to wait for any general election. Except that it won't. Lord Falconer is right in as much as the Coalition's program of constitutional ...
The Welsh Liberal Democrats today unveiled their economic programme designed to create jobs by tackling low skills and boost growth. The Welsh Liberal Democrats will make it easier for businesses to take on young unemployed workers by offering grants of £2,000 to raise skill levels. 5,000 of these grants would be available every year. Kirsty Williams, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, will launch the economy policy during a visit to Carillion Training Services in Cardiff. Carillion is recognised as the UK's leading construction training organisation. The Welsh Liberal Democrats package also includes: • New powers for Councils to stimulate ...
Do you or anyone you know run a business or voluntary group in Reading which might be able to help elderly and vulnerable residents in Reading with practical tasks? If so the Council's community care team would like to hear from you. As I have said many times in Reading an increasing number of people need help around the home, due to illness, disability or old age so they can stay active and independent as long as possible. This increase is putting a huge pressure on the Council's budget which is why Cabinet agreed earlier this week to move to ...
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, Baron Storey, of Childwall in the City of Liverpool made his maiden speech in the House of Lords during a debate on early intervention for children. His words are reproduced below. My Lords, I first thank noble Lords for making my entry into the House so welcoming. Indeed, the generosity of that welcome and the ...
Thu 17th
18:21
Report shows Scotland's politicians have nothing to fear by implementing equal marriage
It's a month since I wrote that Scotland was now lagging behind England on the issue of equal marriage, after Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat Equalities Minister was bringing in measures to allow civil partnerships to be conducted by those religious organisations which wanted to do so. To say that Scottish politicians have been lukewarm to the idea of equal marriage would be overstating the case. It's almost as if they hope it'll just go away. Now, though, as Pink News reports, a report should reassure them that taking action to implement equal marriage will have the support of not ...
Every fortnight The Agri Brigade, the Private Eye column written by "New Bio-Waste Spreader" offers uncritical support to the farming lobby. Which is odd for a supposedly anti-establishment magazine when that lobby is to skewed to the interests of big farmers. Two weeks ago the column offered an unashamed defence of the Common Agricultural Policy. Surely a radical magazine should be pointing out that this policy costs taxpayers in the West billions and excludes farmers in developing countries from our markets? And, as the current issue points out, the whole thing is a racket to redistribute money from the poor ...
Yesterday I evening I attended a public meeting that had been organised by the Whitley Neighbourhood Police team. I had previously written to residents who live at the top of Northumberland Avenue (in Redlands) encouraging them to attend and I was pleased to see a number of local residents from the area had turned out. Discussion at the meeting focussed on problems around the shops, near the South Reading Youth and Community Centre where the meeting was held. This area is on the edge of Redlands and residents who live in my ward frequently tell me they avoid the entire area ...
Labour War Graves GaffeLabour Councillors at Redcar & Cleveland were today left red-faced after their attacks on Government plans for war graves proved unfounded. They were then forced into an embarrassing climbdown. Labour Councillor Wendy Wall put forward a motion condemning the Government after an article in a national paper said that there were plans to cut the budget for war graves maintenance by £16.5 million. The motion was seconded by the Labour Leader of the Council. But Lib Dem Leader Chris Abbott produced not just one but two letters from Government Ministers confirming that the claims in the paper ...
Today I was in the Cathedral City of Armagh where the Roman Catholic Primate of All Ireland and the Anglican Archbishop both have their Bishop's thrones. The reason I was there was for the Yes to Fairer Votes campaign. I also was not able to imbibe in the Black Nectar that is famous across the Emerald Isle (and yes we don't dye it green just for the day that is Americans for you) because I was driving. I'll put more of the day up later but here are some interesting clips about St. Patrick and his Saint's day (some of ...
I have been enjoying reading Carol Ann Duffy our Poet Laureate's book The World's wife since receiving it at World book night. Interesting feminist reimaginings often clever and thought provoking, certainly worth a read. Although my personal favourite feminist writer remains Sheri S Tepper who I have found most engaging and I have enjoyed her plot twists and underlying complexity. I particularly liked her work Grass, if you haven't read any of her work may I recommend it to you.
