Chris Huhne is in trouble. There is an ongoing police investigation into allegations over his speeding penalties and whether someone else took the rap for them which will end his political career if proved accurate. So why then is right wing smearmeister Paul Staines (AKA the self importantly monikered Guido Fawkes) trying desperately to pin allegations of election expenses misdeeds as well? As Mark Pack has pointed out the lack of evidence for these bizarre allegations is now reaching the stage of hilarity as Staines and his sidekick, Harry Cole, continue to clutch at the smallest of straws of evidence ...
Good if rather surprising news for Reading residents today as Labour are publicly promising not to increase Council Tax whatsoever in 2012. See this exchange from Twitter earlier today: @ReadingLabour: Disappointed to see @CllrDaisyBenson using twitter to dispense worry on the #rdg hashtag. Labour have no plans to raise Council Tax. None.When Labour ran the Council in previous years they increased Council Tax year on year adding to the burden faced by residents - particularly those on fixed incomes. So if they deliver this it would be a first for them. There was no reference to such a pledge in ...
The most fabulously Sixties of all Sixties TV shows, The Avengers, is fifty years old this year - and twenty-seven years ago today, I was hooked by a repeat of it on Channel 4. It starred Linda Thorson as Tara King, and for me she's always been as terrific an Avengers woman as any other. Her series of The Avengers was the last and perhaps the best, mixing colourful camp with the more sinister atmosphere of the earlier years. And where better to start than with Game, the larger-than-life piece of postmodernism that really opened her time on the show? ...
I am currently reading Edgelands by Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts:Growing up on the edge of two cities - Liverpool and Manchester - in the early Seventies, it was easy enough to walk for a short while and soon find yourself lost in back lanes or waste ground, to follow the wooded perimeters of a golf course, an old path leading through scratchy shrubland, or the course of a drainage ditch. It was easy enough to find yourself on the edges of arable land, to follow the the track bed of a dismantled railway or descend into an abandoned ...
Former PM Tony Blair said of today's Mladic arrest, "This is a huge moment for the principle that people who engage in genocide will eventually be brought to justice." While unreservedly welcoming the bringing of him to justice one can't help wondering what Blair will say when another criminal finally receives his comeuppance...
John Maynard Keynes famously said: "When the facts change I change my mind."This quote came to mind when I was thinking about Reading's City Status Bid which is being formally submitted to government tomorrow. Reading is currently favourite to win city status in 2012 but faces tough competition from a number of other towns across the UK. I highlighted the fact that Reading was hotly-tipped for even more success by Centre for Cities back in January. I am not ashamed to say that last year when the bid was announced I was firmly opposed to the bid and spoke against ...
It was Lindsay's birthday today, and we went out to dinner with JW at Angels and Gypsies,a new Tapas place in Camberwell where we had Pan tumaca; Pulpo a feira; Albondiga Sephardic style with black apricots, chickpeas and shaved Manchego; Selection of Ibérico jamón, chorizo, salchichón & lomo; prawn croquettes; slow cooked aubergine & coriander stew, and home made empanadas. It sounds enormous, but the individual dishes were quite modest. We gave it full marks. Yesterday was a great occasion, with President Obama's speech to both Houses of Parliament and their spouses in Westminster Hall. It was very well received, ...
Isn't the NHS wonderful? a question that many affirm, without thinking, along with that other cliché about our wonderful police service and lets be honest, yes they are, up to a point. I'll put our wonderful police on the back boiler for this posting and leave them Kettled for another time. However it comes as no surprise to me that the NHS are in the dock for poor treatment to elderly, the NHS is an out of control behemoth, unfortunately we as providers of funds have no say in who or where, we get treated. Instead of passing responsibility for ...
The last time I saw the newly elected Lord Mayor of Belfast Niall Ó Donnghaile was at the verification process for the East Belfast votes on May 6th. I was in Newtownards for the Yes! campaign and it was a veritable who's who of local poliltics who stopped by to chat to me that day. On of them was fellow Tweeter and Blogger Niall, he was one of a number of mini tweet ups that were happening that day. So many of the political activists who tweet follow each other but in the heat of campaigning we rarely get to ...
TweetI've tried to write this blog so many times, it's been trashed and restarted, but i've decided just to go for it. The following comes from my heart, and is very personal to me. I first realised I was gay at 14(ish), and came out at 16, my sexuality has had a profound effect on my politics, and I want to spell out the story of such in a blog. I use the word queer here as a catch all term for a less binary sexuality that does not necessarily fit into LGBT. Here is my two cents. When at ...
Here's the official video of the ELDR Council meeting in Dresden. You'll notice that I was rather soberly dressed for a change...
