Every year the Palestinian people mark 15 May — the anniversary of the 1948 founding of the State of Israel — as the Nakba or Catastrophe. This year, there were larger demonstrations than usual, not just in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank but also in the Golan Heights of Syria, bordering the Israeli-occupied zone, and ...
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Look around you to the left's criticism of the Rally Against Debt. What do you see? An open exchange of ideas? A complicated debunking of the movement's aims? No, you see two things: people rejoicing in the fact that their union-funded self-interest march was bigger and a left-wing circle jerk over the fact that they managed to infiltrate the Rally and get some dumb signs in. On the first point, yes, when you have 2,500 taxpayer-funded organisers for your union events, it isn't going to be that hard to get some numbers together. When you're marching in your own selfish ...
In my contribution to the 2006 booklet Liberalism - Something to Shout About I examined this paradox: the more rights we give children the less freedom they have. On those rights I observed: The last time there was a significant children's rights movement in Britain was during the late 1960s and 1970s, when polical radicalism was in the air more generally. That movement was largely run by children and teenagers themselves and has as its targets abuses like corporal punishment, petty uniform regulations and the keeping of secret records by schools. The youngsters taking part were clear that their rights ...
[IMG: Putney Liberal Democrats: office door] Today it was off to Putney to help Lisa Smart and Putney Liberal Democrats with some good old fashioned door-to-door residents' surveying. Good thing I read the warning notice though (see photo), else I fear I might never have got home again... A by-election is expected imminently thanks to the appointment of Edward Lister as Deputy Mayor to Boris Johnson following the death of Simon Milton. So if you can, now is a good time to head over to Putney to help Lisa and her team; contact details for Lisa Smart are here.
Today I wrote to a friend and green activist drawing his attention to Chris Huhne's victory in cabinet over targets to reduce carbon emissions. His response was to point out that Hammond wants to raise speed limits to 80mph. I wasn't trying to defend the entire coalition government and certainly not the Tories, but I thought that Chris Huhne had done a good job here. I am very critical of some
If you don't live in the region then you probably will not have seen East Midlands Trains' television commercials designed to encourage us to book our tickets through their website. Those commercials feature Stacy Solomon and her image has starting appearing at the company's railway stations too. Given that the idea behind them must be "If Stacy Solomon can use our website then anyone can," I feel rather sorry for her
Last January Lord Bonkers remarked upon his fondness for Eastleigh:So when the town's MP, our own Chris Huhne, invited me to tour his constituency I was happy to accept. As we drive through the Hampshire countryside this morning he is full of the virtues of his Toyata Prius (apparently no polar bears are harmed in its manufacture), but as we near a crossroads he begins to panic: "It's the brakes, your lordship, they just aren't..." At this point I am obliged to lean across and take command of the steering. As I explain after I have brought us to a ...
There are better ways to celebrate a wedding anniversary.When we got married, we hadnt thought about the principles of anniversaries. As my colleague put it to my husband, "It's like a whole other valentines day, mate".Not that I expect ubiquitous hegemonic excuses for romance.However, I do not expect a five hour intensive course in amateur plumbing either!Kitchen tap was leaking. A glance told
Congratulations to organisers of the Prestwich Clough Day, which was a great success today despite the weather doing its utmost to try and ruin things. I went down fairly late on, hoping that the longer I left it the more chance there would be that the rain would stop. It didn't, so I got wet. ...
Yesterday I opened a Health promotion day in Drum Brae. The event was organised by the Western and Almond Neighbourhood Partnerships Health Working Group which I chair. The event was aimed at families and was about raising awareness of existing services and activities and was great fun. We had stalls from Edinburgh Leisure, Health and Social Care, The Centre for Health and Well Being, our telecare team among others. We also had salsa and tango demos which both went down very well especially the tango! A good time was had by all and lots of useful information was passed on. ...
My posts on the NHS have been far too long. So here's the brass tacks as I see them: For the love of both God and Darwin, will the Lib Dems adopt a simple message? E.g."The Lib Dems want a European system. The Tories really want the US system." European countries' health care systems are consistently ranked the best in the world. The American one is not only bankrupting their nation, but produces the highest rate of infant mortality amongst the advanced nations. Lansley's bill washes the government's hands of responsibility for health care. The bill states that the Secretary ...
