Tonight the Total Politics team hosted a debate between representatives of the Yes and No campaigns for the upcoming AV referendum. The debate was good and, although not as packed out as the launch of David Laws' and Rob Wilsons' books, there was still lots of audience participation, including an eloquent appearance from David Davis MP from the ...
Did that question, this morning, represent the nadir of Nicholas Andrew Argyle Campbell's journalistic career? He was interviewing some horsey person in the Queen's Household on FiveLive in connection with Royal Wedding preparations. (And oh, that's Nicky Campbell to anyone born late enough not to remember his full name jingles when he was on Radio One.) This grand inquisition followed an interview with the man who looks after everything in the Royal Mews which "isn't fed on hay" about the re-upholstering of the car which was beaten up by students. All rivetting stuff. And there has been plenty of it ...
Stockton Council's planning officers have refused permission for the development of 10 Town Houses on the site of The Grange on Urlay Nook Rd. They agreed with local residents and the ward councillors that it represented an overdevelopment of the site, out of keeping with its surroundings and with too little amenity space for the size of the houses. No doubt the owner will appeal and meantime
Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat Voice Recently, I have started taking an interest in the government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). My MP is one of their ministers. He seems to spend an awful lot of time on marine affairs, coastal defences and the natural environment. So, as a good citizen, I feel I ought to take an interest. For example, recently, I read through all the questions and answers at Thursday's the DEFRA session in the House of Commons. Well done Andrew George and Duncan Hames for speaking. But, apart from their three queries, it was a ...
National seasonally adjusted unemployment fell by 10,200 in February. The national level now stands at 5.1%. Birmingham's seasonally adjusted rate decreased to 46,060 or 11.4%. The unadjusted rate in Birmingham increased by 277 to 47,070 and now stands at 11.6% (a year ago it was 51,266 or 12.6%). As with January, unadjusted unemployment tends to rise in February and it rose in all major UK cities. Birmingham continued the gradual relative improvement compared to other UK cities that I have noted for several months. Our unemployment level is now 0.3% below Liverpool's (0.2% last month and not long ago it ...
[IMG: London buses] I've got fairly lukewarm views of Transport for London's phone helplines, mainly due to my experience attempting to report graffiti on bus stop shelters. One of the things I've discovered along the way is that if I rang the phone number advertised on bus shelters to report graffiti, people at the other end would take graffiti reports. Then nothing would happen and it would turn out (more than once) that the graffiti report had been lost in the system and it was really my fault for having rung the wrong number. Silly me for thinking the number ...
Tue 22nd
22:41
It's sooooo old fashioned to wait to hear a speech before you decide you disagree with it
It's boring and slow and tedious and old-fashioned to wait until you hear what someone from another party says before deciding whether or not you agree with it, isn't it? So hats off to those forward thinkers in Manchester Labour party who haven't had to wait for the Budget to put down a motion for the forthcoming council meeting: Motion - George Osborne's Budget Council notes the damaging impact of George Osborne's budget on the people of Manchester. Councillors: Leese (proposer), Karney (seconder), Priest, J Battle, N Murphy, Evans, Andrews
Tory council candidates desperate for votes have started misleading voters about their commitment to local residents and the community. In an inaccurate leaflet distributed recently they seek to claim credit for a three year project to bring broadband to Little London and Smannell. The project team led by local resident Margaret Henstock and I worked with council officers from Test Valley and Hampshire County Councils. At no time did the other two borough councillors have any input into the project or indeed show any interest in it. The broadband team were not consulted about the Tory leaflet or advised of ...
Fur coat The Strategy & Resources Scrutiny Committee that I chair has weighty but fairly dry agenda, scrutinizing the performances of the Leader of the Council and the Executive Councillor for Customer Services and Resources. Last night's meeting was no different. It covered objectives across different service areas, job approvals, budgetary matters, land disposals, telephone and printer contracts. Oh - and a discussion about a consultation about council consultation ... yes, it could only happen in a council chamber! But what really enlivened the evening's proceedings was the presence of a group of activists from Animal Rights Cambridge and two ...
