Irish Traveller Movement in Britan News Release 23 June 2011: Immediate release Government's Localism Bill could increase Gypsy and Traveller unauthorised sites Irish Traveller Movement in Britain study reveals A report launched today by the Irish Traveller Movement in Britain (ITMB) has found that only 1 out of a 100 Councils interviewed believe the measures in the Localism Bill will make planning for Gypsies and Travellers easier, while 55 Councils thought it would make provision more difficult. 40 % of councils specifically expressed concerns about increased local opposition to development for Travellers under the Bill's community based planning system. These ...
A busy week thus far, so quite a few things to update on : * I had a very useful and productive meeting today with the Head of Transportation and the Sustainable Transport Team Leader at the City Council to discuss local bus services, including the report going to the City Development Committee on Monday on the outcome of tendering for local bus services. It looks promising that there will be improvements to the current 69 bus service in terms of timetable - good news for those parts of the West End covered by the service. It is also hoped ...
[IMG: Galaxy S II Vodafone Box] Back in May I got my upgrade, in the end I opted for the Samsung Galaxy S II. It's on Vodafone, 12 month contract, £49 up front, £50 a month (minus a nice staff discount). The phone came with the first three Pirates of the Caribean DVDs (no idea why), and amazingly my phone was unbranded out of the box (all others appear to have light Vodafone branding). So what to say about this phone. WOW! The screen is amazing, can view it at any angle, brightness strong enough for reading text messages outside ...
This will sound both daft and egocentric in the extreme, but would anyone like to interview me? I'll explain. I'm hoping to get the Seven Soldiers book finished this weekend, and get it published within a week or so of that. This book has taken an utterly ludicrous amount of work on my part, and ...
There is new hope for Stiperstones School as its governors have agreed initial plans to form a federation with fellow primaries at Hope and Chirbury. Someone is planing to reopen the Tally-Ho Inn at Bouldon in Corvedale. But then there's this...
"Did I request thee, Maker from my clay To mould Me man? Did I solicit thee From darkness to promote me?" John Milton, Paradise Lost "When, after some heretics had taken Christ for a mere man and others for the supreme God, St John in his Gospel endeavoured to state his nature so that men ...
Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat Voice After last week's Miliband success at Prime Minister's Questions, this time we started off with Ed Miliband in softly softly mode. He asked about Libya and the service chiefs' concern about an extended campaign. Displaying a becoming measure of gravitas, he also asked whether the defence review should be revisited in the light of the "Arab Spring" which William Hague has described as more important than 9-11. That's a good question given that the review didn't mention Libya, Tunisia or Egypt. David Cameron said he has been assured by the military grand fromage that we ...
This evening residents who live in and around Northumberland Avenue received this message from the North Whitley Police team which I have attached below for information: On Wednesday 22nd June Thames Valley Police have carried out a number of drug warrants in your neighbourhood. The operation is as a result of community concerns surrounding drug-related and anti-social behaviour in the area that has been having an impact on people's quality of life. A number of arrests have been made and we have seized significant evidence in relation to several different criminal offences, including the possession and supply of Class A ...
An article in tomorrow's Guardian by Allegra Stratton reports that David Laws and Danny Alexander have been working on a Lib Dem document called Tax 2020: Their mission is to detail where they want the party to be on tax in 2020 and then work back from there to see where they should be at each stage - now, in next year's budget, then the penultimate budget before the 2015 election and, of course, in the next parliament - be it in coalition with the Tories or maybe even Labour.Stratton has seen part of the document and says that the ...
Can be read here.
So your brother is a well known social democrat type political columnist. What do you do? Well obviously you write science fiction scripts for TV and radio and a couple of superb novels. It's pretty difficult to characterise Ben Aaronovitch's books. On one hand they are about an apprentice wizard. But they are certainly not Harry Potter. They are also police procedurals. But they're not Rebus. And they're funny. But they're not Christopher Brookmyre. Combine all three and you come close to Rivers of London and Moon Over Soho. The central character is newbie policeman Peter Grant. Son of a ...
All communication professionals know that if you don't like the conversation you change it. Put another way, do not fight on your critics's territory. Take the battle where you can win. All third parties struggle to be heard while in opposition. The Liberal Democrats were not the exception to the rule. However good the people employed by Cowley Street were they faced an uphill struggle. In government the party now gets a lot of media attention. While much of this is negative it gives communicators an opportunity. With a thought out and consistent communication strategy they may be able to ...