In our hiuse, we've come up with a new drinking game when watching any of the myriad of emergency services documentaries on TV these days, particularly police ones. It's quite simple. Take a drink every time the police arrest someone for a "section 5" public order offence because they muttered something under their breath when walking away from the police. (Bonus drink if they previously stated "You can't arrest me!" or I start ranting about how the police are doing things we're not allowed to do even to prisoners of war who have just been trying to kill us) Do ...
I don't think that many people in this area have much faith in "consultation" in County Durham. Usually it comprises telling people what the council intends to do and asking for their comments. Usually the end result is that the council does exactly what it intended to before it got your comments. Of course real consultation is a difficult two way process. Those consulted cannot expect to control what happens, but they are entitled to feel they have been listened to, and the only way they can judge that is by seeing that in some way, however small, their responses ...
A year on, we've learned something about ourselves and what separates us from the other parties. Yes we're proud of the fairness we've introduced to pensions, the fairer taxes, pupil premium and banking levy. But it was listening to yesterday in parliament the other day that made me realise something else. A debate on Lords reform made me think about the tuition fees issue. When it became
Earlier today Nick Clegg gave a major speech on the NHS, signalling big changes to the NHS Bill, something Paul Burstow had talked of on Friday. The Daily Mail has a straight, factual report of the speech, which given its normal reporting of Nick Clegg almost counts as praise: A huge shake-up of the NHS could be delayed by weeks if not months, the Deputy Prime Minister said today. Nick Clegg said he believed the Health and Social Care Bill would need to go back to a committee of MPs for further scrutiny. This is where proposed legislation is examined ...
I gather war criminal Tony Blair has welcomed the arrest of war criminal Ratko Mladic. Oh, the irony! (Innocent till proven guilty and all that) socialise this: [IMG: add 'War Criminal Welcomes Arrest' a Del.icio.us] [IMG: add 'War Criminal Welcomes Arrest' a digg] [IMG: add 'War Criminal Welcomes Arrest' a Stumble Upon] [IMG: add 'War Criminal Welcomes Arrest' a FaceBook] [IMG: add 'War Criminal Welcomes Arrest' a Twitter]
If you've not been following the Chris Huhne election expenses story over the last couple of days, it's easy to get tangled up in the various threads of it. So here's a quick guide to some of the posts from Liberal Democrats on the subject: Chris Huhne election expense allegations: nothing to see here, move along - myself Chris Huhne's election expenses: once again, nothing to see here, move along Don't let Guido Fawkes waste your evening - Jonathan Calder It's not often being compared to a Nazi counts as a compliment... - myself Perhaps Guido could have made better ...
The next University residents' forum is on Tuesday 27th June at 5:30pm. The forum was established to improve communication and relations between the university and its near neighbours. If you are interested in attending, or want to add an item to the agenda, contact g.gillespie@bath.ac.uk.
I refer not, of course, to Messrs Enfield and Whitehouse, but to Paul Staines (AKA Guido Fawkes) and his side-kick Harry Cole. The joke, it seems, is now on them after a disastrous couple of days for the credibility of ... Continue reading →
It's not something that I talk about very often, but I am, in fact, a Deist. The vast majority will never have heard of this so please allow me to elucidate. Deism is a faith often characterised as a belief in the "watchmaker god". The metaphor being that a watchmaker builds a watch, winds it up, sets it in motion and then leaves it alone after that. Deism's approach to god is similar - for a given definition of god of course. However, that's a very mechanical and unpoetic way of putting it so here's a better version, originally written ...
Yesterday Guido Fawkes excitedly blogged that "Eastleigh LibDems Holding Emergency Meeting ... Guido has just heard they are holding an unscheduled meeting" and went on to claim in a subsequent post that Chris Huhne's election expenses were "top of the agenda". Alas, Guido's source is not exactly up to top-notch standards on this one. Let's take it one by one. Was it an emergency meeting? No, it was a previously scheduled one. Was it a Liberal Democrat meeting? No, it was a meeting of the Eastleigh and the Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Horton Heath Local Area Committees to which council ...
OECD were far from impressed. Osborne will enjoy Treasury Questions next Monday.
No, not John Hemming, at least according to the Shropshire Star. It was the former MP - indeed former Liberal Democrat - Paul Marsden.
Adele became the subject of a twitter backlash last night after this piece in the Guardian where she complained about the 50% tax rate. The main quote from Adele being: "I'm mortified to have to pay 50%! [While] I use the NHS, I can't use public transport any more. Trains are always late, most state
I had intended to post a review on Adam Curtis's new programme but Jock Coats and Tom Papworth beat me to it. You can read their reviews here and here. I wouldn't have made my arguments in quite the same way but broadly agree with their comments. I would add one thing. While Curtis does not make this argument, his programme rather makes the point that any attempt to manage people, whether it is by government or a sophisticated computer programme, will always cause problems. There is a view that the best people to do the management of individuals are ...