As a result of winter maintenance over the snowy period in December, there is grit on many local pavements and roads and, now the chance of further snow and ice has disappeared, residents are rightly asking when this grit is going to be cleaned away. The Waste Management Department of the City Council has advised me : "We have 4 small compact sweepers and 3 medium size mechanical sweepers that are undertaking this task. In the west end there are a number of manual street sweeping beats and mobile beats. The street sweepers on the manual beats are being instructed ...
Two pieces of good news today where a combination of Liberal Democrat and some Conservatives in government have won out over the right of the Conservative Party. First up, human trafficking – where the opposition of Conservative Euro-sceptics to Britain opting in to the new EU directive has been overcome. Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs, Justice and Equality, Tom Brake said: The Government's intention to opt in to the EU's Human Trafficking directive is an excellent step forward for the UK and for the victims - past, present and future - of traffickers. [IMG: Tom ...
An update on my preivous post Campaigning for better road safety. The County Council have been at it again as the Echo has reported. They are claiming that it will take over £1million pounds to correct the junction that they have made even more dangerous when they did their safety "improvements". It is amazing how they have found funding for painting lines on pavements but nothing to stop accidents at this junction. They have even put traffic lights everywhere but where they are actually needed. I launched a campaign last week to force the county council to act. It can ...
These were the topics at my meeting with County Highways at their Harlow office on Monday morning. The disappointing news is that a decision on whether to support the residents request for a reduction of the speed limit on the B1383 Cambridge Road, Ugley is still 18 months away. I raised the issue of vehicle automated signs (flashing lights). There is no objection in principle to installing them once the decision has been made on the speed limit. The cost is approximately £3000 each. Potholes are a problem both in Stansted and Ugley. Roads such as Fieldgate Lane, Ugley, Croasdaile ...
Via Nick Thornsby, I discover news that makes me want to jump up and down with happiness. The UK Government is going to start the process of joining in the EU Directive on Human Trafficking, something which didn't look likely last September when Stephen Glenn wrote so passionately about the issue. This has to be a major Liberal Democrat win within the Coalition. It seemed like the Tory truculence on Europe was the only reason holding the Government back from signing up to a very useful document that helps to tackle a horrible abuse of vulnerable people. Its announcement is ...
In fact I have been warned that someone may come back with a similar planning application one day, but I thought this photograph of the demonstration outside Leicester Town Hall last night was worth sharing. As I blogged then, the planning application to build football pitches together with their associated floodlights, clubhouse and car parking, was rejected by six votes to five. And the Leicester Mercury as a full account of the evening's events. Thanks to Jenny Cook for the photograph.
I am watching the second of the film (released in two parts) made from Charles Dickens' novel Little Dorrit by Christine Edzard in 1988. The cast is extraordinary and Dickensian in a way that would be hard to assemble today: Bill Fraser, Max Wall, Joan Greenwood, Alec Guinness, Patricia Hayes, Kathy Staff, Robert Morley, Jonathan Cecil... Little Dorrit herself is played by Sarah Pickering, who came from Market Harborough and went to my school. In 1988 I was a district councillor and her father was one of our environmental health officers. Sadly, if IMDB is right, she has not worked ...
One might say that the Liberal Democrats' problem in government can be summed-up thus: noisy defeats and quiet victories. Hence, goes one theory, the current not-especially-good poll ratings. Today, however, Politics Home's Paul Waugh gave us the second installment in ... Continue reading →
The Transition Ba th movement launched it's own local currency this week – the Bath Oliver. The idea is to get more local currency exchange staying in the local economy and also to enable people to sell and share skills and services. Already several local businesses have signed up to taking Olivers. Indeed the Bell in Walcot street has agreed to take 100% olivers when buying drinks in the pub. At the launchThe Council Chair Cllr Sarah Bevan gave out a small amount of Olivers to everyone attending the event. LETS (Local Exchange Trading Schemes) are springing up around the ...
I went on the radio this morning as a guest on Callum Leslie's Soap Box on Edinburgh Student Radio Station www.freshair.org. It's not the first time I've been on the radio talking about politics as I've phoned through to Iain Dale's a couple of times. This was more of a test though as it involved 2 hours of "punditry" with Iain McGill the Conservative candidate in Edinburgh Central. Iain is a bright, friendly and funny guy and although we disagreed about a few things, the discussion was really good humoured. We were joined for the second hour by Labour activist ...
