Well that was an interesting debate! I am writing this before it's shown on tv so I have no idea whether you could see me or not. That's clearly the most important thing, of course. I was sitting pretty much at the back of the hall. Even though I arrived pretty much when the doors opened at 4pm, I was nowhere near the front of a massive queue. Before we got underway, Glenn Campbell did his thing of asking where people were from. You know the sort of thing - anyone in from Edinburgh, Perth, Stirling, Dundee, Aberdeen, the islands. ...
From our latest leaflet: Harborough District Council under our control would... Immediately investigate the possible reopening of closed public toilets.Ensure that everything possible is done to tackle the impact of Airfield Farm should it proceed - why should existing communities have to suffer?End grand schemes to build new council offices and buy land, use council reserves instead to invest in front-line services.Investigate the removal of car park charges on Bank Holidays to encourage visitors.Seek to move from the current Executive system at the council, replacing it with the more accessible and accountable committee system. People are fed up with decisions ...
Someone kindly put the debate on youtube.
What is it about the English Premiership? No one seems to want to win it! Arsenal blew it all wide open again by beating Manchester United with the youngest team fielded in the Premiership this year, proving the old adage if you are good enough you are old enough. No one seems to have got the title by the scruff of the neck. Every time Man U appear to have it stitched up they trip up over their boot laces. Liverpool managed a 3-0 win over Newcastle to leapfrog Spurs into the final Euro spot. If they pull that off ...
Central Beds Council received a planning application for the erection of a marquee for weddings and corporate events on land to the rear of The Grove, Barton Road, Pulloxhill, Reference: CB/11/00235/FULL. The application was registered on 28th January and is now under consideration, having been through a formal consultation period. In line with the relevant legislation a notice detailing the application was erected close to the site. All planning applications are published on the Council's website. The links to the application in question are as follows: Planning application: Design and access statement: Site plans: CBC say that, ...
Two helpful video clips featuring Dan Snow: 1. A historical perspective: 2. AV simply explained:
As Matthew Gibson points out the main problem that Lib Dems have is that only about 11% of people agree that the Lib Dems' vision for society matches their own. The rest of our support just comes from people supporting us on a policy by policy basis - such as tuition fees - without being interested in backing us long term. So, here's what I see the Liberal Democrat vision for society as: Liberal Democrats believe in a fair society. One where people can rise and fall on their own merit - where everyone is afforded equal opportunities regardless of ...
I'm in a quandary and I don't know what to do about it. Today is May 1st and I still have not made up my mind about the AV referendum yet. Voting reform is one of the biggest things that ... Continue reading →
[Originally posted on Bristol Running Resource, 01/05/11] Well that didn't go too badly. Friday evening saw me head out on my first run for three weeks. As predicted on Thursday, it wasn't going to be quick. I managed 29m30s, for an out and back training run that I've done in a lifetime best under 22m. ...
[IMG: DSC_0682] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: Mauricio Sopif Well, I'm a Christian. A loyal Church of England member of many years standing. I'm a Republican and I believe firmly in the principle of an elected Head of State, yet I respect that the apparent will of the majority in the UK is for a monarachy (this week) and I am a great admirer of HM Queen as virtually the perfect Head of State. Pick, as they say, the bones out of that. The Royal Wedding was in many ways crazy. To see Americans fixated with it – the ...
While the No Campaign fights with bitterness, poison and deception, the Yes Campaign has some genius supporters. This video is a must for cat lovers. I want Casual Cat on my lap. I actually think there are some cats who might be willing to give some dogs a second preference, if those dogs understood cats' needs, but that's my only criticism. Enjoy.
Sun 1st
17:46
These silly predictions of a split coalition if the vote is "no" - and Labour progressive? - The gla...
All these predictions that a "No" vote on Thursday will split the coalition ignore the second word of our party name: "Democrats". Odd though it might seem to macho politicians with deep pockets to retain the power of vested interests, some of us see holding a referendum as an end in itself, no matter what the result. The Observer today had calls from Chris Huhne, John Denham and Caroline Lucas for the progressive majority to speak in the referendum. But the polls have been showing Labour voters at halfy/halfy yes/no on the referendum issue. Labour "progressive"? Only half progressive, it ...
