Friends of the Earth is inviting the public to help decide the winner of its Talking Rubbish Award to help debunk the myths peddled by right-wing newspapers and some Tory ministers who 'like to trash recycling'. The three nominees are as follows: The myth: Recycling means everyone is terrified of the 'bin police' "The iron fist of the municipal state has come down on people for the most minor of bin breaches." Eric Pickles, Communities Secretary The reality: Mr Pickles – and some noisy media commentators – give the impression that people live in fear of the 'bin police'. In ...
Area Green Space Plans After yesterday's Environment meeting agreement was reached to work with the Area Green Space Plans, within the Neighbourhood Partnership. To summarise the options from the Agenda Item 4: a. NP have nothing to do with it b. Start from scratch c. Working with the current plan assess responses, additions, omissions - prioritise the plan d. Work with current plan, prioritising, based on officer recommendations & responses I think this will be a work in progress and there's a lot to do for the group to bring it to full Neighbourhood Partnership with proposals, for agreement, or ...
Item: Jennie put on Would I Lie To You, and the female panellist reveals she lied repeatedly to her husband before they married. Jennie: Why did he marry her then? Me: Jennie? She's Keeley Hawes. (Jennie then went on to wonder why she felt the need to lie, but that's a Serious Topic) Item: I am a listed here: Brighouse Ward: Statement of persons nominated: Calderdale Council, yes, that is the ward I actually live in, and yes, I'm actually running seriously to try to win. Last minute unplanned nomination, but that doesn't change that I could do it and ...
[IMG: Kirsten pic] Well the nomination papers are in, and the Council has today published the list of candidates standing in Reading in the forthcoming local elections on Thursday 5 May. in Redlands we are delighted to confirm that hardworking Kirsten Bayes will be seeking re-election as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Redlands, to represent the ward she, Cllr Glenn Goodall and I care so deeply about. I've looked at the list of candidates standing for election in Redlands and it is clear that there is only one proven local champion standing in this election with a four year track record of delivery on issues that matter to local people. And that is ...
So, twelve days ago I wrote a post about how the No campaign's "weekly reason to vote no" had been the same for five week's running. The day after I wrote that piece they changed the weekly reason to the following: Pictured: inaccuracy at every level possible It's now been twelve days and that's still their "weekly reason". Now, the last time they kept a reason up for five weeks I wondered whether they were running out of ideas. Now it's clear that they definitely are running out of ideas. And, incidentally, this "reason" is just as much bullshit as ...
Wed 6th
23:07
Clegg a hypocrite? Nick's critics are "playing the man, not the ball" says BBC's Mark Easton
The right-wing press was today in full self-righteous cry, accusing Nick Clegg of 'hypocrisy' for seeking to ensure fairness on internships when he's stated in interviews before he benefited from family connections. Their argument is comprehensively refuted by the BBC's home editor Mark Easton, who points out here quite how spurious such attacks are: The charge is that he is a hypocrite – trying to deny to others what he enjoyed himself. But does the accusation really hold water? Are we saying that no politician can ever pursue reforms to a system because he or she is a consequence of ...
Not another Morrison hero motivated by a dead Kat... I'm very sorry Morrison is definitely doing something interesting with the Kathy Kane backstory here. She made a film called "Ariadne's sewing machine" – this is absolutely *FULL* of resonance for this story. Look at the ending – "the flies are in the web! The monster ...
I read with interest today about Vince Cable's comments to university vice-chancellors that: The biggest mistake a university could make is to underestimate its consumers. and: Students will search for value for money and compare the offers of different universities. He's now just a small step away from suggesting that VCs are public enemy number one, joining bankers on the list of people he will no longer be sending Christmas cards to. I suggested this might be a likely strategy in a post at the start of March, when it began to become clear that the outcome of the tuition ...
The Old Liberals by John Betjeman (Picture shows statue outside St. Pancras) Pale green of the English Hymnal! Yattendon hymnsPlayed on the hautbois by a lady dress'd in blue Her white-hair'd father accompanying her theretoOn tenor or bass-recorder. Daylight swims On sectional bookcase, delicate cup and plateAnd William de Morgan tiles around the grate And many the silver birches the pearly light
Inside Out: a Jaxxland perspective reports the Parking Enforcement Trade Association (PETA). In its new advertisement PETA claims: The Liberal Democrats who have won just 43 out of the 531 seats (8.1%) in the last general election are taking away your rights of the use on your very own property. They are ignoring the civil laws that protect you and your land which date back to the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215, by banning wheel-clamping and towing away on private land.As Inside Out says, it's a bit like the Sherriff of Nottingham putting in a harassment claim against ...
The Consett-based Holiday Activities from County Durham Leisure have just hit my inbox, so here they are.
This evening, I attended the monthly Community Spirit Action Group meeting, the residents' group covering Cleghorn, Ancrum, Polepark, Pentland, Tullideph and surrounding areas. There was an excellent presentation from Jeff Halkett from the City Council's Waste Management Department which concentrated on waste collection arrangements in the West End. There was also a useful discussion on a number of local issues and the embryonic Community Spirit Action Group website was unveiled. It is hoped that full information about the group and its activities will be uploaded to the new website between now and the May meeting.
