Although the security arrangements are no different than was in place for Labour or the Conservative's conference many Lib Dems members had concerns about the over the top security for this years' conference. My previous post lays out some of the main concerns namely that people were having to supply lot's of personal information to the police, in order that they can vet those attending. Andrew Wiseman is the chair of the Federal Conference Committee which has been in charge of putting in place these security arrangements. Writing on Lib Dem voice he gave a response to some the civil ...
[IMG: Foxhill road, 11am--6.6.11] This is a view of Foxhill Road taken by a local resident who took this picture this morning. Looks pretty clear, doesn't it?. The resident emailed me to report yet another day when Labour-controlled Reading Borough Council failed to collect refuse on time: "Our bins should of been collected last thursday instead of wednesday due to the bank holiday.. I'm afraid this did not happenand today (Monday) the dust cart come down the road and did not clear any bins now its catchup again...There was no issue with parking as Foxhill road was clear, other ...
Newsnight used a catchy tune as background music just now. Thanks to my memory for trivia (and Google) I can reveal that it was used as the theme music for a 1960s children's series from Holland that was screened in Britain as "Captain Zeppos". Fans of 1960s children's TV themes should hurry to Belle and Sebastian, White Horses and Robinson Crusoe. Later. I love the internet. The series Captain Zeppos has its own website.
Edinburgh is proud to be known as the "Festival City". We have so many but one that is relatively new is the Edinburgh Festival of Sport. This takes place between June the 6th and 19th and features many local events. These include.....fencing, a surf morning at Belhaven Beach, roller hockey, orienteering and a ski club open evening to name just a few. There are also many other large group and spectator events running in the festival such as the Moonwalk, Race for Life, the Cycling Grand Prix and the uniquely action-packed Roller Girls Derby! SoundS interesting! The full programme of ...
There's been an understandable flurry of interest in The Guardian's reported projections of what boundary changes might mean for the parties, but there are two major caveats about the nature of such projections. From what I've seen, Lewis Baston (as I would expect) has done the numbers well, but not only do we not yet have the actual boundaries on which to make projections but also projections based on looking at previous election results have a decidedly ropey record when it comes to Liberal Democrats MPs. That is because the party's voting support is far less polarised demographically than that ...
"As much as I ever did, more than I ever did, I believe in Liberalism. But there was a rosy time of innocence when I believed in Liberals." wrote G K Chesterton. After Vince Cable today tried to threaten the trade unions with the possibility of tougher laws to prevent strikes, I recalled what Chesterton wrote. That's not why we wanted a Liberal government, Vince. Then I recalled, of course,
The additional security provisions for the Liberal Democrat September conference in Birmingham have attracted considerable high profile comment in the Lib Dem blogosphere. Bloggers including Caron's Musings, Aunty Sarah and Mark Thompson have registered significant and fundamental concerns. A explanatory post by Andrew Wiseman at Lib Dem Voice, in response to a strongly critical post ...
England are currently playing Sri Lanka in the second test of the summer at Lords, after what was a surprisingly dramatic climax to an otherwise dull test in Cardiff last weekend. Because of studying (and work) I haven't been able to watch as much as I'd have liked (I'd be at every day of every test if money and time were not an issue) and today I only caught the last 3 overs. I am writing this blog because I only saw 3 overs. I feel a little cheated as I should have seen 4! Now anyone reading this I ...
Another good evening's doorknocking in South Liverpool. This is some of the team we had out working for the Liverpool Lib Dems tonight.
How many phone calls did George Osbourne's office make today? Or perhaps it was Osbourne's attack on the BBC for only reporting the bad news and attacking the government all the time that did it.The leading story on the BBC proclaims "IMF Supports UK Economic Policy". With so many attacks on the economic policy from a variety of esteemed sources, including OECD and the Bank of England, the
[IMG: Honda logo] Being a non-driver, the activities of car companies are not exactly always of interest to me. However such is the way of modern car advertising that mostly either it's about cars in improbable places (open roads with no traffics, no lights, no pot holes, no reality) or it's not much about cars at all. So the new Honda adverts are looking rather fun to me, because Honda is back sponsoring Channel 4 documentaries and is producing its own mini-films to go alongside them, featuring the owners of Hondas and what they get up to (not cursing traffic ...