An historical perspective from Dan Snow:
I spotted a Conservative trailer in Surbiton yesterday, with a poster that said "No to AV - because we can't afford it" Eh? Is that the main reason the 'No' campaigners want to give usfor voting against AV? If so, they are bonkers! AV will not cost a penny more than the current voting system. No - I'll revise that. It is not bonkers, but seriously misleading. And it is the Government (or at least, the majority partner in the Coalition) that is effectively misleading people about their own intentions. They have said quite explicitly that they will not be ...
An hilarious speech from Barack Obama at the expense of Donald Trump, Fox News and the "Birther" community. It was at the traditional laughfest of the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Not made up your mind yet about Thursday's referendum? I'm voting YES! to the Alternative Vote. It's the best choice on the ballot paper for many reasons - but, as it's all about letting voters have more power by picking candidates in order of preference, here's my first choice in favour of AV. Not the only one, but, for me, the best. Two thirds of all MPs today were "winners" last year with more people voting against them that voted for them. Two thirds of all MPs today are opposed to reforming the system on Thursday. What an amazing coincidence! ...
By Dan Snow, who has inherited the waving hands:
During our meetings with Palestinians I developed a gloomy cop, hopeful cop routine with our delegation chairman, Irish MEP Proinsias de Rossa. I was the gloomy cop. We shouldn't build false hopes, I said. No progress towards a two-state solution ... Continue reading →
[IMG: Lynne Featherstone at street party] Street parties are a great way of encouraging community spirit and getting neighbours talking to each other – whether or not there happens to be a Royal Wedding on. Inderwick Road in Stroud Green has been holding street parties for years – and there is a real sense of community on the road with neighbours helping each other out. However, street parties are pretty rare in Haringey – according to the Council there were just 9 in the Borough this weekend. Only one of these was in Stroud Green – well done to Perth ...
James Kirkup has just written on his Telegraph blog: Say what you like about Chris Huhne, his remarks on AV are never dull. Not content with his historical denunciation of the Conservative Party on Sky News, he's just used a Radio Four interview to accuse opponents of AV of "made-up facts" similar to the ones which, he said, are common in US politics.I didn't hear Chris, but it according to Kirkup he said: "I don't want to see us import bad practice from the American system where the Republican right has gleefully made up facts which then turn up to ...
How many new homes do we need? Where should we build them? Tough questions, no easy answers. The biggest concern most have with building new homes is whether the development will generate sufficient profits for the infrastructure, which normally means land the Council owns. We will not shy away from the very obvious housing shortage, but a funding solution plan for infrastructure needs to be in
Sun 1st
14:18
Apparently the best way of getting your blog read is to mention Nick Clegg in the title of post...
Yes, it's the end of the month when I highlight my most read posts. As you'll see, I can bang on endlessly about the NHS and education, but the sure fire way of getting readers clicking on 'A View from Ham Common' is to mention Nick. Or failing that, Paul McCartney. Maybe next month I'll try Princess Di... Anyway, here's the top 6. 1. What do Nick Clegg and I have in common? Well, for one thing, we're both hypocrites... My piece on why its stupid to say Nick's background means he shouldn't fight for social mobility. 2. Can it ...
Four years ago, when I ran to be a Councillor for the first time, I remember the April campaigning season being warm and sunny throughout. This year the same thing seems to be happening, which is lovely for almost everyone, except for people forced to leaflet constantly for a month prior to the elections when all ...
Do you believe in fate? If not, then the sad news that the 'Voice of Snooker', 'Whispering' Ted Lowe passed away this morning at the age of 90 is an incredible coincidence. For today sees the first session of the World Snooker Championship final being played between John Higgins and Judd Trump. How apt it is then, that the most famous name in snooker commentating history, passed away at this moment - at the climax to his sports' competitive year. Lowe became prominent as the commentator for the popular BBC TV show Pot Black from 1969. He went on to ...