It's been a staple argument of despots and dictators for decades, even centuries. They're not undemocratic you see. They're actually far more democratic than those decadent people who rely on elections. Because democracy isn't about elections after all, is it? Such arguments, even when dressed up by sticking the word "democracy" into a country's name, have rightly and widely been given short shrift. You'd have thought, therefore, that arguing that democracy doesn't require elections would be an argument a Parliamentarian these days might steer clear of. But no. Step forward Baroness D'Souza: I do not believe that elections are the ...
After last week's Miliband success at Prime Minister's Questions, this time we started off with Ed Miliband in softly softly mode. He asked about Libya and the service chiefs' concern about an extended campaign. Displaying a becoming measure of gravitas, he also asked whether the defence review should be revisited in the light of the "Arab Spring" which William Hague has described as more important than 9-11. That's a good question given that the review didn't mention Libya, Tunisia or Egypt. David Cameron said he has been assured by the military grand fromage that we could keep the campaign going ...
Libya doesn't feature high on the agenda in the papers any more. The comments on Nato strikes and Gadaffi atrocities, or is it the other way, are reserved on International pages where one doesn't have to think about it any more. Today, Allies Italy have requested a cease-fire, under the guise of allowing humanitarian aide through, but more likely as a way to get Nato to take stock and examine the ambiguous way in which they are conducting their operations and harming civillians. The staunch response from No 10 was an interesting one; Aid is already going through Translation: We ...
Glad to see Labour under Miliband have got their message straight. Or not, it seems. Not only did Miliband shock the twitterati during PMQs by saying he supported a DNA database, he also appears to have let Balls run on his leash and order an investigation by Scotland Yard into leaked Project Volvo emails. And, apparently, Labour's way to fund all of this would be to cut VAT again. At least when Cameron orders pointless investigations into favourite missing children, he'd done a cost-benefit-analysis. And these people want to run our country?!
I have never had any particular issues with Shahid Malik, who I met once in passing when he was a Labour minister. However, he now appears to have become a panellist on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, a radio comedy show on which the chairman gives the teams silly things to do. A silly thing that Mr Malik has apparently done is to lend his weight not to the forces of reconciliation in the Middle East, but to those very forces that are surely least likely to achieve anything on this score. Whatever Mr Malik did or did not ...
At the start of the month I wrote a post critical of the plans to to allow West Midlands Police to impose new security conditions upon representatives attending the party's Annual Conference in September. As Complicity said at the time, "We can hardly defend our position on being against ID Cards if we give in to this. We're basically admitting that the database state is required to ensure our security." Now David Grace (aka Disgruntled Radical) is attempting to get a motion critical of the plans debated at the conference. He says: You may be aware that arrangements for this ...
So the great saga of Boris and Dave seems ready for another chapter in light of the 'social cleansing' of London debate. One would never think to describe Boris Johnson as a liberal, but I suppose in comparison to Mark Pritchard MP he looks like he should be sporting a yellow rosette. But of course, the fight to stop the housing benefit cap in central London has very little to do with which side of the political fence you stand on when it's just 11 months to a mayoral election. Boris is a strong PR man, coining a delight of ...
Kent council has made public in a well publicised move the release of the independent report "Children's Services Improvement Plan" giving a candid assessment of Kent Children services. A cynic might think this was a managed PR event, by Kent Council diverting attention. What we don't have is any explanation of how things got into such a deplorable state, BBC South East Today news programme, tonight employed more resources than is usual in reporting such matters, with reporter Simon Jones and Louise Stewart, sadly neither thought to ask the question, how did this happen? Paul Francis ( political editor) for ...
This is National Bike Week, so why not give cycling a try. At Gatley Primary School, the bike racks are filling up each day now (mostly bikes, but a couple of unicycles too!). I cycled to the Town Hall this morning – as I do quite often. I'm not the fastest cyclist around, but I can do the four mile journey in about 20 minutes which at some times of the day is quicker – as well as healthier – than driving. And with petrol prices through the roof, I'm saving myself a bit of money too. If you'd like ...
If it was food for thought you were after then the conference organised by the Social Liberal Forum at City University on Saturday was a huge success. There was challenging thinking and debate across a wide range of topics. Plus some thought provoking presentations from some excellent speakers. So I came away with ideas for several things to write about. Possibly too many. As, aside from other things getting in the way, I have struggled to get my thoughts about the conference into a sensible order. Indeed this is my third attempt to write this post. I gave up the ...
