Reading tonight's Lords Hansard at bedtime (as you do), I've just found Paddy Ashdown's speech from this evening's debate on the House of Lords Reform Draft Bill. Viscount Astor (Conservative), who spoke next, said: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Ashdown, has just given a speech that I am sure will be used by every Liberal Democrat candidate who wishes to stand at an election to this House in the future. It was a virtuoso performance. I am afraid that my contribution will be somewhat more modest. If you do wish to stand at a future election to the House ...
Another week, another U-turn from the Government - this week on sentencing reform. Ken Clarke's plans to cut prison sentences by 50% in return for early guilty pleas. Ken was chasing cuts. Cameron - late in the day - saw the dangers in being seen to be soft on crime. You have to feel some sympathy for Ken Clarke. He has to find massive, 23% savings in his Department's budget. The prison population was allowed to get out of control under Labour - soaring to 85,000 from 40,000 when Clarke was Home Secretary in the 1990s. And the cost? A ...
Tonight I attended the latest committee meeting of River Crescent Residents' Association, at which I gave an update on West End local matters, including the launch of WESHA, the success of WestFest and the forthcoming Blackness Fire Station Open Day. We also discussed the need for 20mph zones in residential areas, an issue I am to be discussing with the City Council's Head of Transportation tomorrow.
I'm pleased to have been asked by my party to act as a "shadow" to the portfolio-holder for Adult Services on Durham County Council Adult Services is a grouping of very important services which affect many vulnerable people, including the elderly. It also has a very considerable annual spend because of the large numbers of people who use its services. In County Durham with its low incomes and high levels of deprivation that is particularly true. For instance, I was told the other day that 90% of all care-home places are funded or part-funded by the county council. That's very ...
We used to be the party that cared. We used to debate about issues that involved people's lives and how we would try and make things better for them. Now we spend hours debating about our position on the ranking scale of politics i.e are we centre left, progressives or economic/social liberals but then don't do anything with it. We are in power and we have the means to find solutions and answers to the problems that we previously spent time trying to make a difference to. I now call upon the party to help the Tamils who suffered during ...
TweetEarlier this week, in the response to Brian Haws death John Rentoul wrote a rather stinging piece in the independent stating that essentially Haw was a liar, and that his protest was offensive. His language and piece has disgusted me, and I take the complete opposite view, we should beatify Brain Haw. Like him, or loathe him, think the Iraq war was right or was terribly wrong; one thing is for sure Brian Haw stuck to his convictions like no other of his time. He literally gave up everything for his beliefs. That is a man to be admired, to ...
The Parent Council at Blackness Primary School has suggested zig zag yellow markings near the school to aid pupil safety. At the last Parent Council meeting, I promised to find out a timescale from the City Council regarding the provision of such markings. The City Council's Head of Transportation has now advised as follows : "I refer to your email dated 25 May regarding road markings at Blackness Primary School. The order for the lining work has been issued to Tayside Contracts as part of a very large volume of similar works. Progress on this type of work has been ...
Harlow is Essex's poverty hotspot with high levels of unemployment and house repossession Homeless charity Shelter's latest repossession survey shows that Harlow is Essex's main repossession hotspot at 4.9 possession orders per 1,000 households. The town, which also suffers the county's highest unemployment rate, is ranked as the 15th worst local authority in England in terms of repossessions. It is followed by Basildon (3.8 per 1,000), Castle Point (3.3 per 1,000) and Tendring (3.0 per 1,000). Thurrock unitary authority has the third highest rate in the country, with 6.16 possession orders per 1,000. At the bottom of the league was ...
Baroness Scott of Needham MarketLord TopeLord Jenkin of RodingLord Beecham 57 Page 210, line 27, leave out from beginning to end of line 39 on page 212 Doesn't look like much, does it? However, the effect is wonderfully satisfying for those who have the interests of local government at heart, and the rather ecumenical nature of the proposers (one Labour, two Liberal Democrat and one Conservative) makes it all the more curious. In one fell swoop, the amendment removes the proposal that elected mayors could become the chief executive officer, as well as much of the rubbish that gives him/her ...
