The next meeting of Take Back Parliament – Birmingham will be on Weds 27th July at 7pm in the Boardroom at Bennett's Bar, 8 Bennett's Hill, Birmingham, B2 5RS. The Agenda will include strategy discussions with the ERS and Unlock Democracy. We will also be looking at future campaigns. Everyone is welcome. Any queries ...
Thanks to Mark Pack on Lib Dem Voice for introducing us to the Association of Teachers and Lecturers secretary for Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset. Mr Jacques told the Bournemouth Echo that Michael Gove's call to parents to help out in schools during tomorrow's strike is a "licence for paedophiles". The same Echo report quotes the Dorset secretary of the National Union of Teachers accusing the government of "trying to scaremonger". I think we can see who is doing the scaremongering here, and it is not the government.
The Press Complaint committee has upheld two complaints from Electoral Reform Services Ltd that the Chancellor George Osborne, as reported in the Daily Fail and the paper that shall not be named, LIED (OK the language used is that he was wrong) about the use of machines and that Electoral Reform Services Ltd would benefit from a Yes vote on 5th May. Of course the whole issue of cost was a central tenet of the No2AV teams campaign. It was their opening batsmen, their leading goal scorer, their Oscar winning script, all rolled into one. Of course referendum communication we ...
For the first time in the history of the modern Stockton Borough Council tonight's meeting started with a debate triggered by a petition. It should have been a momentous occasion but instead it was low key and to be honest, not very interesting. Billingham House is a 1960s concrete block, liberally laced with asbestos, now standing empty and derelict. To cut a long story short, it was acquired
Wed 29th
22:14
Ashley Fox and Julie Girling reflect on their first two years in the European Parliament
Ashley Fox and Julie Girling (left, both seated) joined "veteran" South West Conservative MEP Giles Chichester in the European Parliament following the elections in June 2009. In the first instalment of a feature on the ConservativeHome website, they have joined four fellow "newbie" Tory MEP to reflect on their first two years in Brussels and Strasbourg within the sidelined ECR group. While their
I know I'm guilty of many a fat finger moment on this website. However, in light of the perceived threat to children's education from the teacher's strike tomorrow, this typo on the Political Scrapbook Top Story did may make giggle: (For what it's worth, I think PSBook is a rather excellent blog, acting as a ...
The City Council recently approved a food waste recycling trial. I'm really supportive of this initiative and have been updated by the council's Recycling Projects Officer as follows : "I am writing to inform you of the forthcoming food waste collection pilot scheme which will be running in your ward. The scheme, which was passed before the Housing, Dundee Contract Services & Environment Services committee on 9th May (ref. 229-2011) is being run in response to anticipated regulatory changes in Scotland's waste management. Following the publication of Scotland's Zero Waste Plan in the summer of 2010, a draft consultation on ...
I noticed in this Sunday's edition of the Luton on Sunday that they had finally got around to reporting on the row that is taking place over Luton's representatives on the Bedfordshire Police Authority. It is about a month since I was wondering on this blog why they were not covering this story. The crucial meeting that left Luton without any representation on the police authority was on the 20th May, so it has taken them a while to catch up. But I'm glad they've got there in the end! See my earlier post for the background to this row. ...
I'm too migrainey today to finish the Mister Miracle post for Seven Soldiers (though those new readers who are waiting can always read this, which is an earlier post I wrote on the same series). The plan is that I'll get that up and posted tomorrow or Friday and the final part in the series ...
Next couple of days are signficant occasions for two very talented young people in their 20s. Andy Murray plays Rafa Nadal in the Wimbledon semi-final on Friday. By the time he sets foot on Centre Court, though, we'll know how Sophie Bridger did in the Inverclyde by-election. Murray and Bridger are stars in their respective fields, and, for both of them, whatever happens in the next few days, the future is full of opportunity. I managed to catch a few minutes with Sophie this afternoon, ironically just as Murray was walking on court for his quarter final match. I didn't ...
Of late, I have found much to disapprove in the government's performance. Michael Gove would be one quick example. The man drives me nuts. But on public sector pensions I believe the government has got it right. It has been clear for years that a government would have to, sooner or later, bite the bullet on pensions. Private companies have been scaling back pension costs for years. It's a fact of life. Channel 4 News Factcheck have looked into this claim by Cameron yesterday: I can look you in the eye and say public service pensions will remain among the ...
