David Cameron has said some foolish things on immigration today. And it is good news that the two most senior Lib Dems in government have gone on record opposing him. Tonight's London Evening Standard shows that Lib Dem ministers have started to realise the differences between the two parties are more important than the similarities...
I am given to understand that the following motion failed at NUS Conference:Conference Believes 1. Currently the NUS full-time officers are elected by delegates to National Conference, who by necessity constitute a small proportion of our membership. 2. At times doubt has been cast on the representativeness of NUS officers and their positions, and our indirect electoral system has often been cited in such complaints; 3. Direct election of NUS officers would be more democratic and would confer greater perceived and actual legitimacy on officers and the actions and positions they take on behalf of members; 4. Direct elections of ...
[IMG: ResearchBlogging.org] This Saturday the World's Biggest Dinosaurs exhibition opens at the American Museum of Natural History and I don't mind telling you, I'm this close to embarrassing myself out of excitement - something I never thought would happen to me regarding sauropods - you live and learn. Sauropods were superficially morphologically conservative - they were the Long-Necks, the Littlefoots, the Dinos - well, Dino was more likely a prosauropod, but you get the idea. You know the body plan. Nevertheless, there have been about 120 different sauropod genera named.You also, presumably, know that they got big. Really big. Big ...
On a visit to a historic pub in Cardiff, the Welsh Liberal Democrats today announced that in government they will be pursuing a new law for community empowerment. The Community Bill of Rights would contain a series of proposals for community councils and local authorities such as: · Creating a new planning use for second homes and HMOs, so communities can decide how many they want in their area · Giving protection to buildings that are of importance for social and cultural reasons, such as the Vulcan pub in Cardiff · Creating a new listing system for village greens and ...
In conclusion he said that change was the only constant, stressed the importance of the Health and Wellbeing Board, said that there was a constant focus on interagency working and that the footprint (meaning the population a hospital served) would be changing. Cllr Green spoke about the partnership work and referred to his role as ...
Deputy Lib Dem leader Simon Hughes has signalled in the clearest possible langauge his belief that the party's coalition with the Consevatives can and will run its full five-year course. In a speech today in Bradford, Simon took the opportunity to state how the Lib Dems are delivering results in government: Just this month nearly one million low income people stop paying income tax altogether. In the metropolitan borough of Bradford alone, 166,000 basic rate taxpayers will receive a tax cut. And this is entirely because of a policy which was campaigned for by Liberal Democrats in opposition and delivered ...
The "I Love Selly Oak" Doorstep Challenge returns to the Bournbrook area of Birmingham as announced today:"Gardening has never been more on trend as Birmingham holds its "I Love Selly Oak Doorstep challenge", giving its residents the opportunity of winning numerous prizes. The event is run by Birmingham City Council's Selly Oak constituency and The University of Birmingham's Guild, and will
Good news from the Harborough Mail tonight:Arts Fresco will return to the streets of Harborough this year after the Arts Council announced it would maintain its funding for the popular annual event. Securing the £56,000 grant means the 2011 event will be able to take place as organisers had hoped on Sunday, September 11.Liberal England visited this event in 2009 and 2010. The picture shows a member of the excellent Ant Orkezdra having a breather outside the then-empty Golden Wonder building in Abbey Street in 2009.
I am a very proud mummy tonight. I am also a very bad mummy. Imagine not realising your little girl was going to be on the telly. I told you last August how she was interviewed by Channel 4 at the Dare to be Digital Awards in Edinburgh. Well, you would think I'd have been a bit more diligent about when it was going to be shown. It was only when an e-mail from Dare dropped into my inbox this afternoon that I realised that it had gone out last Sunday at the crack of bloomin' dawn. It, is, luckily, ...
I have to admit that I was taken by surprise to discover The Arsenal suddenly decide to give up the balance of terror that has been in place for the last few years but the news that Danny Fiszman sold his shares only two days before his death explains a lot. We knew he was ill but it was still a bit of a shock. It's a strange state of affairs when a satirical fanzine like Up the Arse! has never had a bad thing to say about the architect of our recent fortunes when directors are such an easy ...