Though this may not surprise those that know me if the truth be told. You see the thing is, although we have totally opposing views on many things within the Liberal Democrats, I have to disagree with a number of ...
As I walked home this evening along the little country lane that leads to my house on the hill I was struck by how much difference almost a year makes. It was a beautiful sunny evening with a slight breeze cooling ...
I was, I admit, pretty excited about becoming Vice Chair of my small, but perfectly formed, Parish Council. After all, we bureaucrats don't usually get offered positions of authority. And I thought that my first effort at chairing went quite well in the absence of our outgoing Chair due to pressures of work. But it seems that I missed a small detail. Apparently, I am the Interim Chairman of the Parish Council until Steve signs the appropriate documents and assumes the chair. To be honest, I suspect that Rosemary, our Parish Clerk, withheld this small but important piece of information ...
This fence came down a few days ago. You might put it down to a spot of overenthusiastic reversing by a lorry making deliveries to Lidl. But I wonder. Because this fence is exactly on the line of the old LNWR lines from Market Harborough. Soon, I am convinced, the embankment will heave itself from the earth. I fully expect to see trains running again to Rugby and Northampton before the year is out.
As part of the County Councils plans for the Library Service our local library (Arbury Court) will be closed for a week to allow the installation of self-service machines (like the one pictured from the Central library) and to allow time for staff training. This investment in the local library is welcome. What is less than welcome is this Conservative Administrations' cuts to staffing and opening hours - a library is only useful to it's local community when it's open and people can only get the best use out of it when there are trained staff on-hand to help. You ...
This past weekend saw the Social Liberal Forum, of the Liberal Democrats, hold it's first conference - and very successful it was too (my article about it here http://bit.ly/lxELJj). I had the chance to sit down with a few other bloggers to discuss issues with one of 3 people - Dr Evan Harris whom I'd have pressed on the NHS, Chris Huhne whom I would have discussed the dangers of a 2% rise in global temperature with (but thankfully got to talk to him about that in another session) or Vince Cable. I chose Vince because I wanted to discuss ...
From Stockport Council: Residents are being asked to donate unwanted bikes to support an innovative Safer Stockport Partnership run project helping young people payback their debt to society. The 'Cycloan' project led by Stockport Council's Youth Offending Service gives young offenders the opportunity to repair stolen and recovered bikes donated by the police to carry out their community reparation (payback). Once all the repairs have been made to the bikes and they have been verified as road worthy, they are donated back to the community - to victims of cycle theft, residents in need of a bicycle or community organisations. ...
Further to my post earlier discussing why Cameron's oh-so-grandiose announcements on Crime will actually see very little real reform, I am delighted to be vindicated. Reviewing the consultation reports and guidelines, best summarised on the BBC, ameron's press release is a big piece of spin. The Legal Aid Reforms, under discussion for some months, are still to go through, but apart from that and the potential offence to be introduced on Squatting. Property Defence Property defence willl still be be based on legal interpretations of reasonable. It therefore requires the force was proportionate to the crime, and cannot be grievous ...
While entries on this blog normally address European Union developments with a focus on the beautiful South West region of the United Kingdom and the six MEPs that serve it, this week shall see something rather different.Following eagerly (and humbly) in the footsteps of Julien Frisch in June 2010 and Joe Litobarski in March this year, on Thursday (23rd) I shall become the third Euroblogger to
Most of you will remember the story a few months ago of the 22 year-old from Chelmsford who had been arrested and charged with theft from a bin after a supermarket threw out lots of frozen food after a power cut in store. Sasha Hall lived about the Tesco Express in Chelmsford and when the shop chucked out so much good stock the bin was inundated with visitors who plundered the goods. The unlucky Hall was the only one who was identified and subsequently arrested and charged with theft. She denied theft but admitted handling stolen goods at a hearing ...