A very good friend of mine was a strong supporter of the Liberal Democrats until the formation of the coalition. Now he plans on voting for Labour and Green candidates in his two seat ward. I have asked what reasons he has for changing his local allience and the only reasons I've been given are national reasons. I had genuinly been asking out of curiousity as I hadn't had a single leaflet through from either of his new adopted parties to know what their plans for the town are - probably put off by the Liberal Democrat signs in my ...
It's been an interesting campaign in Rodborough. I have now been on doorsteps for half the year – January for the by-election and April for this one – and it has been great to meet so many people. I have been asked to put my leaflets on my website, so here goes. This is the first leaflet of the campaign. This is the main election leaflet, and this is the last in the sequence. They look even better online than they do in print!
Another beautiful morning in the West End whilst campaigning for Alison Burns - this photo was taken in Pentland earlier today :
The Liberal Democrats are suffering, rightly so, for sacrifices they have made to power-share at a UK level. It seems we do care about broken promises, and, by all accounts, they will pay the price at the polls.So says today's Scotland on Sunday leader column. That's it. A casual dismissal in three lines, lazily adopting the narrative of the SNP and Labour that actually doesn't stand up to any sort of scrutiny. The same article later calls Labour out for treating the electorate with contempt with their negative campaign - and rightly so - without a trace of irony, because ...
In the world of advertising there is a whole vocabulary that is rarely, if ever, used outside advertising: "fragrance" means chemical perfume, "indulgent" means fattening, "sensual" means sweet, "enter a new world" means buy, and so on. So in the rather saccharin coverage of the Royal Wedding, it was easy to spot the journalistic bullshit too. "curves" means body, "crafted" means expensive, "fairy tale" means has carriages, "magical" means expensive, "informal" means very formal indeed, and "our future King/Queen" means we are prepared to tempt fate. I did watch it, although it did not impress me in quite the same ...
I reported last November that the City Council intended using legislation under the Tenement (Scotland) Act 2004 to ballot owners in blocks of flats where there is a mix of owner occupiers and council tenants to see if a majority will agree to the installation of controlled entry systems. This is to ensure that the previous problem of just one unco-operative owner in, say, a block of eight flats stopping the majority wish for a controlled entry system that greatly helps home security. I'm pleased, therefore, to be advised by the City Council that the first of these ballots took ...
A Word On Statistics, by Wislawa Szymborska Out of every hundred people, those who always know better: fifty-two. Unsure of every step: almost all the rest. Ready to help, if it doesn't take long: forty-nine. Always good, because they cannot be otherwise: four — well, maybe five. Able to admire without envy: eighteen. Led to error by youth (which passes): sixty, plus or minus. Those not to be messed with: four-and-forty. Living in constant fear of someone or something: seventy-seven. Capable of happiness: twenty-some-odd at most. Harmless alone, turning savage in crowds: more than half, for sure. Cruel when forced ...
After this week's terrorist outrage in Marrakesh it is tempting to look back to more innocent days. This appears to come from a television special made in about 1970. Stills and Young must have been busy elsewhere, so this is just The Hollies meets The Byrds.
Still in doubt? Then read this article. 'No wonder the mother of parliaments is being spurned by her children. The collapse of communism in 1989 led to dozens of new democracies. None of them has settled on the British system of first past the post. Even the old Commonwealth is turning its back. Australia adopted AV 80 years ago, and New Zealand recently adopted the German system. Canada is debating change. No major democracy has gone the other way and adopted first past the post.'
Wanted for crimes against humanity; ethnic cleansing of a tribal population, obstructing free and fair elections, and mounting a bloody dictatorship lasting for decades. Mugabe has done everything in his power to destroy the wealth and prosperity of Zimbabwe. The ... Continue reading →
Here's Pam King's latest election leaflet which we've been delivering in Cheadle and Gatley over the bank holiday weekend (the red prints as Lib Dem yellow on our leaflets). Cheadle & Gatley May election leaflet
This is my eighth monthly round of blog figures for anyone who is remotely interested in who reads my little blog. These stats for the month of April come courtesy of google analytics. Despite a slight reduction in blogging this month, April has nevertheless been by most read month to date. Having blogged a record 42 times in January and 40 times in February, I was down to just over one a day in March with 33 posts. Now in April, I blogged 30 times and yet, my stats were the best yet. Despite the slight drop in blog posts, ...