I've eulogised about my own iPad 2 (won by my talk about how the world is slowing down), but if you're not also an iPad 2 owner you've got until the end of the month to put that right by entering a prize draw with 24 iPad 2s to be won. It is being run by Antalis McNaughton, the paper and packaging materials firm who include in their range the Evolve recycled paper popular with many a Liberal Democrat printing society. There is a three question quiz over on their Win with Antalis micro-site - just watch a short film ...
Having just emerged from an examination in which no fewer than three corrections were provided by the lecturer who set the paper (the third in fact being a correction to the first, rather entertainingly), I was interested to read that David Cameron considers the mistakes in recent papers unacceptable. The first thing to say is that the examination to which I referred was, in fact, a university examination - hence why corrections could be provided during the session without providing an unfair advantage. The second thing to say is that David Cameron is right. It really is not good enough ...
Interesting to read news of Israel approving $100 million of building supplies for Gaza, welcomed as "a significant step" by Robert Serry, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. Media coverage of this news acts as a reminder that the Gaza situation is, to put it mildly, far from perfect, but this is still good news. Less cheering is news of the latest attacks on Israeli civilian targets from Gaza, which must be terrifying for the people who live in the areas hit. Israel's vulnerability (for all its great deterrent power) is also underlined by today's news ...
Today there was a joint meeting of Cornwall Council's Tourism Panel and industry representatives held at Rick Stein's Seafood School in Padstow - regrettably the first such joint meeting in two years of existence. First up was a cookery demonstration and tasting session kindly provided by the Seafood School (and duly declared by the councillors present in the register of gifts and hospitality). Great food prepared by two chefs with a great commentary and recipe cards for us to take home. The food itself was Spanish and comes from Mr Stein's new book. Then the main business which was a ...
Wed 22nd
17:15
Social Liberal Forum, Liberal Vision... so many fences to sit on, so hard to choose...
Someone of immense wisdom* suggested to me the other day that the Liberal Democrats are at their best when the three drivers of Party activity - organising, campaigning and thinking - are all heading in the same direction at the same pace. In order to do that, you need people in each of the three strands who understand the value of the other two, and who are influential enough to make it happen. I have to admit to a sense that, to some extent, the campaigning strand has dominated in recent years, leading to a situation where we have become ...
Ed Miliband has attacked the government over plans to remove innocent people accused of rape from the DNA database. Requirements to remove DNA of innocent people from the database form part of the coalition's freedom bill. In doing this we will as a country start to comply with a ruling from the European Courts of Human Rights, that states indefinite retention is illegal. Miliband has picked a hugely emotive crime on which to state his case that DNA of suspects shouldn't be deleted. In doing so he shows the Labour party hasn't changes it's spots when it comes to issues ...
Welcoming the European Court of Justice ruling that a report on MEPs' expenses must be published by the European Parliament, Chris Davies commented: "Bit by bit the parliament is being brought kicking and screaming towards transparency." According to The Independent, it was Chris Davies who first leaked the contents of the report compiled by the parliament's chief internal auditor, Robert Galvin, in 2008. He went on:"I was delighted by the European Court's decision. There is still a long way to go but I would hope pressure will now build to identify what was done to pursue those MEPs identified by ...
Prestwich Tip at Clifton Road will close despite a campaign from thousands of local people to save it, after a vote at last week's meeting of the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA). The Tip, along with similar sites in Shaw, Heywood and Bolton, will close within months, angering thousands of residents who had clamoured ...
A new (ish) group established to oppose statist nannying and promote liberty in Scotland has caught my eye. Take a Liberty Scotland's description alone demonstrates that they are well worth a look: "In one of the Sherlock Holmes stories, The Sign of Four, Dr Watson, having watched Holmes inject himself once again, ponders the idea of telling his friend he shouldn't be doing drugs. However, Watson restrains himself; to do so, he suggests, would be to 'take a liberty'. Why? Because despite wanting to have a go, Watson recognises that Holmes is not a child; he is an adult who ...
I've read with interest today's Herald, which focuses on "SFA fury at British Olympic team claim". As someone who takes a great deal of pride in both my country and our football, I have a strong views on this issue, which seems to have caused no end of unnecessary controversy. I think we firstly have to deal with the arrogance of the English FA which, it seems, yesterday made an announcement to the effect that a "historic deal" had been struck between the FAs of the various home nations to pave the way for a team GB to take part ...