Simon Jenkins really goes to town in his comment in the Standard on Parliament Square, attaining a paternalistic rhetoric that intends to convince me, the reader, that getting rid of democratic protest outside Westminster is a good thing. Phrases intended to deliver a verdict of guilty on all protestors include 'as a result of this nonsense', completely unnecessary and unjustified comparisons to Tripoli and Al Queda. While I wouldn't suggest Al Queda maintained a fair and democratic approach, belittling the protests and warzone in Tripoli is simply diabolical. He has, in one foul swoop, undermined every democratic demand for peace ...
The Standard is reporting huge inconsistencies with law after today's spectacular 'win-back-the-core-tory-vote' policy u-turn. Until I get home, I can't check the details, but I am sure this is meteoric spin to appease the press. Knife crime will bring forth a mandatory custodial sentence. However, I would suspect this is when in connection to another offence, thereby aggravating the offence, and is very little change from current guidelines at all. I sincerely doubt the police and CPS will get to lock up everyone carrying a knife in public. We simply don't have the room. It is indicated in Cameron's quote ...
Margate's big event has been one of the years highlights and this year for the first time has also injected a healthy amount of cash from visitors myself included with the move to the centre of the town. It has been estimated by Thanet Council that somewhere in the region of 80,000 people enjoyed the weekends event, which included the air show, music and firework display, funfair, Margate raft race, Airfix model making, Punch and Judy etc., this of course coupled with some of the other delights that Margate has to offer the the Harbour Arm Margate Museum the world ...
In my PMQs review for May 18th, I paraphrased this answer from David Cameron as recorded here in Hansard as follows: I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for allowing me to clear this up. When I read about Mr Britnell being my adviser, I was slightly puzzled, because I have never heard of this person in my life, and he is not my adviser. However, I did a little research, and it turned out that he was an adviser to the previous Government. [Hon. Members: "More!"] Oh, don't worry, there is plenty more. He helped to develop Labour's ...
Tue 21st
17:53
The ten words that plunged Kenneth Clarke into the hottest of waters and led to a major "U turn" fur...
[IMG: FW Pomeroy's statue of Justice atop the Old Bailey] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: Ben Sutherland Indeed, it was just ten words amongst thousands exchanged in a routine session of Justice questions at the House of Commons on May 17th. It was in response to a question from Said Khan MP on a consultation on (including other things) potential enlarged sentencing discounts for early guilty pleas: but I think that that proposal is likely to survive. That's all Kenneth Clarke basically said (he added "we are thinking of putting up the reduction to a half (my bolding)). One ...
Government consolation appears to consist of listing out some proposals which though controversial to those of the right, but may well be good practical ideas. The next part of the process appears to be listening to right wing newspapers concerns and then not going forward with those proposals. Is this really a good way of governing, perhaps Cameron should grow some balls and not conceed so much to the british press or is this his master plan to sure but his agenda?
After months of planning, and not inconsiderate last-minute scrambling, the Social Liberal Forum's first ever conference took place at City University on Saturday; envisioned by Hackney's Geoff Payne and put into action by the outstanding team he led, the conference (#SLFconf on Twitter) was a massive success from so many perspectives. Firstly, there was the interest generated by having two Cabinet Ministers and the Party's Deputy Leader speaking - Vince Cable's speech was carried live by the BBC and Sky news was also filming throughout the day. Of course the Ministers were a significant draw, but the packed-out audience was ...
The new Environment Minister, John Griffiths has just announced that the badger cull in North Pembrokeshire has been put on hold whilst he reviews the available evidence behind that proposal. In the chamber I said that this corrects the mistakes of the former Rural Affairs Minister in taking a political decision to carry out a cull based on a misinterpretation of the science. However, we cannot lose sight of the need for effective action on bTB and that is why the government need to look afresh at the available vaccines. These are the main sections of the statement: Our Government ...
There were kids from loyalist and nationalist traditions running around with sticks on the Shankill Road yesterday. No this isn't THAT STORY! Picture by Brian Little in the Belfast Telegraph What it is though is kids from fours schools St. Paul's and St. Kevin's on the Falls coming to the Norman Whiteside playing fields on the loyalist Shankill Road and playing hurling with kids from Edenbrook and Glenwood Primary Schools, in front of the head of the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association). It is believed to the first time that the GAA President has visited a game on the Shankill, indeed ...