News that A.C. Grayling and Co. wish to found a new elite university bring to mind the legend that the Lincolnshire town of Stamford was once home to a great university. As James John Hissey put it in his Over Fen and Wold (1898): For Stamford was erst a university town of renown whose splendid colleges rivalled both those of Oxford and Cambridge and even at one period threatened to supersede them, and probably would have done so but for powerful and interested political intrigues.And in Memorials of Stamford (1867) Mackenzie Walcott commented on the town's resemblance to Oxford: The ...
The other night whilst in bed I thought * ooh could do with a book to read, * think I still have £10 of Amazon vouchers, * what was that book called which featured God in the title and was in the Radio 2 book club the other month, * quickly launch www.bbc.co.uk/radio2 on the phone, * find the "desktop version" link, then the book club link, * discover the book is called "When God Was a Rabbit", * launch the Kindle app and search, * price is £4.99, reasonable, * press Buy all done in under 5 minutes. It's ...
Would you vote for 'Mr Correct and Fair' or would you rather cast your ballot for 'Mr Australian Horse'? It seems bizarre, but these are two of the names on the ballot paper for a judge's position in San Francisco - at least if you are a Chinese-American. With more than one in five voters in the city of Chinese origin and with many of those unable to speak or read English, the city has taken to translating candidates' names into chinese characters on the ballot paper. Some candidates use phonetic translations. So Richard Ulmer's last name became 'Ao Ma' ...
On Tuesday 7 June WaterAid will be hosting WaterAid 24 - a non-stop tweetathon to show supporters exactly what an international charity does over a 24-hour period. Beginning with WaterAid in Australia, the tweets will start and end at midnight BST, finishing with WaterAid in America. They will report on everything from the charity's preparations ahead of its participation in the world's biggest music festival, Glastonbury, to how water point mapping is currently being carried out in Ethiopia, to the less glamorous but no less essential back office services that keep the organisation running. You can follow WaterAid on Twitter ...
TweetI thought I'd share this from my Member of Parliament, Steve Brine. I wrote to him recently about Lords Reform, and I have just received a response. I think that response is worthy of a response. Below is the original letter than then his response: Dear Steve Brine, I am writing to you in regards to Lords reform, as a constituent of yourself, I urge you to support the reform wholeheartedly. Whilst I have seen worrying signs in regards to your potential support, including a sniping tweet at Clegg (saying it's not a door step issue, well if you come ...
Regular readers of this blog will have noticed that I haven't posted anything on here in a while which may have come either as a disappointment or a blessed relief depending on who you are. The reason for this silence is twofold. First of all, I'm right in the middle of my second year exams and revising like mad with little time to write. Secondly, all the time I have had to write has been spent working on a motion for the Lib Dem Autumn Conference. This motion is about the Employment Support Allowance and the assessment process for claimants. ...
My latest wordpress plugin is called Better Moderation and was built to be used on LibDemVoice, but is available for all. One of the biggest problems we have is that people like to leave rude messages, under the current system in WordPress you can add their IP address, email or name to the moderation list and in future their comments no longer automatically appear. You might even find some keywords they like using and you can add these to the list. The problem occurs when you login to see what comments are awaiting moderation. You look at the list and ...
Here are the Liberal Democrat entries in the top 100 political blogs as ranked by Wikio: 1 (5) Liberal Democrat Voice No change 2 (28) Caron's Musings Up 8 3 (33) Liberal England Up 6 4 (35) Jack of Kent Down 16 5 (38) Mark Pack Up 9 6 (48) Liberal Vision Up 31 7 (55) Mark Thompson Up 1 8 (64) Miss S B Up 17 9 (67) Paul Walter Up 20 10 (79) Nick Thornsby Up 19 11 (93) Peter Black Down 9 12 (95) Lynne Featherstone Down 21 It is the same dozen blogs as last month, ...
It's time to dust the cobwebs off the blog, this time merely to suggest that the Liberal Democrats need to significantly reform the way we operate if we are to survive the upcoming national political climate. THE CHALLENGE The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 could have introduced two major changes to the way general elections. The voting system was subject to a referendum and subsequently rejected by voters, so only the constituency changes are now to go ahead. In summary, the changes are: • Reduce the number of constituencies from 650 to 600; • The electorate in each ...
