Earlier this evening I attended a meeting of the Council's Transport Management Advisory Panel to ensure the voices of Redlands residents were heard in relation to the Council's proposed University-Hospital area study. The new Labour councillor for our area failed to turn up and represent residents which was disappointing but entirely predictable. It is clear that residents will not be able to rely on her to get their views across. Last weekend Glenn Goodall and I wrote to to hundreds of residents who live in the study area to make them aware of the meeting, the study and to ask them their views. Twenty ...
People moan lots about Tesco; about their seeming endless ability to land bank; their willingness to take over local businesses and "Tescopolise" whole towns. But they rarely think about how it is in fact the very state apparatus that so many see as a bastion against the so called "excesses" of market forces that so greatly advantages these powerful organisations. Three years ago now I blogged about how Tesco had bought up a closed local pub after a local entrepreneur had had difficulty with the planning department and had to get rid of the property. Being a small businessman he ...
The Liberal Democrats are seeking nominations for their three party awards, to be presented at thte party's Autumn Conference. They are: The Harriet Smith Liberal Democrat Distinguished Service Award is open to any Party Member never elected to public office.The President's Award is open to any Party Member elected to public office.The Belinda Eyre-Brook Award is given to recognise and celebrate the work of political assistants to Liberal Democrat Council Groups.Full details, including how to make nominations, can be found on Liberal Democrat Voice.
EU Select Committee in the morning. Lunchtime at Caroline Cox's meeting on Shari'a in the UK. Party meeting at 14.00. Question at 15.30. Debate on migrant domestic workers at 16.45. Mort Sklar and Sarah arrived to stay for a few days in the evening.
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Just received an email from A. Wise Man (Andrew Wiseman), regarding security arrangements at Federal Conference this autumn. Below is his reply – my specific points from my original email are highlighted in blue. Comments thereafter are in red. Many thanks for yor email forwarded on by Chris Fox. I appreciate your concern at the ...
My question yesterday is at Andrew Stunell's statement: Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: 19 May 2011 Communities and Local Government Written answers and statements, 8 June 2011 Next statement »« Previous statement All Written Ministerial Statements on 8 Jun 2011 Remove highlighting Andrew Stunell (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Communities and Local Government; Hazel Grove, Liberal Democrat) The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council met on 19 May 2011 in Brussels. The United Kingdom was represented by the UK deputy permanent representative to the EU, Andy Lebrecht. This was a single-issue Council on the ...
"I am the only Stamford man living who can remember the bull-running in the streets of the town. I can remember my mother showing me the bull and the horses and men and dogs who chased it. She kept the St Peter's Street - the building that was formerly the Chequers Inn at that time and she showed me the bull-running sport from a bedroom window. I was only four years old then, but I can clearly remember it all. The end of St Peter's Street (where it was joined by Rutland Terrace) was blocked by two farm wagons, and ...
One of my readers said he read my post "Reasons to be cheerful" right through to the end, but "the reality of modern politics is that very few will get to the end, so having summed up your thoughts very nicely, how about summing them up in a pithy slogan? " I wasn't sure about that, to be honest. I don't know about blog reading habits in general, but certainly, in terms of my own habits, I read my way through some hefty posts if they grab my attention. And I have many of the characteristics of the butterfly when ...
If anyone wonders why I've been only intermittently on Twitter recently, it's partly because half the time when I try to post anything I get "Oops, we've done something wrong", so my Twitter account is largely read-only at the moment.
The Faction Paradox series of books has been one of the most consistently good and interesting series I've ever read – certainly the best multi-author series, but it's had a relatively troubled history. Starting out with a series of novels published by Mad Norwegian (a small press in Iowa, devoted mostly to 'cult TV', but ...
Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have welcomed the news that the long-awaited Guided Busway will be open finally on August 7. But they are concerned that the county's taxpayers could pick up a huge bill for the project after fears that the total cost could creep up to as much £187 million; in a worst-case scenario local people could be liable for up to £71 million. The Conservatives insisted from the start of the project, which is more than two years late, that "not one penny" of taxpayers' money would be needed to pay for the busway. With a legal battle imminent ...
Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have welcomed the news that the long-awaited Guided Busway will be open finally on August 7. But they are concerned that the county's taxpayers could pick up a huge bill for the project after fears that the total cost could creep up to as much £187 million; in a worst-case scenario local people could be liable for up to £71 million. The Conservatives insisted from the start of the project, which is more than two years late, that "not one penny" of taxpayers' money would be needed to pay for the busway. With a legal battle imminent ...
