There is a definite big society. Mike Harding was talking about voluntary groups who look after theatres, who help people with broken down cars or fall over. Yesterday Baroness Newlove, whose husband Garry was murdered by a gang of teenagers in 2007, said that "crime should not be seen as someone else's problem". I agree. If we turn away when something is going wrong then more will go wrong. Policing is only possible with consent. If we all became thieves or if we all started rioting then the police force could not cope. I hope that most of us would ...
The web site, anyway: Asking ns1.bbc.co.uk (132.185.132.21) for bbc.co.uk (type NS) Response is: 25.0% 132.185.240.21 (ns1.thls.bbc.co.uk) with query timed out 25.0% 212.58.227.48 (ns1.rbsov.bbc.co.uk) with query timed out 25.0% 132.185.132.21 (ns1.bbc.co.uk) with query timed out 25.0% 212.58.224.21 (ns1.thdo.bbc.co.uk) with query timed out Oops. It's not just DNS either. They've totally disappeared off the internet: cr1.th<show ip route 132.185.240.21 % Subnet not in table cr1.th<show ip route 212.58.227.48 % Network not in table cr1.th<show ip route 132.185.132.21 % Subnet not in table cr1.th<show ip route 212.58.224.21 % Network not in table cr1.th< No news as to why, other than it's a "major ...
Natasha and Emma came to lunch to talk about heir work at the Medical Foundation, and particularly Natasha's project on Rule 35 - the Rule that provides that if an asylum applicant makes a claim the s(he) has been tortured that is mot manifestly unfounded, s(he) must not be detained. At Questions I chipped in with a supplementary on David Chidgey's question on Yemen Then to the Moses Room, where I spoke in a debate on the immigration fees regulation. In the evening, to the Frontline Club for a showing of a film about the persecution of LGBT people in ...
The County Council's Adults Wellbeing and Health Service is carrying ot a review of Community Alarms and Telecare services. The aim is to do a survey of how people feel about the existing services, but also to find out what kind of services people would like to see in place for the next 3 to 5 years. That means that even though you may have no answers to the first part of the survey, it's still relevant to those of us close enough to old age to think about these things, or for readers who are are caring for older ...
Avon and Somerset Police have issued an appeal for the public's help to find a vulnerable missing man in the South Gloucestershire area. Peter Rowell aged 52 years of Wickwar, was last seen this morning at about 8.30am, when he left home for work as normal. (Yes, it is the Radio Bristol and former ITV News presenter - Editor) He did not turn up for work and concern increased when he could not be contacted. Peter parked his car at Morrison's supermarket in Yate. Peter is described as a white man with white/silver coloured hair. He is 5ft 10ins of ...
As you may have guessed from previous posts, I love my Kindle. I often read late into the night, which either means keeping a light on and annoying my wife – or using a book light. Normally, I'd be happy just annoying her – but I can't resist the allure of buying new technology! I tried a few generic book lights but they were either too dim, didn't fit correctly, used obscure batteries or – as with the official booklight case – ensconced in vegetarian unfriendly leather. Then, I discovered the Verso Arc Light – manufactured by a company called ...
Today say a cross-party launch for the Yes To Fairer Votes campaign, bringing together politicians from Labour, Greens and the Liberal Democrats to campaign for a Yes in the AV referendum. Oh, and it also saw someone operating the camera who hadn't been warned about the relative heights of Ed Miliband and Shirley Williams [IMG: :-)]
Another song to enter the zeitgeist is the Hungarian entry by Katy Wolf. It's a europop anthem which nods retrospectively to `old skool` and Celine while driving forward with a Hungarian disco style. It's one of the songs everyone's talking about.
IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response. I warn you that the following post is not politically correct. It's your choice whether to continue reading. I phone XXX Co. I press 1 for a service in English. A recorded voice asks me to read out my account number: Me (slowly and precisely): 567, 123, 898 ...
Nick Clegg has spoken about the Libya crisis. In Mexico (where he is leading a trade mission) he pointedly said "Liberal vigilantism is dead. Law-abiding liberal interventionism is not." Now who could he have been talking about with this implication that previous interventions may have been illegal?
This evening I went to the AGM of the Launceston CCTV Partnership. This is the group that have installed four cameras covering the centre of town and monitor them to look out for crime and anti-social behaviour. The partnership (as the name implies) is based around the co-operation between the Town Council and the local police and the monitoring is done at the Police Station by a small but dedicated team of volunteers. Also key to the set-up are the local chamber of commerce. Although Cornwall Council did not fund this system, the councillors are also invited to meetings. It ...