When a centre-right paper like The Evening Standard mellows down Union's reaction to a left-wing politician, us Liberal Democrats ought to be worried. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
There has been a bit of union discontent with Vince Cable's speech to the GMB union today. This has focused on the section towards the end concerning strikes. It has been interpreted as a threat that the government will come down hard on strikes. Personally, I think it's just common sense: if the unions start ripping the country apart public opinion will force the government to act, and in such a situation there is no way Vince - or any other Lib Dem minister - would be able to prevent a significant erosion of strike rights. I can only hope ...
Good to see a bit of media recognition today which overtly acknowledges our now consistent out-performing of Labour on private fundraising efforts. The Financial Times reports: Private and company donations to Labour have plummeted to a 10th of their pre-election average in the first six months of Ed Miliband's leadership, according to research by the Financial Times. Many former donors have turned their backs on the opposition party, leaving it increasingly reliant on unions, which provide the bulk of its private income. Labour's corporate and individual donations of £248,577 for the half-year to March were dwarfed even by those to ...
Mon 6th
17:55
Keep the Liberal in Liberal Democrat Conference - Episode 4: Let's keep it civil. #ldconf
Ok, so there's some robust discussion over the new security arrangements for Liberal Democrat Conference, which is fine. There would be something very wrong indeed if there wasn't, in my opinion. We have never had to submit passport numbers and Home Office compliant photographs before. And whatever gloss the Federal Conference Committee tries to put on it, there is a serious issue with the police having a effective power of veto over members attending our conference. As I said when I first wrote about this, Federal Conference Committee, which contains good liberals and has had some very complex issues to ...
[IMG: Paddy Ashdown] You can read the latest edition of my newsletter about the Liberal Democrats here. I scour hundreds of blogs and dozens of media outlets for the best stories - so you don't have to wade through them all! So if you find there's too much to read and would like to receive future editions direct by email for free just sign up here.
Am actually off work ill with headache/bad chest today so don't expect anything substantial today (including replies to comments, I'm afraid). Have some links instead. A libertarian communist site's obituary for Grant Morrison's father, focussing on his radical political activities. Essential reading for those who wonder why Morrison has so many father figures in his ...
TweetVince Cable was today booed at the GMB general conference. Already the left have said that he is pandering the two Tories, called him a contemptible man, totally unreasonable and the new Norman Tebbit. Why is it not possible to talk about trade unions without the left slinging mud? Judging by the characterisation I've seen in some places of Vince's speech, you'd think he'd called for ranging from telling people never to strike to violent strike breaking right up and as far as banning strikes. He did none of this. The typical response however seems to be that Vince somehow ...
I see that the Liberal Youth new exec has been election. Congratulation to Birkdale's own Sarah Harding on being elected as Policy Officer. Due to Sarah's hyper active twitter account I was aware of her achievement even before Lib Dem Voice carried the news. Sarah Harding is pictured here with lauren Keith who was our excellent candidate in Cambridge Ward this May. Sarah and Lauren were amongst a group of young people who worked very hard during the General Election. Regular readers will have seen pictures of Lauren's 'Thank You' party that was held on Saturday. It all take me ...
Craig Murray writing in Sunday's Independent challenges Liberal Democrats on their conduct of foriegn policy. In his blog he publishes the article as he submitted it to the newspaper. The key difference is the passage on Libya which he added at the Indy's suggestion. Although the article is about whether the Lib Dems were having a discernible impact on Foreign Policy or whether it was indistinguishable from New Labour the bit on Libya seems to me important. He writes: It is now impossible credibly to argue that Nato action in Libya is still within the scope of United Nations Security ...
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today released a report into the the state of British Economy. Their central conclusion will provide some pleasure for Chancellor George Osborne: "Aided by the implementation of a wide-ranging policy program, the post-crisis repair of the UK economy is underway. However, the weakness in economic growth and rise in inflation over ...
Ken Clarke should keep women out of jail... As far as I am concerned and as one commenter posted on the item: "The law should be blind, be it to race, religion or gender." i.e the law should not discriminate in any way, in the eyes of the law, put in front of a jury everybody should be considered equal. As a point of interest I do not believe that prison is necessarily the best punishment in a large amount of cases. Like the author (Ms Mary Riddell) I believe that it is often the case that the funds spent ...