As I recently advised, I have had constituents express concern about a proposal to have a taxi rank at St Andrew's Cathedral in Nethergate. I was pleased to learn earlier today that the City Development Department has indicated that : "Due to the high number of objectors, the decision has been made that the proposed taxi rank clearways in both High Street and Nethergate will not be progressed at this time." A sensible outcome.
It's no surprise that Michael Gove's call for parents to help out in strike-hit schools has caused a fair amount of controversy, but I didn't expect a union spokesman to wheel out the old paedophile scare line: [Gove] suggested parents enlist to help out stricken schools and give children something constructive to do, adding that it would save working parents a fortune. But union leaders in Dorset slammed the proposal, claiming it lacked common sense and would cause a "safeguarding nightmare". Phil Jacques, Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) secretary for Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset, claimed implementing the plan would ...
A bit of a surprise at Prime MInister's Questions. I expected Ed Miliband to ask about public sector pensions and the strike tomorrow. It was a bit odd when he asked about the NHS. Cameron later said that Miliband couldn't fire off questions on the strikes subject "because he is in the pocket of the unions." He also rather cheaply accused Miliband of fighting shy of Greece "because his plan is to make Britain like Greece." Then, Cameron reach his climax with a line which must have been honed over much midnight oil in Downing Street: He has to talk ...
Willets has spoken, but one may mistake him for an Orange Booker. While I'm not saying that perjoratively, I won't confess to sharing all of the opinions in the free-market bible of sections of the Liberal Democrats. An idiom caught my eye in the Standard's editorial, "for the priveledge". The context is that university students past and present have had to pay for a priveledge. Which, in the meaning of the word, stops it being a priveledge, surely? A priviledge is a right, benefit or immunity from something as a result of status, rank or other favour. Since the introduction ...
Clegg spoke to the LGA conference this morning and got a pretty good reception. Mind you he was assisted by a particularly sycophantic question from the Leader of Portsmouth City Council that was so obsequious that it brought groans even form the Clegg supporters in the hall. Nevertheless he brought good news that will genuinely gladdened the hearts of all those who want to see the independence of local government strengthened. We will be moving to a situation where we can raise locally about 80% of the money we spend. Clearly there needs to be a centrally governed equalisation mechanism ...
The saga of Cornwall's 'tourist tax' rumbles on and it appears that the Council's attempts to quash the story are having little effect. The latest incidence is a speech by the Leader of Westminster Council (a Conservative) at the Local Government Association Conference. According to the Conservative Home website: "citing the example of Cornwall Council, which is investigating the possibility of a implementing Britain's first tourist tax, Councillor Barrow said Westminster provided hundreds of services to the millions of visitors to central London for which it received no funding."Cornwall Council's Leader Alec Robertson is at the LGA conference as am ...
'The warping influence of nationalism' is threatening peace and prosperity in Europe again. The phrase from the old Liberal Party Constitution preamble-and often attributed to Elliot Dodds-reflects a deeply held Liberal view that nation states need to be bound together more closely and their peoples will more likely live in peace and prosperity if law governs the relations betwen nations. The economic collapse that followed WW1 led to the retreat into protectionism and nationalism Keynes famously predicted that that the war reparations demanded of Germany would impoverish the peoples of central Europe to a point beyond endurance. In his 'Economic ...
She's Not There - Neko Case and Nick Cave by WaterTowerMusic
I have changed the title of my blog to "The Revolving Orange". The basis for this is that "Orange Revolution" sounded a little right on whereas the new title has more of a 24 hour news feel about it. It also has an unintended radical protestant feel which is enhanced by the complete lack of colour to the site now that my home-made banner with a picture of an orange has been removed. On the whole, though, I think it's an improvement and intend to stick with it.
So many people are raising the issue of public sector workers getting a better deal than private sector workers, but they are completely missing the point. Richard Godwin in the Standard observes "it remains true that most of have been excluded even from the kind of schemes the public sector workers are being offered as a compromise" but this is almost a petulant point. When the right use this argument, they are embodying the phrase 'it's not fair' in a different form. But the public sector workers are also saying 'it's not fair'. They pay a percentage of their salary ...