One of the notable aspects about OU study today is it usually feels a lot less isolated than when I took a management course with them in 1990. Other than a handful of tutorials and a frantic long weekend at York University, the amount of contact you had with other students was pretty minimal. Yes, we did all exchange names, addresses and telephone numbers at the first tutorial and for all I know, others in the group may well have got together to study. But I really was on my own. Today of course, OU students have the remnants of ...
The fan who threw an inflatable banana at Brazilian starlet Neymar on Sunday's friendly between Brazil and Scotland has been revealed to be firstly, not Scottish, secondly supporting Brazil and thirdly not a racist. In crying wolf Neymar rather gave the game away by saying: "They were jeering me a lot, even when I was about to kick the penalty the entire stadium was jeering." I am not sure a football crowd has ever watched a penalty taken in silence - maybe Brazilian fans are more restrained?
Virtually Naked attended the launch of the Yes2AV campaign: "There was, of course, a Nick Clegg shaped elephant in the room that the journalists set about pointing out with glee. The Deputy Prime Minister is currently in South America, but his lack of presence is becoming a focus for No campaigners, there was even a group of Labour No types outside in Clegg masks. It is clear that he and Miliband need to lance the boil and share a platform." The Liberal Democrats are to leave Cowley Street. The Potter Blogger has found ideal new premises for the party. Nat ...
I had an email today from the Governor of the Bank of England, which explains why the government is facing such a big deficit: Although you may be concerned about my e-mail because we have not met before, My name is Mervyn King, as i am the Governor Bank of England, is the sum of EUR20,600,000.00 in my bank, there were no beneficiaries stated concerning these funds are not an agent would ever
[IMG: 20110329-210740.jpg] All, We had a good meeting of Transition Shipston and Surrounding Communities last night at the White Bear in Shipston. I've been involved with the group since it first started, and remain on its steering committee. About 25 people turned up to celebrate our activities of the past year – such as the Midsummer Festival – and plans for the future, such as the community orchard. We'll be knocking on local residents doors soon to ask them what they think. The best night of the year (ok, in my view) was at the Victorian Evening where some of ...
Nice to see the Labour Party join up with the Lib Dems in what many would normally regard as the more natural coalition. Today Ed Miliband joined with the upper echelons of the Lib Dems and Green Party leader, Caroline Lucas, to promote the case for the Alternative Vote.Whilst Nick Clegg was absent from the stand, evidently on a trade visit to Mexico, rumours have done the rounds in Westminster that Miliband would only appear if Nick didn't. Not normally one to attack the Labour party, given my left of centre leanings, I can't help but feel this was rather ...
Nice little video from the Yes2AV team. Filed under: Campaigner Tagged: yes2av
I took part tonight in the STV news, highlighting the concerns of West End residents about graffiti vandalism. I have reported the graffiti highlighted to the City Council, Scottish and Southern Energy and Scottish Water for action to get it removed. There's another community initiative to tackle the graffiti issue in the West End this June, following the super effort by residents and others last year. If you wish more details, please contact me at fraser@frasermacpherson.org.uk.
A corking Trivila Fact of the Day. It turns out that the Socialist Workers Party's leading theorist Alex Callinicos is the great grandson of the great Liberal historian Lord Acton. I am endebted to Dave Osler on Liberal Conspiracy for the lead. Osler says that Callinicos is Lord Acton's grandson, but a little research shows that he is in fact his great grandson. Alex Callinicos's mother was the Hon. Ædgyth Bertha Milburg Mary Antonia Frances Lyon-Dalberg-Acton. She was the daughter of Richard Lyon-Dalberg-Acton, 2nd Baron Acton. And he in turn was the son of John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton. Lord ...
Good to see cross-party support for the Fairer votes campaign today :
I have received complaints about the fact that the 17 service no longer serves Tesco in South Road. The Acting Director of National Express Dundee has advised me : "The change to the 17 service has been made to improve the punctuality of the route overall and to help the City Centre to Whitfield service. Prior to 6th March the 15 and 17 were causing problems for passengers on the Whitfield side of the City because they were bunching together and running late. One of the reasons for this was that the 15 was being delayed in Albert Street.We changed ...