Willie Rennie has today said that he is going to seek support of the party for minimum alcohol pricing. Now, I know Willie has supported this for a number of years, and normally he gets these things right, but this time I have to disagree. There's a number of reasons why I'm opposed. Firstly, will it actually work? Take the middle-class alcoholic (though he'd not admit it) for whom a whisky or glass of wine after work has become a "crutch", as Tony Blair once put it. Will a price rise affect him? Most likely not - he'll either already ...
According to today's Guardian a study has found that the Lib Dems will lose 25% of its seats under the proposed boundary changes. This is an argument that has been trotted out numerous times before and is certainly nothing new as the very people who have done the study that has made news today reported ...
Today something a little bit interesting will happen to me. I will become a member of a new generation of Liberal Democrats. Because from today, I will have spent longer as a member of the Liberal Democrats while they have been in Government than when they were simply the ignored party in opposition. When I first became involved in April 2009, a Liberal Democrat Government was unthinkable. Today it is reality. And it is a reality that some of us are now getting used to. Many of the older members of the Liberal Democrats will have spent decades being ignored ...
Oh Vince, I'm really not sure this was wise. And why on earth is a Liberal Democrat going like a lamb to the slaughter threatening to visit some unspecified restriction of the right to withdraw labour on naughty unions if they don't play nice? Don't get me wrong, I don't always think that union decisions are either sensible or helpful. And I do think that some of them are loving playing a 70s or 80s style class war, to the detriment of their members' interests. But, if a majority of people voting want to go on strike, then surely they ...
Well, I've long predicted that if they took control of the Council Reading Labour would cut frontline services. Because due to their inability to manage the budget they are not capable of doing anything else. The question then became not if they would cut services but what would get the chop first. As I pointed out yesterday with no public consultation whatsoever Labour councillors have scrapped end of term rubbish collections from student areas. Residents living around the University already suffer from parking problems and missed bin collections - now they will have to suffer from even worse, a massive ...
You need an expert. What do you do? Plenty of different ways of going about finding one, I'm sure. But I bet you don't dig out the books from 20 years ago, look who was an expert back then, place ... Continue reading →
Two things have dominated the Lib Dem blogosphere in recent days. The first should act as food for thought, following all the fall out from the second. The first is of course the very sad news about the death of Andrew Reeves. I didn't know Andrew but you only have to see both the weight of tributes, the list of contributors to those tributes and read what has been said to know that Andrew must have been a very decent man of great integrity, holding all our Liberal ideals dear. Now, the second issue. Registration requirements for the Lib Dem ...
I have been asked (and am very happy to do so) to correct a detail of my commentary on the School Transport policy decision taken at Cabinet. I incorrectly stated that for young people over 16, any subsidy of their transport will stop this September, 2011. The correct position is as follows: Students who currently receive the subsidy (the "part contribution") will continue to receive it unless their personal circumstances change, when it would be reviewed. So, in practice, those moving into post 16 education (ie Year 12) this September will not receive the contribution. But those who will be ...
The Treasury will be very pleased this afternoon. 'Strong fiscal consolidation...remains essential' is the key message from the International Monetary Fund, which is a direct contradiction of Labour's position. Ed Balls perpetuated the need for a slower reduction, but the ... Continue reading →
Alcohol misuse continues to blight the whole of Scottish society, wrecking individual lives and harming families and communities. I have seen and heard the impact when I am talking to people on doorsteps. From damaging public health, through crime in local neighbourhoods, to dependence pulling families apart, we all suffer. I believe that radical action is needed and will therefore support moves to introduce a minimum unit pricing mechanism in Scotland. There is no quick fix to Scotland's alcohol problem. The scale and complexity of the challenge requires a fundamental change to our culture of drinking to excess. Over the ...
Last week I wrote this guest post for Total Politics: The fate of the current 789 members of the House of Lords may depend on the future course of the Government's proposals for Lords reform, but so too may the fate of the three main party leaders. For each of them Lords reform offers both an opportunity and a threat. For David Cameron the opportunity is to push on with his mission to change the Conservative Party, modernising it in a continuing effort to shed the problems that have resulted in nearly 20 years passing since it last won an ...