We are six weeks from the elections and the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Government getting on with the job they were elected to do - governing and legislating. The Scottish Government is demanding more fiscal powers and they are rocking the constitutional boat. Whether you agree with the SNPs policies or not, they are doing something. The story in Wales is different. The first major government announcement in Wales came on Tuesday when the First Minister rose to his feet to outline his Welsh equivalent of the Queen Speech. This should have been a momentous occasion since the people ...
TweetLets be honest, tuition fees is an area where we as Lib Dems got burned severely. I've always believed in free education however that was never going to happen with us being the minority in parliament. Being realistic both of ... Continue reading →
Councillors have all had a letter from St James Investment advising them that the Tesco planning application for this site is about to be resubmitted. It does not have a planning application number yet and when it does it will be published to enable residents to have their say on the application. Letter Dear Councillor New Bath Press proposal: changes to enable support of city regeneration projects Many congratulations on your re-election. I'm writing to let you know that, this week, St James' Investments and Tesco have submitted an additional planning application for the Bath Press site. The mixed use ...
If you like answering questionnaires, now's your chance to tackle a truly gigantic one with over 180 questions. Until 27th July Wokingham Borough Council are consulting the public on the obscurely named Managing Development Delivery Development Plan Document, or MDD DPD for short. It doesn't sound very exciting, but it is very significant indeed. Because this is the document that sits alongside the Core Strategy and Strategic Development Location masterplans, and will determine what guidelines will be used to govern development in Wokingham Borough upto 2026. This is the first part of the consultation, and asks the public (and developers ...
Every evening on the news, we are reminded of the fact that Britain has a massive economic deficit. This is reinforced by the notion of hard times and austerity that the country is currently going through, along with further threats of future cuts and public service strikes. Although it is widely accepted that this deficit is in need of being tackled (all three main parties were committed to the tackling deficit in their 2010 manifestos) we mustn't lose sight of another deficit that has been looming over the United Kingdom for more than the past 30 years. This is a ...
TweetFollowing my last blog on tuition fees and why I thought Vince Cable was wrong, I've just had an interesting debate with Tim Farron, who pointed me in the direction of this article contained on the guardian website. I don't make a habit of disagree with Tim, but this time I think Tim is way of the mark, bordering on political naivety. I've made it perfectly clear where I stand on this issue, I don't believe that we can go into the next election on a free tuition fees policy. That boat has sailed. We would simply be a laughing ...
Two more airlines are set to join EasyJet as the expansion of Southend Airport is reaching second gear. The Southend Echo are reporting today that Join Airlines and ViaTriskel both have ambitious plans to run flights out of London's sixth airport. The Dutch airline Join Airlines plan to have a route map including destinations such as Manchester, Amsterdam, Cologne and Bonn in Germany, Caen in France and Gronningen in northern Holland. Whilst ViaTriskel which hasn't even started operating yet has a route map plan from Southend of Amsterdam, Cologne, Alsace, Chateauroux, Caen, Devon and Cornwall, Waterford, Dublin and Liverpool. The ...
This morning's Western Mail reports that the governments in Westminster and Wales are locked in a stand-off, after First Minister Carwyn Jones made an impassioned demand for powers over energy projects. I happen to support the devolution of power over energy to the Welsh Government as do the Welsh Liberal Democrats. However, if yesterday's refusal was a 'slap in the face' for Wales it will not be the first one on this issue. In fact previous Welsh Governments have made similar requests and been refused by the Labour UK Government. It is only when Carwyn Jones was painted into a ...
Just over a year ago, I wrote on Lib Dem Voice that the future for the Bombardier train building plant at Derby looked precarious. At that time, my fears were around the deep spending cuts that we were being forewarned of. Happily those cuts have not so far seriously affected transport spending. But last week, the same Derby Litchurch Lane Bombardier plant suffered a severe blow when the Department for Transport announced that the order for new trains to work the Thameslink service in London is likely to go to Siemens in Germany. Siemens builds fine trains (although, as Scotrail ...