That was my initial reaction when I read the story over on BBC News at lunchtime. As I have read more and more reports several this disturb me about this mans arrest. Firstly a lot of the maid's story is already out there in the press. This is from the Daily Mail report: 'She told detectives he came out of the bathroom naked, ran down a hallway to the foyer where she was, pulled her into a bedroom and began to sexually assault her, according to her account,' a New York police spokesman said. 'She pulled away from him and ...
It's not often the post brings good news, but Saturday was an exception when the water bill arrived for the local church of which I am Treasurer. The letter, from Northumbrian Water, told me of a reduction of £542.50 in the annual charge for "surface water drainage" (otherwise known as "Rain Tax"), a reduction which should be reflected in the water bills of many local sports clubs, community groups and churches. We had seen an increase in our water bill of nearly 1,000% over a decade, mainly as a result of the Rain Tax, and I had been among the ...
The Energy Secretary is looking like he is in it deep, as the allegations over his avoidance of a speeding fine and points have reached a crescendo in this morning's press. The Conservative press clearly have the knives out for ... Continue reading →
I've often half-seriously wondered if Steven Moffat has just decided to make this entire series of Doctor Who as an elaborate means of winding Lawrence Miles up. The riffs on Alien Bodies in the opening two-parter were blatant enough, but this might as well have been labeled as an adaptation of Miles' short story Toy ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 221st 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 (8-14 May, 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. How I became ...
Sun 15th
18:48
Library review, new recycling services and planning applications - Queen Edith Chapel this Thursday
Cambridgeshire library managers will be visiting the South Area meeting at the Queen Edith Chapel in Wulfstan Way this Wednesday. They'll be doing a presentation on the Conservative administration's library review and seeking the views of the public on the planned changes as well as ideas on the library service and its future viability. The Conservative councillor in charge of the library service has been invited but at this stage we are not certain if he is intending to come. As many local people will know, our own branch library, Rock Road Library, is under threat of closure or downgrade, ...
Residents near the proposed massive housing development to the north of Yate have suggested protecting a key field by giving it village green status. They want the field next to Randolph Avenue and Leechpool Way to become a buffer zone between the new and existing houses. Town councillor Chris Willmore is investigating the idea on behalf of residents, but she warns that it won't be easy because it is necessary to distinguish general use from the people using the footpaths. She said: "I think there are legal problems about rights of way so it will not be a home run. ...
Nick Clegg, the musical. Yes, there was one at a Spring Festival in Suffolk. In case you missed it, Russell Howard's Good News has put together it's own 29 second version below. The comedians are having a terrific time with "Nick Clegg". I put the name in inverted commas because I don't think the "Nick Clegg", which the comedians make jokes about, is much to do with Nick Clegg, the person. I find the Russell Howard skit below extremely funny. I lolled. But with comedy, there comes a point when the comedy is funny for its own sake, aside from ...
Pleased to see the yellow lines put in eventually, hopefully will aid visibility
How important was Nick Clegg to the loss of the referendum to reform the electoral system? Very important if you believe this anonymous source quoted recently in The Guardian (hat-tip to James Graham): Last night a senior source in the campaign for the alternative vote admitted they knew "very early on" that there was no chance of winning the referendum and that Clegg had become part of the problem: "Every time Clegg spoke about AV our polling numbers went into free-fall. We knew from very early on, before the new year, that we couldn't win, our message wasn't getting through ...
Don't look at the web site they are wrong.They are Sunday 10.00-16.00 Mon-Sat 07.00-22.00
For most of this year, the publication of the Treasury's Public Service Reform white paper has been horribly imminent. David Cameron even gave a speech raising the curtain on it. But nothing happened. It is still imminent. Of course we know that, behind the scenes, there are struggles to shift the emphasis from mass privatisation to gentle mutualisation. It is far from clear yet whether the Treasury realise that the tools you need for one - big, industrial strength, shared commissioning - is very different from what you need for the other. We shall see. But the real problem is ...
Eddie Izzard, Stephen Fry, the Liberal Democrats and 'Oxford academics' are -according to the Daily Mail- the infamous liberal elite. The paper, and I use that term lightly, mentions this clandestine and highly secretive group on a regular basis; but ... Continue reading →
Andy Strange has written a wonderful blog-post — How I became a poster boy for Lib Dem misery — full of pathos (I was going to call it 'pathetic', but reckoned the adjective might be misconstrued). Do go and read it; hopefully it'll cheer him up. But Andy's experience did remind me of a moment in the 2002 election count in Oxford Town Hall. 2002 was not a happy year for the Lib Dems locally. We'd just endured a turbulent two years sharing power with the Greens, following two decades of lazy uselessness by Labour. The city council was in ...