That's what there may well be if Dyfed-Powys Police withdraw their traffic wardens from patrol in the coming months as they've said they will do. That was the message coming out from this morning's Ceredigion County Council Cabinet meeting from a number of Councillors from across the chamber - including myself. De-Criminalisation of Parking This issue arose in the discussion on the merits or otherwise of Ceredigion County Council taking over the responsibility of parking enforcement from the police by de-criminalising parking and making it a civil matter. This Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) has some potentially great benefits. One is ...
In advance of the debate in the Welsh Assembly tomorrow on Plaid Cymru Minister, Elin Jones plan to cull badgers in North Pembrokeshire, this video from Pembrokeshire Against the Cull (in two parts) is a good introduction to the case against.
Somer have bid for a grant for the play area, here is the detailsAs the Community Initiatives Officer I am currently looking at all the Play Areas that Somer Community Housing Trust own across Bath & North East Somerset and this particular one stands out as in desperate need of some TLC. It could become a well used and loved play space for all the community to use but instead at the moment
Although I have taught economics for nearly half a century, and media attention to the budget should have been a help in interesting my students, I have always been, and remain,embarrassed by the national obsession with it. The only important thing about tomorrow's budget is how it will affect the macro economy: will Mr Osborne take a Keynesian view and use public spending and cuts in taxation to stimulate the economy, growth and employment. We already know the answer: he won't. Yet on Thursday the papers, the saintly Guardian being no exception, will be full of naval gazing tables telling ...
Well maybe not soon... but I'm beginning to feel the ball is really rolling now. In England and Wales, we have even the Home Secretary herself echoing her Equality Minister's words in a speech at the weekend at a Stonewall event *spit*: Civil Partnership legislation, for example, marked a great advance for gay rights in this country. And we will go further - we will implement section 202 of the Equality Act which will remove the ban on civil partnership registrations being held on religious premises. No religious group will be forced to host a civil partnership registration, but for ...
Liberal Democrats seek changes to health reform – The Observer on the aftermath of the party's spring conference vote on the NHS. "Nick Clegg has just won a powerful victory over the Conservatives, appointing a Bill of Rights commission which is certain to leave the ECHR intact" – The Spectator has the news. And in The Independent, Dominic Lawson is unimpressed with some of the comments made about public spending: As Dr Tim Morgan points out in his incisive Centre for Policy Studies pamphlet, Five Fiscal Fallacies, "No one should imagine that the Coalition's plans amount to a major reversal ...
At some point over the past few days the county council evidently sent someone round to fix one of the many potholes in my road. Here's a picture of the "repair": The Potter Blogger finds this unacceptable As you may have guessed from my tone, I'm not entirely pleased with this. And it's not just because there are about a dozen other potholes on the road in desperate need of repair. The problem is that this repair is as good as useless. Look at it, it's not even sealed. All they've done is come along, squirt some tarmac into the ...
Amusing though it is to see the reincarnation of Comical Ali in certain Reading Labour bloggers – shame all those illegally-dropped bombs wrecked a beautiful potential relationship, eh folks? – it's time to get straight what seems to be going on with the NHS reforms. The first substantive statement of the Coalition Agreement on the NHS, after reiterating the commitment to protect its funding, was: 'We will stop the top-down reorganisations of the NHS.' that statement could be defined as being breached by Andrew Lansley's Bill. There is a strong and growing body of support for the entire Bill to ...
In some parts of Southwark yellow triangles have been painted on walls. Mostly on council estates and they indicate you can leave your bulk rubbish to be collected without making a specific arrangement. Obviously they create real eyesores and uncontrolled dumping including items that bulk collection people can't remove. This 'yellow triangle' service appears to be being removed but below photo shows how confusing this can get. Yellow triangle to say dump rubbish and then a sign that could have been placed over the triangle saying you can't dump rubbish. Confused. The residents I spoke to certainly were.
Police forces across Europe will have more power to crack down on human traffickers after the UK signed up to support tougher measures today. North West Lib Dem MEP Chris Davies, who has campaigned for the UK to sign up ... Continue reading →
Tue 22nd
16:03Opinion: the Lib Dems should have have more influence over the environment, food and rural affairs
Recently, I have started taking an interest in the government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). My MP is one of their ministers. He seems to spend an awful lot of time on marine affairs, coastal defences and the natural environment. So, as a good citizen, I feel I ought to take an interest. For example, recently, I read through all the questions and answers at Thursday's the DEFRA session in the House of Commons. Well done Andrew George and Duncan Hames for speaking. But, apart from their three queries, it was a Tory controlled zone. DEFRA is ...