At the last meeting of this present council it was confirmed that Uttlesford District Council would be receiving £714,000 on the 15 April under the Governments New Homes Bonus programme. This money is not ring fenced which it means it can be used for any purpose the council thinks fit. As a Stansted councillor which has received substantial development on the Foresthall Park Estate, I think it is only right that our community should get the benefit of some of this money. The Council will be going out to consultation in the autumn over how the money should be spent. ...
Tonight you could tell an election was in the air as Cllr Green joked with Cllr Clarke over leaflet deliveries, a sense of de ja vu as Cllr Kelly returns to the Cabinet and some surreal humour about dreams as well as a good smattering that has at times been missing from previous (sometimes lengthy) ...
You left me in Desborough, exulting over another tin tabernacle. After that I walked to Pipewell (pronounced Pipwell). I last made this journey at least 30 years ago, but I can remember planning the route to pass what used to be an ironstone quarry in the innocent hope that there might still be traces of its railway system to be seen. That quarry turned out to have become a tip full of stinking rubbish and squawking gulls. On Saturday I could not remember exactly where that quarry had been, but I suspect it was under one of the new estates ...
I was reading a piece in the Telegraph and was reading the comments underneath it (as one does) here's one that really jumped out at me: "I hope and pray that you are wrong and, that at the next election, the Liberals are, finally, and once and for all, destroyed. Our political system is basically, a two party system. Minor Parties, such as UKIP, BNP, Greens, Screaming Lord Such etc., can be tolerated, and may even be a source of fun, or a reminder to the Conservatives and Labour, that they are being watched. The Liberals are different. They are ...
WASTE WATCHERS The Welsh Liberal Democrats will expose an example of the waste and inefficiency of Labour and Plaid Cymru in government on each day of the Welsh general election campaign. In August 2010, it was revealed that the Labour-Plaid government had spent more that £400,000 in a year on external PR companies while employing 25 full-time PR and communications staff. A Freedom of Information request revealed the Labour-Plaid government used external PR firms from April 2009 to March 2010.
So, the ego has finally landed (a phrase which I'm sure must have been used about Alex Salmond before, so I'm not going to pretend for a minute that it's original, although I have no idea where I heard it). The SNP's manifesto was launched today in Glasgow. I reproduce the front page of it from their website merely to illustrate how much like the poster for a thriller it looks. Gone are the soft focus and bright optimism of 4 years ago. Now it's all dark and brooding, with Alex looking like he's in the middle of a Dan ...
Today I read a rather shrill piece on Liberal Conspiracy. It's by Sarah Hayward and it essentially claims that the recent spat between David Cameron and Vince Cable was a set up. Here's an extract: "Mike Smithson speculated on Political Betting that the speech is a reaching hand to Tory core vote ahead of next months local elections. The subject deliberately chosen to stop votes leaching to UKIP. I'd go a stage further and suggest that the whole thing, including Vince's media reaction is a plot cooked up between them to enable both parties to comfort their base. Cameron get's ...
Writing about David Jack last night I was reminded of a similar case involving a Liberal Democrat PPC. In April of last year, just as the general election campaign was getting underway, David Murray withdrew as our candidate for The Wrekin "on the advice of party bosses" over unspecified allegations of "sexual abuse". Mr Murray maintained his innocence at the time and three months later it was announced that he would face no charges. But by then, of course, his political ambitions, if not his reputation, had been trashed. The original allegations always receive far more publicity than the news ...
A few days ago, when the government (and Nick Clegg in particular) was launching its strategy for social mobility, there was a chart used that made me feel a little uneasy. I couldn't initially put my finger on why that was the case, but it looked as if it supported the argument rather too well. The chart I'm talking about is reproduced below: [IMG: A problem of social mobility or regression towards the mean?] A problem of social mobility or regression towards the mean? It was used to claim that brighter children from poorer families fall back compared with less ...