Yet more evidence that the UK gains from being part of the world's largest economy, the EU - a report showing the huge contribution to the British economy made by people from the EU's new member countries in 2004-2009. Surely pause for thought for anyone who imagines that the UK would benefit from leaving the EU. And let's remember the huge number of British citizens who live in other EU countries. We benefit enormously from being part of this.
I don't think I had appreciated before this latest visit just how different are the rules for Palestinians in East Jerusalem compared to the West Bank. Israel has annexed the area and treats it as part of the city as ... Continue reading →
No, I don't mean is there anybody out there reading this blog...In California, the Alien Telescope Array has had its funding cut by 90%. A generation ago, America believed in the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence and that tells you something about the country's confidence in the 1980s. Now it's decided that it's not worth the money - and that tells you that a certain mood of American optimism has arguably passed. These things are cyclical, so I suspect that it will be morning again in America at some point. But not for now.
Press release from the county council Hertfordshire is one of only 15 local authorities across the country to be selected to trial free childcare places for two year olds to give children from less well off families a chance to get ahead. Gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged children begin to show at an early age and the government announced in October that funding would be extended for free places for two year olds. Applications for the funding were received from 110 local authorities. As a successful applicant, Hertfordshire will receive £398,665 of additional money this financial year to help families ...
I'm away to Perth later today to watch the Leaders' Debate on BBC and I'm looking forward to seeing how the arguments have developed since the start of the campaign. If you remember, then, Iain Gray was totally and utterly awful, Annabel was patronising, Salmond was smug, and Tavish Scott talked the most sense. Then we had the Politics Show rammy when none of them really covered themselves in glory. I want Tavish to come out there with pride and confidence and get our messages out there. I want to hear him talking about why it's important to give local ...
[IMG: iPad] Courtesy of the Battle of Big Thinking at Engine Strategy, I recently won some Apple vouchers (for my talk about how the world is slowing down) and so broke my long-time Blackberry fix to become an iPad2 owner. So, what to make of it? Well, actually what impresses me most isn't the iPad2 itself but the mobile Wi-Fi hotspot I got to go with it. With the HSDPA network connection, it consistently provides a faster, more reliable connection than 3G dongles (in London at least, where 3G networks are notoriously struggling to cope with growing demands). Plus being ...
i) births and deaths 1 May 1946: birth of Joanna Lumley, who played the Thirteenth Doctor in The Curse of Fatal Death (1999). 1 May 1985: death of George Pravda, who played Denes in The Enemy of the World (1967-68), Jaeger in The Mutants (1972) and Castellan Spandrell in The Deadly Assassin (1976). 1 May 2002: death of John Nathan Turner, producer of Old Who from 1980 to 1989 (and of Dimensions in Time in 1993); controversial and colourful, like him or loathe him, nobody can dispute the depth of his influence on the show. 1 May 2008: death of ...
Today's Wales on Sunday Spin Doctor column is proof that whatever difficulties the Welsh Liberal Democrats face as a result of going into Government, we are not boring and bland: SPIN Doctor's new favourite candidate in the Assembly election is Helen Clarke, the lead singer with rock band Psycho Kiss, who is standing for the Liberal Democrats in Aberavon. "Refined to the point of perfection, the band is not above having a bit of fun on stage and improvising when the mood takes them," gushed online music magazine 247 earlier this year. "Just ask their drummer who managed to have ...
Under the heading 'Ieuan's a grand flop - Labour' and a huge photograph of the Plaid Cymru leader with his grandkids as part of a double page spread, today's Wales on Sunday reports on the latest of a series of personal attacks by Labour on their Government's Deputy First Minister. This time we have the Labour candidate for Llanelli, who is hardly young and dynamic himself, criticising Ieuan for portraying himself as a grandfather. He goes on: "Perhaps this is Plaid Cymru's best answer to the question people have been asking about them in this campaign - 'Don't you think ...