The Labour Southwark Council budget proposes cuts to Southwark Libraries. I approached indie libraries for advice about how budgets could be cut while protecting actual libraries and the crucial services they provide. I was pointed to the following YouTube videos – 3 x 10mins videos showing a talk given by Tim Coates - former CEO of Waterstones and library guru: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL9XEMWjReI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfvREOzugKA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p1w6m2GI_0 Following his advice I think Southwark appears from CiPFA to spend just over £6.6M on library services. Also following his model roughly and conservatively £2M appears avoidable without damaging any front line services. Those back office costs ...
Richard Littlejohn regularly spends the length of his Daily Mail column spewing right-wing bile that is just there to get a reaction so I don't normally read it, but today I noticed he was trending on twitter, and so decided to see what all the fuss was about. It turned out that today's rant was ...
This morning's Western Mail carries an article on the important but disturbing report by Consumer Focus Wales, which names and shames publicly and privately- run institutions with poor hygiene standards. The main kitchen at Morriston Hospital, in Swansea, and the child and adolescent mental health unit at Glanrhyd Hospital, in Bridgend, are among premises awarded a "one" rating but no details about breaches to food hygiene regulations are available under the scheme run by the Food Standards Agency. Consumer Focus Wales are absolutely right to call for greater transparency from councils and for the FSA to publish the full hygiene ...
Euro-MPs have taken a stand against misleading health claims on food products by refusing to allow their continued use on packaging for baby milk formula. Manufacturers have claimed that the use of DHA (docosahexanenoic acid) in milk powder can improve the eyesight of babies and ... Continue reading →
Just to let people know that the small adverts that seem to be appearing on this site at the moment are not of my doing – wordpress.com occasionally inserts advertising on blogs that use its hosting service, to help fund itself. I can choose to pay not to have them, but will only do so ...
Cllr Green said it had been a huge piece work work. He apologised for the way the decision of the 9th December had been communicated. There had been failings and he took responsibility. He said this administration put carers at the centre. He said the contracts had been looked at by a team of council ...
Being a Councillor means interacting with strangers more than one would normally do. Nothing is better for the self-confidence than knocking on a stranger's door and getting a warm reception, as happens when we're out canvassing 90% of the time. Obviously there's not a lot worse for the self confidence than the other 10% of ...
Can be read at Liberal Vision.
Cllr Green having declared an interest left and Cllr Holbrook took the Chair. The next report was on extending the transport contracts by a further 6 months. Cllr Moon said the procurement process would be completed by the end of July. The recommendation in the report was agreed. Cllr Green returned and the Cabinet considered ...
I'm reading Peter Mandelson's autobiography The Third Man. Yes, I know I'm late to it and you've all read it already. Please don't tell spoil the ending by telling me whodunnit. While The Dark Lord is part of a very different political creed from us , I'm sure there's lots to learn from his experience. And indeed Chapter One has already revealed a very good insight for the Lib Dems. When Gordon Brown invited Mandelson back into the fold, he asked him, as one of the few political strategists he knew, what he thought of the situation he found himself ...
Cabinet then went onto consider the Alcohol Scrutiny Report referred to it by the Scrutiny Programme Board. Cllr Clarke said she was an advocate and supporter of scrutiny. She wished to add the Cabinet's response to taking it forward. She welcomed the report and noted the hard work. Cllr Clarke paid tribute to the scrutiny ...
Welcome to the latest in our series giving the human face behind some of the blogs you can find on the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator. Today it is Daisy Benson who blogs at www.daisyscampaigndiary.blogspot.com. 1. What's your formative political memory? The morning after the 1992 election – remembering my parents' disappointment that Labour hadn't won (again) and the pervading sense of gloom of another Tory government. I also remember one election in the 80s when my parents displayed an SDP and a Labour poster in the same window! 2. When did you start blogging? 2007 3. Why did you start ...