I am moving this weekend, therefore blogging will be light for a few weeks. Don't worry I will still be living in Bracknell.
In recent months, LDV has been bringing its readers copies of our new MPs' and Peers' first words in Parliament, so that we can read what is being said and respond. You can find all of the speeches in this category with this link. Last night, Baron Strasburger, of Langridge in the County of Somerset made his maiden speech in the House of Lords during a debate on the House of Lords Reform Draft Bill. His words are reproduced below. My Lords, it is a very great honour indeed to be making my first speech in your Lordships' House. I ...
What happens to your social media profile when you change jobs? Recently, the BBC's Laura Kunessberg announced she was heading off to ITV. Why doesn't @BBCLauraK simply rename her account to @ITVLauraK in September? Or are her followers the BBC's property?about 10 hours ago via Shkspr's SSL DabrReplyRetweetFavorite@edentTerence Eden Twitter allows any user to change their name and keep all their followers. All of Laura's followers, friends, favourites, tweets, retweets, and lists will dissapear when she swaps to a new account. Or will they? Is @BBCLauraK the twitter account for the BBC's Chief Political Correspondent? Or is it Laura's account? ...
There is nothing greater than the British public embracing classical liberalism. The state is too big and the public sector is grossly expensive. Individuals, across Britain, understanding the unproductive and uninspiring public sector is nothing but a drain on the ... Continue reading →
TweetWell I've just seen this article about The Heterosexual Privilege. I thought I'd repost it in it's entirety as it's so thought provoking and interesting. Enjoy As I've mentioned more than once, I think being gay is pretty awesome - and it comes with a number of benefits, including never having to deal with bloody tampons. But let's face it: When it comes to privileges, straight people definitely take the cake. The Heterosexual Privilege Checklist is a list that helps straight people wrap get a better understanding of what it's like to be gay in a very hetero world. It ...
As this is really a matter for Lib Dem members only, I'll keep it short. If you are a conference representative and are against the accreditation measures set up for our autumn conference contact me to get the text of my motion on the subject.
The BBCs high profile Chief Political Correspondant Laura Kuenssberg is to leave the organisation, to become the Business Editor on ITV, according to her colleague Rory Cellan-Jones: Kuenssberg was a near ever present on our screens in May 2010 in the build up to the general election and it's aftermath. A scourge of many in ...
The Council has been looking at further flooding issues on Styal Road, Gatley and the hope is that the problems are understood and should soon be sorted out. There seem to have been two main issues. One is detritus being washed down and gathering at the bottom, blocking some gulleys. The second is one of the utility companies doing some work which inadvertently put a blockage across a section of the drainage system. Pam has been pressing for action.
Conservative MEPs have been warned that if they fail to vote for a 30% EU emissions reduction target by 2020 in a crucial vote in Brussels tomorrow they will undermine the Prime Minister and the UK's reputation as a leading voice in the fight against global warming. ... Continue reading →
In January of this year, I appointed myself a Godmother. Not of a child (I'm already a godmother to one of them, and she's fabulous, plus I was asked!), but of an organisation - UN Women. As part of the campaign to assist the launch of UN Women, VSO is campaigning for Godmothers (of both sexes), to ensure that UN Women gets the support, financial and moral, it needs for its vital work. Women have been at the heart of the world's events over the past few months. Whether it's campaigning against the driving ban-or-is-it-a-ban in Saudi Arabia, the worldwide ...
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is a campaigning health charity set up in 1971 by the Royal College of Physicians to work towards eliminating the harm caused by tobacco. This could have been a force for good - afterall there is nothing intrisically wrong with wishing to reduce the harm caused by tobacco. It rather depends how you go about it – and that is so often determined by who is footing the bills. ASH receives huge amounts of money from the taxpayer and sadly, like so many publicly funded bodies with too much money and too little scrutiny ...
Wed 22nd
13:13
Blunkett on welfare reform: "In 1997 we embarked on something we didn't carry through"
Last night former Home and Work and Pensions Secretary (amongst other things,) David Blunkett delivered the Centre for Social Justice's Abraham Lincoln lecture. Blunkett was on good form, injecting his lecture with a fairly healthy dose of humour. The lecture was entitled "The politics of fear versus the politics of hope in a rapidly changing world". Blunkett said ...