So, I went to see Anna in her school play again tonight, the final performance. It's about the Second World War, so there are some things that are tough to watch and must have been tough for them to act. The parting scene at the station as children were evacuated. The soldiers at the Front writing home because they think they are going to be killed. The reunion that didn't happen when a soldier failed to return home. In amongst the pathos, there were moments of comic delight - a Home Guard that was delightfully muddled, with a Commanding Officer ...
No, this isn't a post about the BNP. It's a post about what's poisoning mainstream politics. When out canvassing, it's not unusual to find at least one person who has a dim view of "politicians". Snouts in the trough, on the make - the clichés go on and on. A visitor from another world might be forgiven for wondering what these "politicians" might be. Evidently they are not human. Except that they are. They have families; they have friends; they have hopes, dreams and fears like everybody else. The New Statesman is trailing an interview with Nick Clegg in which ...
I've had an e-mail this morning with a smiley picture of Esther Rantzen on it, asking "How much is your injury claim worth?". Which is slightly odd, because, as far as I am aware, I haven't been injured. Of course, I am about to take part in the highly dangerous activity of leaflet delivery, with potentially savage dogs behind every door, and trip hazards on every front path. I may even contract a repetitive strain injury from contact with letter boxes over the coming weeks. If so, I will have to approach the agent for any compensation which, in turn, ...
You will all be thinking about leaving school in a few weeks and must be thinking 'WTF' about going to university. So said Stephen Gilbert, Lib Dem MP for St Austell and Newquay, when addressing an assembly of 200 Year 11 students at a local community college, prompting a local Tory councillor to complain to the school, accusing Mr Gilbert of being "out of touch". Headteacher David Parker is more forgiving: "I was there at the time and I know people have picked up on something that was said during the talk. Perhaps if he had thought about it before ...
Local youth workers and others are inviting Garston people to turn up to a meeting later this month to discuss a possible skate park (which could also be used for other activities) in Garston. There's a potential site under the bridge. The meeting is on Monday 18th April at the Village Hall on Banks Road at 7pm. I don't have many details myself about this, although I have promised to tell people about the meeting. (I'll be getting a bit more of a briefing later this week) If you want to know more, Brendon Burton, local youth worker, is the ...
Here is Belgrave Hall. Its modest lines are interrupted by the later bow window and spoilt by the scaffolding put up for current repairs, but there is nothing scary about it. Except that...
[IMG: photo (2)] You will have to forgive me for not being too upset about "Worse-off Wednesday" myself I have avoided the news broadcasts, with what I would guess would be highly emotive reports telling us how terrible the new tax system is for some poor families, who just happen to be amongst the most affluent, earning a damn sight more than your average Thanet resident. It seems that some families, on very comfortable incomes will no longer be receiving the generous tax credits, that they once did and despite all the doom and gloom, from presumably well-paid journalists, ( ...
Do you remember David Jack? He was the man forced to resign as Liberal Democrat PPC for Stoke-on-Trent North in January of last year after claims were made that he had sent racist emails. And it also turned out that he had been involved in a long-running campaign against the company Credit Card Killer. Earlier today anonymous comments were left on the two posts linked to above. They said that Jack had been exonerated after a police investigation and made various claims about the owners of the company. As I could not find anything on the web to support those ...
I have made the decision that, for a change, I'm not going to push myself to the absolute limits of what my body can take during this election. It took me six months to feel remotely human after the 2010 campaign and I've had enough health issues over the last few years, thank you very much. I am just not going to ruin another Summer by pushing myself too hard. I am still doing stuff, just not round the clock as before. So, I am going to get my proper quota of sleep and I'm going to continue going to ...
Today is the first day of the new tax year. A big day as it marks a momentous shift towards a fairer tax system. This morning I listened to the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls being interviewed on Radio 4. As much as he tried to avoid the question he couldn't deny that 80% of the ...
i) births and deaths 6 April 1959: birth of Mark Strickson, who played the Fifth Doctor companion Turlough in 1983-4. ii) broadcast anniversaries 6 April 1968: broadcast of fourth episode of Fury from the Deep. Van Lutyens, and then the Doctor and Jamie, descend to the base of the impeller shaft and find the Weed Creature gathering in strength. 6 April 1974: broadcast of third episode of The Monster of Peladon. Sarah raises Queen Thalira's consciousness, and the Ice Warriors arrive.
Yesterday the policeman who pushed Ian Tomlinson was cross examined at the inquest into his death. The-Guardian is carrying the story but an interesting quote jumps out that highlights wider attitudes and practices in the met. When asked by the family's lawyer "Does your training tell you if someone is not a threat to you or any other person it is acceptable to baton them? Is that your training? "Yes," replied [PC] Harwood. Let's just review that. A police officer has just publically said that he is trained to baton people who are not posing any threat to themselves or ...
How can we have confidence in policing as long as Simon Harwood remains a policeman ? This bully has form. He had been investigated twice for violent behaviour before he struck Ian Tomlinson. He had left the Metropolitan Police on "medical grounds" with a disciplinary charge hanging over him. He later joined the Surrey Police and then the Met again. Children's authors need a CRB check to talk
Just popped in on a hectically busy day to let you know what various papers and organisations have been saying about the Scottish Liberal Democrats' manifesto - which has been generally well received. The Scotsman said our proposals were "bold", "honest", "sound" on support for business and, on Scottish Water, "an idea whose time has come". The Herald said it contained "a strong civil liberties section". Admittedly, though, its leader writer had clearly dipped his keyboard in poison. The only cure for such bitterness is, I think, half an hour going through What the hell have the Lib Dems done? ...