I have a lot of stuff crashing around in my head at the moment. Most of it intersects to some degree, I think. Most of these thoughts are spectacularly half-baked, but each of them would probably be a post in and of itself if I could get them coherent...The morphing of the top brass of my party into apologists for the encroaching police state continues to be depressing. The more the MPs and party committees get sucked into the Westminster Bubble the more depressing it gets. I still don't know if I am going to go to Brum: I have ...
I've had a couple of conversations with local LibDem colleagues lately who have been looking rather down in the mouth - poor results on May 5th (despite good results here), doubts about the coalition, doubts about the future. I found myself saying to them that I feel strangely cheerful, and then had to enumerate the reasons why. They are a combination of ethical and political issues. The first reason is the fact that we're in the coalition in the first place. I think more and more firmly that the party leadership made the right decision - not just the right ...
A question I've been pondering for a day or two. I heard Nadine Dorries on Any Questions. She's really bad for my blood pressure. Among other gems was the statement that skunk cannabis as sold on the streets today is 50 times more powerful than traditional cannabis. I know of no scientific basis for that statement. I'm not an expert - there might be one, but I doubt very much if I'll ever get the reference from Nadine. If anybody does have a reference to a scientifically valid demonstration, please let me know. That of itself is just a minor ...
Mon 6th
13:38Keep the Liberal in Liberal Democrat Conference: Episode 3 - Insurance companies have way too much p...
I have been a bit preoccupied over the last couple of days so haven't had the time to blog about the continuing campaign to ask the party's Federal Conference Committee to rethink the draconian security requirements for this year's Autumn Conference. If you want to see more of the background, my previous posts on this are here and here. On Friday, FCC Chair Andrew Wiseman responded to the concerns raised on Liberal Democrat Voice. I have to say that while I appreciate the fact that he did so, I'm not convinced by his remarks. He said that: The police will ...
There has been a slightly worrying tendency of late for my party, the Lib Dems to say one thing in terms of policy campaigns but then on the ground in practise to do something else. The two examples that have reared their heads in the last few weeks are the situation regarding interns and most recently the security measures for Lib Dem conference. In both cases the party at the highest level is campaigning for something, in the case of interns it is to ensure they are paid a fair wage, in the case of security measures such as ID ...
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On the 5th May 2011 I failed in my attempt to be re-elected to Luton Borough Council after eight years serving as an elected councillor. This article is part of a series of posts where I attempt to process what those eight years have meant for myself by asking the question "what did I achieve?" in that time. Most political achievement is a collective endeavour. Things are done by groups of people working together towards a goal. Whether this is a campaign team, a council group, a cabinet, or a parliamentary party progress is made by politicians agreeing to work ...
The Daily Mail have got themselves into a right old tizz about a rude word that WAS NOT ACTUALLY BROADCAST on Radio 4 one evening. And the article is written so badly that it is not at all clear whether this particular rude word was broadcast or not. This is what was actually said by Sandi Toksvig during an episdoe of The News Quiz: 'It's the Tories who have put the 'n' into cuts,' Yet the Mail reported this as: "But the BBC is again at the centre of a decency row after it broadcast the word deemed the most ...
Republican Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin is among one of the most undemocratic politicians in the Western World. The manner, in which he is stripping public employees of their collective bargaining rights, would've made Franco applaud with admiration. His 'repair ... Continue reading →
The Wikio rankings for June are out. There are still, sadly, only 7 Scottish blogs in the top 100 - and as there are a darned sight more than 7 brilliant Scottish blogs, I make my usual nagging effort to get you to register yours. I suspect that the new Labour blog, Labour Hame, will be in there soon. Go and take a look at the project which has tempted Tom Harris MP back into blogging. 1 Alex Massie at 16 2 Caron's Musings at 28 - first time I've ever been in the top 30 3 Better Nation at ...
Yes that's right. The Rambles of Neil Monnery has been able to get their hands on top secret Labour plans for the ecomony over the next few years. By using a variation of the Vulcan mind-meld that works just by looking at a picture of someone. The staff here have been mercilessly finding out the biggest gossip from around the world. Now I know you don't care what Simon Cowell is really thinking or that yet another Lib Dem is struggling with their sexuality but yesterday afternoon whilst the editor was busy eating chocolate donuts and watching Rafa Nadal beating ...