Non-fiction 8 (YTD 23) Elizabeth's Irish Wars, by Cyril Falls A is for Ox, by Lyn Davies The Unsilent Library: essays on the Russell T. Davies era of Doctor Who, edited by Simon Bradshaw, Antony Keen and Graham Sleight Vindication of the Rights of Women, by Mary Wollstonecraft On the Subjection of Women, by John Stuart Mill In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, by John Chryssavgis Toujours Tingo, by Adam Jacot de Boinod Running Through Corridors, Volume 1: The 60s, by Robert Shearman and Toby Hadoke Fiction (non-SF) 4 (YTD 19) The ...
Confession. On April 11th, I wrote a post about the Canadian general election. In it, I correctly predicted that the General Election on Monday would be 'this years most fascinating election'. However, I have to confess that I managed to write over 500 words without even once mentioning the party that's made this election quite so fascinating. When I wrote that post a couple of weeks ago, I had in the back of my mind that Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff would do well in the debates, ignite some enthusiasm about his party, and do a bit better than most people ...
Sun 1st
08:53
April Books 34) Running Through Corridors, Volume 1: The 60s, by Robert Shearman and Toby Hadoke
This is a book about watching the whole of Doctor Who in sequence, so of course it appealed to me. It is structured as correspondence between Robert Shearman, author of the Christopher Ecclestone episode Dalek, and Toby Hadoke, author of Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf and moderator of numerous recent DVD commentaries, spaced over the course of 2009, with the intention being to start on 1 January with An Unearthly Child and finish with The End of Time part 1 on 31 December. This first volume covers the 1960s, ie the entire Hartnell and Troughton period plus the two ...
David Cameron has a major article in the Telegraph today in which he urges people to keep First Past The Post. He offers a number of reasons why we should vote No to AV, but strangely, one of those reasons is not that voting machines would cost tens of millions of pounds. After all this arguement has been central to the No campaign. They have consistently claimed that spending large amounts on voting machines would be wrong at a time of austerity. Hopefully the reason that Cameron has omitted this arguement from his article, is that he cannot bring himself ...
It is a great shame to have the below article brought to my attention (yes I know it's a week late in getting it to you but life intervenes!). A Lib Dem candidate, standing on a manifesto that includes introducing marriage equality, suggests he'll vote according to his conscience. A conscience that seems dead-set against such a liberal move. The original story is here. Now for a LibDem candidate who is being taken to task for sticking to his beliefs. The problem is that his beliefs seem to run counter to official party policy. Paul Brownsey of Bearsden asks Gordon ...
Taoiseach can strike blow for Seanad reform As well as making the obvious point about the Taoiseach's eleven nominees, Noel Whelan makes another point that had escaped me - the electorate for the 43 vocational seats in the senate is fixed by law, not the constitution, and can easily be changed if the government should wish. (tags: ireland)
Sun 1st
03:39
Now these points of data make a beautiful line / and we're out of beta, we're releasing on time
I am Dreamwidth user #466; my account was created on March 9th 2009 at 14:33:09 and I was gifted a seed account two years ago today by [IMG: [personal profile] ] synecdochic for my work during closed beta. Now, Dreamwidth is out of beta altogether, and though I haven't done very much in recent months, I feel an immense sense of pride at having been involved, and of everyone else who's been on this journey. And I don't just mean the coders, the designers, the docs people, the support team, the antispam folk... not just the people who've tweaked and ...
Quite how this will help him win the Liberal Democrat nomination for Mayor of London escapes me.
... And a proper review will follow once I've rewatched and thought a LOT more, but for now my main conclusion is that we are slipping a bit too far into continuous series and away from episodicness. Doctor Who has always trodden the fine line between serial drama and episodic drama, and I think we're starting to stray a bit far away from that line. That's not to say I didn't adore every second, but that opening two parter seemed specifically designed not to be a jumping on point for new viewers, and I'm not sure that's sensible. ( Anyway, ...
I was going to write about public transport today but you will have to wait until tomorrow. I have to tell you this story. One of our helpers was delivering leaflets in Morecambe and he happened to come across one of the Conservative candidates. He didn't know who it was but there was a conversation, and he offered the leaflet. The answer was "I'd better not take it as I am a Conservative candidate". This is priceless! He told her that she could take it to a Conservative meeting to see what they thought about it, and the Conservatives cannot ...