I am a man, have been all my life. Yet I would like women to share equal pay, enjoy equal opportunities and the same life chances as me. Indeed, as the father of three girls and husband to a fantastically brilliant Doctor, I think this is incredibly important. Apparently this makes me a hypocrite. I am white. But I believe that your skin colour should be irrelevant to your life chances, and that everyone should enjoy the same opportunities to make the most of their lives. Hypocrite. I am in excellent health and I am not disabled. But I think ...
Well it was fun while it lasted. From Bales' rampaging against Inter, to the team's steadfast determination to hold on against AC Milan, only the bitterest of Arsenal fans could have failed to be excited by the way that Tottenham Hotspur have set about their debut Champions League campaign. However, last night, Real Madrid have proved ...
LGA Liberal Democrat Group News Release Embargo: Immediate, Wednesday 6th April 2011 Local Government Lib Dems lobby Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister on Health Bill Cllr Richard Kemp, LGA Lib Dem Group leader, and Portsmouth City Council and Deputy Group ... Continue reading →
The candidates for Reading Borough Council's elections have just been published They make very interesting reading as far as Labour and the Conservatives are concerned. In Labour's held and 'target' wards (ie where they seem to be focusing activity) we have: A candidate from Battle ward (West Reading) standing in Church in the South-East of the borough A candidate from West Reading in Redlands A candidate from Caversham in Katesgrove A candidate from Abbey in Whitley. (Interestingly, the so-called 'party of the many not the few' seems to have nobody local willing to come forward in some of the ...
I mentioned in my blog the other day regarding the cricket world cup that the next World Cup is due to have fewer teams in it (compared with the 14 teams in this year's tournament). Since then the ICC has confirmed that the next two World Cups (2015 and 2019) will feature just 10 teams. My point about removing an incentive still stands, however it is worse than originally thought, for 2015 there wont even be a qualifying competition, the teams that will compete are already set in stone. These are the 9 test playing nations and Zimbabwe. This is ...
Being self-employed each year I have to file a tax return. However, in something they have in common with the local Labour Party, the HMRC website is not working. As someone who works in IT I can understand why it has been unavailable the past few days while the enterprise release is installed. However it ...
Network Rail are pressing ahead with the rail freight link to the North of Ipswich station. This will provide a direct route from Felixstowe through to the Midlands. The project is called the "Ipswich Chord" and the second phase of the technical consultation is currently underway. The proposals should remove 750,000 lorry journeys off local roads each year. They are planning to submit a formal planning application to the Infrastructure Planning Commission in May or June this year. If approval is given Network Rail plans to start construction in 2012 with completion in 2014. The explanation of the location, length ...
After informing an audience during his trade trip to India, that Pakistan was appeasing terrorists and was reluctant to combat extremism, the Prime Minister felt the need to apologies to his counter parts in Pakistan today; with a £650 million ... Continue reading →
Following the fun and games of the Yes to AV People's Campaign Launch I headed straight over to Putney to join the campaign team there with their action day in East Putney. Here we were surveying the ward with questions ranging from the environment to the high rise tower blocks to be built on the Upper Richmond Road. [IMG: Richard Davis Surveying in East Putney] Richard Davis Surveying in East Putney I was met with a variety of comments and feed back, both for and against, but was shocked when I heard the story of an elderly woman living on ...
Candidates have now been announced across Calderdale in the forthcoming elections. As announced in my earlier post I was nominated as a candidate for White Lee Ward on Hebden Royd town Council. I was pleased to hear that Labour were unable to field a candidate to fight this ward, therefore myself, fellow Lib Dem Tony Hodgins and independent candidate James Alison will now be elected. I'm thrilled to be elected, and plan to carry on conducting a survey of the ward to discover what our priorities in office should be. Hopefully Tony and I will make a great team. Liberal ...
The local Labour Party website has often provided me with amusement in the way things are put. However today was even more interesting. All of its pages now look like this (the login page for WordPress). So reason #1 to vote Lib Dem is that we can manage to run a website. Unlike Labour, local ...
The Voice is only a success because of the interest and support from our readers. For many people just lurking and reading the site is all they want to do – and that's fine, we're grateful for people taking the time to read the site. You can though help us continue to produce interesting content for a growing audience. Here are four simple ways: 1. Let us have your tips for stories. Perhaps there's something outrageous going on in your local council? Or you're an expert in a particular area and have spotted a story other people have missed? Or ...
Indignation has once again struck the Westminster bubble, after Nick Clegg yesterday tried to end unpaid internships and nepotism, while admitting his father had helped him get one, and everyone knowing his party uses them extensively. Mark Pack has nicely explained why it is perfectly legitimate to try and change a system you see fault in but ...
Two weeks after traffic chaos on Hyde Road was introduced following the sudden appearance of cycle lanes, which reduced Hyde Road down to 1 lane each way, the Council has been persuaded to change their minds on this one and remove the cycle lanes where they were causing serious traffic trouble. The extra cycle areas at junctions will remain, but the new cycle lanes will be removed. It's just a pity that they didn't think more carefully before introducing them in the first place.