If you are interested in the Planning Blueprint for South Glos, the Core Strategy, there is now an extra publication you may like to look at and perhaps comment on. The decision by BAE Systems to close Filton Airfield means there is a large area of land that will be left vacant. Should this be a higher priority for housing than the North Yate area? The Government Inspector who will be holding the Examination in Public has asked South Glos Council to put forward their views for discussion on what should happen about this. You can find the Council's Filton ...
Four months ago, I wrote to Waterstones about an error in an eBook I purchased from them. I've finally received a reply... Dear Terence, Some time ago you contacted us regarding the following eBook title, "One of Our Thursdays is Missing (eBook): Thursday Next Series, Book 6" (ISBN: 9781444713039). We have had our eBook supplier investigate the content issue of this eBook title in conjunction with the publishers. They have confirmed that this title has been corrected. Our suppliers have said, "We apologize for any delay that it has taken to resolve this issue. Issues with content require corrections from ...
I have been guilty of being rather unkind to Ed Miliband. This is mainly because he's pretty shocking at his job and that his brother was pretty darn perfect for the job and he stabbed him in the back. However despite claims that I'm anti-Labour it is on record that I was a fan of Tony Blair on many issues, however one I didn't like was Labour's stance on civil liberties and seemingly Ed Miliband is following this trend. In PMQs today Ed Miliband decided to attack the government on their idea that people arrested for questioning on rape allegations ...
TweetI'm currently watching Prime Ministers Question Time, and I've just seen Ed Miliband parrot a Tony Blair line and trample over civil liberties. Miliband just demanded that those suspected of rape, not charged, those simply suspected of rape should have their DNA kept on the database. That's right Ed wants to keep your DNA on a database if you are innocent I thought Ed was going to be the leader that respected civil liberties, that distanced himself from the Blair legacy of databases and DNA harvesting? When I scrape myself off the ceiling with the anger i'm currently using to ...
From David Cameron's Radio 2 appearance this week: If I was running a Conservative-only government I think we would be making further steps on things like immigration control or making sure that our welfare reforms were absolutely making sure that if you're not prepared to work you can't go on welfare. That's a very broad hint as to the extent of Liberal Democrat success in altering what he would like to do to the immigration and welfare systems. Hat-tip: Politics Home.
Some of these are old, because I didn't post them before I went on holiday. They're still good. My Papers Are Not In Order – Sarah Brown on why the new rules mean she won't be going to Liberal Democrat Conference. Prime Cuts – A BBFC senior examiner talks with Index On Censorship about what it takes to get a film banned in the UK. (As a warning, it obviously contains discussion of subject matter that some people may find offensive) My Today programme ambush – Graham Linehan exposes how they tried to manufacture and manipulate an argument, just to ...
As you might have noticed, I was off on holiday last week and A Clash Of Kings was my selection of holiday reading. Not the sort of light stuff people normally recommend for holidays, but then I was in the Lake District rather than lounging on a beach. As ever, spoilers follow, so look away now and don't click the link for more if you don't want to know what happens. Mainly a portrait of a land amidst the chaos of wartime, this keeps up the standard set by A Game Of Thrones. Martin set up a huge number of ...
Howls of righteous outrage greeted Philip Davies' proposal that the disabled should be able to work for less than minimum wage. For once, the righteousness was indeed righteous; the implication of the proposal is that the labour of the disabled is worth less than that of the able-bodied, and so they're less likely to be ...
I am an unhappy man on the issue of tuition fees... However not for the reasons that many are unhappy. I am unhappy because your unhappy and believe you have every reason to be happy which in turn will make me very happy. Make sense? The above may take a second to detangle and make sense of and it is precisely this that the media has used in order to convince many that they have had a raw deal on tuition fees. I quite simply do not agree. I have always been deeply upset that millions of young people do ...
A conference motion "From Lords to Senate in 2015" has been written with contributions from a number of people including those from the Liberal Democrats for Lords Reform campaign. We are now looking for support for this motion from conference reps. If you do support this motion and are a voting conference rep please email Mark Pack at mark.pack@gmail.com with your name, membership number and local party. From Lords to Senate in 2015 Conference notes: 1) the commitment of Asquith's Liberal Government in the 1911 Parliament Act to "substitute for the House of Lords as it at present exists a ...