This is the fourth and final blog post installment of my top 20 greatest sporting commentary moments countdown. My first three blog posts which can be viewed here, here and here, gave my countdown from No.20 down to No.6. Here, we countdown through my Top 5 to the big one - my No.1 Greatest Sporting Commentary Moment of all-time! But before we move into the Top 5, a reminder of the 15 that came before it... At No.20 - Ian Botham's 'Leg-over' (Agnew and Johnston) At No.19 - Tiger Wood's 16th hole chip at the 2005 US Masters (US commentary) ...
Was interviewed on The Jeremy Vine Show today with reference to the tinnitus...yes I sound depressed: that is because I am!!!
Sequel to The Meaning of Tingo, with more strange words from other languages. I actually found this a bit more impressive and better organised than the first volume, with some very interesting idioms which I may try out for myself: the Puerto Rican expression for being very nervous which translates as "like a crocodile in a wallet factory"; or the Swahili saying that the day you decide to leave your house naked is the day you bump into your in-laws. And I loved the French tongue-twister, "Combien de sous sont ces saucissons-ci? - Ces saucissons-ci sont six sous."
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 ...
Nice little novel about a Californian teenager whose grandparents from India come to stay for a year, adding a sudden awareness of cultural difference to the usual bundle of teenage angst. There's a particularly good bit when Sunita realises that Casablanca and The Secret Garden are told entirely from the white folks' point of view. Otherwise, I'm out of the target market for this but I would certainly buy it for kids who are in that market.
It's disappointing that the powers that be, and many political activists, seem to think AV is an opportunity/danger to their own aims and ambitions. Be it the scaremongering about a perpetual Lib Dem domination of Parliament or MPs complaining that they don't like being called lazy, the political aristocracy are missing the point. AV isn't about outcomes, it's not about stroking egos and it's not about not rocking the boat. It's simply, at it's very heart, about giving voters more choice and more say in who represents them. That's it. On May the 5th we have an opportunity to make ...
I was very amused to see this announcement in the letters page of tonight's Sunderland Echo. Don't get me wrong, I think the Echo does a great job – it's far superior to the local papers we had to put up with when we were in Lewisham, and their election coverage this year – a whole page devoted to the issues in each ward – has been superb. I just think it's sad that they feel the need to do this. Sunderland's a city that could do with having a bit of a debate amongst ourselves about the kind of ...
Way back in March, I wrote that Scotland's politicians had nothing to fear by changing the law to allow same sex couples to marry rather than just leave them with the option of civil partnerships, citing an Equality and Human Rights Commission Report which showed that the measure would have the support of nearly two thirds of the population. Policies which were cheap, easy to implement and popular were likely to be pretty rare in this election and when one falls into your lap, you'd be a bit daft not to take advantage of it. Sadly, though, of the four ...
It seems that all good ideas are invented simultaneously. Calculus was arrived at by both Leibniz and Netwon, Gray and Bell invented the telephone within days of each other, and the electric car is currenly being pursued by many different manufacturers. Now it looks like sticking QR codes onto museum exhibits is the next big thing! QRpedia is the venture I'm involved it, but I've recently become aware of Edinburgh Museum's Tales of Things project and the QRator project of UCL. Now, obviously, I'm biased towards QRpedia – but I wanted to jot down some quick thoughts on where I ...
Over on his Telegraph blog Julian Astle, after much focus this week on the Liberal Democrats' short-term prospects in the upcoming local and devolved elections, takes a look at the party's likely fortunes over a slightly longer period. It's a lengthy but perceptive piece which is well worth a read, but in the meantime here's a short taster: It would be a mistake to think that the Lib Dems are where they are because of circumstances alone, however. Clegg heads a serious and ambitious cohort of MPs who have no interest in the politics of perpetual opposition. They want to ...
Your Focus Team has been informed that the closure of Westerleigh Road between the Folly pub and the ring road for resurfacing will now start at approximately 9pm on Friday 15th April and go on to around 6am on Monday.
South Glos Council have been suffering email problems this week, so apologies if your Focus Team Councillors haven't been able to respond to you. If the problem is urgent, please phone instead - find the contact details here.