Photo used by the Metro when covering the story Nick Clegg has been announcing plans to increase social mobility through internships to allow a greater cross section of society to enjoy the opportunities that he had. The main criticism is that internships are often only available on an unpaid/expenses paid basis and normally your chances of getting one depends on who you know as such opportunities tend to only arrive for rich/middle class people (who can afford a job with little/no pay - often in London) who's parents are well connected. Nick Clegg knows this all too well as he ...
Wed 6th
14:36
Have we been allowed off the naughty step? Do our school reports now just say 'Must Try Harder...?'
Is it just me or has anyone else noticed a change in the way the media are covering the Lib Dems right now? Once not so long ago everything we did was wrong. Tuition fees, VAT rises, therate of the cuts, losing front line NHS staff - all our fault, nothing to do with anybody else. But now, there's a shift in tone. In two ways. 1. Try a bit harder. The general tenor seems to be that we are doing the right thing - just not enough of it. The Freedom Act and Police Reform and Social responsibility Act ...
As part of this year's WestFest, the team are keen to encourage local people to make bunting that will be displayed at each of the venues during the WestFest week (13th to 19th June) and also used to mark off various events on Magdalen Green on Sunday 19th June. The bunting can be made from odd scraps/recycled material in any colour or style you like. If you would like to help WestFest with this, please get in touch at info@dundeewestfest.com - many thanks!
As a cost-saving measure, South Glos Council last year announced plans to relocate the staff of the Registrar service from Poole Court to one of the council's own offices, possibly Thornbury. Before Yate Twon Council took over Poole Court, people had to register births and deaths at the health centre and marriages were conducted in Chipping Sodbury. Cllr Chris Willmore said: "This is somewhere people use during the most traumatic time of their lives and we should be doing all we can to keep it here" "People like coming here now. All I am concerned about is that if South ...
As Chris Dillow has highlighted, the Coalition Government's social mobility strategy contains wording that looks like a compromise between different Liberal Democrat and Conservative influences. It's in this key paragraph (1.43): Of course, income equality is an important goal in its own right, but the challenge in terms of social mobility is to understand the key components of a more mobile society which do not appear to be related to simple measures of income equality. If income equality is important and it has an impact on social mobility, why go on then to emphasise and concentrate on only those elements ...
The Yes! People's Campaign launch event was held on the weekend with talks from Eddie Izzard, Greg Dyke and Martin Bell (amongst others). This was a great chance to see how people from many different backgrounds are taking part in the campaign. But it isn't just celebrities, it isn't just politicians, the main campaign is being fronted by grassroots activists. And these are the people who went out and were dropping the banners and handing out leaflets across the capital (and indeed the country) on Saturday! You can watch a video from the campaign launch here. [IMG: Jack at People's ...
For fun, I thought I'd see if I could come up with a list of tweets that are either funny (or not given how bad I am at jokes) or explain something about AV: #Yes2AV To vote, rank them in order. To count, successively re-allocate the smallest pile until you have a winner. A simple as 1-2-3! #Yes2AV In a 4 horse race that goes 3 rounds before you get a winner, everyone gets 3 votes. But remember, a horse still wins Moat cleaner required? Then just vote NO! #Yes2AV I'm sure you can come up with better than these! ...
It's a popular story in the media today that Nick Clegg is a hypocrite for having benefited from a cosy internship arrangement of the sort that he now wants to end. Well, if wanting to change something you've benefited from, or stop something you've done, means you are a hypocrite, it also means... You are a hypocrite if you once caused a traffic accident and now are a campaigner for road safety. You are a hypocrite if you benefited from working your way round complicated tax paperwork but now think it should be changed to make it easier for everyone. ...
It's a good day for thousands of people in Ceredigion - all thanks to the Liberal Democrats. From today, the beginning of the new tax year, around 900 people in Ceredigion will no longer have to pay Income Tax and a further 20,000 will get £200 extra in their pockets. Liberal Democrats in Government secured a rise in the Income Tax threshold, the point from which people start paying their taxes, of £1,000 to £7,475 which comes into force today. Across Britain nearly 900,000 people will be lifted out of paying Income Tax while around 23m basic-rate tax payers will ...
Yesterday, as a school governor, I attended a seminar on converting schools to academy status, organised by the London Borough of Lambeth. The paradox of the education profession was clearly evident; however good they may be at teaching the nation's young to be clear and rational, the profession's members seem unable to promote a rational debate about the future of education. Lambeth tried to put forward a balanced debate with four speakers broadly supportive of conversion in the right circumstances, four vehemently opposed and one complete fence-sitter. Of the supportive speakers, one, Bill Watkin of the Specialist Schools & Academies ...
The elections watchdog, the Electoral Commission, has been mildly trumpeting the results of the latest survey of electoral registration work carried out across Great Britain by local councils. The Electoral Commission's news release says, Electoral registration service improving but more work needed Electoral registration services in Great Britain are improving ahead of the forthcoming elections and referendum on Thursday 5 May, but some can still do better, says a report by the Electoral Commission, the independent elections watchdog. The Commission has published its annual assessment of performance by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) across Great Britain. The report assesses how effectively ...