There follows an edited announcement from Herts County Council (covering roads in St Albans Central division only) HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL TEMPORARY CLOSING AND TEMPORARY WAITING RESTRICTIONS IN VARIOUS ROADS IN HARPENDEN, ST ALBANS AND WHEATHAMPSTEAD NOTICE is given that the Hertfordshire County Council intend to make an Order under Section 14[1] of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, to prohibit all traffic from using the following lengths of roads, except for access and to prohibit all vehicles from waiting on both sides of these lengths of roads whilst works are in progress:- 10. that length of St Peters Close, St Albans ...
Cllr Green said he had confidence in the gateway process and the external validation. He asked was sort of people came in and did the external validation? Dave Green answered it was 4Ps reviewers who were experts in procurement management. He said the professional assessor had twenty years experience in the local authority area and ...
Thursday is judgement day for former North West Conservative MEP Den Dover. The European Parliament is demanding that he repay £538,000 that it alleges was wrongly claimed by him between 1999 and 2008. He is contesting the decision and the ... Continue reading →
Last night I voted to endorse the Government's decision to intervene militarily in Libya. I have believed for several weeks that outside intervention would be necessary to save the civilian population of Libya from a violent and brutal repression by Colonel Gaddafi. Inevitably, some people have asked me how could I support another war given ...
For better or ill, the political settlement that Western liberal democracies have means that the government of the day decides how to cut the cake. That cake is cut according to the size of government borrowing, what its spending priorities are and the demands of the public as voiced by pressure groups. If the cake is reduced there is less to cut and hand around. If you wish to give out more but have a small cake you need to find ways of making it bigger. This is a continuous challenge and leads to fierce arguments about post code lotteries ...
Chris White is taking his campaign for a new school in St Albans to Whitehall. Chris said: 'At a time when there is no serious opposition to a new school, with the community and the county council lining up in support, it beggars belief that the Department for Education could have made such a mess of things. 'I have already raised the matter directly with the Decentralisation minister Greg Clark and have now submitted a report to the DfE via Local Government Association contacts. 'I am sure that blocking new school provision is not the government's intention and so I ...
The patent world isn't really something navigable by common sense alone. Like copyright, privacy, and every other area being reinvented by the internet, it has long become a playground for lawyers, who build strange labyrinths for themselves, as oblivious to users as users are to them. From CrunchGear, a great example of how software patents are a very unhealthy thing. It's a bit ridiculous when a software company is suing a book store. Software patents are an obscure field of law, as the quote above describes nicely, so here's a simple scenario to explain what exactly is going on here: ...
Let me start by stating an undisputable truth; we live in a pluralistic society. Governments have recognised this in delivering our public services and in fostering multiculturalism. However, when it comes to how we vote for our politicians, we have been stuck with first past the post, and left with the patronisingly simple option of submitting a single cross. Experts of voting behaviour in the past would have explained voting outcomes through 'class'. Nearly everybody voted either Labour or Conservative. For example, during every election of the 1950s, at least 90% voted for the two main parties. Now barely two-thirds ...
But it's still fun to take a look.
Cllr Elderton said it was the culmination of hard work since 2006. He said it was logical, comprehensive and professional and that it was now a commercial and financial reality. Dave Green and his team were thanked, however there was still a long way to go. Cllr Holbrook asked about the indexing for inflation. Dave ...
The Cabinet then considered the Wirral Flood and Water Management report. This would redesignate the functions of the Flood Working Group, which was referred to in the two appendices. Cllr Rennie said that it was good news as it would enhance the status of the Flood Working Group. However she was concerned that the partner ...
A strange air was over the Parliamentary debate about military action on Libya. Cameron, who once wrote a critique on neo-conservatism, spoke mellifluously on the subject of intervention and defending British interests aboard. The Project for A New American Century ... Continue reading →
As we crossed the Tamar I pointed out to Layla that the huge river we were crossing was the dividing point between Devon and Cornwall. I may have tooted my...
The Cabinet's recommendations to Council for Mayor and Deputy Mayor were Cllr McLaughlin (Mayor) and Cllr Ellis (Deputy Mayor). Cllr Blakeley did say that not everyone agreed with the nomination of Cllr McLaughlin, however the nominations were agreed. There was one minor change proposed to the Committee Calendar for the 2011/2012 Municipal Year, moving the ...