There was a discussion on Daybreak this morning about a comment Adrian Chiles made last night during ITV's football coverage. It was about a Danish team whose strip was "pink". In fact, it looked more like cerise to me. But for a real corker of an example of outlandish strips, look no further than Harlequins v Huddersfield Giants in the Rugby Super League on 4th March (see above snapshot, and highlights below on YouTube). One team was in pink and whites squares, and the other was in purple. It was quite a feast of colour.
Kishwer Falkner had the topical question this morning, on Bahrain: Bahrain Question 11.28 am Asked By Baroness Falkner of Margravine To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the political situation in Bahrain. The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): My Lords, the Government are gravely concerned about the deteriorating security situation in Bahrain and are monitoring the situation closely. The Prime Minister spoke by telephone to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on 15 March and called on him to end the violent oppression of street protests in Bahrain. The Prime Minister ...
Videos of Tim Farron's rally speech and Nick Clegg's closing speech to Conference are now online: Video also available on YouTube here. Video also available on YouTube here.
Over the past couple of months of the various freedom campaigns in the Arab world I have been challenged several times as to what an anarchist society would do to help. We are, after all, against intervention in others' lives and the initiation of aggression. Does that mean we would simply let events such as what is now happening in Libya take their course? I think the answer is no. The use of force in defence of life and property is the right of everyone. As is the right to hire someone else to help in that defence. Gaddafi and ...
Isn't it encouraging to read this kind of comment from America's Spencer Bachus, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee: In Washington, the view is that the banks are to be regulated, and my view is that Washington and the regulators are there to serve the banks. I gather the point is supposed to be the difference between oversight and micromanagement. There is such a difference of course, but that is far less important than the big picture: the regulators serve the citizenry, not the banks or even their customers. A little bit of petty, interfering micromanagement a few years ...
Over lunch, I had a very useful discussion with a delegation of visitors from the Open Society Initaive for Southern Africa: Itay Zimunya, OSISA's Programme Manager for Southern Africa;Takawira Musavengana, Human Rights and Democracy Building Manager at OSISA, based in Johannesburg; Richard Lee, Proramme Manager for communications and Campaigns at OSISA, and Russell Pickard, Acting International Advocacy Manager at OSISA Yesterday we attended the fourth annual dinner of the Orpington Circle at the National Liberal Club. Speakers were the Chairnanm the Rev Paul Hunt: Chris Fox, Chief Executive of the Patty, Simon Hughes MP and me. The objective of the ...
After long and careful consideration - I have decided to ask the people of Wensum ward to vote a Liberal Democrat, i.e. myself, back on to the North Norfolk District Council. I did not stand in the previous District Council election for very good reason - I was by then a County Councillor and also Chairman of the Housing Association specially created to take over NNDC's housing stock - much of it in poor repair and in dire need of renovation. There just were not enough hours in the day to do all three jobs properly! My career had been ...
Department of Neurology King's College Hospital Clinic Date: 10 February 2011 Denmark Hill Dear Dr M Eric Avebury, 26 Flodden Road, LONDON, SE5 9LH I have just reviewed your patient Lord Avebury, who as you know had been seen in this clinic because of a non-specific episode of a fall associated with possible minor confusion and possible slight slurring of speech. EEG was unremarkable and showed some sharp transients over the temporal lobe which were not felt to be epileptiform in origin. He has had a 24 hour ECG and the heart rate dropped as low as 37 beats per ...
Whilst the tragedy in Japan and the conflict in Libya are rightly filling the news bulletins, the conflict in Bahrain is also a huge story which deserves attention. At roughly the same time as the uprisings broke out in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, protestors in Bahrain took to the streets demanding more human rights and equal treatment. The ruling family is from the minority sunni community and the majority of the population are shias. For a long while, nothing much happened. Protestors occupied Pearl Square in the capital Manama and the government did little to stop them. Normal life pretty ...
During the Lib Dem's Spring Conference an emergency morion was passed calling for Tougher Action on Banks and Bonuses. There were many aims of this motion which stemmed from the need for a healthy banking system to protect the individuals and the wider British economy. However, given the failure of regulation in the past, most ...Read the Rest
[IMG: Mark Pack's letter about John Healey in The Independent] Labour MP John Healey's objection to lower transfers being counted under the Alternative Vote would be rather more convincing if that was not also the very system used by Labour to elect its leader. Moreover, courtesy of the public data on how MPs voted in that contest, we know that he himself put more than one preference on his ballot paper and his vote transferred between candidates. If it is ok for his vote to transfer in an election, why is it wrong for the rest of us? Yours etc. ...