Tue 29th
19:04
Gearing up to cheer on Tavish Scott in tonight's leaders' debate #spdebate #greatscott
Only an hour and 13 minutes until the election campaign really kicks off with the first of three leaders' debates. I bet the four leaders are all in various states of nervous meltdown. It really can't be a pleasant experience, especially when you remember what a game changer they were during the Westminster elections last year. I don't envy any of them. They will have spent many hours preparing for this, with colleagues playing the other leaders. I'd love to know who played Tavish in each of the other parties. Obviously I'll be there with laptop ready to cheer on ...
Yesterday the Yes to Fairer Votes published its donor list and is calling on all its opponents to do the same. From the Yes website: We are campaigning for better politics and as part of that we have decided to declare who is funding our campaign in a spirit of openness and honesty. In doing so, we are giving more details than required by law and we are giving these details far earlier than required. We are doing this because if people are going to re-connect with politics, then the people seeking their votes must be open and honest. We ...
This is the Penguin edition of the Canterbury Tales, translated rather bravely into modern English verse, and omitting the bulk of Chaucer's own Tale of Melibee and also the Parson's Tale (which is admittedly very boring). I have a number of general observations: It is striking how many of the Tales are unfinished, either interrupted by other characters or simply not completed by Chaucer - the Shipman's Tale being the most egregious example, ending in mid-sentence. Chaucer is happier writing about sex than high politics. The Monk's Tale with its list of virtuous rulers is a yawn a minute. The ...
An excellent book about the Shakespeare authorship controversy, which was a topic I once wasted quite a lot of online time on (between about 2000 and 2004). Shapiro is not really writing about the balance of evidence on either side, though he makes it clear that his sympathies are with the Stratford man rather than with Francis Bacon or the Earl of Oxford. His subject is more an attempt to work out why various highly regarded intellects (Mark Twain and Helen Keller for Bacon, Sigmund Freud for Oxford) should be attracted by such peculiar theories. His answer is that, for ...
Look what I noticed on the way to work this morning. Could it be? Given that the shop looked like this by the time I was going home, the answer is probably yes. The good news, if this is our headquarters for the forthcoming by-election, is that it is very handy for the railway station and only two doors from one of Leicester's best Indian restaurants. Meanwhile, our from the 2004 by-election still looks like this.
Most people find it hard to understand why I am cyanical over the latest footage from The Guardian about the protests on Saturday 26th March. Further to my blog post being published on The New Current, a lot of people have critcised me for not automatically backing the protestors, and for, quite outrageously in their opinion, not criticising the police. The Guardian has provided a really stunning
The police were out in force on the South Park Road Estate this morning, handing out fines to motorists using it to perform an illegal u-turn onto Kingsway northbound. Pam and I have been contacted by several residents pleased at the action, and we've passed our thanks onto the police . Here are a couple of photos of the police in action. This is not a new traffic restriction – the estate has been "access only" forever. The police are simply enforcing the law as it's always been (or for many years, at least). [IMG: P1000644] [IMG: P1000645]
Libya: Some thoughts Where did we get to in our analogy? We have two boys fighting in the school yard. Let's call them G and R for ease. G appears to be armed with weapons. Along comes Teacher, and punches G to protect R. However, the teacher believes that they are behaving in the name of liberty, when in fact, what they are actually doing is feeling guilty for giving G the weapon in the first
Cornwall Council's Strategic Planning Committee has 10 (count them, ten) applications for solar farms to consider at its meeting on April 8th. Of course, these were all submitted before the Government's recent announcement about cutting the feed-in tariff and it is anybody's guess as to whether they will go ahead in the new climate even if they get the nod from the planning committee.
As my colleague Jeremy Rowe blogs, there was almost unanimous support for the continuation of web-casting council meetings today and the facility will be in place until 2013 at least. And the service will grow as meetings other the Full Council and Cabinet will enjoy the service up to a total of 120 hours per year. It is even possible that other organisations holding meetings in the 'wired' rooms at County Hall will be able to use the web-casting service if they are important and we have spare hours. During my speech on the subject, I made the plea for ...
This Friday (1 April) South Glos Council's Development Control Committee will be doing a site visit for the Beech Hill tipping application that we reported on previously. They are expected at Beech Hill at 10.20 am, but obviously this times can only be an estimate. Claire Young and Westerleigh Parish Council will have the opportunity to speak and there are also slots for any supporters or objectors but they are time-limited, so if there are more than one it makes sense to agree on a spokesperson. The committee won't be making any decisions, the visits are just so that they ...