I was surprised to read the the list of candidates for Bidston & St. James ward (Wirral Council). I've stood as the Bidston & St. James Liberal Democrat candidate in 2007, 2008, 2010 and this year. Each year a Green candidate called Bowler has stood, as the ballot paper is listed alphabetically by surname I ...
Considering that he works for a paper that has entered a prolonged period of mea culpa for its perceived sin of urging readers to vote Liberal Democrat at the last General Election, I thought the Guardian's Julian Glover had a fairly useful and insightful column this morning. Writing about the launch of the Government's social mobility strategy, Mr, Glover said: This week has seen the launch of policies that define the Lib Dem contribution to coalition government. Before the last election, the Conservative party, wanting an easy life, backed a lot of social democratic thinking which - if it had ...
An eclectic mix this week from all sides of the political spectrum. I don't agree with all of it, but it did all make me think... 1. Norman Tebbit defends the NHS in the The Mirror Notable because it's Tebbit in the Mirror - who'd have thought it - and because he talks a lot of sense about the NHS. I'm still reeling.... 2. Mohammad Al Bouazizi makes the Time 100 Longlist I beg you to click this link and vote Yes. 3. Speed Cameras work. I don't know why but this really tickled me. I think its the duplicitous ...
Wed 6th
13:03
Price of Alcohol - Lib Dem and Tory councillors vote not to raise it - Licensing, Health and Safety ...
Unusually the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Licensing, Health and Safety and General Purposes Committee weren't available. This led to a few jokes from the Cabinet Member for Housing & Community Safety as to what he'd Twitter about it following his recent coverage in the Wirral Globe of the Chair. The Committee decided to (for ...
I received the Labour leaflet promoting their South Wales West regional list yesterday. It is a very professional looking and glossy with two prominent pictures of Carwyn Jones, resplendent in a nice new suit and a red tie. The only thing missing though is the names of the candidates on the Labour list. Are they intending to fill those names in later? I have long contended that Labour's policies for Wales were rather bland and anonymous. Now they are choosing candidates to suit.
The Council's received a planning application to build five detached or semi-detached houses on the site of the now-disused Brookside Tennis Club, Brookside Close, Cheadle, SK8 1HP. Pam and I have already been contacted by a resident concerned that this might not be the right development for the site. The application is 46859. You can view the plans and have your say, for or against, here on the Council planning website. View Cheadle and Gatley in a larger map
Rumours that Sefton Council are planning to charge motorists using the Botanic Gardens car park have been denied point blank. "There is no truth whatsoever in the suggestion that a 'pay and display' scheme is planned for the Verulam Road car park used by visitors to Botanic Gardens", says Lib Dem councillor John Dodd. "I have had confirmation from a senior council officer that neither the Leisure and Tourism or Highways departments are pursuing pay and display at this car park." Nigel Ashton adds "We have no idea how this rumour started. The council can't introduce new parking charges without ...
Wed 6th
12:43
Lewis calls for "credible Labour alternative" so where is his answer on fees (and everything else)?
Ivan Lewis, the Bury South Labour MP who is also Shadow Culture Secretary, will call on Labour to do more to set out a "credible and optimistic alternative" in a major speech. You can read more of what he says and plans to do here. I applaud the sentiment. The more debate and discourse, the ...
The current storm over the Government's proposals for the NHS is not surprising, but gives weight to the argument that the Lib Dems have ended up in the wrong ministries. How much influence can the Lib Dem cabinet members have when they are stuck dealing with decidedly un-sexy subjects? If you ask people what they care about most, it tends to be things like hospitals, schools and jobs - not constitutional reform or even human rights. To that extent, I would argue that Nick Clegg should have argued for a Lib Dem to be given the top job in one ...
When Teresa Saunders heard a cat crying from the roof of a nearby two-storey building, she did what any animal lover would do, and called the fire brigade, setting in train an episode which gives health and safety a bad name. Whilst the local fire station at Leiston responded, a turntable ladder was dispatched from Bury St Edmunds (60 miles away), and firefighter crews with specialist training in working at heights were on their way from Bungay (20 miles) and Felixstowe (30 miles). Fortunately, they hadn't got far when one of the Leiston fireman climbed a ladder, retrieved the tabby ...
JP Floru of the Adam Smith Institute has an entertaining piece on the Advertising Standards Authority judgement regarding the Jack Wills '2011 Spring Term Handbook'. Floru quite rightly disapproves of their nannying and Victorian style paternalism over a few supposedly pornographic images, "Morality is personal: nobody is forced to pick up the Jack Wills catalogue, and nobody is forced to buy their clothes. My morality may not the same as the morality of the Hare Krishnas or the Zoroastrians." I agree wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, my social life at university didn't consist of cavorting with attractive scantily clad girls on the beach ...
It's a beautiful day outside, but sadly I am trapped indoors on my lunch hour in an office. Happily I will be spending at least an hour in the fresh air tonight as we continue our merry perambulations around Prestwich knocking on people's doors to ask about the local elections. Today is the day that ...