This follows on from yesterday's post. But something happened around new year 2011... The Tory right, previously marginalised and outweighed by the Lib Dems, somehow forced their way back into the story. Whereas previously it was clear that the Cameron-Clegg axis was running the show, it became increasingly clear that the Hague-Osborne axis was the conduit for the will of the Tory right. The Tory right became petrified that AV would lead to perpetually bland "One Nation" Tory policies and prevent a Thatcherite party winning power alone again. (They were right, of course). But whereas Cameron had previously gone on ...
I am told that a new biography of Richard Burton is to be launched tomorrow and that the author is keen to see a permanent memorial to the actor in his home borough of Port Talbot. The picture shows Burton's birthplace in Pontrhydyfen in the Afan valley. You can see from the second picture how beautiful this part of the world is. It is certainly different to the industrial legacy situated at the mouth of the river Afan. In Swansea Dylan Thomas' house has been turned into a destination that commemorates his legacy. There is a permanent exhibition in the ...
We seem to have reached the point where the media consider the secret recording of ministers of state acceptable for eight year old speeding tickets (Huhne) and the blunt expression of opinions in private (Cable). I'm no believer in blind deference to power. I also don't naïvely believe that anyone benefits from expecting leaders to be saints, and crucifying them if they turn out otherwise. Especially when such standards are exploited by corporate interests trying to get rid of politicians doing dastardly things like trying to improve environmental regulations. Trying to squeeze ex-spouses and old friends for years-old information, with ...
I have decided to add an occasional/more than occasional column for all those little tidbits that do not warrant their own blog post. I have called it 'Things I think I think'. I hope you enjoy... *Tripping over a paving slab in front of three women and watching them trying to stifle a laugh is slightly embarrassing. *I really liked the Hungarian Eurovision Song *The future of one of my my two favourite baseball Yankees looks bleak and it saddens me. *When Edwin Van Der Sar quits this summer then Tomasz Kuszczak is not good enough to be his replacement. ...
That's a photo of me and the Monkees. Sort of. At least I *think* that the little triangle on the left hand side, parallel with Peter's head, is my elbow. I turned up a couple of hours early hoping to sit outside and listen to the soundcheck (this didn't work as it was raining, and ...
Sun 15th
13:36
Left, Right and Centre: a graphic illustration of why these words do not give enough information
Using the political compass model, I have made a picture of where the four parties I am somewhat familiar with are currently positioned in my view. The large patches are the party membership. The small circles are the party leadership. I have added the names of some people to illustrate where I think they go; I'm sure they'll have arguments. Obviously this is just something I have knocked up in two minutes in the graphics prog and is subject to refinement, but I wanted to illustrate thatthere are broad churches in all the major parties.That all the parties have some ...
The AV campaign may be over and our foes would like to say that, that quashes any prospect of electoral reform for a generation but there has never been a better time to start the campaign for British PR - STV. The AV campaign may indeed have been imperfect but it did mobilise significant cross-party support for a positive message of reform, and now is not the time to let that interest dwindle away. This is also the very best time to differentiate STV from AV; proportional representation from merely preferential voting. Rather than in some years hence when people ...
Chris Huhne is once again under huge political pressure this morning, and is odds on favourite to be the next exit from the Cabinet. The problems all centre around the continuing allegations that he asked his SpAd to take some speeding points for him, which is a criminal offence. As Mark Pack points out on ...
or, Why we need to keep flapping our wings to save the NHS or, skip to the bullet points if you're short on time Politics sometimes looks like a game of 3 three dimensional chess played in a hurricane: it's hard enough to play the game without external events blowing the pieces all over the board. Hurricanes are famously started by some awkward bugger of a butterfly lurking near the coast of Argentina. We think. It might be bloke whistling down the Swanee River. It's hard to tell. In truth, the chaos theory that introduced this troublesome butterfly works even ...
Eurovision is an annual fiesta of kitsch, wherever it is staged. This year it was housed in a converted football stadium in Dusseldorf. But for many of the estimated 120 million TV viewers who watch the event, it's the atmosphere at Eurovision parties they're attending that's important. A number of local Liberal Democrat associations hold ...