Cornwall Council will be investing in vital road safety works in Launceston over the next two years. These will include a new crossing for pedestrians somewhere between St Thomas Road and Newport Square, safety works on Dutson Road and a new crossing on Western Road. This is great news and reflects the hard work put in by local campaigners including the town council. One of the key debates at today's full council meeting was on the new Local Transport Plan. At around 200 pages, it was certainly the lengthiest item on today's agenda. A local transport plan is a requirement ...
I come to Big Finish's new Gallifrey series from a slightly different angle from most of its listeners. I listened to the first three series several years ago, and was unimpressed – I remember the first series as being moderately entertaining fluff, while the second and third series got so far up their own arsehole ...
As Labour and Plaid Cymru approach the end of their joint administration, Kirsty Williams, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats has renewed her attack on the record of both parties in the areas of health, education and the economy. Kirsty Williams, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats said: "The joint leadership of Labour and Plaid Cymru has left Wales with a weak economy, underfunded and underperforming schools and an NHS that costs more but delivers less. It is a truly dismal record of failure in the most important areas for the people of Wales. "They spent more money on ...
Last week Andy Pellew and myself attended the launch of the new CAB information point at the Arbury Community Centre. In the picture are (left to right) Cllr Tim Bick (the Executive Councillor for Community Development responsible for supporting the project) myself, Alan Soer (Manager of the Community Centre), the hub itself and Andy. Supported by the City Council, the CAB point provides information on a range of issues. It provides independent and confidential advice on housing, benefits, family law, employment rights, taxation, and other issues. It also provides suggestions about where to go to for more help if needed. ...
This week has two planning applications on the list, both at the same adddress on Milton Road. The first is for a "side and rear roof extension, part first floor and part ground floor rear extensions and removal of existing conservatory" at 347 Milton Road, with reference 11/0271/FUL. The second app is for an outbuilding at the same address, with reference 11/0272/FUL. More details can be found at the City Council website, or contact the team in case of difficulty.
One of the first tasks which the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minster gave me when they appointed me to the job of Advocate for Access to Education was to advise on the replacement for the Educational Maintenance Allowance. Since then I have travelled across the country to listen to young adults in school and further education colleges about how they think students should be supported in education. The overriding concern that students across the country had was travel. They wanted to know that the money was there to pay for their travel to school or college. Other important things ...
I was at a School Governor's meeting last night and one of the issues that came up on the agenda was the Pupil Premium. The fine details are not important her but something in the order of 50 children in the school qualify as they receive free school meals. This is a really useful sum of money and the school has some imaginative plans to ensure that these children get the benefit. One other matter of general interest that came up was a project that the year 5 pupils were involved with concerning Rotton Row. This is an 'iconic' bit ...
In my post last week I explained why I am supporting the Alternative Vote (AV) in the forthcoming UK referendum. This case was based on principle. We have a system of single member constituencies. First past the post (FPTP) carries a high risk of unrepresentative candidates being elected. Of the various systems in use around the world to counter the weaknesses of FPTP (primary elections in the US, run-off elections in France, AV in Australia), AV seems to fit the British situation best. I avoided asking what the impact of any change would be: just that the system is more ...
The picture below shows protesters outside Fortnums on Saturday. I have no idea if they are UK UnCut people or just a bunch of nefarious wasters but either way, this is wrong. But then on the other hand, take a gander at this video: I don't think this paints a good picture of the police either - does it? Yes, I know The Guardian isn't every Lib Dems favourite newspaper (let's not forget though they advocated a Lib Dem vote in the 2010 election) but I doubt if the video shows anything but a fair version of what took place. ...
Here are three of the four particpants in the last of the four Scotland on Sunday debates which took place yesterday. John Swinney, whose elbow you can just see on the left, Labour's Andy Kerr, Conservative Derek Brownlee and Liberal Democrat Jeremy Purvis lined up to quiz each other and take questions from the audience and online observers on the economy. These debates have generally been useful. Held far out enough from the heat at the nucleus of the election campaign, they've been generally good humoured and good at highlighting the difference in approach between the parties. There was a ...
Monday: I suppose we all like to THINK that we could take a one pound coin to the Bank of England and swap it for one pound coin's worth of gold. But if you take your pound coin to the Bank of England, all they will give you in exchange is... ANOTHER pound coin. Of course, a moment's thought will explain why. If Great Britain, a trillion pounds in debt, were, like a dragon at Gringotts, sitting on a great big hoard of gold, wouldn't we, um, sell it to pay off the debt? Oh wait, Mr Frown already did ...