Recommended reading for Lib Dem councillors and local campaigners from the last seven days: The Telegraph reports that: Vince Cable warns universities planning £9,000 tuition fees We found this story interesting from the Guardian: Nick Clegg blossoms amid the jacarandas in Mexico City Conservative Home said: Downing Street mustn't present the Liberal Democrats as the caring face of the Coalition Steve Webb writes (on Lib Dem Voice): working for pensioners, now and in the future BBC reports on our campaign launches in Scotland and Wales In local Government: Political Betting (.com) asks: How many 100s of candidates have won without ...
So far, around two thirds of Cornish residents who have responded are backing keeping weekly black bag rubbish collections. But there is still time to have your say on the issue. The full story about the vote is here. In short, the Council is holding a ballot of all residents to help decide whether to keep weekly collections or to move to fortnightly collections. According to the Council the current scores are 66% in favour of Option A (weekly collections) and 34% in favour of Option B (fortnightly). The poll closes on 14th May and every Cornish resident can vote ...
yesterday saw me at the Vincent Hotel on Lord St to witness rge declaration of UDI by Age Concern in Sefton. In brief the background is that Help the Aged and Age Concern England have merged. These leaves all the seperately registered charities that are the local Age Concern groups with the choice of joining up to the new merged meg organisation -Age UK-or paddling their own canoe. The local Age Concern-Liverpool and Sefton- has chosen the route of independence. The whole Age Concern movement began in this neck of the woods growing out of an initiative from the Merseyside ...
Today newspapers up and down the country are labelling Nick Clegg a hypocrite. This is because his new campaign to improve social mobility (a concept where people rise and fall on their own merit rather than anything else) is attacking unpaid internships and nepotism. Only it turns out that Clegg himself got his first job through his father pulling strings! And that's not all. He also went to an exclusive private school and did his degree at Cambridge! This shows that, when he criticises the system that enables people like him to get an unfair advantage, he's actually being a ...
There is a lot of Balls coming out of a certain Ed's mouth regarding today being 'a "Black Wednesday" for families across Britain' as the changes to the tax and benefit system comes into place. Yes the average family will be worse off - but if you take out the top 20% of families the average are BETTER off from today than they were under the systems yesterday. I know there will be some losers, they may lose heavily, but they are in general those families who have had disproportionate help in comparison to their need. The IFS have looked ...
The North Cornwall version of this morning's Cornish Guardian carries a photo and article on the front page with villagers in Blisland complaining about the axing of the Corlink bus service. Sadly, this type of story is not unusual at the moment as the Council cuts local services which are considered vital by local residents. But one of the people in the photo is Cornwall Conservative Councillor Mick Martin who represents Blisland as part of the Lanivet ward. What's so unusual about that? Well the cuts to the Corlink service were specifically detailed in the emergency budget which Cornwall Council ...
If the Yes campaign for the referendum was a car what kind of car would it be? I have a hunch it might be a 2000 vintage Skoda: making steady but unspectacular progress, hampered by an image problem and at risk from more aggressive and agile competitors. Of course in the early 2000s, the Volkswagen group transformed the fortunes of the sturdy Slovak auto with an imaginative re-brand. Does the Yes campaign need to re-think the way it gets its message across? Here are three reasons why I think it might have to: 'But it's not red, it's fast!' I ...
Below is my speech from yesterday's Westminster Hall debate on Library Provision in south Manchester: Thank you Mr Gale. It is a pleasure to serve under your Chairmanship this afternoon. I am delighted to have secured this short debate in ... Continue reading →
Cornwall Council's cabinet has decided to abolish the panel which looks at the issue of parking - it seems because the panel members (and chairman) have disagreed with the official cabinet line once too often. I won't pretend to have always agreed with the Parking Panel. I think the new charges are ridiculous and will kill town centres. But I accept that they have gone about their work diligently and have been hamstrung by the changes to their remit imposed on them by the Cabinet. The key reason for the huge rises in Launceston - the demand by Cabinet that ...
It's not everyday that I link to a video clip of Gerry Adams, but having listened to his statement in the Dáil Éireann yesterday, I am moved to do so. He talks about the feelings in the North as a result of the murder on Saturday. He talks about the need to take things forward in a democratic matter and through the peace process. One thing I am shocked by the the emptiness of the majority of the chamber with only the Sinn Féin benches being full. This is something that does affect all of Ireland and I praise Sinn ...
A Tunisian street vendor, Muhammad Al Bouazizi, has now been nominated on the Longlist for Time Magazine's 100 most influential people of 2011. Please click on this link and vote Yes for Muhammad, who is currently running 12th in the world. This is an important step in our campaign to have Muhammad Al Bouazizi named as Time Magazine's Person of the Year 2011, given to the person the editorial team at Time deems to have been the most influential person on world events in the past year. Muhammad committed an act of self immolation on Dec 17th, and died in ...
Over here in Northern Ireland we have a different set of parties, with a different set of policies and a different set of priorities to a lot of the rest of the UK. In the run up to the Assembly Election on May 5th they are going to be prodicing a series of election broadcasts. I intend to, if they are easily available (i.e. on YouTube), embed them here so that people outside of Northern Ireland can see what the parties here are saying. I personally won't be passing comment, but feel free to add you own in the comments ...