$1 million is the price for your ancestral land and sacred locations. The acquisition of land -for mining purposes- is encouraged by the Australian government. China needs natural resources and Australia is more than willing to provide an economic colony ... Continue reading →
I've been looking for some time at tablet computers and a few weeks ago decided that I was probably going to buy one. I even went as far as having an extended chat with a sales assistant in one of the Apple shops in Derby which at the point that I said I'd like to buy one turned into a rather strange version of the Monty Python Cheese Shop sketch, eventually resulting in a confession that they didn't actually have any in to sell as such. I spent some time looking at the Samsung Galaxy Tab as well, but as ...
I'm having a 'Stevie Wonder Sunday'. Amidst my work of going through Council paperwork today, I'm in need of a soundtrack for my day. It's usually the 'mellow sounds' of Magic FM that sees me through but thanks to a blog post by Jonathan Calder here earlier today, I'm turned my attention to the boy Wonder. I've got a very eclectic range of music here at home as anyone who knows me will testify but to my continuing shame, not one of my many CDs is dedicated entirely to the legend that is Stevie Wonder. So, inspired by Jonathan this ...
From The Observer: Cabinet ministers have agreed a far-reaching, legally binding "green deal" that will commit the UK to two decades of drastic cuts in carbon emissions... The deal was hammered out after tense arguments between ministers who had disagreed over whether the ambitious plans to switch to more green energy were affordable. The row had pitted the energy secretary, Chris Huhne, who strongly backed the plans, against the chancellor, George Osborne, and the business secretary, Vince Cable, who were concerned about the cost and potential impact on the economy... Green groups had feared that ministers would refuse to back ...
I was pleased to see today that the roads repairs needed to finish the job of installing the new puffin crossings in Gatley – by the Horse & Farrier and by the station – are finally being done. This is something Pam and I have been nagging about for a while, so I'm very glad to see the work being completed. We'll be checking to make sure nothing's been missed over the next few days.
In a move that appeared from nowhere, Cameron has practically guaranteed his next election with the Military Covenant proposals.The duty of care for military personnel wounded in action has been an issue the RBLI and Help for Heroes have campaigned on for years.It is a favourite bugbear of the tabloids, who embrace a dedication to troops fighting and the rightful entitlement to care in the event
Haringey Liberal Democrats have elected Stroud Green councillor Richard Wilson as new leader of the Council group. On his appointment Cllr Wilson said: "I am very proud to have the opportunity to lead a strong group of Liberal Democrat councillors in Haringey that will continue to stand up for residents against Labour's terrible stewardship of this borough. I will help us to provide a positive alternative vision of how Haringey Council could work with residents to improve the Borough. "It's time that the gloves come off in the fight to protect vulnerable people from Labour's ill-conceived cuts - to our ...
The Guardian today writes: Why adult education needs Vince Cable, which highlights some strengths he has brought to the Government Cable understands the value of adult education for those, like his parents, who need it most. He remains the person best placed to ensure that such provision no longer has to survive only on hope.
There are many who like to think that the ills the Lib Dems are suffering will, in some way, be fixed by a returning David Laws being thrust back in to the political front line. They are wrong. Firstly, we should examine what David Laws is like. I know people who know David, and they tell me he is extremely quit witted, he "gets it" very quickly, and is a real talent. this any be true, but as a voter, and outsider, I view David as an intellectual and bright, but not charismatic or exciting in any way shape or ...
Disabled face increasing hostility from strangers, survey finds Hands up anyone who is surprised... ? (tags: disability) Why the predictions of the Death of the Lib Dems are very very wrong See, this is what I keep saying to people: Andrew Hickey is always right. Even when reported by his wife. (tags: libdemmery) How I became a poster boy for Lib Dem misery Poor Andy is suffering at the hands of the BBC... (tags: libdemmery)
During the week, I've done a series of posts about our poor election results, which were leavened by only a few bright spots (such as in Bedford). The series expands on what I told the BBC and if you missed any of the series, here's the full list: The missing policies Lib Dem voters don't want out of the coalition Grassroots campaigns don't win national elections The party's local government base matters You can't be distinctive with someone else's vocabulary Talking to yourself is not enough
London Assembly member (and, I hope, Lib Dem Mayor candidate) Mike Tuffrey is profiled by Dave Hill over in The Guardian today: Lack of ambition, in his view, has marked the first eleven years of mayoral rule. He credits Boris with engendering lots of small scale activity but, "When I stand back and ask what it really adds up to, I only give him five out of ten." He thinks Ken Livingstone's terms came up short too. "We have a monumental housing crisis. There's 360,000 people on the waiting lists. Private rents went up 17 percent in the last quarter ...
