Back to Rob Young's Electric Eden for another minor curiosity of British folk rock. A few years after Traffic, and a few miles away from their cottage at Aston Tirrold, another band attempted to get it together in the country. That band, writes Young, was Heron - "a Berkshire semi-acoustic quartet whose two surviving albums from the dawn of the 1970s were both recorded by a mobile unit en plein air." He goes on: Frustrated with their experience of taping a single in Pye Studios in summer 1970, the group made their way to a farmhouse in Appleford, Berkshire ... ...
One of the penalties of going on holiday is the welter of emails that awaits you on return (that is, if you take the precaution of going somewhere where they can't reach you during the holiday). Another is always the state of the garden. On this occasion, however, at least one of my emails raised a smile so I thought I'd share it with you. Durham Police and Durham County Council civic pride officers are working with schools and community groups on gardening projects with a difference. Police in Consett have in recent months uncovered a supply of horticultural equipment ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Mizens railway is one of those hidden gems in Knaphill (Woking) that really should get more attention. After reading a tweet on the new Woking News and Mail feed this afternoon, I decided to pop along for what I am ... Continue reading →
Almost all Southport Councillors are opposed to the plans for Southport market. Why? Well most of us feel that the business plan is not robust. We have said time and again the level of rents that will be needed to be charged will force out the people we want to see in the market. There will be no viable place for start ups or those wanting to sell local produce. Locally folk have begun describing it as 'Harrods style food hall' The Visiter carries a story this week that confirms our often expressed fears: TRADERS at Southport Indoor Market say ...
As well as voting for local councillors on 5 May 2011, we will also be voting in a referendum on whether the altervative vote should be used to elected MPs in future. Many people have asked me what the alternative vote system is and how it would be different, so I thought that this explanation by TV historian Dan Snow might be helpful:
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 218th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (17-23 April, 2011), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. We need a ...
So the SNP seem to have the big mo in the Scottish election. I'll confess right now that the SNP have always puzzled me. Oh, I understand that if you are a believer in an Independent Scotland then the Scot Nats are for you, but what is the point of them beyond that, and who is supporting them and why? This is my personal view of at least part of the answer to that question. Something seems to be afoot! I can smell it in the air Charlie! I'm based in Edinburgh Pentlands - for long a bit of a ...
Today's Independent on Sunday has a much-publicised interview with deputy prime minister Nick Clegg in which he rebukes – in strong terms – the tactics of the No to AV campaign. He makes no visible attempt, either, to exclude the prime minister from his comments – not least because he is one of those guilty of repeating the untruth, for example, that the alternative vote will require expensive electronic counting machines. As the piece makes clear, some of this rhetoric is undoubtedly part of a strategy designed to aid the Liberal Democrats in various upcoming elections, but there is clearly ...
After a wonderful day out in the sun, I return home to a Twitter feed bulging with reaction to Cardinal Keith O'Brien's Christmas sermon in Edinburgh. It was near top of the BBC news this morning, but it was surprising difficult to locate their coverage on the BBC website (here) this evening. Archbishop Rowan Williams's sermon (something about happiness) got much more coverage. From this coverage I find it rather unclear what Cardinal O'Brien actually said, beyond an attack on "aggressive secularism", and calling for all Christian denominations to unite against it in defence of traditional Christian values. This was ...
First we had Tunisia. Then we had Egypt. Libya seemed destined to be next but is holding back against the tide. Bahrain is also fighting back whilst Yemen seems to be about to fall. Syria meanwhile is becoming more vulnerable by the day. The revolutionary fervour that has swept through the Middle East and through the Arabic states there shows no signs of abating. But the responses of the main combatants to the internal dissent in their countries is not uniform. To date, there have been revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt; a pending transfer of power in Yemen; a civil ...