One of the biggest potential decisions for Cornwall Council is whether to start trying to market its expertise to other authorities around the country. Towards the end of last week there was a meeting of two scrutiny committees to discuss to proposal to do just that. Cornwall Council, as a big local authority, carry out a lot of different tasks, most of which are also done by other councils and public bodies across the UK. The idea is that we could take a contract to run a call centre for a London authority, manage the payroll system for a police ...
So Kingston Market Place is, according the the Guardian, the 'surprising' second in Google Street View's poll to find the best shopping street in the UK. (Hopefully, this link will show the final results later today, but in the mean time they can be seen on the Guardian page) Why 'surprising'? [IMG: A rather fuzzy photo I took when the TA were parading through the Market last year] A rather fuzzy photo I took when the TA were parading through the Market last yearUp to half a million visitors per week come shopping in Kingston, so presumably they enjoy its ...
Geoffrey Alderman, with whom I once appeared on Iranian state television, has referred more than once in his writings to the fact that he was circumcised by the doctor who later performed the same operation on Prince Charles. As Herbert Farjeon so nearly put it, this means that I have been on Iranian state television with a man, who was circumcised by a man, who circumcised the Prince of Wales...Anyway, Professor Alderman's latest column is about West Dunbartonshire Council's absurd ban on books produced in Israel. It is, of course, only Israeli books that are being banned. China's occupation of ...
I have responded to the Ministry of Justice Consultation Paper on the Defamation Bill expressing my own views. Generally I don't think the draft Bill goes far enough, and wider definitions are needed for qualified privilege. It needs to be ... Continue reading →
Mon 6th
10:06
New opinion polls showing some very worrying developments: The Lib Dems no where to be seen in the e...
The question for any political party should always be why should a person vote for us? The answer can be in the positive or the negative and the Lib Dems have often picked up a fair few negative reasons such as 'they are not Labour or the Tories'. Now they are in government the reasons ...
Yet more evidence that the private sector is maybe no better at doing the job, either in terms of clinical excellence or financial management, than the NHS. The 'Observer' reports [5th June 2011] that Circle Health, the first private Company selected last November to run an NHS hospital reported losses of over £27m in its accounts filed last year - before the NHS Hospital deal. They did have NHS contracts during this period of loss. Circle Health has a large number of clinicians in its ownership but it is just one company in a complex corporate structure involving the British ...
Charlie Brooker: If the internet gave free back rubs, people would complain when it stopped because its thumbs were sore | Comment is free | The Guardian I approve of this article (tags: thought) The Doctor Who Multiple Choice Test Andrew is less fond of new who than I am. This post is very interesting, but could be seen as squee-harshing (tags: doctorWho) Tabloid Watch: Mail on Sunday attacks BBC for word they didn't actually broadcast Bloody Daily Fail again (tags: media) The Daily Mail: Putting the 'H' in 'Sit' Discussing a daily fail BBC-bashing non-story (tags: media)
David Cameron's "re-launch" of the Big Society last week didn't generate the revival of enthusiasm for the scheme that some had hoped for. Many people still claim not to understand the term "Big Society", with critics continuing to suggest it's little more than PR spin for budget cuts. With the rise of faith-based organisations taking ownership of community services, and in light of Evan Harris' warning about "proselytising on the public purse", it's clear that non-discriminatory, non-partisan, non-denominational and fair services are needed, both to support the more vulnerable members of the community, and to compensate for local council spending ...
I was pondering my blog while I was away and found myself on the horns of a dilemma. When I started this blog I did it to create a vehicle to express the views I hold about Lib Dem issues as and when they struck me as important. And of course as a place to blow off steam and engage in some shameless showing off. But like a tabloid editor chasing readers I have quickly become enslaved to the tyranny of page views, a disciple to wikio scores and a constant crusader in pursuit of that Holy Grail of a ...
I was shocked and appalled first thing Friday 3 June to hear of Barry Mason drowning in Spain while on holiday. Its taken several days for the news to sink in. I knew Barry through my long standing support of Southwark Cyclists. Before Barry took over as chair I chaired it. I remember his first coming to a meeting all bursting with enthusiam and energy. He hasn't stop that enthusiam once. He went onto re energise the Dunwich Dynamo bigger and better than ever and more recently save Surrey Docks Farm in his own inimateable way – even getting ...