I recollect from many years ago a phrase which once had real meaning " my word is my bond " from a time before it was common practice to be economical with the truth and for everyone in public life and business to "spin" just about every statement or policy. Obviously many younger readers will be completely oblivious to this phrase and its meaning as will senior practitioners of politics, so for the unfamiliar "my word" refers to a promise or commitment and "is my bond" meaning a personal guarantee and commitment. This undertaking and acknowledgement of accountability originated with ...
Tayport Instrumental Band starts off the summer Sunday bandstand season on Magdalen Green at 2pm on Sunday - see more on the City Council website by going to http://tinyurl.com/bandonthegreen.
Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone today called for Jane Collins, Chief Executive of Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), to resign after the BBC published evidence that key criticisms of the hospital were withheld from an inquiry into the death of Baby Peter. In a further twist today, claims by the hospital that they subsequently did provide all the evidence to a second investigation were denied by the person who ran that investigation. An investigation by BBC London found that Great Ormond Street Hospital did not pass on to the first Serious Case Review into the death of Baby Peter several ...
Totp 1976 ...
The new Companion Chronicle audio from Big Finish takes its title and a bit of its setting from Tom Godwin's famous short story. Here we have First Doctor companions Steven Taylor, played by Peter Purves, and 1960s City trader Oliver Harper, played by Tom Allan, stuck in a piece of space junk as the air runs out. The point of the story is the two-hander between the two principal characters which takes up most of the second half, a very effective bit of character exploration; I got a bit impatient with the slowness of the first half moving the story ...
The Archbishop of Canterbury has made a lot of headlines today, having heavily criticised the coalition government in a guest editorial for the The New Statesman. In the piece, he outlines many areas of disagreement he has with the coalition, before declaring: "We are being committed to radical, long-term policies for which no one voted." ...
Another day at the London Assembly, another Conservative walk-out which blocks motions being debated. Today the topics would have been air pollution in London and the hotly debated question of speed limits and safety for cyclists on Blackfriars Bridge. Caroline Pidgeon, Lib Dem leader at the London Assembly, has criticised the Conservative walk-outs before, saying after a Tory walk-out that even blocked one of their own intended motions that: The walk out this week was not just a bad day for democracy in London, but for anyone who actually believes power should be devolved downwards. The Conservative Assembly Members are ...
Blackness Fire Station is holding an Open Day on Saturday 2nd July between 10am and 4pm. All local residents are invited to come along - there will be various static displays, visual displays, practical displays and information stalls. At the request of Roy Dunsire, Station Manager, I have encouraged the numerous community organisations to have information stalls and the West End Local Community Planning Partnership will be there. It will be a super community event for the West End and its hoped many local residents will attend.
Thu 9th
20:13
Call for investigation into the withholding of vital information to the first Serious Case Review in...
The news broke tonight on the back of the Sibert Report finally being released under Freedom of Information to BBC London in the 6.30 BBC London news. I have raised it on the floor of the chamber and on this blog many times (just use the search button) – that the health care failings in Children's Safeguarding by Great Ormond Street (GOSH) were never looked into – and worse. Finally – with the release of the Sibert Report – anyone can see if they compare the original report with the addendum supplied to the Serious Case Revew what has been ...
this afternoon i went for a nice walk from doynton , dyrham and back along the monarh's way. the smell of wild garlic was quite strong in dyrham woods. passed the BMWs and big houses in dyrham. i passed a lot of different wild life: 3 diffrent types of butterflies, llamas, cows, horses and ladybirds. i think I saw a kestrel (not sure). a good blast around 5 miles. what was innovative was a message box found on a stilt in dyrham woods. left my message. See weblink for piccies of the area...
The attorney general has rejected calls for an inquest into the death in 2003 of government scientist Dr David Kelly, reports BBC News. But there should be an inquest, for both reasons of principle and pragmatic reasons. The principle is that all suspicious deaths should be the subject of an inquest. It is for those who oppose an inquiry to make their case. The argument that Kelly's death was touched upon by the Hutton Inquiry, which was concerned with much else besides, does not convince. And the precedent that inquests should not take place in deaths that are politically embarrassing ...
Conservative MP for North-West Leicestershire, Andrew Bridgen, has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault. The Metropolitan Police said: "A 46-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault against a 29-year-old woman at an address in SW1 in the early hours of this morning. He has been bailed to return on a date in mid-July." Mr. Bridgen ...