Julian Astle has written a rather depressed sounding article on Comment is Free arguing that the Liberal Democrats are not the best place for an "ambitious" liberal politician. To my mind, his whole thesis reveals a surprising lack of ambition. The modernising wings of Labour and the Conservatives are simply that - modernisers. They are groups of people who are trying to catch their parties up with where society is today. By contrast, the Liberal Democrats, like the Liberal Party before them, should always be the party of the future. If Nick Clegg is to justify the place of the ...
Having found myself regularly posting about politics on Facebook I have decided to revive this blog in order to avoid clogging up my friends' Facebook feeds. I'm not sure I like the title all that much any more, but I do like the picture of the orange.
Tue 21st
13:09
Me, the Lancet, half the Great Ormond Street Consultants. Why won't Jane Collins do the decent thing...
I've blogged before that I think Jane Collins should resign as Chief Executive of Great Ormond Street. Now the Lancet has come out against her. To quote their leader this morning: "If GOSH's [Great Ormond Street Hospital's] management team had been in Wigan they would almost certainly have departed by now. Perhaps GOSH is just too important to be seen to fail. Even when a child dies' The whole article can be found here (it's free to register) and I can't think of a stronger condemnation one can make. It's the most forthright piece of editorial imaginable. There's also an ...
TweetAs part of the recent Social Liberal Forum Event, which I've already blogged about here, I was given a chance to interview Vince Cable, I've blogged about the whole interview here, but as promised I wanted to pick up on Vince's answer to my tuition fees question as I believe he is not only wrong, but worryingly wrong to. In fairness I'll post the entire question and answer, so you can read it all in context and make your own mind up it can be found here. But what I hope you agree Vince is worringly wrong on the subject. ...
Julian Glover writes: "His popularity ratings now resemble those of Iain Duncan Smith, whose net negative rating in ICM polls averaged around -20 when he was leader of the opposition. His rating is notably worse than those of either William ... Continue reading →
It was no secret that No2AV spouted several lies about the Alternative Voting System on the run up to May's Referendum on our voting system. The 'No Camp' lied about the AV system, scaring voters about minority parties, costs of changing the voting system during a period of economic upheaval and the unfairness of allowing ...
A new poll shows strong Palestinian support for Salam Fayyad to be Prime Minister in a Fatah/Hamas unity government. The same poll also shows that most Palestinians want a new government to support President Abbas' peace efforts (such as they are). Mr Fayyad is indeed very much the Palestinians' best bet and it is to be hoped that the Palestinian people will be listened to when it comes to who heads their government. At this point, some people will start shouting at me about how the world refused to listen (and cut off aid) when the Palestinians elected a Hamas ...
Essex County Council is resolving its budget troubles by closing down its seven children's homes, which have capacity to care for up to 64 children. The Tory plan is not related to the welfare of the children in council care but is focused on budget cuts. Conservative Councillor Sarah Candy, cabinet member for children's services, said the council's decision "was about improving the purchasing of residential care placements to best meet the individual needs of children and young people in Essex and ensure they have the best possible future outcomes." But concerns are mounting that the quality of the alternatives ...
Tue 21st
11:17
Opinion: The progressive case for aligning pension ages across the public and private sectors
The government is pressing ahead with plans to align pension ages across the public and private sectors. By 2020, both men and women in the private sector will have their retirement ages aligned at 66. But if the public sector is left unreformed, many people working within it would still be able to retire with their public sector pension available from the age of 60 or 65 (depending on whether they are male or female). There is a progressive case to be made for aligning the public and private sector in this respect. Recent research has shown that currently the ...
Discussion with Hasmik Movsisian at her programme Music of Armenia:
Prime Minister David Cameron has been doing his macho, anti-Europe, not a penny more, act this morning in response to the economic crisis in Greece. At the Times CEO Summit(£) he told business leaders that Britain was not in the Euro "Thank God," and he was "absolutely determined" to ensure that British money to Greece ...