After my recent post on Blue Labour, an anonymous commentator asked what I meant by Statist. Last year I wrote three posts on the subject. The links are below for anyone who cares to read them. Part one Part two Part three I'd be very interested to hear people's viewers on these posts. Is there such a dividing line? Does it matter? Are my broad descriptions correct?
One of the big differences between living in London and Creeting St Peter is commuting. Whereas in London, I battled my way onto the Tube, cursing slow moving tourists on escalators, and wondering why people think that, by standing right in front of the doors as the train stops, it will help the flow of passengers on and off. Of course, I still commute, but it's rather more gentle now. This is how this morning's epic journey went... 9.07 Kiss Ros goodbye and walk down The Lane to the corner with Pound Road. It's less than a hundred yards, the ...
The Cabinet went onto consider the draft Corporate Plan for 2011 to 2014. The four key themes were "Your Family", "Your Neighbourhood", "Your Economy" and "Your Council". It would be implemented from the 1st April 2011. Cllr Green thanked Emma Degg and her team. He said it built on work done before and he believed ...
The change to the bank signatories was agreed. In relation to item 6 Cllr Green asked for greater scrutiny and transparency regarding the Council's traded services. He asked for the annual profit/loss accounts for traded services to be published on the website. This was agreed. Fiona Johnston introduced item 7 on NHS reform and public ...
'One of the things the RSPB are calling on you today to do is to not cut funding for nature conservation. Can you promise that despite the 30% cuts to your department, you won't cut nature conservation costs?' In a typical week earlier this month, the Radio 4 Today programme, having set itself against police reforms the previous day, had just found yet another deficit denial frontier. And it was only Wednesday. Labour official spokespeople are the same: Exhibit A, DCMS Shadow Minister Gloria De Piero writing on why we should not reduce the arts budget in Total Politics magazine ...
[IMG: A group of Kenyan smallholder tea farmers joining to form a co-operative] These programmes directly benefit smallholders as it increases their bargaining power as well as providing them with access to new markets. Assistance with Fairtrade certification has also been provided. Buying fairly traded goods may only be another small step towards greater fairness in the relationship between producers, retailers and the Western consumer. But it's a step we can choose to take – and I for one salute the Co-op's obvious concern for ethical trading principles. The Co-operative Group on Facebook Sponsored Post Partage propulse par ebuzzing
Support for action is entirely in keeping with the party's history. Whether on European or wider international issues, the Liberal Democrats sometimes strike others as a party obsessed with issues beyond our borders. But there are moments when that strong streak of internationalism, which is part of the Party's history, proves wholly relevant in the present. This is one of those moments. In 1989 the Liberal Democrats were on the verge of bankruptcy. They had just been beaten into fourth place (and just 6 per cent of the vote) by the Greens (who boasted 15 per cent) in the European ...
Tue 22nd
10:16
Can someone please answer these questions about Libya please? They are not complicated...
Yesterday's blog post was written in praise of naïve thinking. Today's is in praise of naïve questions. Because it is the most simple, basic, naive questions that seem to be flooring our leaders when asked about why we are bombing Libya. Now, don't get me wrong. I think there is an excellent case for the introduction of a No Fly Zone in order to prevent an unelected military leader using his weapons against his own people. And I respect the way in which David Cameron et al have gone about getting UN support and unequivocal legal advice for the action. ...
Cllr Green welcomed people to the meeting and asked for any declarations of interest. Cllr Holbrook declared an interest in item 18 by nature of his employment with the Environment Agency. Cllr Green an interest in item 22. Cllr Green then gave an update on the judicial review (which was regarding the closure of Fernleigh ...
Prisons and criminal law seem an eternally popular topic whenever I blog about them, attracting more readers and more retweets than almost any other topic. It's probably not a good indication of the way Trans people feel about society as many of us are only too aware that we're eternally only one prejudiced police officer away from a spell in prison, even when we are the victims. This time though, it's nothing bad at least. Well, nothing that's surprisingly bad. Green MP Caroline Lucas asked a written question in Parliament (Hansard link) to find out who the Ministry of Justice ...