I've just tucked into a iced ring doughnut to celebrate the end of the Finance Bill. There's a bar of chocolate lurking on my desk, along with a packet of custard cremes. I am looking forward to dinner later with a fellow MP and American Congressman. These foodie facts will surprise no one who knows ...
The Liberal Democrats are seeking nominations for their three party awards, to be presented at September's Autumn Conference. One award will be given to a party member who has been elected to public office; one to a member who has never been elected; one to a political assistant working for a Liberal Democrat Council Group. Nominations are sought on behalf of Party Members who have given outstanding service and commitment to the Party for the following Federal Party Awards: The Harriet Smith Liberal Democrat Distinguished Service Award is open to any Party Member never elected to public office. The President's ...
[IMG: Rowan D. Williams - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2010] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: World Economic Forum I have just read Rowan Williams' leading article in tomorrow's New Statesman. As usual it is a worthy, intellectual attempt to add to the national debate. I don't see anything to get really worked up about in it. However, I am uncomfortable with him referring to "the left" because I believe that "the left" is a movable feast, depending on who you are talking to. Who is it? Polly Toynbee? I am also very uncomfortable with Rowan Williams saying: ...
Tomorrow we have to say goodbye to our friend Andrew Reeves. It's going to be a really difficult day after a hideous week. I had a little idea this morning as I was lying in bed. Andrew, as we all know, loved Twitter. He'd been a very early adopter of it and in fact, when he first came up to Scotland, it was still done via text message as well as the web. That is how I came to be lying by the pool in Mallorca finding him the answer to a question he asked. We'll all have little treasured ...
...is here.
I'm fresh back from a Consett Academy briefing at County Hall, a peculiarly under-attended meeting where the only two councillors from the Consett area were myself and the other councillor for Consett North. Councillors were also present from Stanley (Portfolio holder for children and young people), Easington (Deputy Leader of the council) and Esh. Whilst a good deal remains unresolved, it was good to get a briefing and a chance to make constructive suggestions and feed in specific concerns, a number of which I know to be widely held locally (quite apart, of course, from the choice of site, for ...
Thu 9th
16:30
Day 3812: Exam board asks unanswerable question: 'What is the Archbishop of Canterbury for?'
Thursday: Oh, if there's one thing guaranteed to get me to blow an upper head gasket it's the sound of hot air escaping from the Beardy Weirdy of Canterbury. This week, apparently, he is guest editor of the New Statesthebleedinobvious Magazine, and has used his bully pulpit to "launch a remarkable attack on the coalition government". "Remarkable", I'd have thought, that anyone is remotely surprised that this ageing hypocritical hippy is castigating the government while contributing nothing himself. I'm sorry, I mean "calling for the left to come up with ideas" (not at all code for "I've got none myself"!). ...
You may well have seen the press coverage of Reg Bailey's report on the commercialisation and sexualisation of children, published earlier this week. While some of the coverage was the sort you'd expect from the conservative-leaning press, most of it was more balanced and thoughtful. As Minister for Children and Families, I've been closely involved in this work and I'm really pleased with what he's come up with. It demonstrates Liberal Democrat values and approaches, and has already started to make a difference in practice - which is what matters. As we all do when we are out campaigning, he ...
Former moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland the Very Rev. Dr. Stafford Carson has written on his blog about the resolution, which I blogged about yesterday, that was passed yesterday by the General Assembly concluding: "By passing this resolution, PCI has not only distanced itself from the trajectory taken by the Church of Scotland, but has indirectly affirmed its position on the qualifications required of those holding office in the church, believing that the Bible is clear in its statements on God's will for us with regard to sexual relationships." He calls it a good debate, but the debate ...
I wrote this blog post months ago, but decided to republish it after Tony Blair has been appearing on our television screens this morning. The former Prime Minister was commenting on the Arab Spring and the effects on the region. ... Continue reading →
The clamour for action on excessive pay is growing, not least from some of our biggest business names. Sir Stuart Rose, of Marks and Spencer, recently suggested that the gap between CEO pay and the wages of ordinary workers might have got out of control, while the newly appointed President of the CBI, Sir Roger Carr, this week described 'rewards for failure' as "unforgivable". Yet the idea that very high salaries can be justified as long as they are deserved is called into question by research from the High Pay Commission, which found that executive pay has grown by 7 ...