There's an excellent article in PR week by Peter Holt of Bristol Council arguing against the legal requirement for councils to run those horrendously long and expensive adverts in local papers which are filled with impenetrable jargon. You can find the whole article here, but here's a taster: We still have to pay for full page adverts on page 40 or 50 of the local paper, lodged between the premium line adverts (Flirt now - fun live chat - choose from 'domination', 'mature' or 'fetish' lines - only 60p per minute from a BT landline). Not just full page statutory ...
I visited the new Tatton House Studio yesterday, a purpose build exercise studio just down from Gatley Medical Centre at 11 Old Hall Road. Vered Hofton takes classes including Pilates, Zumba and Tai Chi. There's also something called Gyrotonic – a stretching class using special apparatus that's apparently great for improving your flexibility and for anyone recovering from injuries. Tatton House Studio is, Vered tells me, the only location in the North West offering Gyrotonic. There should be a wider selection of classes coming soon, and Vered would like to know what would interest you. Is there a particular type ...
Ah Ranjani's! How can I describe it. It's a small warehouse in Fishponds where you can buy cheap nick-nacks. Anything you want - or didnt realise you wanted - can be bought here at knock-down prices. This morning I went with the explicit aim of getting a red clown's wig for comic relief day tommorrow. I came away instead with a small box of tissues, some laminating plastic, an expandable filing wallet, a plastic car floor mat and some blu-tak. As you can probably tell I trawled the entire shop as to assemble this variety of items would require a ...
I was very pleased to hear Welsh Minister David Jones announce yesterday that he has written to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, asking for rural parts of Wales to be included within the rural fuel rebate scheme. This came after our local MP Mark Williams quizzed the Minister during Welsh Questions. Mark Williams wrote to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on the issue in January, and has long campaigned for a rural fuel rebate in areas such as Ceredigion, where the price of fuel is often higher despite there being fewer public transport options. The Government has announced ...
Liverpool City Council has just started a consultation on its policies re funds for travel to and from school. There are potentially some significant changes. You can find the link to the consultation material
I used to work in nuclear safety, writing safety cases. The idea was that each conceivable incident was given a probability and the consequences worked out. For a reactor which might last 40 years in operation, the basically sound idea was that if something was likely to happen then the worst imaginable consequences must be vanishingly small, whilst if it was only likely to happen once every 10,000 years or so then the consequences could be higher (or even catastrophic). Japan has had a once every 1,000 year earthquake and the reactors were basically ok (which actually is pretty impressive, ...
It's very common to see local councils advertising in local newspapers, and they are often one of the main sources of advertising revenue for the local press. That can cause conflicts over whether there is improper influence at work and also over whether councils should shift money elsewhere, risking plunging the local press into enforced cutbacks in its news coverage as income shrinks. But there is another question, which is whether many of the adverts are any good – especially those which are text heavy and laden with legal terms required by law. That's the case that Bristol Council's Peter ...
The atrocities that Colonel Gaddafi is committing against his own people have rightly been at the forefront of the world news agenda for days now. Last week, Saif Gaddafi's North London home was occupied by protestors, demanding it be returned to the Libyan people. Note the use of the word protestors, not squatters. As Laurie ...
I'm sure a lot of little dicks got hard at Daily Mail HQ when they heard about the Conservative manifesto pledge to lower net migration levels to below 100,000 per annum (from around 250,000). The pledge defies economic considerations, issues of practical implementation, and general non-racist sentiment, but was no doubt specifically designed to throw ...
Recommended reading for Liberal Democrat councillors and local campaigners over the last seven days: Much of the media regarding Liberal Democrats in the last week has been around our Federal Spring Conference in Sheffield: On the eve of our Conference the Independent ran an interview with Nick Clegg: Nick Clegg: I told Cameron he was talking complete bilge Writing in the New Statesman, Olly Grender says: Clegg needs to inspire his party's members Liberal Democrat conference delegates enjoy a day of living quite dangerously, reports the Guardian, and the next day: NHS reforms face overhaul after Liberal Democrats' rebellion You ...