In Prime Minister's question time on the 15th June there appeared, to me, to be a slight contradiction of policy towards territory of Great Britain. One MP, I forget his name, wanted clarification that the Falkland Islands would not be returned to Argentina and would remain British territory. Interestingly there were also questions regarding the future of Scotland within the union and the plans of the SNP to move to greater autonomy and possibly devolution. This was met with Mr Cameron saying that Scotland will always be part of the union. It seems to me an interesting double standard. The ...
There is nothing more frustrating than your political opponents claiming poverty when you knew that their glossy leaflets had to have cost more than anything you were putting out, they were putting them out to every door (using the free* post option through the Royal Mail). What is worse is the when they say none of the tax payers money is spent on printing a leaflet, while telling lies about how tax payers money might be spent if you vote the other way. One does wonder how Matthew Elliot the chair of the No2AV campaign can face his colleagues now ...
So David Cameron has pandered to The Sun again. If only I was surprised. After years of saying they were the ones the won Labour the 1997 election despite the evidence being rather different. The Sun can now claim to pretty much have David Cameron's ear. The Tory Prime Minister has once more listened to the newspaper and decided to completely rip up Ken Clarke's excellent prison reforms just to ensure that publicly he can sound tough on crime. The Sun's 'Say No To Soft Justice' has been running ever since Victoria Derbyshire decided to bring up rape in an ...
Let's have no statistical quibling about the size of N please in this photo from Brent at the weekend (or any cynical comments about how you can't see the feet to check on the sandals count):
We all remember the supposed concern the NO 2 AV campaign had for the British taxpayer. You'll remember - who could forget? - their claim that the Alternative Vote would cost £250m, and that this'll kill babies and soldiers. You might also remember David Blunkett's polling-day admission that that was all nonsense, but, hey, all's fair in love, war and politics, and I guess they were just really concerned about saving taxpayers' money. After all, TaxPayers' Alliance founder Matthew Elliott headed up their campaign. Just to underline how much they cared about the public purse, they boasted on the front ...
I've been very vocal about my lack of support for Nato's no-fly-zone. I stand by that and wish the West would encourage diplomacy as a way to over come as much as possible of the Arab league disruption. That is not saying I am naïve. The dictators in the Arab Spring have committed atrocities. They have wounded and murdered and supressed democratic uprisings. But I believe to make war is exacerbating the harm being caused to millions of civillians. In Syria, President Assad make a speech that has been torn to pieces by commentators. There is a lack of faith ...
Spotting some painters doing the outside of the house two doors away I ambled over to get a business card. The guy at the bottom of the ladder said I need to speak to the boss. The boss then emerged from the garage. The conversation went something like this: "Have you got a business ...
Bad rep's slutwalk report countering the msm myths about who was there and what they did (tags: feminism)
Tue 21st
09:50Dr David Nunn probably has academic qualifications up the wazoo. I think he's an idiot.
First off, yes I know as an orthopaedic surgeon he's a 'Mr', not a 'Dr.' If he ever reads this, that will hopefully rile him from word 1. For those who don't know, David Dunn is the barnstorming consultant who burst into the Cameron/Clegg photo opportunity the other day shouting 'I'm not having it' as he alleged the camera crews were inappropriately dressed and breaking hygiene regulations. If you missed his performance the video is embedded below. I have heard several people since saying things like ' oh isn't he marvellous, putting those politicians and their spin doctors in their ...
I may be in danger of agreeing with Balls here but I think the Unions are being set up horrifically by the Government. However, I also think the Lib Dems are being set up to take the brunt of the blame for the actions. Cable commented at the GMB Conference that strike action that would bring the country to it's knees would force the coalition to legislate on strike action. I do not think it it unreasonable to ask Unions to have a minimum amount of members responding to a ballot in order to qualify. As PCS Union showed this ...
Tory Right-Whingers have won the battle against Ken Clarke's sentencing proposals. The Mail is happily proclaiming it's all Nick Clegg's fault (apparently the Lib Dems are entirely responsible for Clarke's department). The proposals will be completely dropped from the bill today and Clarke is likely to have to fund savings from cuts elsewhere. Tory right feel this should come from probation, but given they mainly support the death penalty, we can see their standpoint. A Mail Delight of life sentences, no chance of redemption and no education or rehabilitation. There is an argument that sentence cutting undermines the punishment when ...