Much debate has been had in the last week on the "deserving and undeserving poor". As Stephen Tall puts it, "David Cameron has been pitching to the right-wing nut-job vote in recent weeks", and a brilliant example of this is the amount of people claiming incapacity benefits for alledgedly spurious reasons. Churning out such debates is a good way to retain traditional Conservative voters, but the
Given the number of queries that come my way, I thought I'd try a little public information film:
I've stood on many doorsteps over the last few weeks and I've experienced many warm welcomes and a few cold receptions. The Conservative candidate for Kew ward states in her literature that we only appear on the streets just before elections but this isn't true. We canvass our ward throughout the year in Kew, concentrating our efforts when daylight is at it's best. Once the elections are over we will revert to our midweek sessions dropping in on residents in all areas of the ward. When I first got involved in canvassing it was with the Birkdale team when I ...
Simples.
Simon Goldie over at Liberal Vision has suggested this as a Liberal elevator pitch. I quite like it and thing it has articulated a number of my beliefs better than I ever have. "Liberals believe that people should be in control of their lives. A liberal government's job is to remove obstacles that prevent that. In the set up that we have in the UK, a liberal government should also ensure that each person has as much control as possible over the public services they receive. We don't have a prescription for the future or for all the problems people ...
Salmond backs gay marriage SNP leader risks alienating religious voters and biggest donor - Herald Scotland | News | Politics. The Lib Dems and the Greens both explicitly supported gay marriage in their manifestos. Labour & the SNP 'will consult'. The Tories, somewhat behind the curve on social issues as usual, are silent on the matter. Salmond, in many many ways, *is* the SNP. If he had supported gay marriage being included in the SNP manifesto then it would have been so its a shame that its only now he has mentioned it.
Love this article: "The SNP plan to centralise police services and reduce the number of forces has gone down like a thrash metal anthem at a tea dance." "Tavish Scott looks like "a nice person". Then a lady who had previously claimed not to be following the election, or to have a clue about what was going on, pipes up. "I saw him on a quad bike on telly last night." The image of the geography teacher of Scottish politics on board a macho four-wheeled vehicle silences the table. For at least ten seconds." via Target voters: OAPs - Scotland ...
We know that we have to make savings but nobody likes the savings when they are affected by them. I was driving between Lancaster and Morecambe today and I discovered why we were undergoing major roadworks. The care in front of me veered towards the kerb and I followed suit. We were avoiding traffic calming measures. Not only do we have major roadworks on a road which must be the worst in the country for congestion, we also have traffic calming measures! We don't need any. There are very few times in the day when traffic is moving freely. Admittedly ...
I caught up with Highlands and Islands Lib Dem list candidate Jamie Paterson earlier this week in Inverness. He told me that Tavish Scott's campaign against SNP, Labour and Tory plans to create a single police force had gone down well on the doors in Moray. This comes at the end of a week when 78% of rank and file police officers voted against a single police force, Liberal Democrat Campaign Chair George Lyon is urging all parties to back the Lib Dem campaign to keep police local. George said: "This week 78% of rank and file officers at the ...
Today the world of politics was rocked to its foundations by revelations that, with just 10 campaigning days to go before crucial elections and the first national referendum in a generation, rival Liberal Democrat and Conservative politicians are openly disagreeing with each other. "We just never expected this," confided one insider. "We all thought that once there was a Coalition they would agree on everything all the time. To see them carrying on like this, it's almost as if there are fundamental disagreements of principle and policy separating them." I'm afraid I can't find it in myself to join in ...
Scottish Universities should sell extra places - http://t.co/2z1jgzw # @twodoctors You've mentioned the M74 decision previously and I can tell that the Aberdeen road is not a favourite either. Are there others? # @twodoctors For me there is a difference between disappointment and rancour. Do you think you have adhered to this http://t.co/KpgujVv ? # @twodoctors But as I have told you before, I lack the passion that many politicos have for their beliefs. # @twodoctors But only on aspects of policy rather than, say, a party as a whole. You're against the Lib Dems. I'm against some SGP policies. ...
I bought this I think on a recommendation from Ken MacLeod, and I am very glad he suggested it to me. It's a low-key, subtle, short novel about a man and woman who wake up in a motel together one day in 1957 with no memory of each other, or of anything that has happened since 1946; and they have to explain 1950s America to themselves, and themselves to each other, before discovering what has actually happened to them. The alert reader will work out what the answer probably is by about halfway through the book, but the atmospherics are ...