Sometimes there is a contributer to a debate that makes so much sense and makes the arguements so well you don't need to add comment. Therefore I think I merely need to give you the words of Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, or just plain Paddy to most of us, from the debate in the House of Lords on Lords' Reform yesterday. Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon: My Lords, I apologise to the noble and learned Lord; in my enthusiasm to get at the arguments, I attempted to barge in ahead of him. That was not my intention and I hope that ...
Our constitution has many interesting anomalies, but to me one of the most obvious has always been the way we treat the 'nearly-adults' in our society. Our 16 and 17 year olds are subject to a whole set of rules that are thrown out of the window when they turn 18; similarly, they are unable to do a whole set of things that they are suddenly allowed to on that most auspicious day. We don't let these nearly-adults vote, have credit cards or bind themselves into a credit agreement. They can, however, commit themselves to an extended period in the ...
Well, there's a headline I wouldn't have thought I'd write (though I'll have to go some way to beat Charlotte Henry with this one...). But John Redwood was on breakfast TV this morning advocating that the Eurozone countries should giving, not lending, the money they need to bail out their economy. Ostensibly he said that this was because, as there was no prospect of the Greeks ever being able to pay back the loans, the pain of the extreme severity cuts were an unnecessary evil. He then of course revealed his real reasoning. To paraphrase him, if the members of ...
Local Gatley copper Mark Shaw joined us at Cheadle Area Committee to give a report on local activity and answer any questions. Issues raised included: anti-social behaviour on Hawthorn Road and Baxter Park, Gatley – with issues flaring up at the Gatley Hill end of Hawthorn Road and on Halstead Grove. The police are aware of these issues and working on them. an attempted break-in at the new Tesco in Gatley (it failed) youths gathering at the far end of Belmont Road, in the area past the new houses, and in Gatley Carrs (though of course we need to be ...
The violence in East Belfast on Monday which led to gunfire has led to some serious questions. Yesterday in the Northern Ireland Assembly Alex Maskey (Sinn Féin) opened the Matter of the Day debate stating that this was a UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) attack on the nationalist Short Strand. This was not disputed by either of the Unionist speakers who spoke after him. There was universal condemnation of the violence and support for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) as they had to deal with the aftermath: last night there was tension in the area once more. If it ...
Three months of protests over the continued misrule of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad resulting have led to an estimated 1,300 civilian deaths. With the regime showing little sign of bowing to democratic demands more blood is likely to be spilled. But with blood on his hands one wonders who in the west might be able to broker some sort of deal? Step forward Tony Blair - whose ethical foreign policy was such an inspiration to all those Arab pro-democracy movements he carefully nurtured during his time in office...
So unless you have been living under a rock (or aren't north American/have interest in north American news) then you'll know all about the 'kissing couple' photo from the Vancouver Riots last week. When the hometown Vancouver Canucks lost Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals to the Boston Bruins violence erupted downtown in the Canadian city. Petrol Bombs, Riot Police, it was the standard thing however the following photo emerged that a couple had other things on their mind whilst the city burned... [IMG: Kissing Couple] Vancouver Riots Kissing Couple...? Picture courtesy Getty Images/Yahoo However the man involved has ...
Issues with politician's expenses in Westminster may well be overshadowed following a decision in the European Parliament to release a secret report detailing the widespread abuse of expenses by MEPs. It has been widely known for some time that the European gravy train has been subject to abuse and has resisted scrutiny. There are huge issues regarding a lack of accountablity and transparency. having some light shone on this issue is very welcome though I suspect that the reputation of politicians and the European Union itself will suffer further as a result: A leaked copy of the report to The ...
Early day motion 1918 - UK Parliament This is a list of shame: MPs who want to further the anti-science, anti-evidence, anti-women agenda on the governments advisory panels. Only one Lib Dem so far, but that's still one too many. (tags: dorries) Badger Cull on hold in Wales Hopefully this is good news. (tags: government science) DC Roadshow Hits Dallas - Million Dollar Ad Spend, Justice League Beyond And Black People Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors "The target audience are men age 18 to 34 though they do realize that they have readers in other ...
Southwark Council is undertaking a 'library review'. The consultation process for the review includes a survey questionnaire which will commence in all libraries next week, as well as an online version of the survey being available on the Council's website. (I'll add the link to this when it become available). The terms of reference for the review have been agreed as follows to: - make recommendations for savings and efficiencies of a minimum of £397,000 over the years 2012/13 and 2013/14 (potential library closures). - review demand and usage patterns in order to determine appropriate choices for the future scale ...