The Liberal Democrat "Council Group of the Year" awards were awarded at a special reception at Spring Conference in Sheffield. The Awards are organised by the LGA Liberal Democrat Group. Council Group of the Year: Sheffield (Highly Commended - Northampton) Efficiency & Service Transformation: Oldham (Highly Commended - Wirral) The Vice President's Award: RB Kingston Green Council of the Year: Joint winners Cambridge City and Newcastle City (Highly Commended - Hull) Services to Children & Young People: Joint winners Oldham and RB Kingston Strengthening Communities: Warrington Teamwork: Burnley Leader's award: Peter Moore, Sheffield Opposition Group of the Year: Joint winners ...
[IMG: Spitfire] Following my story about David Tredinnick MP, the man with the expenses claim for astrology treatment who suggested money for cancer drugs should be switched to alternative medicine, I thought I'd take a look at what his predecessors in Parliament have said on the subject. This is one of the exchanges I found, from 3 June 1943: Mr. Keeling asked the Minister of Information whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that astrologers are predicting that Germany is on the verge of collapse; and whether he will stop astrological predictions about the war in order to ...
I have recently made several train journeys between Bootle and Southport. I have been pleased to see that many of the stations now have new and improved cycle storage facilities. For several weeks I have been planning on using the new storage facility at Southport station and I finally decided to sign up. I visited the ticket office and searched the shelves for information, to no avail. Eventually I had to join the queue to ask for help. I was given a form to fill in, asked for identification and a £5 fee. This provided me with my swipe card. ...
I noticed this morning that the BBC had published an article on the impact of the forthcoming changes to university tuition fees in England: Graduates could pay back double their student loans. As it happens, I'd started to put together a spreadsheet to try to work out the impact of the new funding arrangements for my own interest. As the BBC report doesn't show its working (tut tut – they'd lose lots of marks in a maths exam for not doing that), I'm sharing my preliminary spreadsheet here (updated to version 2, 1830, 17th March 2011). What I hope is ...
All we've heard from the political sphere recently is that Nick Clegg is toxic and Ed Miliband is the great new leader of the Labour Party. This seems to be the publics opinions, heck there are many Lib Dems I know who dislike Nick Clegg for daring to enter into a coalition government with the ...
I've talked before about how slow and steady progress is usually the way to successful online politics (as in The secret to getting 1,000 ward residents to follow you on Twitter), but slow and steady progress often runs into a problem: where do you get the content from? Whether it's building up an email list, getting a decent readership for your blog or accumulating a good network of residents on Facebook, as you steadily build up towards large audiences you need a regular supply of content, and all the more so once you have got your large audience. Being seen ...
Clocked my first run yesterday for 2 weeks. 6 km run over mixed terrain, barefoot. Good news is that the X-ray showed that I don't have a stress fracture. Which leaves the diagnosis of tissue damage to the attachments of the peroneus. Rest has been the main treatment, though I've also worked out that massaging the top and outside of the calf (i.e. the other end of the peroneus) helps alleviate the problem. It's a little sore today, but nothing unmanageable. I want to ask a couple of questions to any other barefoot runners out there: 1. Did you find ...
Well, funnily enough, George Osborne doesn't confide in me, so I don't know. The media is full of speculation that the Government is going to exempt small businesses from having to give certain maternity and paternity leave rights to their employees. I'm hoping that this will amount to nothing, a bit like the fevered hysteria that Child Benefit would stop at age 13 stuff that was doing the rounds before the last Budget. There is no way that I could support any erosion of hard won rights. If we judge it appropriate that families should have the right to time ...
With only six weeks to go to the Alternative Vote referendum in the United Kingdom, MPs who are in favour of the switch to a fairer voting system are beginning to speak out loud. Last night, Stephen Gilbert, LibDem MP for St Austell and Newquay, was guest of honour at a social event put on ...
Something in David Cameron's anti-AV speech a few weeks back stood out for me: It's not my job to tell you exactly how the system works - that's for the 'yes' campaign to explain. But even if it was my job, I'll be honest with you, I don't think I could. David Cameron got a first class honours degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University. He was taught by Vernon Bogdanor, one of the UK's foremost experts on constitutional matters. It seems rather implausible that someone could get that qualification, from that university and then not be able ...
Just wanted to commend Ed Miliband on backing Yes to AV, a principled reformist stance believing in more power for people and against seats for life. He clearly believes in democracy, in better representation and a fairer distribution of seats and a system where the winning candidate has majority support Caroline Flint of Labour No to AV campaign needs to come up with better arguments for her cause. Here's the interview from the BBC link To quote Caroline Flint "I think there are very strong views in the Labour party about supporting First Past The Post, 1. Its a very ...