A few planning applications in Gatley village centre. There's an application 46815 for 3A Northenden Road, Gatley to change from offices to residential. Two applications relate to the Tesco opening in Red Lion Hotel building (46788 and 46793) for an ATM, bollards and external lighting columns. I've also heard rumours of an application for another take-away – this time on the parade of shops at the bottom of Old Hall Road, past the Medical Centre. However, I've not yet seen an application for this on the system so we'll have to wait and see.
I never got to introduce them myself but I'm pleased to see the council going ahead with my initiatives: First community based compact fluorescent lightbulb recycling scheme in the UK.Weekly collections for priority areasKerbside battery recyclingEnhanced shopping districtsI also know I can count on Ricky to finish off the work I started on adding mixed plastics, glass and food waste to recycling streams in the face of continuing Labour opposition and the moronic contractual straight-jacket they left Reading with. Of course, I need to thank council officers for their excellent work and support in working my ideas into real and ...
All, Transition Shipston has been talking with local residents about obtaining grants to revitalise the Queen's Avenue Play Area with play equipment and a small community orchard. We have already spoken to the Town Council who have given us backing to investigate the idea and to Orbit Heart of England Housing Association who say that there are grants available for this type of project. If you would like to have your say in designing a draft plan or would like to be involved in an organising group come along to the meeting next Tuesday, 12th April at 7:30pm at the ...
What would you say influenced your voting decisions in the most recent local or national election? People generally answer with 'rational' factors. Yet Stanford Graduate School of Business have shown that a much more subtle and arbitrary factor may also play a role—the location of the polling booth in which you happen to vote. Using ...
In amongst the details of this week's government announcements on social mobility was a commitment to extend name-blank employment, a long-term campaign of Liberal Democrat MP and now Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone. As Lynne explained in a newspaper column back in 2009 the logic is this – blanking out names on job applications would remove subconscious discrimination at a key stage in the job application process. Discrimination at later stages could of course still occur, but if subconscious decisions are being made based on people's names before they even get the chance to get into a room and impress in ...
Councillors have had this letter from Transport for Greater Manchester chair Cllr Keith Whitmore. Its got a lot of useful information in so worth reproducing in full. Letter to GM Councillors re Changes to bus travel
Clegg wages war on reason he has a job Harsh, but funny: "Mr Clegg also hit back at suggestions that he had only reached the position of deputy prime minister because of his privileged upbringing and the friends he has. "It's nonsense. I don't have any friends left," he said." (tags: funny)
A new commercial service providing specialised fitness for disabled people has been launched at the Village Hotel, Cheadle, having expanded from their original location in Bury. Anyone interested in finding out more can visit the Include Lifestyle Fitness website.
Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat Voice Nick Clegg at last seems to be finding his feet at Deputy Prime Minister's Question Time. He is treating facetious Labour questions with the dismissive brevity they deserve. He is taking them head on. For example, when Labour's John Spellar asked a particularly smart-arsed question, Nick Clegg replied with "I cannot be bothered to answer that question." It seemed a very appropriate response. I thought Clegg dealt with Harriet Harman's questions very well. She asked about the Educational Maintenance Allowance and University funding. On the latter point, Clegg replied that there are still two or ...
Last week: I was invited to the AGM of Haringey Race and Equality Council to speak about the equalities agenda and take questions. The key concerns were on funding and the future of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. On funding it was clear that small groups are having funding withdrawn by the Council. It was interesting that the frustration was around support for vulnerable people – and yet if you take the Supporting People funding – the Government has actually cut 1% from the £650million. Without the ring fence (removed by Labour when in government) it appears that cuts ...
Yet more great comments coming in on the 'Save Prestwich Tip' petition site (see the previous post and previous post before that here! also). Sign online at www.loveprestwich.com. I. R. from M25 wrote: If this tip is closed and local people have to travel to other sites they would be discouraged by the cost in petrol and the extra time involved. Therefore recycling would suffer immensely. J. S. from M45 wrote: I thought councils were incouraging people to recycle – not the other way round. This is a vital resource for our Envionment. W. R. wrote: Don't close the tip, ...
Ringing up a radio phone-in and giving a fake name may not be a smart move. Doing so if you are a candidate in the forthcoming local elections is even less smart. Doing so from a phone number recognisable as yourself is most certainly not smart. Sticking to your fake name on the radio and then denying it was you even when rung back subsequently three times by the radio station, well that's just being in a hole and digging. But doing all of that when the radio phone-in was about honesty in politics? That's genius. Well done Ashley Waterhouse ...
A very welcome email arrived yesterday: the atrocious state of King's Hedges Road has been acknowledged and money found to do the work to resurface it. Unfortunately this is at very short notice: the work starts tomorrow (April 7th) and will cause some disruption for the week it is ongoing. The email says... We have been given some funding to resurface a section of the carriageway on Kings Hedges Road Cambridge . The section is from number 19 to a point just past Garry Drive, this is a plane out and inlay scheme and should take no longer than a ...
As I had previously mentioned, Mid Suffolk didn't hang about in terms of publishing the nominations, and now we know what the opposition looks like. There are four candidates in the fray in Stowupland as follows; Byles, Caroline Elizabeth (Conservative) Snell, Ronald Derek (Labour) Theobald, Craig (Green) Valladares, Mark Jonathan (Liberal Democrat) Caroline is the sitting councillor, Ron was the paper candidate for Labour last time, and Craig is the unknown quantity, that is, he'll know about me, and I don't know him. I've started delivering the A3 leaflet in Creeting St Peter, and will be hitting the streets of ...