Cornwall Councillors this afternoon had the chance to discuss the authority's response to the Government's 'listening exercise' over the reforms to the NHS. It was a pretty packed meeting which, unfortunately (and inexplicably) only lasted for an hour. During that time, member after member criticised aspects of the changes proposed and there was very loud agreement for the oft-stated proposal that the entire Bill should be ripped up and the process of reform started again from scratch. In my opinion, the major problems with the proposals are: - that the proposal to put spending power in the hands of GP ...
Inside Job, film by Charles Ferguson (director), narrated by Matt Damon. Available for pre-order as DVD. Enough oceans of ink have been spilled in attempts to explain the credit crunch (or condemn whoever the author thinks is responsible) to make ... Continue reading →
When it comes to UKIP most people only really know leader Nigel Farage, and if you've heard on anyone beyond that it's Marta Andreasen. The former chief account to EU Commision has appeared on Question Time a few times, and is fairly prominent in UKIP terms.. It seems all is not well at the ...
It's been a hell of a month. No doubt about that. Even now, every time I see this it still makes me a bit teary that someone can be so gracious and magnanimous even in the face of defeat. So it was reassuring to see this tweet this afternoon: We are doing some real good in Government. Good things are happening that wouldn't be if we weren't there. For me, there's still a long way to go on immigration generally. But we've achieved what the Tories or Labour would never ever have done. However much our hearts are hurting right ...
I was at a meeting of the local Lib Dems on Monday night and someone brought up an excellent point. In the ward he was campaigning in, an independent ran on a single-issue based specially for that ward. It was is an area with many bedsits and she wanted to implement a Landlord safety scheme to ensure that all Landlord's are registered and if they didn't act correctly then they would be struck off. Now her idea wasn't really implementable but that didn't matter – it attracted votes. Whilst she didn't win, she got significant support and got more than ...
Yesterday afternoon I set off, camera in hand, to take some photos for our next Focus newspaper. My intention was to do some "before and after" shots. Whilst canvassing before the election we made notes of complaints made by residents. Since being re-elected I have spent some time trying to resolve these complaints. These will feature in the next Focus. Two good examples were, complaints about a dangerous concrete bollard, about to fall over, on Virginia St and a roundabout at Kew where the grass was too long and needed cutting. I contacted officers by email and I was pleased ...
I have just received an email from Simon Hughes. It said: It's been a great month for Liberal Democrats who are setting the pace on the green agenda! It doesn't quite say it's been a great month for 'the' Liberal Democrats but most people will read it that way and think vaguely of my one and only Kipling joke: If you can keep your head while all around are losing theirs...then you haven't understood the true seriousness of the situation. To be fair on Simon and his team, we do need reminding that there is more to this coalition than ...
I was just reading this post over on Liberal Democrat voice on What is Worrying Labour & the Tories? It reminded me of a family friend who I met at the Ayr count on 5th May who was helping the Conservative candidate. When I said that I guessed she was a Tory, she immediately tried to
In spite of countywide protests, petitions of over 70,000 signatures and opposition from Lib Dems and Independents, the Cabinet agreed yesterday to press ahead with the introduction of On Street Pay and Display parking in Surrey towns and villages. Many Conservative Councillors have also been campaigning locally against the introduction of pay and display but only one dared to vote against the plans at Full Council last week when the issue was debated. The Reigate Local Committee Chairman Angela Fraser, who has publicly opposed the plan, avoided the issue by leaving the Council Chamber during the vote! Reigate will be ...
On election night in Sheffield, we had a painful evening, losing hard-working local councillors and good friends. They were defeated by a protest vote against the tough decisions forced upon the Government by the financial mess they inherited from Labour. When we entered the general election, we understood the seriousness of the financial crisis the country faced. We knew that whoever entered Government after the election faced a difficult first few years. Yet, as Liberal Democrats we took a brave decision to enter a coalition in the national interest and we must stick to our five year commitment. One thing ...
In Belsize Park this afternoon, I saw a Ham and High newspaper billboard proclaiming: "Call for council to honour Bob Dylan." There's nothing about it on the paper's website, and I know nothing about this, but I'm going to stick my neck out and say that it already makes me angry. Yes, angry. People pay council tax (which is a highly regressive tax) so that local authorities can provide certain essential services, defining 'essential' pretty broadly to include lots of things that can improve the lives of communities. They don't pay council tax so that councils can honour Bob Dylan, ...
We had our thank you party on Saturday. It rained. We had secured a barrel of beer from the Southport brewery to toast our success and in an effort to keep it at the correct temperature we set it up outside. As the photograph makes clear we had a willing volunteer to do the bar work.