Yesterday's finance bill.John Hemming (Birmingham, Yardley) (LD): I have found it odd recently that some private health insurers will pay those whom they insure to use the NHS. If that is the habit of private health insurance, where does the hon. Gentleman think the saving to the taxpayer is in allowing this tax relief?Michael Connarty: I did not want to cite that example, although it is a good
TweetIt has recently emerged that Scottish civil servants have been banned from saying the word homosexual, because some in the gay community may find it offensive. This is just a step to far and it's being supported by notorious LGBT Rich gay man's group Stonewall is supporting it. I may not personally like "homosexual "but banning it is just a step too far. Now let me say i sympathise with a cause of moving away from the term homosexual, it's a term far to associate with a condition, a mental illness, and hardly ever said in the nicest of ways ...
I've just been taking a wee look at yesterday's Scotland Bill Committee meeting at Holyrood which heard evidence from John Swinney and Bruce Crawford from the SNP Government. Willie Rennie, the Liberal Democrat member of that committee, took them to task for the way in which they have behaved throughout the whole Calman process. They did next to nothing (and then, out of the blue, they come out with a whole series of demands that they hadn't thrown into the mix before. To me, it's a bit like they're treating the constitutional process like putting up one of these pop ...
Radio two had an interesting discussion this afternoon regarding the fate of the British High Street. One suggestion that came up was running local loyalty schemes. This struck me as just the sort of thing that could work quite well in Calderdale. The Totally Locally campaign has been doing a great job in promoting the local shops and businesses, and this could be just the sort of thing they could get involved with. It would be interesting to talk to some local shop keepers to see if the idea carried much enthusiasm. You would have to make sure it was ...
I was talking to a friend last night about split infinitives. – As you do. The chat included the views of Ms Ann Widdecombe on the matter (she is very hot on correct use of the infinitive). But it reminded me of this clip, which is wonderful and deserves another outing:
Recommended reading for Lib Dem councillors and local campaigners from the last seven days: There's been a range of good bits of news for Liberal Democrats in both national and local government. Firstly, the government has proposed that local councils should be able to keep the business rates generated from their area whilst also promising that no councils will lose out financially. A good bit of localising taxation that we support: The Independent has also covered 'community budgets' as another part of our pledge to help local areas operate services more successfully: The Government has also announced that all new ...
With a relatively low-key blog post, Google has announced details of its long-talked about new foray into social networking - Google+. Google's hit rate with its new projects is fairly low. It knows that if it tries out enough new ideas, the occasional one will be the sort of success that more than makes up for the efforts which went into the flops. Even in social networks, there have been plenty of flops already - remember Google Sidewiki, Google Buzz or Google Wave to name but three? However, Google+ has three things going for it that make it look, at ...
Monday marked 100 days since the air campaign began in Libya. Resolution 1973 authorises 'all necessary measures to protect civilians'. The resolution, however, specifically excludes a foreign occupation force of any form on Libyan territory. The White House was always lukewarm, at best, to the prospect of international intervention in Libya and has taken a back seat in the operation. As yet the combination of rebel forces and NATO air strikes has failed to have much significant strategic impact. Indeed, the Gaddafi regime seems intent on playing the long game and out lasting the unlikely combination of NATO airpower and ...
Independents Day Next Monday, join the Independents Day campaign and strike a blow for individuality by buying at least one thing from a local, independent shop. There's a great selection in the Queen Edith's ward alone - everything from soy sauce at the Chinese supermarket on Wulfstan Way to koi fish at the tropical fish shop on Blinco Grove. I gave my campaign poster away to Mr Abdulali at the friendly Bun Shop on Cherry Hinton Road, but you can download one for your window or noticeboard here. Cambridge City Council and Love Cambridge, the City Centre partnership, are backing ...
Reading Richard Toye's enjoyable Lloyd George & Churchill: Rivals for Greatness, I was startled to read that, when successfully seeking election in 1906 as the Liberal MP for Manchester North-West, "Churchill was seen as the star of the campaign: he not only gave ju-jitsu demonstrations but...also wore interesting hats". Hats I can take or leave, but ju-jitsu sounds like a splendid idea. How have we managed without it? Is there time for the Lib Dem Candidates' Office to arrange some training sessions for this year's party conference? What I would love to know is, on whom did Churchill demonstrate ju-jitsu? ...