As regular readers will be aware, I'm a supporter of the coalition government. In general I think it is a centrist government doing many good, liberal things at a time of great difficulty for the State. But when the prime ... Continue reading →
Business Secretary Vince Cable hit the headlines this afternoon by criticising Prime Minister David Cameron's new line on immigration. Though Mr Cameron was trying to make the distinction between 'good' (limited) immigration and 'mass' immigration, Vince is right that this Tory rhetoric can be misconstrued and be seen to be pandering to the far right. Undoubtedly ...
Earlier this week Cllr Jonathan Mitchell and I met with council traffic officers and a representative of the South Southwark Business Association about two proposed new crossings of Lordship Lane. Please see attached draft plans of what they might look like. http://jamesbarber.mycouncillor.org.uk/files/2011/04/LL1.pdf The first is across lordship Lane adjacent to its junction with East Dulwich Grove. This should have the benefit of giving people the chance to turn right across Lane into EDG as well as cross LL. It will take out approximately 1 non morning peak car parking space. I asked whether a full 'entry treatment' could also be ...
Devon and Cornwall Police have asked Cornwall Council if they can give up the lease they recently took out to allow them to share the Council's premises at Camelford. The move apparently comes in the wake of force budget cuts of around £50 million and was reported to councillors by the Council's Head of Property at a public meeting today. The decision to share the Camelford offices with the Police caused a big row last year because it meant that planning and other meetings could no longer be held at the site. No other suitable venue could be found in ...
I have received an invitation from Mid Suffolk District Council, which I feel duty bound to pass on to anyone who might be in the area over Easter... Thornham Walks near Eye is offering a range of activities for all the family to get involved in this Easter. A free lottery funded "Drop in & Join in" event will take place on Thursday 21 April between 10am and 3pm. This "Woodland Play" event will offer a variety of activities for children such as making mobiles, musical instruments, bogarts and also a scavenger hunt. In addition, there will also be 'dragon ...
I've just read this report on the BBC: David Cameron rejects Cable immigration criticism. The bit that caught my eye was this, from David Cameron: But the prime minister rejected the criticism, saying policy was "sensible and measured" and that, following discussions between the coalition partners on how to reduce immigration without damaging the economy, the issue had been "settled"."We have a very good and robust policy and this is the policy of the whole government," he said. "This policy is Lib Dem policy. This policy is coalition policy."Mr Cameron can make his speeches. He can play the immigration game ...
I was very pleased to read yesterday that the European Court of Human Rights has given the UK 6 months to put into place plans to allow prisoners to vote. I have blogged before that I do not believe anyone should ever be able to remove your right to vote, this is illiberal and one person's criminal is another's freedom fighter. As such I really hope that this will come to fruition. It is disappointing that the ECHR aren't insisting on all prisoners voting, just some, which could lead to some ridiculously small number being given the right. I would ...
Today, the Prime Minister took on the "pen-pushers and busybodies" whose red tape is threatening hundreds of Royal Wedding street parties up and down the country. In language rather untypical of a Prime Minister, particularly in recent years, he said: "I hope people are able to join in and celebrate and I am very much saying today that if people want to have a street party, don't listen to people who say "it is all bureaucracy and health and safety and you cant do it." It is very important to understand if anyone wants to have a street party you ...
Tensions between the coalition partners - or at least between two key members of the respective parties - were dramatically exposed as business secretary Vince Cable turned on Prime Minister David Cameron over the issue of immigration. Referring to a speech given by Cameron in which he talked about the problem of "mass immigration" and pledged to cut it to "tens of thousands", Dr Cable responded by accusing the Prime Minister of electioneering and "inflaming extremism". Cameron claimed that his speech was "measured" and "sensible". It was nothing of the sort. Cable is right - it is populist electioneering of ...
There was an interesting piece in the Lib Dem voice on Tuesday relating to the Derby local elections. This related to the Labour candidate admitting that they had previously served a two year prison term for being in possession of heroin. Frankly I'm angered, not that someone with a criminal record could run for local council, but at the reaction of the Lib Dem candidate Dawn Gee: "If we are talking about honesty in politics, the whole point is to clean up politics. I believe that anyone convicted of a serious crime should not have the opportunity to represent the ...