The Daily Mail has what can only be described as the most bizarre story of the day with the claim that an end-terrace house in Swansea resembles Adolf Hitler. They say that the property is set to become a global internet sensation as it allegedly bears a passing resemblance to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler: Its neat brown door brings to mind the fascist dictator's trademark toothbrush moustache. And the slanting tiled roof falls at a similar angle to the leader's greased down, parted hairstyle. Don't they have any news to report?
Tue 29th
13:53
Stephen Gilbert writes... "Supporting People Funding" - for the most vulnerable in our society
We are all just a few steps from being homeless. We know that we will get older. Some of us may end up in abusive relationships. All of these things can happen through no fault of our own. When this happens, surely we deserve a chance to turn our lives around. That is what Supporting People funding has been there for. It provides for local services, delivered by housing providers and community groups, supporting some of our most vulnerable people. It's helped over one million people live more independently in their homes, and many thousands to recover from drug or ...
An AV referendum debate between DR Philip Lee, Conservative MP for Bracknell and Fiona McTaggart, Labour MP for Slough will take place at Easthampstead Baptist Church Centre on 28 April at Saturday 7.30pm to 9 pm. Attendance is free and the full address is South Hill Road in Bracknell RG12 7NS. I will be there to cover the event and hope to see as many of my local readers there as possible.
The No to AV campaign have already been taken to task over their misleading and untrue claims that switching to a fairer voting system will cost £250 million. The truth is that a pencil and a manual count is all that is needed, even if they are trying to push a rolls royce model on us so as to justify their case. Now, today's Independent has caught them out again with their claim that there are only three countries in the world who use AV and that one of them, the pacific island chain of Fiji, is so fed up ...
Thameslink Loop Line Campaign Group Acts As Chairman of the Thameslink Loop Line Campaign Group I have just written to Theresa Villiers, Minister of State for Transport. In my letter I have asked her to clarify a statement that she made last year that no decision has yet been made on the way Wimbledon loop services will operate after the completion of the Thameslink Programme. The Loop Line through service is a long established service that is used daily by hundreds of Sutton commuters and it would be a huge loss if this service was cut. People from Sutton and ...
George Monbiot takes us to task in The Guardian today for not doing enough to promote freedoms and the right to protest (Free to protest? I can still be arrested if my placard reads: 'Nick Clegg, oh dear') and you know something - I don't really mind. I've blogged before about how I think the right to protest should be inviolate and while I welcome the reforms of 'The Freedom Bill' we must keep to our promise that this is a start, and not an end to that process. So while much of George's criticism makes me uncomfortable, it just ...
Shimna Integrated College (via NICIE) When integrated education was first muted for Northern Ireland some people had the audacity to ask "What's the point?". The obvious response was that this was the way that we would grow a future population that will have a shared future. That is why when I heard the news that there is a school in Northern Ireland setting up a gay-straight alliance, I suspected it would be one of the integrated secondary schools. I'm proud of the fact that the pupils at Shimna Integrated College in Newcastle are taking integration to the next stage. The ...
The final book – for now, at least – in Lovegrove's Age Of... series, The Age Of Odin has been the most enjoyable of them to read. Possible spoilers for all three books in the series ahead, so don't click on read more if you want to avoid them. As you might expect from the title and the earlier works in the series, this is Lovegrove's attempt at Ragnarok, with gods and men fighting together against the traditional enemies of the Norse pantheon (Loki, the frost giants) and some modern takes on traditional names (Fenrir, Jourmagand etc). In search of ...
There's a kind of balance in the fact that, having been criticised widely criticised for only talking a good game before his election as President, Barack Obama finds himself being criticised whenever he only plays a good game. Despite the relief of Bush being gone, some people seem to have an almost desperate need for American Presidents to be in clear view, striding across the globe and telling us all what's what. For instance, Clive Crook, FT's man in Washington comes to this conclusion about Obama's Libya speech: Presumably he delayed making the address to underscore the limited nature of ...
The Examiner is reporting how the Labour leader for the neighbouring Kirklees councils has been fiddling with Freedom of Information request. Freedom of Information, along with the minimum wage was one of the few things I did admire New-Labour for introducing. It's a shame then to see a Labour council leader it being accused of abusing it for the political ends. If I were a Labour member, over in Kirklees I would be quite disappointed that this individual had let my party down. The Examiner has provided three examples of where Clr Khan has intervened in FOI requests that are ...