There is currently a South Glos consultation about a 20 mph speed limit within the new development - this is normal nowadays for similar new cul-de-sac streets. It probably won't make much difference except for deterring young motorcyclists from racing up and down the roads. You will probably have seen the road works on Cotswold Road outside Elswick Park - the 30 mph speed limit is going to be lengthened, there will be a toucan crossing and people won't be able to turn right out of Elswick Park.
There is a real danger that many prospective students will be put off from going to university due to the confusion, half-truths and lies, often left unchallenged, relating to the new system of university funding and graduate contributions. A bright light which breaks through the fog can be found over at MoneySavingExpert.com, where Martin Lewis pares things back to the bare facts. His Student Loans Guide 2012 makes the following key points: Existing students stay on the old system of loans Students don't pay anything up front Graduates will pay back £540 per year less than they do under the ...
Danny Finkelstien's article on Richard Wainwright gave me the opening to pursue my campaign to re-instate employee ownership as a central plank of the next manifesto. Due to the paywall at the Times the formatting below is a little erratic. Nevertheless I think I have the text as the Times printed it in their letter page yesterday Liberal values Sir, Daniel Finkelstein's reflections on Matt Cole's excellent biography of Richard Wainwright (June 23) will be welcomed by many Liberals. Wainwright represented the best in the old Liberal party. The "holy grail" of his Liberalism was the party's radical plans for ...
I wonder how the person who was sitting in the legal advisor's chair in Salford Magistrates' Court on 5th April this year is feeling, knowing that they are intricately involved in today's top story on the BBC News website about ... Continue reading →
The blog reported on the bloated pay out to Mark Dowd as chair of Merseystravel (more to follow). In the past their poor governance arrangements have been highlighted, the financial disaster of the tram and now we learn of a U turn costing £1.5m carried out -many alleged- at the behest of the rail unions. Tony Roberson comments-link on blog roll on the right- and the Liverpool Daily Post has the full story. That is £1.5 million down the tubes and a plan that is seen as a sensible way forward scuppered. the Chief Exec told the meeting: ....... £1.5m ...
Back for the fifth year, Yate International Festival offers a wide range of music and dance from around the world - Irish, Egyptian, Chinese,cto name just a few - plus performances by Ridge School Gymnastics, Raysfield Dancing Group and Sodbury Community Choir. Mix in drumming and salsa, and it promises to be a good day. The events take place on St Mary's Green, running continuously from 10.30 until 4.30. There will also be Hindu Puppet Theatre performances in the Heritage Centre at 11.30 am and 2.00 pm.
£932 billion is the national debt-as of today-of the United Kingdom. We owe £14,819 per every man, women and child and it equates to £32,250 for every person who is currently employed. This year, we will increase the nation debt by ... Continue reading →
I am at the LGA conference in Birmingham staying at the Weatherspoon's Lodge. I am being stared down on by a large picture of Joe Chamberlain and William Morris. This establishment is called the Briar Rose named after a series of paintings by Morris's long term collaborator Burne Jones. Whilst her I have already visited St Philip's which has some of the most amazing stain glass windows by Burne Jones This morning Clegg addressed the conference. I thought it was a tad risky for him to refer to Richard Kemp's farewell dinner as a 'banquet' The potential for the right ...
In recent weeks Ed Miliband has being trying to counter how bad he is at PMQs by going very specific, picking very small details of legislation to grill the Prime Minister on. It might heighten the perception that Ed is little more than a wonk, but it has kind of worked too. It probably would if Ed ...
There were three necessary but not sufficient conditions that had to be fulfilled before I could declare myself as a candidate to be nominated as the Lib Dem Candidate for Mayor of London in 2012. That I honestly believed that I had the support of a wide range of people from both within and outside the party, that I could do a better job than I did last time and that I was able to offer something other candidates could not. I believe those conditions are now met, which is why I am, here and now, declaring myself to be ...
[IMG: Plans for Linden House in Stansted Mountfichet] Uttlesford's licensing committee reached a reasonable compromise over the contentious issue of a license for music and alcohol at the new Linden House hotel. Click here for the licensing committee's full list of recommendations. The licence was approved with some conditions set by the committee. These are: Music, dance and the supply of alcohol will start at noon to midnight Sunday to Thursday and 1am on Friday and Saturday – the original application requested 9am as the start Music from the premises measured as a 5 minute Leq shall not exceed 45 ...