The Contemporary opens this weekend if we want Margate to revive, we need to be positive as the Turner Contemporary Gallery opens, and of course its no time for histrionics about rights, wrongs missed opportunities et cetera, the Turner Contemporary is the only game in town and in my opinion is looking quite good. A couple of times when I've driven back into to town after work in the last few days I've had the urge to take a picture of the Gallery in bright sunshine and blue skies, reflected in the calm water of the beach and harbour, the ...
Following residents' complaints about the overgrown state of the seating area at the corner of Perth Road and Ryehill Lane, I have been been in touch with the owners (JCDecaux) who have promised to get their contractor to tidy the area and improve the seating.
Canada's CBC News reports: A politician running to lead the B.C. New Democrats says he is refusing to comply with a requirement of leadership hopefuls to hand over the passwords to their social media accounts. Nicholas Simons, an NDP MLA who's hoping to run in the leadership race, says he's left that information off his nomination package. The party's intent is to try to ensure there are no skeletons hidden in candidates' private profiles. As the report mentions, leaving aside the gauche politics of this, it's also rather unwise to demand someone hands over passwords when it is a common ...
Last month, following requests from a number of residents who had expressed concern to me about the speed of some vehicles on Polepark Road/Brook Street near the Edward Street junction, the City Council undertook a speed/safety survey and I have now been given feedback as follows: "The speed survey is now complete where the speed detection radar unit was placed on Polepark Road at the junction with Brook Street. The speeds are recorded over a continuous seven day period and give a mean average speed of 20.25mph and an 85th percentile speed of 27.5mph. The detailed results show very few ...
David Cameron has decided to launch a debate on immigration to the United Kingdom, and I for one have no fundamental objection to that. What I do have an objection to is the arguments deployed, and the promises made. Firstly, to imply that net migration can be reduced to 'tens of thousands' easily, and merely requires the will to do so, is simplistic and misleading. If this is code for 'we're going to reduce the number of black and Asian migrants', David Cameron is probably right, and if that is what he means, then the accusation that he risks inflaming ...
I spent another morning talking to postal voters (who should be receiving their ballot papers in the next week). Today is the last day for postal vote applications. There were many wishing the Lib Dems well on the doorstep and it is clear that the Conservatives will come a poor third in this election. Out ...
I've never really paid much attention to the colour scheme I've used for this blog. However, I've just noticed it is BLUE. After experimenting with shades of yellow, I don't intend to change it right now, but this does not mean I'm some kind of closet Tory! We now return to our regularly scheduled programming:-)
Following the unfortunate vandalism at Ninewells Hospital last night, I was interviewed on Radio Tay news about the matter this morning - click 'play' to listen :
Though I would love to mimic the Life of Brian "Romans" sketch, I couldn't possibly carry it off and any attempt to do so would quickly become strained. Instead, I'm going to borrow heavily from Chris Davies excellent post when I outline some of our achievements in government. But first, I want to make a point on cuts. We have been accused of trying to cut the debt too quickly. We are not cutting the debt at all: government debt is currently growing by £400 million every day! The cuts are only intended to reduce this growth so that, in ...
In my earlier posts on the alternative vote (AV) in advance of the forthcoming referendum, I have focused on the positive case for the reform, and considered some of the practical consequences. Now it's time to consider some of the arguments being put forward by people advising us to vote No, in support of first-past-the-post (FPTP). The leading argument from the No camp, to judge by the reporting on the BBC, is that AV undermines the principle of one person one vote. Partly this argument is used simply to confuse matters, alongside the idea that AV is complicated. But the ...
[IMG: A dog] With dog whistle politics in the news today, it's time to dust off one of the curios of our language that often intrigues me - even relatively modern phrases, first penned well into the electronic age, can be rather hard to pin down. As for dog whistle politics itself, the earliest use on record (I think) is this from Richard Morin in the Washington Post (October 16, 1988, "Behind the Numbers: Confessions Of a Pollster" p.C1): About 15 percent more people were "very happy" when the alternative was being merely "fairly happy." Maybe they were really that ...