Every Liberal Democrat is frustrated that we don't seem able to gain publicity for our achievements in government. Commentators don't seem to notice the many times that we succeed in curbing the instincts of the Tory right wing, which is ... Continue reading →
[IMG: IMG_5118] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: Obama-Biden Transition Project "Reporter imprisoned in a closet at Joe Biden fundraiser" was the headline on the Gawker. Similar lurid stories zoomed a million times around the world via Twitter, Facebook, blogs and newswires. The truth is a little less lurid. It was cock-up rather than lock-up. Here is the full story from the Orlando Sentinel reporter at the centre of the story, Scott Powers: Take a couple details of information, toss them into the Internet and it can become like a child's game of telephone — with each rendition adding spin ...
High speed broadband. Something many of us take completely for granted. However you don't have to go too far out of the major Scottish cities to find that you just can't get it. Even in West Fife, actually in Dunfermline itself, people are struggling with low connectivity which makes it difficult for them to work at home. In the Highlands, almost one business in three can't get high speed broadband, which puts them at a real disadvantage. I've actually known of people who have had to move because the lack of connectivity made their business unviable, which is a real ...
Lots of talk this morning (and here's another reference) about Caroline Lucas' quote (in reference to the 'why support AV when you really want PR') as 'Do not let the best be the enemy of the good'. Which is a good sentiment. However, in Adland we have the opposite sentiment when describing creative work - never forget, good is the enemy of great'. I guess this demonstrates perhaps, that politics is a slightly more pragmatic enterprise than advertising...who'd have thought it....
Tonight it's a meeting of the Internal Scrutiny Committee of the Council, which is the body set up to scrutinise decisions made by the Council's Cabinet. It's a public meeting, so you can come down if you want to. It's at the Town Hall from 7. Last time we had 100+ people in attendance, but ...
[IMG: Caroline Lucas speaking at Yes! launch] Caroline Lucas speaking at Yes! launch This morning I was at the cross party Yes! to Fairer Votes launch. It was good to see a range of people from Labour, Lib Dems and Greens as well as a number of people with no party affiliation there. In fact there were so many people in the packed room that there were people standing in the corridors to listen. The speeches all contained the lines about MPs having to work harder, to listen more, ending safe seats and that the individuals vote will have a ...
Yesterday I blogged on the non story in the Telegraph about the Liberal Democrat re-brand. The great and the good of the Lib Dem blogosphere all did the same (some of them even did it on Sunday, which makes me look like a right slacker..) so here's a pick of the best takes on the story... 1. Olly Grender at The New Statesman 'The Lib Dems branding crisis' 2. Julian Astle at The Daily Telegraph (Oh, the irony, eh?) '"Lib Dems to change their logo, their name, their direction and their leader." Really?' 3. Caron at Caron's Musings 'Telegraph gets ...
Earlier in the month I talked about how the "little and often" rule is a good approach for candidates and those elected to public office when using the internet to keep in touch with voters. There have been two good recent examples of blog posts from Liberal Democrat councillors that illustrate the different roles blog posts can play in that. First, Ealing Councillor Gary Malcolm and his short, simple summary of a residents' association AGM. That sort of quick but very local information often has a ready audience, because even diligent readers of local newspapers rarely get that much information ...
[IMG: An Alarm Clock] Take a look at comments on blogs, Facebook or Twitter from Liberal Democrat activists after the two latest outings for Nick Clegg's "Alarm Clock Britain" phrase - in his Sheffield conference speech and his post-Budget email - and the reaction is pretty universal. It's not a popular phrase with activists. I'm doubtful about the phrase myself, but ... a good reason to give it a second thought is that from what I've seen many of the people who say they dislike it, also have said in the past that they hate "hard working families" and similar ...
An interesting snippet from today's Cornwall Council full council meeting on the false arguments being put forward by the No2AV campaign. My colleague Jeremy Rowe asked the Council to confirm the Electoral Commission's statement that the adoption of AV would not mean the need to use electronic voting machines. This was in response to the statements put out by the No campaign that costs of a Yes vote would be £250 million and include more than £120 million for e-voting machines. Cllr Currie, the Conservative Cabinet Member for finance, ran through the history of voting pilots in the UK and ...