A fundamental part of any constitution must be the funding mechanism for political activity. Such laws must protect free speech, but prevent those with the deepest pockets having the loudest voices. I believe that two simple principals must be satisfied for these objectives to be realised. Firstly, only registered voters should be allowed to donate. No "organisations," whether trade unions or companies, should be able to donate (although they should be allowed, even encouraged, to circulate details of how to donate among their members, for example.) There could even be a "loophole" for trade unions whereby they can collect & ...
Here is a comment from Robin Teverson, member of the House of Lords, in response to my post here on the recent Commons debate on the subject. I am reproducing it here to give it a tad more prominence that it would get beneath my original post. Though most of this is true the area I do disagree with is that it is so obvious that the reformed Lords would not challenge the Commons for supremacy. I suspect it would, just like in the EU the Parliament more and more challenges the Council of Ministers (which has historically been the ...
I spotted this poster today, encouraging people to search for the Twitter hashtag "#Transformers". [IMG: Transformers Poster Twitter Hashtag] Wouldn't it make sense to use a QR code as well? That way people could quickly scan, and be taken straight to the discussion, rather than have to fire up Twitter and do a manual search. As it happens, it's slightly tricky to make a QR code which searches for a Twitter hashtag. There are two things to note: Twitter's search URLs are annoyingly different from every other search URL on the planet. You will need to take care of URL ...
Basildon and Tendring have the highest level of structural poverty The Department of Health has published some comprehensive statistics that highlight the extremes of wealth and poverty in Essex. Basildon, Harlow and Tendring are the county's poorest districts and Uttlesford, Rochford and Maldon are the wealthiest areas to live. There is one indicator that Uttlesford scores poorly – the percentage of children who take part in at least three hours of high quality physical education and school sport within and beyond the curriculum in a typical week of the academic year is just 46.7%, the second lowest level in the ...
Das Rheingold [The Rhine Gold], opera in four scenes and introduction of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen [The Ring of the Nibelung]. Performed at the Wermland Opera in Karlstad, 27 June 2011. The news that one of Sweden's smaller ... Continue reading →
Labour's approach to dealing with the threat of terrorism was illiberal and ineffective. The regime they built was topped off by control orders, which remain one of the most odious elements of their legacy. These orders totally bypassed due legal process, establishing a bewildering clandestine world of secret evidence, special advocates and draconian restrictions that would have made Kafka blush. The irony was that all this authoritarian paraphernalia, which did great damage to civil liberties many of us had previously taken for granted, failed utterly to achieve its intended purpose. Not a single person subject to a control order has ...
There are many things all journalists know but one thing is more important than all the others – when your name moves from the by-line to the title then something has gone awry. The story should never be about you and if a story is about you then nine times out of ten it's not going to be a positive one – journalists rarely write a story on how good another journalist is. So we get to the shenanigans of yesterday and the award winning journalist Johann Hari. There was a twitter storm as it came out that he had ...
On the 5th May 2011 I failed in my attempt to be re-elected to Luton Borough Council after eight years serving as an elected councillor. This article is part of a series of posts where I attempt to process what those eight years have meant for myself by asking the question "what did I achieve?" in that time. The final achievement I want to highlight in this series of posts is the one that means the most to me. This is the work that I did to create Luton Culture. In short this is the story of the actions I ...
Friday saw me attending the Lothian and Borders Police Board. I am not a member but occasionally I substitute for some one who is double booked. I was particularly pleased to see the Chief Constables Annual Report. As well as an excellent snap of the local Murrayfield beat bobby this featured good news about the close partnership working between the police and the council which has resulted in crime and antisocial behaviour figures tumbling. I was also delighted to see a feature on the bonfire initiative in West Edinburgh which was such success in the run up to last years ...
TweetFollowing yesterday's twitter storm, about Johann Hari who has admitted that he regularly takes quotes from others work if they express the same idea that person did in the interview, he has written, what some of us what call a very feeble attempt an apology. So when is an apology not really an apology? Well in this case when it's Hari's attempt. I was once scorned by an English teacher who said "just because you write in conclusion doesn't make it a conclusion," well Johann just because you write that you are sorry doesn't mean that you actually are does ...