There is a training session doing the rounds within Cornwall Council called 'The Officers run the Council'. The point of the session being to try to show that it is in fact members who make the key strategic, spending and policy decisions and the officers merely implement their wishes. Every so often something happens to make you seriously doubt this. One such instance is the decision by Environment and Economy Director Tom Flanagan to propose a tourist tax and council tax premium for second homes to MPs yesterday.
Caron over at Caron's Musings has blogged far more eloquently than I will about the moving exchange at PMQ's yesterday about the bucket list of wishes of 15 year old Alice Pyne, a terminally ill cancer patient. Please visit Alice's website at alicepyne.blogspot.com to see if you can help fulfill any of her wishes. And visit the Anthony Nolan website to see if you could consider applying to their register of potential bone marrow donors. Getting everyone on the bone marrow list is very high on Alice's wish list. Thanks everyone
From the media reporting, you would think that the Archbishop of Canterbury had been kettled and arrested for a public order offence alongside Penny Red and her network of assorted Anarchist Irregulars. However, the well mannered treatise on democratic theory (with a bit of applied theology thrown in at the end for good measure) that appeared in the New Statesman is a far cry from an Anarchist rallying call. He makes some real substantive points, mostly in a paragraph which begins "Incidentally, ...", and I'll try and pick out the true from the false (without letting my enmity for St. ...
Like the Chief Rabbi, I am a strong opponent of the disestablishment of the Church of England. You might ask what I think the Church of England has to do with me. Well, one answer is that it has a lot to do with all English people, of all faiths and of none. Another answer is that my Dad was born into an Anglican family, and although, he, like me, is basically an agnostic, I'm descended from generations of members of the Church of England, and I take that connection seriously. Few things amuse me more than adopting a conservative ...
Next week the Government will announce legislation to reform legal aid, following a Green Paper published last November to which the Ministry of Justice received an unprecedented 5,000 responses. Whilst "legal aid reform" was in the Coalition Agreement, the scale of proposed changes has taken many aback - in order to cut the legal aid budget by £350million, Justice Ministers propose taking whole categories of law related problems out legal aid entitlement - housing and debt problems, welfare benefit issues, employment law issues, immigration cases, consumer law problems, education cases and private family law issues (eg divorce and child contact). ...
That's the message from an interesting research nugget quoted by the Financial Times: A careful study by the Peterson Institute of 115 uses of economic sanctions by major countries between 1950 and 1990 concluded that, in about a third of cases, they helped those wielding them achieve their goals. The research shows they were most likely to be successful when this objective was modest and clear, the target was in a weakened position, economic links were significant, sanctions were heavy, and the duration was limited. Helping in only one in three cases leaves an awful lot of misery and horror ...
Now there has a been a lot of fuss about Vince Cables Speech about strikes. As Jonathan Calder makes clear the key passage of his speech is not tirade of mindless Union bashing: We are undoubtedly entering into a difficult period. Cool heads will be required all round. Despite occasional blips, I know that strike levels remain historically low, especially in the private sector. In fact, until March this year the number of days lost through strikes was lower than at any time since 1931. And of course the right to strike is a fundamental principle. On that basis, and ...
Andrew Wiseman has been kind enough to send me answers to my long list of questions. There is one outstanding point. People keep claiming that conference standing orders provide a power to exclude people. I can find no such power. Paragraph 6.2 provides for an appeal if the Chief Steward excludes you but without giving him explicit power to do so or setting out grounds for such a decision.
[IMG: Circle Line train] ... is to be found in this post over on the Nudge blog. (Myself, I'd have taken the shorter route anyway, because I'd rather avoid using the Circle or Circle/District combo if at all possible given my repeated experiences of huge gaps in the service.) Now if only the Nudge team could turn their minds to people walking on the wrong side of the corridor...
The Archbishop has catapulted himself into a media storm by voicing some vocal opinions about the democratic mandate for coalition polices . Dr Williams is not one to shy away from speaking his mind, and often his contributions have been valuable for various aspects of public debate. He does highlight a problem with coalitions, that the policy the government enacts is a mixture of manifestos from both political parties. I'm not however convinced that the gap between manifesto and policy is any wider in the coalition government than previous governments commanding an impressive majority within parliament. His comments do however ...