Strangely, Lily Munster and Theresa May look remarkably alike. Long lost sisters, perhaps?
I made my dabute in last week's Comet in an article called "Resident's Anger at Parking Nightmare" on the redevelopment of the Nobel and Marriotts sites. The full article in PDF format is here. The Comet promoted me to the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Town rather than just Chells. Perhaps they know something I don't. This is definately news to our parliamantary candidate for the town.
TED Talks Activist Caroline Casey tells the story of her extraordinary life, starting with a revelation (no spoilers). In a talk that challenges perceptions, Casey asks us all to move beyond the limits we may think we have. I wanted to share this video as it is absolutely and utterly inspiring. It also shows we
On 8th April Norman wrote an interesting article here entitled "The NHS: safe in our hands". That article is a good basis on which to discuss a few of the problems with the bill and the Government's approach so far. We should be clear that Norman Lamb is one of the good guys, who spotted earlier than most the problems with the White Paper and the Bill, and has been very clear that it requires radical surgery. He has also been particularly concerned, and this week expressed this publicly, that the pace of change is financially (and consequently clinically and ...
[IMG: Graham Greene - The Human Factor - book cover] I've started dabbling in guest posting over at The Dabbler, following up my review of one of my favourite books, Robert Littell's The Defection of AJ Lewinter with this review of Graham Greene's The Human Factor: One of the problems faced by authors of printed novels is that however engrossing the story, each time the reader turns the page there is that physical indication of how far away they are from the end of the story. Makes of TV shows face a similar problem of known ending times, though it ...
Now that the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme has been rolled out to the mass public through 'casual use', I have witnessed an increase in the number of users who have no idea where they are going. I have to admit, I only tend to use the bikes myself when I know the route I am traveling, and prefer to travel routes that take me down quieter streets as I feel safer, and breathe less fumes that way. A welcome addition to the scheme could be a smart phone holder. Several iPhone Apps (and no doubt other phones as well) exist ...
So far, the justification for all the cuts planned by the coalition government is that they are necessary for the economy, and to get the public finances back in order. Obviously how necessary they are is a matter of intense debate, but for what it's worth I broadly support the coalition's line of argument. The ...
Vince Cable is spot on in his critique of the Cameron stance on Immigration. This country will suffer if we cap it in the way Cameron is touting and that will be calamitous. It is not just in high paid and high skilled jobs like company executives. merchant bankers and science that we will suffer. We have many nurses necessarily recruited from abroad. In social care there is a real shortage of care workers. The growing demographic pressures mean that shortly every school leavers in Tayside will have to work in the care sector if all of the frail older ...
I had an enjoyable time at the AV debate in Halifax last night. The debate was hosted by Oasis faithworks as part of their Debating Democracy series. It was a well organised event that probably attracted around 40-50 members of the public along. Unfortunately no one from the NO2AV campaign decided to turn up. This left two local MPs to argue the case for a no vote – Craig Whittaker MP for Calder Valley and Linda Riordan mp for Halifax. Craig Whittaker didn't show up which is disappointing but I won't pass judgement without knowing the personal circumstances and whether ...
If you're Labour, and want to be an MP in a safe seat, switching to the Lib Dems would be a bad move. Perhaps you like authoritarian policies on law and order, and prefer to avoid difficult decisions on the deficit. If so, the Lib Dems isn't the party for you. But maybe you think politics isn't black and white, that there is good and bad in all the parties, and so working together is a good thing. Perhaps you think that the government should do what will work on law and order, rather than pander to the tabloid press, ...
The front page of today's Western Morning News splashes on the mileage rates apparently paid to some Cornwall Council staff. The claim is made that this was as high as 65p per mile. The price of petrol may be eye-wateringly high at the moment, but there is clearly no justification for paying such high rates. But the implication of the Taxpayers' Alliance report (which forms the basis of the WMN splash) that these payments continue is not the case in fact. The newspaper properly reflects this but the TA report does not as it uses the present tense saying that ...