Baroness Hussein-Ece To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the recent speech by the United Nations Secretary-General on the lack of progress towards a political solution to a divided Cyprus.Baroness Scott of Needham Market: My Lords, does the Minister agree that the biggest practical problem facing Cypriots wanting to reunify is the difference in GDP between the two halves of the island, and that the best way of improving things on the Turkish Cypriot side would be for the European Union to implement the direct trade regulation? Can the noble Lord assure us that the Government will ...
Wed 22nd
09:35
Advice for Nick and the Lib Dems to improve our polling for the next year: Using the 'what works' ru...
Political opinion comes thick and fast in our mass media age but how much of it is really useful? How much of it gives you new information which will assist the party to improve their standing with the public? There are books, papers and magazines full of opinion but mostly of dissecting what has gone ...
Yate Town Council's free 2-day Community Music Festival will take place in Kingsgate Park this Saturday and Sunday. Saturday Festival opens at 1 pmFeatures local bands, including Live Wire, LA Boolaheads, Midlife Crisis, Uncle Buck, Tundra, Oblio, Blackwolf and One for the Fallen. Performance area, where local dance groups and clubs can promote their acts. Children's rides, side shows, craft and food stalls, face painting, play areas, beer tent. Sunday Praise in the Park event at 10.30 am, organised by local Churches. Picnic in the Park from 3 pm to 5 pm featuring the Apollo Big Band. Please come along, ...
With thanks to David Hamilton for sending me the link on Twitter. A very funny, and pointed, parody of Adam Curtis's programme making by Ben Woodhams. Enjoy!
Just popped in to say that the reason for the lack of blogging is that I've been feeling really rubbish for the past few days. I seem to have managed to exhaust myself completely. In amongst that, thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I have managed to make sure that my beloved has some presents for his forthcoming Diamond Jubilee. I am particularly impressed by the service from one company, but I can't say which in case he reads this! At the moment, I'm sitting in the garage for the second time this week. Our car has a recurring ...
Despite the recent tensions over the AV referendum, NHS reform and general grumbling the coalition between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives is still going. A while back I set out some possible scenarios for what might happen. The one that scored 3 out of 5 was the coalition staying together until 2015. I still think it is the most likely scenario. Whether we do see a fusion between Mill and Hayekian liberalism is another thing. What we have seen is the two parties agree on a sound money policy (Hayek) and a push for more mutuals (Mill) as well ...
There was a wonderful statement from Norman Smith on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme; he said that all of Cameron's u-turns are indicative of 'political expediency trumping fiscal necessity'. The I paper quotes James Forsyth in the Spectator blog as saying Cameron said 'as long as they stuck to deficit reduction voters would know it could hang tough when needed'. But Norman Smith is right. Cameron's desperate plea to the right-whingers yesterday on crime will result in massive costs to the budget, which Cameron said can be extended over three years. This is apparently maintaining a strong line, is it, ...
Of these three degrees it is well to persevere in the second, because the Lord will grant the third in His own good time. - St Philip Neri, Apostle of Rome Filed under: catholic, Cong.Orat., Maxim for the Day Tagged: God, Maxim for the Day, St Philip Neri
Rory McIlroy confounded the critics who queried his nerve and his ability to hold onto a commanding lead after his US Masters collapse in April, by racing to a famous and dominant US Open victory on Sunday evening. Can Murray end that 75 year wait? I blogged here and here about how enormous that success would be in the history of golf. Now, as a sporting fan of some compare, I'm looking forward towards the remainder of Wimbledon as another British sportsman looks to emmulate McIlroy's reach towards the sporting Gods. Andy Murray - Wimbledon Champion? Today sees ...
The internet is once more attracting celebrity worth attention in the latest hacking scandals. Revelations that a 'hactivist' group Lulzsec have been behind attacks on Sony probably appeased many people concerned about card fraud, but the scale of internet hacking now seems to be getting out of hand. From Wikileaks to Gary McKinnon, the hacking phenomena worries governments far more than it worries the main body of people. It comes back to this issue of democracy. Governments, or the UK in any case, like to promote transparency, but only if they can control it. The arguments are murky, some governments ...