The Church of England is being criticised for encouraging a radical program without a mandate. Coalition officials point out the agnostic nature of modern Britain and tolerance to equal rights; which is contradictory to Christianity. Prime Minister's Official Spokesmen condemned ... Continue reading →
When I was selected as PPC for Hackney South and Shoreditch ahead of the last General Election, I promised to move into the constituency. Since I believe passionately in the environment, I chose to buy a Victorian solid-brick house in Hackney and with the aim of making it into an ecohouse. Solid brick properties are the so-called "Hard to treat houses", and exactly the focus of the Coalition Government's Green Deal. Prior to the renovation, my house was an environmental disaster zone. In the winter it was cold no matter how high the heating was set, as all the heat ...
I love the art of Salvador Dali, there is always some thing to look at, something to make you think. One of my exes some time ago told me that this first piece was their favourite painting. Well that was one easy birthday present to purchase a print and a frame. It is one of Dali's surreal images that has rather a lot going on that repeated veiwings show new things. Here is Swans Reflecting Elephants. One of his later works that strikes accord is Fertility from 1977 which simplistically encapsulates all that fertility means to human life and our ...
As regular readers will be aware I've been informed by Andrew Wiseman that it will be possible for the police to delete your personal information 'upon request'. It appears that the police can delete the data, but won't delete the data, unless asked by each individual subject of vetting. I find it deeply unsettling that the police have a database of political conferences that will inevitably record people's political preferences. Given we have just campaigned against the National Identity Register, it seems wrong that we should go along with a database on political campaigners, activists and party members. The following ...
It often seems to be my fate that I find myself only truly ready to take on a particular role at the point when that role is no longer available to me. I was for three years a member of the Executive of Luton Borough Council back when the Liberal Democrats formed a minority administration. Having only been a councillor for a year before taking on the role of a portfolio-holder and not having done anything remotely similar in the past it involved a huge amount of learning on the job. To say it was a steep learning curve would ...
More on Barbara Gordon (tags: comics) On Barbara Gordon and her importance (tags: comics) Dc reboot: the story so far an overview of what is happening on the titles thus far announced (tags: comics)
We have set up a petition to oppose the Conservatives' plans to privatise Wokingham Borough libraries. You can find it at: Please sign!
Ahem. It would probably be best if I clarified fairly quickly what I'm getting at with the title of this post. And do read both halves to get the whole picture - there is cheering news for us Lib Dems at the end! There is no doubt that 'Cleggophobia' is running rife across the media - we can argue til the cows come home about whether this is reasonable or indeed reflects the sentiment of the country as a whole (and I've blogged on this before) but it's happening, no two ways about it. However, there is a feeling amongst ...
"WHAT A BURKHA" screamed the Sun when Rowan Williams allegedly "called for sharia courts". I then had to read the full text of the lecture on which the furore was based. It was virtually impenetrable. It reminded me of a Roy Jenkins comment on one of Gladstone's written statements: There then follow nine balancing subordinate clauses of a convolution which make the net effect almost impossible to follow. But anyway, when I woke up to the Today news this morning, my immediate thught was to read the full text of what dear Rowan has said. (That didn't stop me sneakily ...
Magnificent. I always find it difficult to get past the idea that end user licenses should be covering territory already covered under the Sales of Goods Act. Richard Dreyfuss's dramatic interpretation of the iTunes EULA perfectly captures the personalities we all suspect are involved in their drafting.
Police report for period 10/05/2011- 07/06/2011 Number of calls for area:- 196 Number of community related calls:- 41 There have been no reported burglaries of dwellings for this period. There have been 4 reported burglary (other) reports for this period. Two of the reports relate to the same premises on Medomsley Rd. On the first occasion a garage was broken into and 2 copper heating cylinders were stolen. On the second occasion the lock was broken off but nothing was taken. There were 2 persons arrested for the third incident in which an insecure empty estate agents building was broken ...
A Mr Williams, handed the guest editorship of this week's New Statesman, seems to have used it to lay into the coalition for its lack of a mandate. Maybe Mr Williams has been paying tribute to the late and much missed Gil Scott-Heron, as his comments reported today echo the great man's rap about the 'mandate' given to Ronald Raygun, as he then put it (a name shared on my school playground at the time). Mr Williams seems to be right on a few things, such as the vacuum or contradiction at the heart of the 'Big Society' (take your ...
Personally, I found the Archbishop of Canterbury's comments on the UK coalition today to be quite predictable. What was puzzling though was his claim that the government is forcing through "radical policies for which no one voted". That is the problem with coalition government of course, things are not clear-cut when it comes to assessing their mandate, though it has to be said that the combined vote of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats exceeds 50% of those voting. In a representative democracy based on an unfair electoral system it is often difficult to identify how any government has secured a ...