News is just coming through from various people on Twitter that Paul White, Lord Hanningfield – former leader of Essex County Council and Conservative frontbench spokesman in the Lords – has been found guilty of six counts of false accounting. Sentencing will take place in three weeks, apparently. UPDATE: There's now a report on BBC News.
In a way I hate myself that I am writing a full-on blog on the subject. In another way...no wait I still hate myself. So Cheryl Cole is out after the first round of auditions in Los Angeles because of concerns over her accent and her lack of chemistry with Paula Abdul. Hands up who didn't foresee these problems? I notice no hands in the air. One person who did foresee this issue was Simon Cowell clearly. He wanted to give Cheryl her shot as he thought she deserved it but isn't it lucky that Nicole Scherzinger was already employed ...
I've got to know several of the residents in Dickenson Court over the months. Let us start at the beginning. One of the tenants contacted me because for number of residents they had was not enough bins. I took it up with the council and it was agreed that the 30+ flats they required an additional bin. I thought that was sorted and filed it away in the done pile. I then got a phone call to say that the bin had not been delivered. I contacted the council who, it transpired, had delivered the bin to the wrong address. ...
Alex Salmond has been announcing his administration's programme for Holyrood. He highlights the need to tackle bigotry and booze. That probably neatly sums up the key social problems that affect the modern Scotland - not the only ones - but crucial ones. I hope the Scottish Parliament as a whole can rally round tackling these problems in a positive way, working together to make policies and legislation that emerges as effective as possible. I think our other big social problem is our health record with death rates from heart disease and cancer high by European standards. I hope, as the ...
I wouldn't normally sully your day with a link to the noxious Guido Fawkes blog. After all, this is the guy who cast aspersions and innuendo over William Hague until he was forced to make an unprecedented personal statement last year, which I wrote about at the time. There was no need to cause the Hagues additional pain. You would think he would have learned from that fiasco not to print anything unless he had evidence as to its veracity. No such luck. He just bulldozes his way in there, accusing people of all sorts, making it all sound as ...
Let us strive after purity of heart, for the Holy Spirit dwells in candid and simple minds. - St Philip Neri, Apostle of Rome Filed under: catholic, Cong.Orat., Maxim for the Day Tagged: Maxim for the Day, St Philip Neri
Labour run Southwark Council has caused as computer error results in many wrong council rent statements being issued. This all came to light when one tenant received a statement asking for £600 more than it should have. Frighteningly the Labour run council housing department doesn't know what went wrong so can't tell who received incorrect statements. So they are having to have all statements issued again – that's 50,000. As they don't know what went wrong their is no guarantee the new statement run wont also be riddle with mistakes. If you receive a council housing statement that you think ...
It seems that Guido isn't quite what it was, and, with an apparent lack of anything better to do, Paul and Harry have taken to chasing Chris Huhne. Clearly bored with the slow developments over some speeding points, they have taken to going on about Huhne's election expenses, something apparently they have been researching for a year. ...
I am currently moving home and looking after my 6 month old son, this is taking all my time up at the moment. Therefore I have not been able to blog, which is a shame because I would have had plenty to say about recent events. However I have still been leaving comments on the regular Bracknell Standard column, 'What does Bracknell think?' So here is a selection; Library E-Books Wellington College in Crowthorne announced last week it is planning on removing books from its library and instead giving pupils their own hand-held e-books to read from.Do you think the ...
Collette Dunkley is to join the Liberal Democrats next week as Director of Marketing, reporting to Chief Executive Chris Fox. Collette, who was born in Liverpool, has led marketing and communications in global organisations including General Motors and Vodafone. She has also lectured on these subjects in various universities, advised many large organisations and is an expert and commentator on increasing engagement with women. The new Marketing Department at Cowley St will bring together internal and external communications. These will include development of our messages and the ways we deliver them, as well as collecting vital feedback. Collette will undertake ...
Labour's explosive and somewhat verbose public statements are, desperately, masquerading a simple truth: the public is not moving towards Labour. Majority of the support in the polls highlights a 'protest' stance against the government. Only 31% feel the party is ... Continue reading →
Yesterday Chris Nicholson looked at what is worrying Labour. Today he turns to the Conservatives. What's worrying the Tories? The consensus view after the local elections was that the Tories had done amazingly well and so had the least to worry about. But amongst strategists there are some very real concerns. The General Election had shown that Cameron's attempts to de-toxify the Tory brand was still work in progress. Despite all of David Cameron's efforts enough people were still unsure about the Tories to deny them a majority. Michael Ashcroft's recent polling shows that there is still considerable work to ...
TweetMark Reckless recently but in a motion for the self entitled "The Peoples" campaign which has been described by Dan Hannan MEP in todays Telegrapjh, as: An attempt to terminate Britain's involvement in the eurozone bailouts If you live in one of their constituencies, please remember on polling day that they at least tried to spare you from having to contribute £500 to prop up a currency which Britain declined to join. There were, to be fair, a few more MPs who would have voted for Mark's motion in its unamended form had opportunity arisen, as well as some "deliberate ...