Let's face it: no one does faux outrage better than the Daily Mail. The paper and its readers get outraged so often over so little that I wonder whether they have any energy or time left to get on with their own lives, rather than interfering in everyone else's. Their latest rant is over Sandi ...
With the Coalition Government under constant fire almost since its first day in office, Labour should be riding high in the polls. The fact that they are not and the problems that Ed Miliband is having in establishing himself as leader, has led to a sense of crisis. So much so that according to the Daily Telegraph, Ed Balls and Harriet Harman have been forced to stop attacking the Government so that they can go on the media to deny there is a problem. It is not just Sepp Blatter who is in denial. The paper points out that Labour ...
Nato are behaving ignorantly and dangerously in continuing to bait Gadaffi and continuing to strike on Libya. Hague deliberated yesterday on Marr that the rebels, a group Britain refuse to acknowledge as a political party or otherwise, should be preparing for a Gadaffi-free country. The implicit threat is obvious, Nato intend to bomb and bomb and bomb. I have been virulently against the
Tonight, the steering group for the West End Sports and Heritage Association that has been working over the past year towards finalising its constitution and a public launch will hold the last of its planning meetings before the launch of the Association on the 15th. Here's details of the launch event! WESHA, the Dundee West End Sports and Heritage Association WESHA is being launched to work towards improved sporting facilities in the West End and further improvements to Magdalen Green, including repairs to the iconic bandstand.Launch meeting taking place at the Dundee Contemporary Arts Meeting Room (152 Nethergate, Dundee) at ...
Some fascinating colour photos from Dundee from some years ago on this YouTube short clip, including some interesting West End photos including High Mill and McVicar's Lane before they were redeveloped and DCA under construction :
From the Telegraph, who quote from an independent review: Lewis Baston of Democratic Audit, who carried out the research said: "The Liberal Democrats are likely to lose out more than the other main parties because their seats are yellow islands in a sea of red or blue; changing the boundaries is more likely to bring in hostile territories, their majorities tend to be smaller than Labour or Conservative MPs and their Lib Dems trade a lot on incumbency and constituency service. That is disrupted by a boundary review."
Over the weekend Mark Valladares blogged about the three Liberal Democrats being appointed to the Joint Committee of both Houses fo Parliament carrying out pre-legislative scrutiny committee on Lords reform: From the Lords, representing the constitutional wonk tendency (in a good way), Lord Tyler is the first of the two nominees. Paul has been leading calls for a complete overhaul of the Second Chamber for a very long time and is one of the Party's foremost constitutional experts... From the Commons, that rather unusual beast, a former member of the House of Lords, John Thurso. As he has already been ...
broadcast anniversaries 6 June 1965: broadcast of "The Bride of Sacrifice", third episode of the story we now call The Aztecs. The Doctor gets engaged to Cameca. 6 June 1970: broadcast of fifth episode of Inferno. Now that the parallel Earth's crust has been penetrated, earthquakes are felt everywhere, and the Primords mass to attack. 6 June 2003: webcast of sixth episode of Shada. The Doctor and Romana defeat Skagra, and Romana pardons Professor Chronotis/Salyavin.
Oops. It appears that BBC's excellent programme Coast has moved Dover during a WWII story in this week's episode. My answer to Neil Oliver's question, how did a German Battle fleet slip past Dover, easily moving Dover to East Anglia may have had something to to with it.
I could be blogging about the Lib Dem Conference ongoing issues, or about the boundary commission reviews, or about BBC-bashing in the press (overt in the Fail, subtle in the Graun), or about all number of other Important Things... But those are all depressing. And today has been a good day. [IMG: [personal profile] ] magister and Holly and I went to the pictures to see X-Men: First Class. It's not the best superhero movie I have ever seen (although it's far from the worst either), but seeing it in the company of a wide-eyed almost-eight-year-old, who was incredibly excited ...
The news that a group of high profile figures from the world of academia are involved in establishing a "new university" in the form of the New College of Humanities which will offer University of London accredited degrees for around £18,000 per year fees has caused a bit of a stir over the weekend. And I'll bet it's set to cause an even bigger one in the weeks to come as we wait for the Higher Education White Paper and subsequent debate. Whilst such a venture is no doubt easier to get investment funding for - small, elite, stuffed full ...