Time Out magazine have published Pride London's "Power List" for 2011. I'll save you some time looking: One Trans person on the list, Christine Burns OBE, at number 96. I'm not sure if I should be annoyed at Pride for insulting the Trans community by (mostly) excluding us or annoyed that the community has so little "power" that we barely even register in the top 100. Oh, a quick look at the judges might be in order – one of the three is Bun Summerskill. Ah, that will be why so many Stonewall award winners, chief executives, directors and so ...
I'm aware that I should be writing up my reactions to the Social Liberal Forum conference, including my bloggers' interview with Evan Harris, as well as carrying on with my other series of posts. However, as you can see from the photograph below, I have been somewhat unusually detained over the last few days. Something that also coincided with my fortieth birthday. Normal service will resume shortly. I hope.....
A consultation on the future school transport network, covering 800 routes, Education (E) routes and small vehicle provision The second consultation on school transport will commence on Monday 13th June and run to 15th August 2011. The consultation document, published list of routes and online response form is available here.
I've just been on the Radio 3 programme Night Waves - there was also a fascinating interview with Margaret Drabble and feature on the revitalised Watts Gallery; I'm going to listen more often. But my task was to play the sceptic about the idea that anonymous online relationships and blogs somehow more allow for more authenticity. I was invited because of my book Authenticity, which is eight years old now but still relevent (well, I would believe that). And I was also happy to do it, because this debate is part of the cultural zeitgeist at the moment - yet ...
The next meeting of the Yate Safer Stronger Community Group (which covers Yate Town Council's area and Dodington Parish) will be on Thursday 23rd June at 7pm in South Glos Council's Badminton Road offices. As well as the opportunity to raise issues, there will also be an update on the Armadillo Youth Cafe and Venue and a presentation from the Community Lead Group for the Priority Neighbourhood in Yate and Dodington.
The Social Liberal Forum, a left leaning lobby within the Liberal Democrats, held their first conference on Saturday. The event and lobby have been characterised as a gathering of social democrats. "'We are trying to make sure that mainstream liberal values continue to be shown in mainstream party policy.' By mainstream he means social democratic." – Independent on Sunday "a group that represents social democrats within the Lib Dems" – Guardian It's an easy assumption, but anachronistic. The Social Democrats were the pragmatic right of the 1980s Labour Party, generally comfortable with markets and capitalism. Former members such as Andrew ...
The third degree may be called the angelic life; this is the life which they come to, who, having been exercised for a long time in the taming of their own passions, receive from God a quiet, tranquil, and almost angelic life, even in this world, feeling no trouble or repugnance in anything. - St ...
Radio Four's PM are currently running a Privacy Commission. One of the people who have given evidence to the commission is Hugh Grant. You can read it and hear it here. I don't agree with the idea of a Privacy Bill, which Hugh Grant espouses. I think we ought to go more along the US route. However, I was remarkably impressed with Grant's intelligent explanation of his position. He also deserves praise for "coming out" for a Privacy Bill – it takes a certain amount of courage to do that, given the probable backlash from the tabloids against someone in ...
The above tweet was all it took me to click on the wonderful Alice Pyne's website. Alice is the amazing 15 year old girl with terminal cancer who was mentioned in PMQ's a while back Unbelievably, some nasty piece of pond life has hacked into a website she supports, added in a Paypal button, and is now stealing donations. The mind boggles, doesn't it? Also you will see on the site that people are also leaving abusive messages. Unbelievable. So I thought the very least I could do was reblog about Alice, encourage everyone to visit her website, and also ...
Writing in the latest edition of The Lancet, one of the world's most respected medical journals, its editor Richard Horton says, If GOSH's [Great Ormond Street Hospital's] management team had been in Wigan they would almost certainly have departed by now. Perhaps GOSH is just too important to be seen to fail. Even when a child dies. (The Lancet – free registration required) The reason for his comment that had it been another hospital, the management team would have been sacked or resigned by now is the criticisms levelled at the hospital not only for its role in the death ...