Carrying on with my 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'. Today we have a bit of everything. *The international cricketing summer has started today and it is raining in Cardiff. No huge surprise but there but I thing I think I think is that Sky's cricket coverage might be the best coverage of any sport I watch. The pundits are allowed to have an opinion and genuinely discuss them. It isn't forced and they all work terrifically well with one ...
Mladić on the trio's wanted poster We may have pulled out of Iraq and been left with Afghanistan but a previous war, that of Bosnia, is one that the Hague are still trying to try all the war criminals of. Along with the late Slobodan Milošević and the detained Radovan Karadžić the third of the trio of most wanted still at large was the Army Chief General Ratko Mladić. Well this morning they may be a step closer to getting another of their men. A man who bears a resemblance to former Bosnian Serb Army Chief Gen. Mladić has been ...
O my dear and holy Patron, Philip, I put myself into thy hands, and for the love of Jesus, for that love's sake, which chose thee and made thee a saint, I implore thee to pray for me, that, as He has brought thee to heaven, so in due time He may take me to ...
Starting from 2012 the University of Surrey (where I am a student) will charge the maximum allowable tuition fee rate of £9,000 a year. However, there's a scandal hidden here. Here's their official list of reasons for charging the maximum rate: We are taking steps to manage the loss of 63% of Government funding for teaching.Analysis indicates we need to charge an average fee of £9,000 to ensure we compensate for this and to maintain the quality of the student experience.We wish to avoid the very real danger that charging less than £9,000 will have a negative impact on the ...
Funky Brownz, a late night venue on Tottenham Lane, has applied to Haringey Council to extend its opening hours. This matter will be dealt with by the Council's Licensing Department and the Hornsey Lib Dem team are encouraging residents to write to the Council with their views on the application. The deadline for submissions of residents views is Thursday 2nd June 2011. The proposal is as follows: "Variation of hours on Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday nights in Bank Holiday weekends from 0200am to 0300am on the next morning following" Representations to the Council should address the four licensing ...
Shop workers, let's face it, don't get paid an awful lot of money. Their already meagre incomes are being stretched far enough at the moment. Spare a thought for the shop workers in Livingston's shopping centre who have been told that they will have to pay a minimum of £10 a week to park their car, just to go to work, from next Wednesday. I know that we in Livingston have been spoiled with the huge amount of free parking we've had until now and that car parking charges were always planned for the Centre. In fact, we were expecting ...
Nick Clegg spoke this morning at University College London Hospital on reform of the National Health Service. The text in full: We are now in the final stages of the Government's listening exercise on proposals to reform the NHS. An unusual thing for government to do: pausing legislation because we didn't get all of the substance right. Accepting that we now need to make changes - in some cases, significant ones. But a process that is proving immensely helpful in producing the best set of reforms we can. I know that many people following the debate about the NHS are ...
At this morning's meeting of Cornwall's education scrutiny committee I raised the issue of the care of children with autism and other conditions within our schools. I asked the Head of Service for a commitment to provide training for teachers and other school staff. The answer I got was a mixed blessing. Over the course of the next academic year, the Council will ensure that all staff in Area Resource Bases will get full training. ARBs are the special education units based within some mainstream schools and which allow children with special educational needs to be educated in a specially ...
i) births and deaths 26 May 1913: birth of Peter Cushing, who played Doctor Who in the 165 and 1966 films. 26 May 1927: birth of Julia Smith, who directed The Smugglers (1966) and The Underwater Menace (1967). ii) broadcast anniversaries 26 May 1973: broadcast of second episode of The Green Death. The Doctor investigates the mine and the green slime in order to rescue Jo, despite obstruction from Global Chemicals. 26 May 2007: broadcast of Human Nature. To avoid The Family, the Doctor becomes a human, teaching in an English boarding school in November 1913; but they track him ...
Today I have written to Cornwall Council Leader Alec Robertson about his plans to lobby for the Olympic Torch to travel through his home town of Helston: Dear Alec I see from this week's paper that you are lobbying for the Olympic torch to travel through Helston during its progress from Land's End to Plymouth. Of course, like you, I would like the torch to travel through my own town. I think that the sight of the torch at the top of Launceston Castle would be an iconic image for Cornwall. The promotional material from the Olympic organisers is that ...
As a Liberal, I believe that religious freedoms are important and need legal protection, but they are no more important than any other kind of personal freedom. People should be able to live according to their religion as long as it exists within accepted law just as people should be able to live according to whatever other ethics or ideas they have as long as doing so exist within the law. We must never fall over ourselves trying to grant special freedoms on a religious basis that we wouldn't afford to any other citizen, nor must we deny freedoms simply ...