...from Fred Astaire!
I've mixed feelings about celebrities endorsing a campaign one way or the other. They certainly should be as free as the rest of us to express their views in public, but unless the cause of their celebrity gives them a particular expertise in the subject there's no particular reason to be swayed by their views beyond those of anyone else. However, there is one other exception to this, which is when a celebrity is so at least in part because they are an expert communicator – and then getting them to argue a case and so make use of their ...
As a contrarian, I am naturally oppose the institution of the Monarchy and principle rule of hereditary succession. It is a grotesque, inhumane, corrupt circus that idolises a false concept based on the perception that people must be ruled from ... Continue reading →
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 Figures released by the Welsh Liberal Democrats last autumn revealed that many of the Labour-Plaid government's flagship Technium projects made massive losses. Freedom of Information requests revealed a loss in excess of £5.4 million since 2001. The Technium scheme was a flagship government project founded in 2001 as an attempt to develop a series of sites where science and technology businesses could be nurtured. Mike Priestley, Welsh Liberal Democrat candidate for ...
Cameron launched a paternalistic attack on potential Yes to AV Voters in The Evening Standard this week. I would have commented earlier but I was incredulous that such arguments could be put across to persuade people against voting for AV in the forthcoming referendum. The strongest reason Cameron dictated was that FPTP allowed the public to kick out "dog-tired" governments. The irony therein is that the Coalition has created fixed term parliaments. As a result, a "dog-tired" government can only be removed with a motion of no confidence outside of this period. The last Motion of No Confidence was in ...
Lord Bonkers answers another problem sent in by a Liberator reader. Forgive my ignorance. Me Father, un, Granfather, and 'is Father stood alongsides yer Lordships campaigning fer tha vote, an we gottit an bin voting Bonkers ever since. Even me ol' Gran, who does the laundry fer yer Lordships followed 'er Ladyship as one of those Insufferajets and she voted Bonkers an' all. Now that Master Clegg o'yours is askin' us for an alternative vote, but roun' ere we're always votin' fer a Bonkers. Wass all this about 'Alternatives'? - Johnboat Goudhearte, Rutland Yes, her Ladyship was a brave campaigner ...
The initial promise of Canadian Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff's campaign is fading badly as polling day approaches on Canada and one of the main reasons is one very familiar to British politics. It's the failure to have a good answer to the question, "What would you do in a hung Parliament?" As Adam Radwanski puts it The Globe and Mail when looking at how Ignatieff and Conservative Premier Stephen Harper are faring: If the two men were being graded by civics teachers, Mr. Ignatieff would indeed be winning. His explanation of how another Conservative minority would work - the need ...
I have signed up to Evan's petition. I know I live in Scotland where we are as likely as snow in July to adopt the sort of reforms being proposed by the Tory bit of the Westminster coalition, but I care about my friends and relatives who live in England and the effects these reforms, unamended, might have on them. Anyway, what follows are Evan's words because a) he's a doctor and therefore knows what he's talking about and b) he's better at explaining these things than I am. I think that what's clear is that this is not some ...
24 April 2011 To The Honorable Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh Prime Minister's Office Tejgaon, Dhaka Subject: Renewed violence in the CHT and the need for implementation of the CHT Accord Dear Madam, The CHT Commission has observed with alarm the developments in Ramgarh upazila in Khagrachhari district of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. In the first four months of this year there have already been two major arson attacks in the CHT. During both incidents there have been losses of lives, severe injuries to both Bangalis and Paharis and extensive damage to property. During ...
Its very easy during election time to get caught up in the campaign and all that goes with it, but then a contact with a resident thanking you for something you were able to help them with brings the reality ... Continue reading →
Bellway Homes have had an offer accepted by London and Stansted on the 1.1 acre site of Sworders Yard, Stansted. As Parish Council Chairman I have had two meetings with them. They explained that they wish to demolish the existing employment related buildings and erect 14 dwellings and one retail unit. This would be at the front of the site following the same building line as Barclays Bank. In reply to a question from myself Bellways confirmed that there will be no vehicular or pedestrian access to/from the site to Clarence Road. It is the intention to plant some trees ...