A novel take on how to resolve campaign arguments, seen at our nerve centre yesterday. This actually, is the revised procedure. If I told you what the first version was, I'd have to kidnap you and hold you prisoner for ever and I can't afford to feed you all. Election campaigns are gruelling things - and this one, at 6 weeks, on top of all the prep work that's been going on for years, is going to be particularly exhausting. Before the campaign builds to its crescendo I want to say a thank you in advance to all the fabulous ...
I spent a pleasant couple of hours yesterday evening canvassing with Lib Dem councillors in a ward we're defending at May, vigorously defending our party's local and national record against the usual torrent of nonsense. Labour have just put out ... Continue reading →
Our party at times, is rather like the French wine industry, a purveyor of great things, sometimes the best in the world, but rather loathe to change our traditional bad habits. The mansion tax in many forms is now vintage bad policy about which we have written previously. The party in principle supports simple fair taxes, we have a history of supporting land taxation. The mansion tax is neither. Annual percentile taxes on estimated property values are hard to calculate, distort markets, have no sensible 'fair' threshold. They would be widely avoided. That Nick Clegg is now talking (£) about ...
News on the internet can be depressing: protesters chant hate-filled slogans at the party conference, there is violence at anti-cuts demonstrations and a sea of cynical contempt on internet forums. The raw facts aren't encouraging either. The most regular opinion pollster, YouGov, gives us rock bottom ratings. Although our share of the vote went up a bit in the Oldham East and Saddlesworth by-election, we did appallingly in Barnsley Central. But I'm not discouraged, because there's another way to find out what voters think. Go and ask them. I've canvassed in Oldham East and Saddlesworth, Cambridge, and Barnsley. The response ...
Cornwall Council will look into adopting an 'ethical' investment strategy following concerns I have raised about investments in Bahrain - a country with a very dubious record on human rights and the rule of law. My initial question was as to whether the council has any investments in the country. The answer - that we have no bank accounts in the country and the belief is that we do not invest in any companies which do business with the Government of Bahrain - was welcome, although I'm not 100% sure that this is correct. Questions have been raised about the ...
Following the announcement of their engagement Andrew and Michael are happy to announce that their Civil Partnership and Covenant of Commitment will be held on 6th and 7th May 2011 in Belfast. Ideas for gifts are available here. Filed under: Blogging
VN has got a bit lost with the amount of launches there have been for various groups associated with the fairer votes referendum, but today was the official Yes team's press launch. The gang of nine that came on stage featured Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband, Lib Dem Party President Tim Farron, Leader of ...
North East Fife MP Sir Menzies Campbell today unveiled a prestigious list of "Famous Fifers" who have pledged their support for the campaign to save RAF Leuchars: The actor Dougray Scott; writers Ian Rankin and Val McDermid; singers The Proclaimers and Barbara Dickson; and film director and producer Richard Jobson have backed the campaign to save RAF Leuchars from closure. Sir Menzies, in whose constituency of North East Fife RAF Leuchars is situated, contacted them and explained that the campaign for RAF Leuchars was supported by people of all political parties and of none. Today he thanked them all for ...
Our local MP is on the Health & Social Welfare Bill Committee that is driving through the stealth privatisation of the NHS. To date, he has done nothing to stop it. Hence the following letter published in this week's Hampshire Chronicle: Sir, Winchester Liberal Democrats took a leading role at the Liberal Democrat conference in Sheffield in changing the party's policy to reject the covert privatisation of the NHS being pushed through by Conservative Secretary of State Andrew Lansley and his supporters on the Health and Social Welfare Bill Committee, such our local MP Steve Brine. This is a vital ...
Millions of pounds have been spent in total in the UK on testing various forms of electronic voting, in the hope that this might raise turnout in elections. The overall verdict across different technologies - such as voting by SMS or online - has been remarkably consistent: it's expensive, not very reliable, of dubious security and, above all, has almost no impact on turnout levels. It's easy to see how the idea of using modern technology has caught the eye and budget of decision makers. But with the emphasis on the high-tech, boringly old-fashioned items such as paperwork have got ...
AV is not a perfect system, nor is it my preferred system, but it does help eliminate some of the worst features of first past the post. This video shows you exactly what they are... Yoinked from here I made my own case for AV here If you feel benevolent and particularly generous, this writer always appreciates things bought for him from his wishlist
The South Gloucestershire Strong Safer Communities awards 2011 aim to celebrate everyone in South Gloucestershire who has helped to tackle Anti Social Behaviour and keep our communities safe. Every year many people in South Gloucestershire do great work in their communities to help tackle Anti Social Behaviour. For most of them their commitment and hard work goes unrecognised in their wider communities. South Gloucestershire Council has launched a new scheme to praise and reward people who have helped the Council and its partners tackle Anti Social Behaviour. Do you know people who are helping to make your community a stronger, ...