Somewhat inspired by oneexwidow's virtual gallery on his blog I decided that I might start to do a weekly work of art on my blog. Although I did do a special in advance yesterday with Towel Day. This morning's picture is one that I stumbled upon as a student while traipsing through the National Gallery. It was a room with many far more famous works of art by the same artist, but they well all somewhat familiar to me having been prints on somebody at home's wall. It was also the furtive glance of the main object that drew me ...
Road Safety on the Coast Road was a key topic of discussion at last nights Southport Area Committee - you can see the report here. There have been 11 fatalities on this stretch of road over the last 10 years in addition to a large number of other road accidents - usually shunts. For those of you not familiar with Southport, this road runs from the end of the "sea front" to Woodvale and is used by most people as a by-pass - you can see the satellite picture of the road here Admittedly, from the map, the road looks ...
A fascinating letter from Harry Cole and Paul Staines (aka Tory Bear and Guido and "The Sunlight Centre") to the Electoral Commission. They've been preparing this letter for a year, apparently. Sadly, this wasn't long enough for them to check the spelling. The third sentence begins: Due to the fact there is more than on irregularity, It took me 1.3 seconds to work out that "on" should be "one". They raise the cost of Chris Huhne's website but even the Puffbox puff which they link to makes it clear that this website was developed with continuation after the campaign in ...
A fascinating piece by Allegra Stratton of the Guardian on the make-up of the coalition Cabinet. Click here to read it.
Daily Kos: White Privilege Diary Series #1 - White Feminist Privilege in Organizations "most racists are happy being racists, and simply don't want to change. But at the same time they want to be protected from accusations of racism, and resent anyone who makes them "feel bad" about it." - same could be said for sexists or homophobes. The question is, what can we do about it? (tags: feminism racism) Shock tactics: Kate Hilpern reports on the anti-abortion presentations in schools Seriously, what sort of idiot thinks it's a good idea to invite SPUC to do presentations in schools? (tags: ...
Lowly Saint Philip, make intercession to the immaculate Virgin Mother of God. Húmilis sancte Philíppe, deprecáre immaculátumVírginem ac Dei Genitrícem pro me. from "The Raccolta" An indulgence of 100 days. A plenary indulgence on the usual conditions, if this invocation is repeated every day for a month. (S. P. Ap., April 7, 1921). (Whilst the ...
Here it is. Interesting to note that despite the much better state of electoral register / postcode data matching in Scotland compared with England (or Wales), postcode data is still only getting a fairly minor role. Boundary Commission for Scotland: Policies and Procedures for 6th Westminster review
At Conference last September, I proposed a motion that called for new rules to beef up the PCC, making it more independent of newspaper editors and giving it real powers to regulate the wilder elements of the press. The motion called on Lib Dem ministers to act now in the face of a growing number of legal injunctions that were being fuelled by lack of confidence in the regulator. In the long run lack of action would stand to restrict press freedom, I argued, because it would give weight to calls for an illiberal privacy law whereby politicians could tell ...
YouGov performed a survey of people to find out what proportion knew "the secret" before I mentioned it in the House of Commons.Of the total sample of 2,442 82% were sure they knew, 14% were sure that they didn't know and 4% didn't know whether they knew or not. Of the 82% 3% got the name wrong, but 79% got the name right.From the perspective of the "Law of Confidentiality" I would argue,
The Icelandic volcano erupted as I shook the last of my grandfather from his canister over a remote hill top in the Brecon Beacons. Strangely fitting that events in the North Atlantic should so dominate the weekend we mark his passing, as they had so dominated his life. My Grandfather was a hero in those waters. When this nation was on its knees and in desperate need of resupply, Lieutenant commander Tony Cole-Hamilton RN stood, with a small band of naval officers and enlisted men between the U-Boat wolf packs and the convoys of American aid that would lead to ...
Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat Voice It was Groundhog Day at Deputy Prime Minister's Questions this week. The main theme was House of Lords reform. MPs raised, more or less, the same questions that were raised just after Nick Clegg's original announcement. If this session is any indication, the main opposition to the proposals will come from Conservative MPs, even though they are more or less committed, by the Coalition Agreement and an expected party whip, to eventually support the reforms. I totted up the MPs asking questions. Two Conservative made neutral points. Asking what seemed to be hostile questions were ...
No, despite the title, I have not lost my mind. I've been reading a piece by Ruth Lea on ConservativeHome in which she argues persuasively that we should look less towards Europe and more towards the Commonwealth for trade. Funnily enough, this is something I myself have absent-mindedly thought about for years though the implementation of a more Commonwealth-centric policy could well be tricky. The Commonwealth as an economic bloc is rarely discussed in Britain. But, as the global economic and political focus shifts to partnerships with non-western economies in the wake of the global financial crisis, this is an ...