From my favourite newspaper: Champion Shropshire pumpkin grower confesses to cheating
[IMG: Espen Barth Eide og Aung San Suu Kyi] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: Utenriksdept It has to be one of the more bizarre stories of the week. One of the world's most famous freedom campaigners, Aung San Suu Kyi says listening to Dave Lee Travis helped her survive years of house arrest. The Hairy Cornflake's show made her world "more complete", she says. Some may be utterly befuddled by this. Didn't DLT famously resign from national radio in 1993? And that was well before internet radio. So how the heck does someone in Burma listen to BBC Three ...
The European sovereign debt crisis has its roots in a variety of long term mistakes. The biggest of which is not the creation of the common currency, but the failure of states to maintain solid public finances. Whether the crisis is the result of a policy mistake- the Irish decision to offer an unlimited guarantee to its banking system- or long term corruption,-the fraudulent Greek public debt numbers- the impact amounts to the same. No matter what, all European states now have no option but to bring their runaway government budgets under control. That is as true for countries outside ...
Aside from going to a few gigs with friends in Edinburgh, I've never really got into Jazz. That said, what I've heard and experienced I have, on the whole enjoyed. That's not, I hasten to point out, due to it's perceived lack of coolness, although to many Jazz has a bit of an image problem - think Tweed jackets with elbow patches and a nice pair of Hush Puppies (or Ken Clarke, if you must). And, of course, there's Mark Thompson's Jazz Club Host from The Fast Show: Anyway, the genesis of this post came about whilst listening to my ...
To illustrate John Cole's point in yesterday's post (immedhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifiately below), that the plight UK's economy is in no way comparable to that of Greece, here are some figures from Larry Elliott's column in yesterday's Guardian. The UK last year ran a budget deficit of about £140bn. This pushed the national debt up to more than £900bn. The output of the economy was just short of £1.5tn. So the national debt is about 60% of GDP. "For Greece," writes Elliott,, "the position is far worse. By late 2010 national debt was more than 140% of GDP" What Elliott doesn't say is ...
Michael praises the work of the GAA in reaching across Northern Ireland's divide and hopes that this work will continue to make everyone proud to support their county teams.
i) births and deaths 21 June 1991: death of Ivor Salter, who played the Morok Commander in The Space Museum (1965), Odysseus in The Myth Makers (1965), and Sgt. Markham in Black Orchid (1982). ii) broadcast anniversaries 21 June 1969: broadcast of tenth episode of The War Games, ending Season 6 of Old Who. Last regular appearance of Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, Frazer Hines as Jamie and Wendy Padbury as Zoe. 21 June 2008: broadcast of Turn Left. Donna is thrust into an alternate universe where the Doctor was killed during the events of The Runaway Bride, and ...
In three weeks time, Sunday 10th July, I should be attending another placement at the co-operative, provided there are rooms available, which will hopefully result in me moving house, as previously discussed. New dates I would be hoping to move, and will thus need people to help pack things up, carry boxes, make tea and drive: Thursday 14th: daytime/eveningFriday 15th: daytime Saturday 16th: daytimeSunday 17th: daytime/eveningMonday 18th: daytime/eveningTuesday 19th: daytime(I don't have a car available those days highlighted in red, so other dates are preferable, but I understand that causes problems for those of you who work - unless you ...
The Feast of St Aloysius Gonzaga, of the Society of Jesus.
Trouble appeared to be brewing in East Belfast as the bus I got home was making its away into East Belfast. There were just too many police landrovers lurking on street corners. Sure enough, there has been rioting in the Short Strand area of Belfast this evening. Read the rest of this post here. Filed ...
Trouble appeared to be brewing in East Belfast as the bus I got home was making its away into East Belfast. There were just too many police landrovers lurking on street corners. Sure enough, there has been rioting in the Short Strand area of Belfast this evening. The BBC is reporting that homes in the ...