According to Michael White in this morning's Guardian, it is "brainy Dr Julian Huppert" from Cambridge. Later. It has been pointed out to me that Julian's middle name is Leon. It makes you think.
Later at 1pm I'll have made my way into Belfast City centre and hope many of you who are able will do likewise and those who are elsewhere will take a moment to bow you head with the people of Ireland (yes all of it) to pay respect to Constable Ronan Kerr and to stand with us as we proclaim "Not in Our Name". Here is a statement from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Northern Ireland (ICTU NI) Dear Colleagues Following the brutal murder of Constable Ronan Kerr, Congress will be providing an opportunity for Trade Union members and ...
5620 low paid workers in Hull will stop paying income tax from today thanks to the government raising the starting rate of paying income tax by £1000. It is also estimated that in Hull 110,000 workers will be £200 better off thanks to these changes. This is the first step in delivering the Lib Dem manifesto pledge that no one will pay income tax on the first £10,000 of their earnings. This is a good start. Not only does raising the starting threshold mean that the lowest paid workers in society keep more of their hard earned money it also ...
Librarything says I own and/or have read ten or more books by these authors: Terrance Dicks (83) Roger Zelazny (63) William Shakespeare (46) Terry Pratchett (43) Nicholas Briggs (35) Justin Richards (35) Brian Aldiss (33) Neil Gaiman (29) Ian Rankin (27) Paul Magrs (24) Lois McMaster Bujold (22) Marc Platt (21) Dr. Seuss (21) J.R.R. Tolkien (21) Steve Lyons (20) Jacqueline Rayner (20) BBC (19) Eddie Robson (19) Jonathan Morris (18) Paul Cornell (17) Ursula K. Le Guin (17) Arthur Charles Clarke (16) Roald Dahl (16) Lance Parkin (16) Gary Russell (16) Robert Silverberg (16) Stephen Cole (15) Simon Guerrier ...
A decent little book on the origins of the alphabet, the first half being about the global question of how the Latin script developed from hieroglyphics via cuneiform, Phoenician, Greek and etruscan, and the second half taking each letter individually. I've read several books on this topic so not much was new to me; the information is very much presented for the non-specialist, and readers may well wonder what the sounds were precisely that were represented by the Semitic letters aleph and ayin (𐤀 and 𐤏); Davies makes no attempt to bring in the details of phonetics. It's also a ...
Nick Clegg is to share a platform today with Daid Cameron and Andrew Lansley on the purpose of and prospects for the "pause" on the NHS legislation. This is an important opportunity for Nick to establish a new and different relationship with his Tory colleagues. In the past we have had supine support of all coalition policies, whether compatible with Liberal Democracy or not. This "cosy" relationship needs to be put behind us and, within the boundaries of polite co-operation, make it clear that there are differences which need to be resolved. The Liberal Democrat Spring Conference did Nick a ...
The CEO of Barclays, Bob Diamond, taking the presentational spin given to him by Peter Mandelson, has famously declared that the time for Bankers to show remorse is now over. Banks- taking advantage of the free ride given to them by emergency ultra low interest rates and large injections into the system through quantitative easing- may not yet have returned to profit, but they have certainly felt confident enough to return to the days of large bonuses for their staff. Economic growth is slowly returning, even in the UK, which remains hobbled by a huge deficit and rapidly rising inflation. ...
Local Liberal Democrats have welcomed a commitment made in last week's Budget to give another £100m to repair potholes in the nation's roads. The extra funding, which will see £608,644 to repair pot holes across Salford, comes on top of the £100m earmarked for pot holes which was announced by the coalition government in February. Commenting on the news, Liberal Democrat Candidate for Langworthy ward Steve Middleton said "This is great news, and brings the total extra funding prioritised by the government to £200m. Hopefully this will start to undo the estimated £100m maintenance backlog for Salford roads which accumulated ...
Anticipation is growing in this house. I've been trying to avoid spoilers, but sometimes they are hard to avoid: we leafed through Holly's copy of this week's Doctor Who Adventures magazine today, and it contains a poster made from an image from the new series. This shows the Doctor, Amy and Rory reflected in the helmet glass of an astronaut. An astronaut with a prominent US flag on his space suit, and an Apollo 11 emblem on his chest. Now, it might not have been too big a leap to surmise from the titles of the first two episodes - ...
This year there are only two ballads so they are bound to stand out. Both are from Central Europe (Switzerland and Austria) with the Swiss sending a plain sweet song with stripped down production. On the other hand Austria are sending their best entry for years. Nadine Beiler not only packs a lot of power ...
Almost two years ago I wrote about the G20 protests. In particular I wrote about the investigation into the death of Ian Tomlinson shortly after he was pushed over by a police officer. I felt that the balaclava and the lack of an obvious number on the uniform was not helpful to the investigation and I felt it was a cause for concern if police officers could remain anonymous. Well PC Simon Harwood is not an anonymous officer and he apologised yesterday "if it is the case that in any way I have caused Mr Tomlinson's death". I am pleased ...