"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except Death and Taxes" was Ben Franklin's version of a proverb that had a much older currency, and they are words to live by. Reading the terrified wittering of the average British Newspaper, especially the Daily Mail or the Daily Express, one could be forgiven for thinking that the certainty of Death was immediate and very painful. Scare stories of a hundred different kinds are printed one after another in a litany of sickness and fear. Yes, Death is inevitable, but it is not inevitable NOW. More to the point, ...
Amanda Conner A-Z - A Birthday Celebration Another superhero A-Z. I like this one better :D (tags: comics)
Bury Council's Rangers have organised a super programme of events for the Easter school holidays. Children must be accompanied by an adult. The various sessions are: Easter Egg Hunts, An egg-citing bit of fun for the holidays - try and find the treasure that the Easter Bunny has left in the parks; Saturday 16th April; Town Meadow Park, Laurel Ave, Tottington, 01706 823 358 starts 1pm. Tuesday 19th April; St Mary's Park, St Mary's Rd, Prestwich,Meet at the Phoenix centre 0161 253 5522 starts 10.30am register by11.15 Clarence Park, Walmersley Road, Bury. 0161 797 3896 starts 1pm register by 1.30 ...
The South Glos dog wardens are currently overwhelmed with requests for new dog bins. The good news is that if there isn't a dog bin available, you can put bagged dog mess in any litter bin. Claire Young asked officers if they would be putting notices on the bin to promote this and has been told that they have ordered some stickers based on the Keep Britain Tidy "Any bin will do" dog fouling campaign to use in relevant areas. Unfortunately many of the litter bins have a textured surface in order to prevent fly posters being applied to them, ...
Thu 14th
09:29
When scrutiny becomes rudeness: Tavish Scott rises above Gordon Brewer's boorish behaviour #sp11
I am feeling very, very proud of Tavish Scott this morning. I have just watched his Newsnight Scotland interview with Gordon Brewer which took place on Tuesday night and I was so impressed that he managed to stay calm, cool and focused in the face of an ill-informed stream of abuse from Brewer. Journalists have every right to pursue a robust line of questioning, but they also have a responsibility when they're interviewing a leader during an election to shed some light on the policies which that leader is advocating in that election, and not expect them to answer for ...
On 14 March 2011 the Government launched Working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality: Moving Forward, which sets out the actions Government is taking to tackle lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender inequality. But trans issues are often quite distinct and we recognise the need for some of those issues to be addressed separately. To make sure we really deliver for the trans community, we need to know how you think we should be progressing the agenda. The first E-Bulletin can be found here. The bulletin includes an online survey asking for your views and ideas. We will use the ...
Whatever the merits or demerits of closing Ysgol Llwyngwril, in Gwynedd, the Welsh Tory Leader may well regret promising to keep it open if he gets into government. According to the Western Mail, Mr. Bourne making a rare appearance in this election, visiting Ysgol Llwyngwril with fellow Assembly candidates Lisa Francis, Ian Harrison and Simon Baynes and said: "This school should not be closed and Welsh Conservatives would protect it. It's a successful school, it forms a vitally important part of this village community and everyone associated with it deserves much better." That is very clear. If, however Mr. Bourne ...
Much can be learnt from opinion polls, but a reminder of why not all results should be taken at face value is this: If there were local council elections in your area on May 5th, how likely would you be to vote in them, where 0 means you will definitely not vote, and 10 means you definitely will vote? 10 – will definitely vote: 52% This poll is not unusual in showing more people saying they will certainly vote than seems credible – and polls before previous elections (i.e. where we know the actual subsequent turnout) have often shown the ...
Those opposing electoral reform have long suggested that it might benefit extremists, however as Billy Bragg points out in the Independent, the opposite is the case. He argued that the BNP stands its best chance of getting its candidates voted into office when there were small turnouts in elections conducted on the current system: "It's much easier for them to get elected under first-past-the-post - they need a small number of angry, highly motivated people to win under first-past-the-post," he told The Independent. "If there was a plurality of parties standing that would help marginalise not just the BNP, but ...