After the Scotland on Sunday economy debate yesterday, I called in at the nerve centre of the Liberal Democrat campaign on my way home. I arrived just in time to see our candidate for Edinburgh Central Alex Cole-Hamilton appear on the BBC News Channel. I think the people in the studio wanted him to talk about something else, but he told them about his own vibrant campaign in Edinburgh Central and about the Liberal Democrat achievements in the UK Coalition. I know that the ending of child detention for immigration purposes is particularly close to his heart as he works ...
Yesterday Michael Gove, finally, announced the government's proposals for replacing the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) scheme. As previously trailed, Liberal Democrat pressure has secured more than £100m extra for the plans. The £180m being spent on the new scheme compares to the £560m cost of the EMA. At first glance, that is a large cut. But if you view the key objective for the funds to be helping more people to take part in post-16 education, then the picture looks very different. That's because several different studies of EMA concludes that the vast majority of its funds went to people ...
And so, with National Express East Anglia out of the picture, what can we hope for? Well, probably not much, in the short term at least. The franchise up for grabs is for just seventeen months, whilst the Government decide how future rail franchising should be done. Accordingly, it will be just cosmetic changes that can reasonably be expected at first. The big prize is a potential twenty-five year franchise, with control over track maintenance, signalling and infrastructure. Our first contender, Go-Ahead Group, are involved with three franchises at present - Southern (pretty good), SouthEastern (pretty expensive) and London Midland ...
A pattern has become established in British politics over the past 20 years. Every time there is a terrorist outrage or an outbreak of serious public disorder parliament rushes to give the police new powers. Those powers are hardly used afterwards, but that does not stop further powers being given to the police the next time there is a terrorist outrage or an outbreak of serious public disorder. This process seems to be taking place in the wake of the violence in London on Saturday. The Independent quotes Theresa May speaking in the Commons yesterday: "Just as the police review ...
I am pleased with the progress being made on the replacement for EMA. Additional funds have been found to ensure that sixth formers have assistance with travel. This is one of the issues that I have been pressing for change on.
Great Central in the 1960s from Morrie Greenberg on Vimeo. This is another of those irresistible (to me at least) videos combining vintage railway film with a contemporary soundtrack. This one shows the very last days of the Great Central, accompanied by commercial and BBC radio and the odd television theme. The whole of the line is covered, which means - at the end that interests me - you get footage of Rugby Central, Lutterworth and Leicester Central. And then it is on to the famously decrepit Nottingham Arkwright Street - the Great Central's Victoria Station had already closed by ...
From the sublime to the ridiculous, here we go again: "When It's Not Your Turn": The Quintessentially Victorian Vision of Ogden's "The Wire" – The Wire is often compared to Dickens, but what might it have been like if it actually had been a 19th century serial novel? (via) Poll: Nearly 4 in 10 Americans Say Natural Disasters Sign from God – (warning: link takes you to Fox News) "The perceived increase in the number and severity of natural disasters is evidence to 44 percent of Americans of what the Bible calls The End Times" The threat of America's nativist ...
broadcast anniversaries 29 March 1969: broadcast of fourth episode of The Space Pirates. Clancey and the Doctor try to convince Madeleine that Caven is behind the space pirates, but Caven himself arrives and captures them. 29 March 1975: broadcast of fourth episode of Genesis of the Daleks. The Thals destroy the Kaled dome; the Daleks destroy the Thals; and Davros captures the Doctor, Sarah and Harry. 29 March 1982: broadcast of third episode of Time-Flight. The Master is trying to get in with the Xeraphin. 29 March 1984: broadcast of third episode of The Twin Dilemma. Mestor is killing people ...
not_panicking | 64 Things Sherlock Holmes is no Longer Allowed to do now that he lives with John Watson This is fanfic for the Moffat/Gatiss version. (tags: funny) Diana Wynne Jones | tor.com | Science fiction and fantasy | Blog posts Farah Mendlesohn's tribute to DWJ. (tags: death sf) The Lovecraftsman: 6 ways to turn Cthulhu into an emoticon (;,;) (tags: sf funny) I preached against homosexuality, but I was wrong "A recent poll shows a huge shift in American attitudes toward gay marriage, from a 32 percent approval in 2004 to 53 percent today. I am one of those ...