Much that the presence of the twitter account that purports to reveal contents of a number of super injunctions was in the news on Monday, the account is still there and now has 113,865 followers.What we have is a law that is not generally accepted as well as a law that only really benefits wealthy men. The point about the checks and balances in the system is to ensure that the laws do have
I can't say I liked Azerbaijan's entry for the Eurovision song contest last night - but then none of entries were songs I'd actually go out and buy. But a bizarre comment on Twitter last night from one @georgeowers that "I notice that #eurovision uses First-Past-the-Post" (what?!) set me thinking: what would Eurovision be like if it actually did use First Past The Post instead of its present system (a version of the Borda count)? Last night's results are here - and it's clear from this table that under First Past The Post, if each country had had only one ...
The trouble with choosing tracks that you happen to hear in cafes is that you do not always know what you have been listening to. As I found after hearing this in the station buffet at Leicester, googling "Stevie Wonder doo doo doo doo doo doo doo" gets you nowhere. Luckily I work with someone who recognised the song from my humming. Never Had a Dream Come True, written towards the end of Stevie Wonder's first period with Motown, reached no. 6 in the UK singles charts in 1970.
At last the pain of "will he? won't he?" is over. He won't. The lure of a Fox salary won over the prospective pain of running another (possibly) unsuccessful campaign. But he is to be congratulated for skilfully maximising the audience for the whole of his Fox programme last night, as viewers had to wait until the last minute for his announcement. This opens the field to the likes of Sarah Palin and/or Michele Bachmann. I can't help but think that Huckabee's departure has made the whole Republican field a bit lighter and less serious than it would have been ...
I will write briefly about this ongoing saga involving flytipping, previously mentioned on this blog. In the days that Wrexham Signs Ltd owned this shop (they used to make money from the sign on the side) all it took was a letter and the rubbish here was cleared away. Since then the shop has changed ...
Local environmental charity Cambridge Carbon Footprint is once again organising a series of Open Eco-Homes days in and around Cambridge in June.Fifteen eco homes open their doors on Saturday 18 and Sunday 26 June to share their experience with solar panels, green sedum roofs, high-efficiency insulation, wood-burning stoves, ground source heat pumps and much more...To choose homes to visit and find out how to book, log on to http://www.openecohomes.orgBooking is essential and spaces do fill up quickly, so don't delay.To start it all off, there will be a LAUNCH on Friday 10 June with a Question Time event, chaired by ...
Local environmental charity Cambridge Carbon Footprint is once again organising a series of Open Eco-Homes days in and around Cambridge in June.Fifteen eco homes open their doors on Saturday 18 and Sunday 26 June to share their experience with solar panels, green sedum roofs, high-efficiency insulation, wood-burning stoves, ground source heat pumps and much more...To choose homes to visit and find out how to book, log on to http://www.openecohomes.orgBooking is essential and spaces do fill up quickly, so don't delay.To start it all off, there will be a LAUNCH on Friday 10 June with a Question Time event, chaired by ...
i) births and deaths 15 May 1925: birth of Roy Stewart, who played Toberman in Tomb of the Cybermen (1967) and Tony in Terror of the Autons (1970). 15 May 1937: birth of Darrol Blake, director of The Stones of Blood (1979) 15 May 1990: death of Peter Grimwade, director of Full Circle (1980), Logopolis (1981), Kinda (1982) and Earthshock (1982) and writer of Time-Flight (1982), Mawdryn Undead (1983) and Planet of Fire (1984). ii) broadcast anniversaries 15 May 1965: broadcast of "The Final Phase", fourth episode of the story we now call The Space Museum. The Xerons revolt and ...
This year the University of Dundee Botanic Garden celebrates its 40th anniversary. The Friends have their AGM on Wednesday 25th May and, in addition to refreshments, there's a twilight walk round the Garden beforehand. Full details are available on the Friends' website. Good to see the Friends now also have a blog, posting regular updates on activities at the Garden.
It was an amusing European Song Contest and thanks to my friends on Facebook who made it an on-line 'community' event! I must admit that having been underwhelmed by the opening few entries, I suddently found my home with the absolute randomness that was the Moldovian effort! It reminded me of Madness in the early 1980s. It was over-the-top, wholly irreverant and 110% ridiculous which for me, made it brilliant! Here they are in the semi-final... Congratulations to the winners Azerbaijan but for me, with unicycles, monocles, pointy hats and trumpets, there was only one real winner for me tonight ...