So pretty much all the manifestos are out from the various parties fighting for seats in the Scottish Parliament. It's time to see where they all stand on my favourite/least favourite issue: marriage equality. The Liberal Democrats are very clear: "Extend legal marriage to gay couples and civil partnerships to heterosexual couples" And the Greens are equally direct: "Develop a more tolerant Scotland, introducing equal marriage. We'll introduce legislation for equal partnership - opening marriage and civil partnership up to mixed-sex and same-sex couples, and allowing religious celebrants to conduct civil partnership. We'll begin a dialogue with the UK Government ...
But What Have The Liberals Ever Done For Us? Andrew goes all Judean People's Front (or is it People's Front of Judea?) on those who think that the Lib Dems haven't achieved anything in government. (tags: government libdemmery) YouTube - Episode One: George Takei Should Be Spiderman! Spiderman, spiderman, George Takei should be spiderman! Yes, I know this is my third George link in a week, but he really is THAT awesome. (tags: funny) stormsearch | A story. This is just beautiful. I offer no comment, just read it. (tags: thought)
The link is to a story by someone who has to remain anonymous - for the moment.It puts the story of those people on the receiving end of superinjunctions.
Listen to Liberal Democrats make speeches and there are frequent references to historical figures, but drawn from a small cast. Just the quartet of John Stuart Mill, William Gladstone, David Lloyd George, David Penhaligon corner almost all of the market, especially since Bob Maclennan stopped making speeches to party conference. Some of the forgotten figures deserve their obscurity but others do not. Charles James Fox's defence of civil liberties against a dominating government during wartime or Earl Grey's leading of the party back into power and major constitutional reform are good examples of mostly forgotten figures who could just as ...
Yesterday's Western Mail story about the money that is supposedly being clawed back from the Welsh budget by Westminster is a wake up call for the One Wales Government and underlines how badly served we have been by their Ministers. It seems that when it comes to passing the buck and attributing blame they are in their element, however on delivery the Welsh Government is lagging behind other devolved administrations. The story focusses on an article written by John Osmond, who is the director of the Institute of Welsh Affairs think tank. He refers to the fact that Welsh Government ...
Following on from the campaign to get the fly tipping cleared on Dunstall Walk, as pictured below. I have had confirmation from Cllr Pearl Banyard (Town Councillor Gainsborough East) that the fly tipping on Elsham Walk has been cleared. Cllr ... Continue reading →
The link is to my article about Freedom of Speech in the Sunday Times. It is behind the paywall.this is a Mirror story.
I don't know how many times I have said this in the past year, but here goes again... The Coalition Government is a Coalition of two different political parties, they are NOT going to agree on everything. So would the ... Continue reading →
We have contacted the council regarding the trees near the 17 stop over bus stopThese trees were inspected in October 2009 and routine works were carried out following on from this inspection. They are programmed to be inspected every 3 years so are due to be inspected next year. I have seen the bark wound and it was been recorded at the last inspection, and was taken into account when specifying
My column from this week's Ham & High Fairer votes are just that – fairer! When the public were highly polarised between two parties, in some ways it made sense to have a system that works with a two-party system. But now the public chooses to spread votes much more widely, the electoral system should reflect that – after all, that's what a democracy is for -serving the public, not the politicians. Labour and Conservatives got over 90% in 51, 55 and 59 elections but under 70% last year. Life is more fluid and more complicated these days. We all ...
The council defines a pot holes as"A pothole is a sharp edged depression in the carriageway greater than 30mm deep. The severity of a pothole is determined by the risk it poses to road users. This is difficult to judge since all potholes present some risk. Potholes should be reported immediately to Council Connect. " Obviously these potholes are less than 30 mm deep, but they are an issue.
The delightful Dan Snow cuts through the crap that's flying about about AV - and tells us that this is a constitutional tweak we can happily embrace - a more modern, fairer and sophisticated way of electing our MPs. I like also his contrast between people saying we're too stupid to count to 3 and expecting us to fill in extremely complex official forms.