Thu 26th
09:39
The People of Ecuador have something in common with the People of Dorking, Surrey - oil, natural bea...
Johann Hari, Independent journalist extraordinaire, has written extensively about the chilling impacts of man's disregard for his natural environment - impacts that range from disappearing polar ice caps to scrambles to capture scarce water and more. Yet we must hope that we can reverse the suicidal tendency of modern man to exploit every last resource no matter what the cost, and Johann writes about one such example from Ecuador - what's striking is the resemblance of Ecuador's stance to that seen closer to home - in leafy Surrey to be exact. Johann reports that in a bid to fight the ...
Thu 26th
09:34
Wirral Council - Wirral Council 23rd May 2011 - Part 13 - speech (Cllr Steve Foulkes) on being made ...
Cllr Foulkes said he was a proud man to be in that position [of Leader of Wirral Council]. He thanked his predecessor Cllr Jeff Green. He said he knew what it was like to make tough decisions. He said that [Cllr Green] had a sense of humour and had done what he thought best. He ...
Adam Curtis's return to the documentary scene is always welcome. No matter whether one agrees with his dark conspiracy theories or finds the complex narratives implausible and unconvincing, his programmes are always well made, challenging and enjoyable to watch. I have therefore been looking forward to All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace, "A story about the rise of the machines and how they made us believe we could create a stable world that would last forever". Appropriately, the title - and it's abbreviation - immediately trended on Twitter, with @cherryhiltonblu observing wryly that "In a sinister new machine-dominated ...
Considering the personal issues that he has had to deal with, Chris Huhne's performance in government over the last few months has been outstanding. But do not take my word for it. Here is the Telegraph's Environmental Correspondent, Geoffrey Lean: Last week the government adopted the world-beating goal of cutting carbon emissions to half 1990 levels by 2025. No other country, as Nick Clegg put it, "has set legally-binding targets in this much detail, so far ahead". And then yesterday it announced that it was setting up an effective, independent, statutorily-based, Green Investment Bank, the first of its kind anywhere ...
We had a superbly well-attended Friends of Magdalen Green AGM and Public Lecture last night, with around 60 people attending the event at Dundee West Church. Professor Charles McKean gave an hugely informative, entertaining and thought-provoking lecture - here's a short video clip from his talk and a few photos : Professor McKean addresses the audience Angela Mehlert, Friends of Magdalen Green Chair, opens the AGM A great turnout of local residents!
Thu 26th
09:10Wirral Council - Wirral Council 23rd May 2011 - Part 12 - speech (Cllr Adrian Jones) on leader motio...
Cllr Adrian Jones then said the hoped people would support the position that the Conservatives almost sought to prolong. He thanked Cllr Lewis for the gracious way [he referred to Labour in his speech] and his past association with Pat Hackett. He asked if Ian Lewis was willing to revise that. Cllr Ian Lewis replied ...
Unfortunately, the planned WestFest Backyard BBQ for Saturday cannot now go ahead because of tree damage at the Vine as a result of the winds earlier this week, making the garden area unsafe at present.
The second post in honour of St Philip Neri, Apostle of Rome.
Thu 26th
09:00Wirral Council - Wirral Council 23rd May 2011 - Part 11 - speech (Cllr Leslie Rennie) on leader moti...
She asked for a pledge to protect the libraries, leisure centres and other council facilities. She asked would they protect vulnerable old people? She said the CQC [under the last Labour administration] had inspected how they run services for vulnerable old people. The CQC had rated Wirral Council's Social Services department as 152nd out of ...
For everyone in the party keen on pushing the Lords Reform agenda (that seems pretty much everyone bar Lord Steel and Lord Lee by my reckoning) then there's a Facebook page just for us. Do go and have a gander, read of the posts, add to the debate or indeed just find out how to write Lord Lee a strongly worded letter. Go on, you know you want to....
Chris White has demanded answers from the Tory-controlled district council. But has so far encountered 24 hours of silence. Do you think mature trees should be cut down? Did you approve of the mutilation of the tree on the corner of London Road and Marlborough Road, rescued at the last minute from illegal felling? Is the new administration at the District Council going to allow much more tree felling and damage?
Bhutan has always been one of those countries that has interested me ever since I heard that the King said he'd rather have Gross National Happiness than Gross National Product for his people. Linda Leaming's new book 'Married to Bhutan' (affiliate link) tells her fascinating story of how she went on a vacation to Bhutan and never came back. In the process she got married, did lots of interesting things and in her words 'found bliss'.