Essex will follow bankrupt North Korea with black-outs When seen from space, North Korea is conspicuous by the absence of lights. The bankrupt Communist state, ruled by the tyrannical Kim family, ran out of hard currency to import fuel to run its power stations. Only the show capital Pyongyang can be seen as a blip of light in a sea of black. It is in stark contrast to the advanced economy of South Korea, which blazes with light. Soon Essex will join North Korea with night-long blackouts as the county council blindly searches for a quick fix to its financial ...
I have had a very busy week, dealing with all sorts of enquiries, especially in Bar Hill. You may all want to know why the helicopter was in the air above Bar Hill on Tuesday, 14th June. There was an arrest attempt in Stonefield, the suspect did not comply with the police request and decided to run. This suspect was later arrested opposite Stonefield in the wooden area between Bar Hill and Lolworth, and is now waiting to be charged for various offences. Also this week, a Lithuanian man was arrested in Milton for going round collection charity bags. It ...
Liberal Democrats have named their new front line team on Cambridgeshire County Council for the next year. Group Leader, Councillor Kilian Bourke, who officially took over from Cllr Fiona Whelan on Friday (June 17) is supported by Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, who takes over as Deputy Leader from Cllr Peter Downes. Cllr Graham Wilson has been elected Group Chairman, Cllr Michael Williamson, Group Secretary and Cllr Peter Downes, Group Treasurer. Cllr Susan van de Ven will lead the Transport portfolio for the next year; Cllr Kevin Wilkins has been elected spokesman for Planning, Enterprise and Environment and Cllr Sarah Whitebread will ...
In the latest edition of ALDC's Campaigner I previewed their next publication, written by myself and Shaun Roberts: In communities across the country there are improvements just waiting for a successful campaign to bring them about. Yet there are also people - far too many people in far too many places - who do not believe they and their neighbours have any power to change the streets around them, let alone the wider world. Helping bring about those changes and helping people realise their own power should be at the core of local Liberal Democrat campaigning. It may be as ...
Hector the Inspector If it isn't my old friend, Hector! Before I continue, for those of you below a certain age, Hector was, in his day, a bit of a trailblazer. He was the first attempt by the then Inland Revenue to reach out to the public as if to say, "look, we can laugh at ourselves too". And, believe it or not, his voice was provided by Alec Guinness, the only voiceover the great man ever did. But I digress. When I started as a civil servant, at a time when tax assessments were produced by typists using carbon ...
By far my favourite book of 2010 was Tim Ferriss' New York Times bestseller 'The 4 Hour Work Week' (affiliate link). Although all the attention about the book has been in relation to its chapters on outsourcing and creating an automated income, I personally feel it is fundamentally about personal and financial freedom. It tries ...
births and deaths 22 June 1918: birth of David Ellis, who co-wrote The Faceless Ones (1967) with Malcolm Hulke. 22 June 1953: birth of Ian Levine, among other things continuity consultant to John Nathan Turner. 22 June 2010: death of Pennant Roberts, who directed The Face of Evil (1977), The Sun Makers (1977), The Pirate Planet (1978), Shada (unbroadcast but would have been 1980), Warriors of the Deep (1984) and Timelash (1985).
You can do your own dog joke...Why is it that funny news stories are never actually funny? Like the humour section of a bookshop - not the comic novels, but the Schitts Miscellany of books going after the money of that absurd man Schott. Actually, I've never read Schott's Miscellany and it may be very good, but I couldn't get that last line to scan without changing "that man Schott" to "that absurd man Schott". These things really don't write themselves, you know (perhaps I should try WordPress). Anyway, in yet more evidence that I should never leave the house ...
As if the London Olympics didn't have any more troubles to seek after the ticketing fiasco, they've been caught out lying about a UK football team participating at 2012 as the Beeb reports. One might be accused of cynicism to suggest that hyping up a non-existent 'historic agreement' might be connected to the fact that 1.7 million tickets for the Olympic football - a tournament of dubious quality and limited interest - go on sale on Friday...
Today I have received a response from Penny Henrion, the Chair of Berkshire West PCT, five months after my original letter raising concerns about local Stroke Services in Reading which had been heavily criticised by the independent Care Quality Commission. In it she claims that her office never received it which is possible so I am prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt although I have a copy of the letter that was sent out by Cllr services at the Council. Penny Henrion writes: "The CQC report was published in January 2011 and was based on data relating ...