32) Charles Angell SA, A Ritual Controversy in the Victorian Church of England: Its Historical Origins, Theological Foundations and Present Significance (Rome: unpublished doctoral dissertation, 1983). This was one of the things I found at my friend's husband's house. It's an account of the controversy over the (re-)introduction of ritualistic practices into the parish church of St. George near the East London Docks, which in 1859 and 1860 caused riots in and around the church. Much as Eamon Duffy's The Stripping of the Altars is a window into an alien world where the State cared about the number of candles ...
With the Local elections (not to mention the AV referendum) approaching in May I think it's a good time to remind ourselves of exactly how bad the financial mess is the previous Labour government left this country in. I think the graph below shows it best; As you can see we are currently spending more money servicing Gordon Brown's debts that we are spending on our National Defence, Schools, Police Service, Care for the elderly, and our Justice System. And the amount we owe is increasing every single day, and will probably continue increasing for the rest of the year ...
It's my 30th birthday today, and I'm coping with it by writing a self-indulgent blog post in the hope that it'll make me feel better. Sorry about that. Feel free to not read it if you'd like. The fact I'm thirty means that I am now older than my father was when I was born, ...
I had an interesting evening on the campaign trail last night. First stop was with Rick Welton taking party deputy leader, Simon Hughes, to the Hawthorn Avenue area to talk over the regeneration with residents. From the time we were in opposition we have always attempted to fit in a visit to one of the regeneration areas of Hull. It is important that these MPs see what these issues are like on the ground to gain a greater understanding of why continued investment is so important. When we got there as well as a number of residents there were about ...
It was anounced last Sunday (10th April) that the government is to forbid local authorities fining those who transgress their rubbish collection rules. How can this be? Both parties in the coalition are conmmitted to devolution of power to the lowest possible level. To we Liberals it is a fundamental tenet of our faith, and the Tories at least pay lip service to it. So if democratically elected local councils wish to enforce their rules and by-laws with a few fines why on earth shouldn't they, even if it does sound a bit draconian? However, illiberal as it may sound, ...
It's easy to see why the left can paint themselves as the 'good guys' of the social mobility argument. Their policies often look like they're increasing the standards of life for the poorest, putting the burden of the country's running costs on those most able to pay and offer a safety net to the most vulnerable in society. What we need to do is look past this rhetoric and understand what some of their flagship policies actually achieve for the poorest in society. [IMG: Not the council houses I grew up in] I don't often talk about myself here because ...
broadcast anniversaries 14 April 1973: broadcast of second episode of Planet of the Daleks. The Daleks capture the Doctor; Jo links up with Wester the Spiridon; a second Thal ship lands. 14 April 2007: broadcast of Gridlock. The Doctor returns with Martha to New New York, where everyone is locked in a perpetual traffic jam, unwittingly serving the Macra.
Street party applications received for St Albans, the district with the most applications in the county with the most applications! Click here to see list.
Peter and his wife Margaret, moved to Ormskirk in 2006 when he retired after a career in Accountancy and Information Technology. "We wanted to be near some of our grandchildren, and our daughter and her family already lived in Ormskirk." ... Continue reading →
Where to start when reviewing a modular work, one that has no clear place to jump on or off? Several months before the beginning, of course. Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers Of Victory is, to my mind, the great superhero comic of the last decade. While Morrison and Frank Quitely's All Star Superman might beat it ...
Following on from yesterday's blog, we have an election for Morecambe Town council and in Torrisholme I am a candidate along with four other Liberal Democrats contesting the five seats that are available. Now the Morecambe Bay Independents only have four candidates which is fine for us if they have an ardent fan then this voter may choose to give us their fifth vote. They may not but hey that's politics. On the other hand if an ardent Liberal Democrat goes to vote then there is no spare vote. That's the easy bit. It seems that there has been a ...