Evil prevails when good men do nothing; paraphrasing the immortal words of Winston Churchill. The ineffective and inept ability of the United Nations to achieve anything remotely positive in defending human life highlights its growing trend of League of Nations-esque ... Continue reading →
Thu 17th
10:25
LibLink: Richard Grayson - NHS reforms: Listen to your party, Nick, or the voters will punish you
Writing on Comment Is Free on Sunday, Professor Richard Grayson warns Liberal Democrats in government against ignoring the calls of party members to re-think elements of the planned NHS changes. Here's a sample of what he had to say: If the Liberal Democrat leadership is wise (and they have said that they want to listen to the party), it will now act to the advantage of both the party and the NHS. Unless the leadership actually agrees with the reforms, why continue to support them now that they have such an opportunity to amend them significantly? The party leadership must ...
Thu 17th
09:57
It would seem the NHS debate has our MPs between a rock and a hard place. Can we all send them a chi...
Anyone who has read Paul Burstow's piece yesterday in Lib Dem Voice can surely feel the pain in his carefully chosen words. The promise to listen, the need to add ifs, buts and caveats all over the place, the need to find a scapegoat (Labour) when actually the squeeze is between us, the members, and the Tories. Paul must know how his piece reads to the membership. And he must hate it. There's a pretty good summation of the problem at the Total Politics blog. And it's no good really saying everyone shouldn't be playing politics. Politics is what we ...
The various Friends groups of libraries across Cambridgeshire have set up a County-wide petition. The petition reads: We the undersigned call upon Cambridgeshire County Council to reject proposals to close libraries or to replace the existing professional service with a reduced service run by volunteers. We believe that libraries are a vital part of the community.Every community that has a library values this service, whether it is in the City, like Arbury Court library in our ward, or in the villages. I hope you can join me in signing the petition.
The 2011 Census will take place on Sunday 27th March. It will provide a snapshot of the population that will be really important in deciding how much funding our area receives for schools, health services and so on. Your questionnaire should have been delivered to your house by now - if not, please contact the helpline 0300 0201 101. You can complete the census or get help or more information on the official 2011 Census website.
The Independent on Sunday's food critic finally got as far as this neck of the woods for his review and choose 60 Hope Street where he ate Southport Shrimps. My starter of smoked salmon and shrimp is exactly what you expect from 60 Hope Street: fresh, unpretentious and elegantly presented. The shrimp are described as coming from Southport - a reassuringly local name that, unlike nearby Morecambe, evokes no visions of panicking, trafficked Chinamen inexorably overwhelmed by a swiftly moving tide. My companion has the scallops: the traditional plate of three, stripped of orange corals, as is usual with the ...
Liberal England: GUEST POST Against the Comment is Free view of politics Jonathan King (presumably not the Una Paloma Blanca one) has a guest post at Bonkers Hall decrying tribalist politics. I actually shouted "YES!!!" at my computer screen reading this. (tags: libdemmery) Ed's choice: destroy Clegg or have AV | Total Bollocks magazine Shane Greer in Total Bollocks displays an "admirable" attachment to the sort of tribalist politics Jonathan King condemns above. (tags: libdemmery arseholes) Good News for Pubs: Tied Public Houses (Code of Practice) Bill | Gareth Epps YAY! (tags: pubs) DC Women Kicking Ass - This is ...
It's hardly surprising that Charles Kennedy and Ed Miliband would be appearing together to promote electoral reform. Kennedy has long been a supporter of electoral reform and by virtue of not being in government is seen by many in Labour as an easier figure to campaign alongside (even though one of Kennedy's first acts on becoming party leader was to end the party's then work in government with Labour). Ed Milband in turn is the author of Labour's general election manifesto which not only pledged a referendum but also called for a change in the electoral system to follow from ...
Pam and I have been informed of an accident on Schools Hill, Cheadle where a child was hit by a car whilst crossing the road at the zebra crossing. The zebra crossing was put in relatively recently (a few years ago) after work by Pam and has improved safety on the road, but cars do still come down Schools Hill to quickly on a regular basis. In the last year we've also had additional speed signs put up and the lines on the road re-painted. On this occasion, that clearly wasn't enough to prevent an accident. We've asked Council officers ...