Following complaints from residents, Pam and I have reported a number of potholes for repair on the South Park Road estate: By the kerb outside 68 South Park Road Centre of road outside 9 South Park Road Around manhole outside 7 South Park Road Centre of road outside 5 South Park Road Centre of road outside 5 Mardale Drive Coniston Road at the junction with South Park Road: two potholes By kerb outside 13 Coniston Road Coniston Road at junction with Brentwood Road, by manhole. Outside 10 Coniston Road Outside 8 Coniston Road (edge of old patch?) Outside Synagogue entrance, ...
The Department of Work and Pensions has announced that benefits cheques - commonly known as Green Giros - will be moved from Post Offices to PayPoint locations from 2012. In some cases the change will just mean picking up the payment from a different counter in the same shop, but it represents a loss of business to small Post Offices. Around 350,000 people use the system each week to to receive payments by cashing a cheque at their local post office. Of these, about 60,000 users are pensioners and 38,000 are on Disability Living Allowance and could have difficulties if ...
That's the theme of the article I've done for the IPPR's quarterly journal which has a series of articles looking at political realignment, including Nick Boles making a pitch for the centre-right. It's Parliamentary arithmetic which predominantly determines what options are actually open to politicians. That matters far more than any personal preferences of senior politicians, so the choices that are made are shaped far more by the results of what voters do than by what politicians might prefer: The voters have a habit of making fools of those who make political predictions, even those (and perhaps particularly those) who ...
If I asked you to name a prominent feminist, I imagine that almost all of you would plum for Germaine Greer. Greer has contributed to the collection of essays recently published as Making the Difference, in honour of Shirley Williams. Given conference's decision just over a week ago to opt for a complex quota system for approved candidates in order to boost the number of female MPs, Greer's insights and criticisms are not only typically articulate and convincing - they are also very timely. In her essay, entitled "Woman in Parliament", she examines the careers of Barbara Castle and Shirley ...
Every year sees a debate to mark International Women's Day, and this year saw a very full speaker list indeed, including a number of maiden speeches. Ros took the opportunity to raise the issue of ensuring the participation of women in what will hopefully be the nascent democracies of the Middle East and North Africa... Baroness Scott of Needham Market: My Lords, once again the whole House owes a debt of gratitude to the noble Baroness, Lady Gould, for securing today's debate and for giving us the opportunity for a cornucopia of maiden speeches from six quite remarkable women. It ...
Three points on Libya. Germany abstained in the UN vote on the Libya intervention resolution and is apparently in hot dispute with France. We have not heard a lot in the UK about the German viewpoint. Perhaps we should. Maybe Clegg could ask them, in German to ensure clarity. The BBC live update stream reported at 0544 on 22 March that: The Financial Times reports on the tensions between the countries now ranged against Libya. It says French attempts to sidestep Nato at the start of the campaign have divided the coalition. Diplomats told the newspaper that the US and ...
My friend Emma from off of Scarlet Standard wrote a blogpost the other day entitled: "What is the Cause of Labour's Cuts Problem?". I'm not going to try and answer that in detail here, but something Emma mentioned in her post regarding how a majority of the public still appear to blame Labour for the cuts got me thinking: The problem I have, is that we don't know why they blame us. Do they blame us because the Tory narrative that we overspent on public services has caught on? It's a populist narrative that probably does have a lot of ...
One of the great injustices of the developing situation in Libya over recent days is that it has now wholly transfixed our attention away from everything else. Admittedly it would now seem that the nuclear concerns in Japan are beginning to recede but there are nevertheless some 10,000 missing people in that devastated country that is seeking to rebuild itself after nature wreaked its awful magic there less some 10 days ago. But in recent days, it gets little coverage. But closer to the Libyan home in neighbouring Arabic states, there is much happening that should be receiving far more ...
Today is World Water Day. To mark it that excellent charity WaterAid has harnessed some of those questionable consumer surveys to produce "some startling comparisons between the time the UK population spends on everyday activities and the time people in the world's poorest countries spend fetching water". I rather like: 2. I say! The average man will spend five hours a week staring at different women (Kodak Lens Vision Centres). In one week, the average woman in a developing country would have spent 21 hours collecting water.
We at Liberal Vision usually agree – but on Libya it appears we don't. From over here this looks like a mess of gigantic proportions. We seem to have gone from a United Nations agreement some 3 days ago to install a "no fly zone" over Libya – to a policy that appears to allow the military to do anything and everything they like, from bombing Libya at will - taking out swathes of Tripoli and elsewhere - to murdering the current head of state. Talk about mission-creep. But ludicrously it appears not to be the military with the blood ...