So. Three TMAs completed for DD307 which have resulted in the 3 lowest scores of my degree. I really thought that I was going to score better on the project proposal than I did (after all, I managed to write a really good one for DD303 last year.) Unless I'm missing something, there's not a huge amount of difference between the two courses in the skills required to put together a proposal. Literature searching, grounding your proposal in what's been done before and so on. But the feedback was useful and I can use it to help with the actual ...
Thu 26th
08:43Wirral Council - Wirral Council 23rd May 2011 - Part 10 - speech (Cllr Leslie Rennie ) on leader mot...
Cllr Rennie next to speak said "If it was true [in relation to the Foulkesworld Twitter account] she was really worried, however she thought it was the product of a twisted mind. She said there had been signs of progress and that never before had the Council, staff, officers and residents worked together. She said ...
Secularism in football is the latest issue on the agenda of the new Scottish Parliament. Following the recent bomb threats to high profile footballers, they need to address the growing issue of religious based abuse. The interesting issue here is that a great deal of the negative behaviour is thought to stem from Facebook and other social networking groups. If we have learnt one thing in the last
I've been to two really cracking events in the last two weeks both connected to the housing association, Plus Dane, that I am pleased to chair. The first we called our Graduation Day. At this event staff at all levels ... Continue reading →
... but I'll take Guido Fawkes's tweet about me this morning as one. After all, if he had a good answer to me pointing out the big factual holes in the complaint over Chris Huhne's election expenses he wouldn't have had to go for the traditional spinner's tactic of distraction plus personal jibe. So I'll take the tweet as a compliment. Thanks Guido [IMG: :-)]
I work for the wind industry, and a very jolly industry is to work for too, I must say. Over the past year I've become concerned that the jolliness associated with my industry might take something of a knock thanks to the development of shale gas. What is shale gas, I hear you ask? Well, ...
Mark Pack had a good post on Lib Dem Voice yesterday evening exposing a silly one by Guido Fawkes. In his anxiety to kick Chris Huhne while he is down, Fawkes made some allegations about his return of expenses for the last general election. Mark took the trouble to show that these allegations are nonsense, but my overall impression is that the Fawkes post is dull. Why is a blog that used to run important stories now banging on about Manilla envelopes? Shouldn't Guido Fawkes be leading the way rather than wheezing at the back of the pack? Besides, someone ...
Matthew Goodwin's new book, New British Fascism: Rise of the British National Party, expands on one of his previous works on political extremism to look in-depth at just the BNP. New British Fascism: Rise of the British National Party has at its heart an extensive set of interviews with BNP members. His conclusion is a nuanced one - that the BNP has carved out a strong base in a narrow niche, meaning both that it is not likely to disappear any time soon nor is it likely to break through to major levels of support. That base is made up ...
Clear signs that this short street is turning into gravel Essex Street – between Clifton Street and St Peter's Road – has started to break up. Chris is pressing the county council to take action.
Your Safety is Assured Best. Gif. Ever (tags: girls comics) Abortion Saved My Life A must read. Triggers for pregnancy related health. (tags: feminism abortion) The Chronicle – Exceptional Queer Male Media Neo gives a low down on his favourite media with queer male protagonists (tags: sexuality tv books comics) Renovation – 2011 Hugo Voter Packet Get electronic versions of all the Hugo nominees $50 – the cost of voting membership. (tags: books, sf)
Ten Anime Films You Should See Before You Die | tor.com | Science fiction and fantasy | Blog posts Noted for future reference. (tags: films) The People's Pledge campaign: More lies, irrelevancies and distortions from the British EU referendum campaign | Nosemonkey's EUtopia Dissecting demands for an EU referendum. (tags: eu ukpolitics) Em dashes—why writers should use them more sparingly. - By Noreen Malone - Slate Magazine The problem with the dash—as you may have noticed!—is that it discourages truly efficient writing. It also—and this might be its worst sin—disrupts the flow of a sentence. Don't you find it annoying—and ...
The first of some posts on the founder of the Congregation of the Oratory on his feast day.
You may recall that a couple of weeks ago (May 8th) we posted an article examining the disastrous YES campaign. We were inundated with readers, and even we grizzly old souls at LV were quite taken aback by the level of support we received from all quarters of the party (and the wider YES campaign) both publicly and privately. We had certainly hit a nerve and there was (and still is) a lot of anger out there about the whole sorry venture. So when Simon Mcgrath called for an independent inquiry into the whole debacle, I silenced the cynic in ...
Back in March, a resident from Warwick Road contacted me asking if action could be taken to make Cintra Park more accessible for wheelchair users. A little later, a resident from Newcastle Road contacted me to request that the number of dog waste and general litter bins be extended following vandalism. I raised both these issues with the Council as soon as they were reported to me. We are delighted to report that following our requests Reading Borough Council has agreed to make a number of key improvements over the next few days including: There will be modifications to the railings ...