The council is planning to close Pennyquick for a while - might make Rush Hill quiet for a while p { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; } Notice is hereby given that the Bath and North East Somerset Council in pursuance of the provisions of section 14 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 as amended intends to make an order the effect of which will be to close temporarily to
Cambridgeshire Tories selected their new leader by a form of the Alternative Vote - but are adamant it is too complex and confusing for the average voter. They are saying NO to electoral reform which would see MPs voted into their seats using the AV system in the future. Despite their objections to AV, they decided it was the right way to go when selecting new leader, Nick Clarke. With four candidates in the running, they gradually eliminated them one by one as they polled the fewest votes in the contest. With just two left standing, they chose Nick Clarke. ...
i) births and deaths 24 April 2008: death of Tristram Cary, who wrote incidental music for six First Doctor stories and two later ones. ii) broadcast anniversaries 24 April 1965: broadcast of "The Space Museum", first episode of the story we now call The Space Museum. The Tardis jumps a time-track and the crew find themselves in a museum where they cannot interact with the locals and they themselves appear on display. 24 April 1971: broadcast of third episode of Colony in Space. The Doctor and the colonists take control of the IMC ship, but Jo is in the hands ...
Following concerns expressed to me by West End residents about possible loss of parking spaces in the busy Roseangle car park, I have received assurances from the City Council's Head of Transportation that loss of spaces is purely temporary and that there will not be any significant loss of parking on a permanent basis. Following signage about impending works at the car park appearing and the bottom row of parking being blocked off, residents were concerned that that bottom row of spaces was going to be removed altogether to make a cycle path through the car park. Residents rightly point ...
Following my raising with the City Council, residents' complaints about the state of the roadway in Pennycook Lane near the car park, repairs have been undertaken :Above : BeforeAbove : After
Jason O Mahony » Blog Archive » For my British Readers: Before you vote on AV, ask someone who has used it. ...those bizarre arguments tend to be made by professional politicians who really don't like the increased choice that AV gives to voters. Every argument they make against AV seems to have at its heart the point that "You the voter should not be allowed think or do that". Voters, on the other hand, voting under an AV system, think "I really like her, he's okay, and I can't stand that other guy with the beard". The professional politicians ...
Euan Ferguson writes in today's Observer: Least likely contender for Spring Hit in Theatre-World, I think it's safe to say, is going to be Nicked. It's basically a musical about Nick Clegg, written by a performance poet: that's when it's not being a play about the alternative vote. Not, on paper, I think you'll agree, the most urgently prepossessing of dramatic ideas. And although political theatre does have a proud tradition, and the TV/film adaptations of aspects of the Blair years were enthralling, there's also a particular recent history of turkeys, especially when "satire" is advertised within. Also... well, Cleggy. ...
There were no ( SPOILERS! ), which was a massive disappointment after the "spoilery" text messages I got earlier. I really really REALLY loved that. I'm not going to go into plot discussion till I've seen the second half, but I will give some comment on a few things... There were loads of quotable lines (I can't decide if my favourite was ( SPOILERS! ) or ( SPOILERS! )), loads of bits of classic ( SPOILERS! ), and loads of lovely emotional bits. ( SPOILERS! ) was particularly moving, and I have now fully gone from utterly detesting her in ...
The news that every teaching union is to take strike action to defend their generous publicly funded final salary pension scheme is not surprising, but it is futile and insulting to the millions of people who work without complaint on far less generous terms and conditions. But the far left leadership of the teaching unions will no doubt point to the pressure and importance of the job, along with some headline grabbing below average salary levels (for trainees). But the fact that they get away with this is more a product of the hideously complex, opaque and lengthy terms and ...
Yes! On 5th May we have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to change the way we elect our MPs. Today's Unfair System Under the present 'first-past-the-post' (FPTP) system, most MPs get elected even though they are not supported by half of the voters in their constituencies. Under FPTP, Labour won the General Election in 2005 with the support of only 35% - roughly one in three - of the people who voted. Tomorrow's Fairer System Under the 'alternative vote' (AV) system, a prospective MP will have to get at least half of the votes to be elected. AV is a simple system. ...