It's full Council next week and Labour have put in a notice of motion which states "Council notes the damaging impace of George Osbourne's budget on the people of Manchester". Now that's forward thinking because of course as of today, Labour's Councillors in Manchester don't know what's in tomorrow's budget. So I can only assume that they're opposing those measures which have already been trailed in the media, which are: 1. A strong hint that the Education Maintenance Allowance will be replaced for the poorest students. Well fair enough, Labour had intended to abolish this for all students next year, ...
Industrial Evolution is the latest in the main sequence of Big Finish audios, with the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn in Victorian industrial Lancashire keeping an eye on disreputable former companion Thomas Brewster, who has managed to get entangled in otherworldly circumstances in the local factory. The star turn here is from Rory Kinnear, son of Roy Kinnear, who plays factory owner Samuel Belfrage as a slightly twittish businessman with a mysterious background. Decent enough otherwise, though there seemed some technical problems with the very first track (ie track 02, after the title music) of my download.
Chris White has featured on Channel 4 Dispatches 'Train Journeys from Hell' in two film clips in which he complained about the poor service, overcrowding and excessive cost of First Capital Connect. Chris commented: 'They saw my tweets complaining about the service and made contact via Facebook. They asked me to provide a couple of clips which were uploaded onto YouTube for them. I am pleased they used them and hope that there may now be government action to sort out this dreadful company. 'The programme was first aired last night and is repeated at 2 am on Thursday morning. ...
i) births and deaths 22 March 1950: birth of Mary Tamm, who played the first Romana in 1978-79. ii) broadcast anniversaries 22 March 1969: broadcast of third episode of The Space Pirates. Clancey and the Tardis crew evade General Hermack and arrive at the pirate base on Madeleine's plant. 22 March 1975: broadcast of third episode of Genesis of the Daleks. Sarah has failed to escape from the Thal dome, but Harry and the Doctor arrive to rescue her - and the Doctor is electrocuted. 22 March 1983: broadcast of first episode of Time-Flight. A Concorde is kidnapped and the ...
St. John's College - Library - Build your own astrolabe The key medieval astronomical instrument. (tags: history astronomy) In the enemy camp Journalist meets the next generation of lobbyists (tags: eu) altariel: Doctor Who: season 19 "I like how old [Peter Davison] seems - very Hartnellish, and yet he is not. Hartnell. Nor old." (tags: doctorwho) altariel: Doctor Who: season 20 "I like this one! It has got the best hat in all of Doctor Who! " (tags: doctorwho) altariel: Doctor Who: season 21 "...my major source of entertainment came from your face for the duration of the story. That ...
In May voters will get the chance to choose a fairer voting system - the Alternative Vote. It's a small change that will make a big difference. The new voting system will keep what is best about our current system - the link between an MP serving their local constituency - but strengthens it by making MPs work harder to get elected and giving voters more of a say. This is because, with AV, MPs would now have to aim to get more than 50% of the vote, and so will have to work harder and represent more of their ...
For the next room in my eclectic online gallery, I've curated some pieces from the Banksy exhibition held in Bristol in 2009. Over the course of a few months hundreds of thousands of people queued to see the world-famous "graffiti" artist's takeover of the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. These pictures represent a flavour of the show, although after queuing for two hours my actual time in the gallery before it closed was limited. As well as the main exhibition, there were a number of guerrilla pieces round the rest of the building - a fake poo on a plate ...
I was intrigued to read the Evening Standard's report on Google's eight-point rule for what it takes to be the perfect boss on the train home this evening. It appears to have been triggered by a similar article in the New York Times which has been getting a lot of discussion in the blogosphere. I'm always a bit of sucker for management theories that have a bit of quant behind them – because they're so relatively unusual. (I particularly liked The Innovator's Dilemma because of it). No huge surprises, although I was interested that they also analysed the relative impact ...
The membership card for Liberal Democrats carries the first sentence of the preamble to the constitution. It reads "The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which noone shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity".That's not a bad sentence but the point I would emphasise is about party funding. If your money comes from unions or from big business then you could not use the same sentence in your preamble. Well you might try to use it ...