Yesterday I was over at Bruntsfield to visit a homeless project run by Gowrie Care. Gowrie have been very good partners to work with in making our homeless strategy such a success. They have a unit looking after homeless people and they are rightly proud of the improvements made there over the last few months. The service users may be taught cooking skills and many have enjoyed transforming the garden area. Of most interests was their project which gives free clothes to homeless people. Funded in part by a waste management grant from the council we think this is the ...
Vince Cable seems to take two steps forwards and then one step back (that is what the title is meant to say: I'm still hoping for a translation of what it actually does say and in what language, and for advice on ho to stop it.) Last month I wrote a post praising an article in the Guardian in which Vince painted an excellent broad brush survey of the real problems facing the British economy (admitting they are nothing much to do with the alleged "mess left by Labour.") Then, in an interview in the New Statesman (I can see ...
After all of the arguing and claim and counter-claim, this current round in Cardigan's Supermarket Wars came to an end yesterday in Ceredigion County Council's monthly Planning Committee meeting. I've already gone into some depth about the background between the feud between Tesco and the new Sainsbury's store here and here. Sainsbury's finally got their permission last month after years of paralysis on the controversial Bath House site. Well yesterday, having withdrawn their original plan for a huge extension to their current store alongside the by-pass to the north of the town, Cardigan's Tesco narrowly won approval on a smaller ...
Getting double-glazing fitted at home seemed such a good idea to begin with. It then got better when I had the fun of watching of Ricky Gervais type character doing acrobatics on the hinge of a sample double-glazing unit to demonstrate its strength. I may now know that the hinge can take the full weight of a fully grown man, though I must admit I'm still not quite sure why I'd want to know thiat. But then came sorting out the administration. Five different pieces of legal authorisation are required. Plus two maps. With all the charges put together adding ...
i) births and deaths 9 June 1950: birth of David Troughton, son of Second Doctor Patrick Troughton, who played Private Moor in The War Games (1969), King Peladon in The Curse of Peladon (1972) and Professor Hobbes in Midnight (2008) as well as the Black Guardian in Big Finish (2009). ii) broadcast anniversaries 9 June 1973: broadcast of fourth episode of The Green Death. Mike Yates and the Doctor go undercover to penetrate Global Chemicals. 9 June 2007: broadcast of Blink. The Doctor and Martha try to escape the Weeping Angels by sending messages to Sally Sparrow in DVD Easter ...
Museum 2.0: The Event-Driven Museum? (tags: museums) Big Wide World: Specimens and schools: 9 to 5 at the museum A day in the life of Jack Ashby at the Grant Museum (tags: museums science education)
Fishing pact loses EU millions in Morocco: report | Reuters "The EU has paid too high a price to support its fishing fleet," said the 112-page report for the EU Commission. (tags: eu westernsahara) Jason O Mahony » Blog Archive » Ciaran Toland Vs. The European Parliament. I know Ciarán Toland vaguely, from email conversations many years ago; I know Diana Wallis rather better. I like them both very much as people. But on this one Ciarán was right and Diana, of course doing her job, was wrong, and I'm glad that the ECJ found for Ciarán. (tags: eu)
As others have already blogged, Jan Powell has been ruthlessly removed by the Leader of Cornwall Council from her position on the Health and Adults' Overview and Scrutiny Committee at County Hall. This has clearly stemmed from her opposition to the Tory-led administration's budget and her view that the role of Chair of such a ...
Barbara Gordon is without question the most prominent wheelchair user in the DCU. Whether she is the most prominent wheelchair user in comics is arguable - I would say Charles Xavier probably has her beat on that score by dint of having appeared in more movies - but she is still a person who carries a lot of representational baggage. Predictably then, the news that she will be going back to her old position as Batgirl has been met with a huge reaction. For some it has been joy that she will be going back to the role that they ...
Jan Powell, the Conservative Chair of Cornwall's Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee has just emailed all councillors to say that she has been removed from the committee - and hence will no longer be the chair. Jan's email reads: Dear All, Following a meeting today with the Leader Cllr Alec Robertson I have been advised that I have been removed from HAOSC. I do not intend to recount at this point the reasons for dismissal and am seeking legal advice. Kind regards Jan Powell The scrutiny function of a council is meant to be that of an independent critical ...