Labour are very quick to allege that the inevitable compromises of coalition politics are broken promises on the part of the Liberal Democrats. What are we supposed to make therefore of the fact that hundreds of Labour MPs and peers are reputed to be actively opposed to and campaigning against their own manifesto promise to introduce voting reform into British politics? The Independent says that Ed Miliband has been hit by a growing Labour revolt against his support for a change in the voting system as more than 200 Labour MPs and peers back the existing first-past-the-post process. This includes ...
I successfully auditioned to join a band as bass player last week. That was remarkably gratifying. After strumming guitars for twenty years, I guess it's not so amazing, but after putting a fair bit of effort the last year or two specifically into the bass it was nice to turn in a decent enough performance. My first full rehearsal was on Tuesday night. Playing bass is fun!!! I'm used to rehearsing and gigging, but now it's with an instrument I can really move round the room with. I don't think the cool as, mean and moody look is going to ...
I've submitted a motion to the next meeting of Colchester Council to discuss whether we should bid for city status. Here it is: Motion that:- (a) Council notes that the Government is requesting bids for city status to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012. City status merely confers upon a place the right to call itself a city, and does not carry with it any implications as to size and future growth of the area. (b) Council believes:- (i) That as well as being Britain's oldest recorded town - Camulodunum – Colchester is also Britain's first city, and as ...
Can I take this opportunity to wish all residents in Chorlton a 'Happy St Patrick's Day' for Thursday. I know many residents here are Irish or like me have Irish connections. Whatever your connection - have a great time. St John's Church is holding a number of masses throughout the day including one at St John's School at 9am. There will also be a social event at St John's Parish Centre at 8pm. The Chorlton Irish Association Club is hosting a free St. Patrick's Day celebration with Children's Activities, GAA Club final games live, Live Music and Irish Stew for ...
Coalition ministers are forever moaning that the economic situation, (created by Labour!) requires them to make "difficult decisions." In fact there are no difficult decisions to be made on the economy. Britain is a wealthy country, vastly richer than in the days of our parents and grandparents, and all that is needed is a bit of generosity on the part of the haves to compensate the have-nots who are bearing the brunt of the recession created by the greed and insufficiently regulated market forces. All that is lacking is a bit of political honesty and courage. The question of a ...
Lá 'le Pádraig shona daoibh! I've been making occasional notes about the relationship between Doctor Who and Ireland, but this seems a good enough day to pull it all together. TV Who No part of televised Who is set in Ireland. There are however a number of Irish characters in TV canon: The Underwater Menace (1967): Sean, a shipwrecked Irish sailor, played in excruciating stereotype by P.G. Stephens. The Wheel in Space (1967): Sean Hannity, an Irish space engineer, played by James Mellor, who also appears in The Mutants (1972) but with an English accent. Terror of the Autons (1971): ...
broadcast anniversary 17 March 1973: broadcast of fourth episode of Frontier in Space. The Master has the Doctor and Jo captive, but all three are captured by the Draconians.
Big Finish - 4.0 Gallifrey - Series 4 Downloads Box Set Hooray! Fantastic for us fans of late-70s Who, Lalla Ward, Louise Jameson and John Leeson together again. Though I recommend starting with the first Gallifrey series and working through to this new release. (tags: doctorwho) SAY NO to Violence Against Women - United Nations Regional Information Centre | UNRIC Blog to raise awareness Competition to create an ad that says No to Violence against Women. Competition is open to all citizens and residents of the 48 European countries. Voting is open to everyone. (tags: genderandsexandsexuality)
News that murderous tyrant Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces are massing to take over the last remaining rebel held city of Benghazi comes as unwelcome but hardly surprising news, given the dithering of the west over the past few weeks. It's clear that there is no will in the western powers to do anything that upsets the authoritarian juntas that run much of the Arab world or puts vital oil supplies at risk. Oil that is likely to be that much more necessary as nuclear power looks likely to be off western government's agendas as a result of the tragic events ...
Whatever else we may think about Johnny Ball's message, (see Monday's blog) at least we have to admit that he's positive and optimistic, both about the world as it is now and about the future. That's maybe not such a bad thing. "Every aspect of the technology we use to improve our lives and to lessen our impact on the world is improving commendably, and the future for our children is brighter than we can yet imagine", he says, "and that is the message we should be delivering to every child. Take communications for example. Everything, from mobile phones to ...