This morning's Independent details yet more Liberal Democrat influence in Government with a report on a speech by Nick Clegg in which he will promise to make communities "masters of their own economic destinies" by handing them more power over spending. Speaking at a local government conference, Mr Clegg will signal legislation giving councils more control over the taxes they raise. They will also be able to borrow against income from business rates to fund investment in their areas. The Liberal Democrat leader is to say: "Every Government preaches localism. This Government will practise it. "In terms of real decentralisation, ...
The Times is reporting(£) that a Conservative Whip, Brooks Newmark, has been to Syria to meet President Assad, who's regime is facing wide ranging criticism for the brutal way it has tried to suppress protest for democratic change. The MP for Braintree has apparently met Assad on a previous occasion, and informed Foreign Secretary William ...
Current events in Greece are genuinely transformational in more ways than one. Clearly the Greek economy is in a heck of a mess. It is not at all obvious whether either of the future directions on offer - eye-watering austerity, on the one hand, or default, exit from the euro and return to the drachma, ...
Christopher Shale is all over the news for many reasons but he did pose some very interesting points about Conservative Party membership in which he sought for to achieve a transformational increase in membership. His points equally apply to the Lib Dems and we could learn a lot from where he started which was asking ...
The Guardian reports today 'Post-Gaddafi blueprint heeds errors of Iraq' with Britain calling for essentially a lessons-log on strategic planning. I can start them off; Don't invade countries when you can't afford it Don't invade countries Don't use mission creep as justification Don't invade only countries that supply oil Make a resolve and stick to it – be it human rights, democracy or dictatorship. Don't wax and wane about them to twist out of scrutiny Don't think it'll be a brief intervention Don't bomb civilians Don't bestow privileges Don't listen to Tony Blair Don't think it can be over easily ...
Vindicated! Again! Clarke revealed yesterday the only change to self defence would be a further clarification of the law, as reported in the Guardian today. There will be no reprieve for those who intentionally murder or commit gbh in the persuance of protecting their property, self or family. Quite simply, no government can justify commiting an indictable offence as a defense to something, just as it cannot be considered duress. I'm getting quite fond of Clarke.
Natural England has recently declared that Wapley Bushes is an Ancient Woodland - that means it's more than 400 years old. To celebrate, there's a guided walk through the woods and meadows on Sunday. The meadows are currently full of wild flowers and butterflies. The walk will also showcase some of the major projects that the Wapley Bushes Conservation Group has undertalken over the past year. Everyone welcome - meeting at the Shire Way gate, next to the zebra crossing. Please wear suitable footwear.
Yesterday was fun. While I do enjoy the writings of Johann Hari, there's no denying that he's frequently sanctimonious and pompous, and the sight of hundreds of people gently mocking his erstwhile practice of replacing quotes from his interviewees with quotes from their other public outpourings was, quite frankly, hilarious. Hari appears to have taken ...
Johann Hari is used to provoking controversy - as the Independent's most outspoken left/liberal columnist its his stock-in-trade - but yesterday found himself on the receiving end of criticism of his integrity. The reason? His repeated borrowing of quotes from interviews published by other journalists which he then drops into his own interviews as if they had been made directly in conversation. The accusation first surfaced last week on the DSG blog concerning an interview Mr Hari undertook with 'Italian communist and every ultra-leftist's favourite "psychopath"', Toni Negri. And the accusation went mainstream after Yahoo editor Brian Whelan's demolition job, ...
Richard Corbett has posted about British press and BBC coverage of a newish building in Brussels. It's a small story but symptomatic of the distortions of our xenophobic media.While I'm here, may I also pour some cold water on the Eurosceptics' glee at Greece's problems, which of course they blame on the Euro. Greece's problems are endemic and caused by overspending and inefficient
Tomorrow's meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee will be webcast for the first time. Full Council and Cabinet meetings have been broadcast to the public for some time now but this will be the first time one of the other committees will be seen live by people outside County Hall. This is a definite advance ...
Another LibDem policy to be carried out: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13952431
Yesterday the Boundary Commission for England published its booklet explaining how it will be running the review process. The content does not contain any surprises, though it is worth noting the strength of its comments about (not) splitting wards: In the absence of exceptional and compelling circumstances ... it would not be appropriate to divide wards in cases where it ispossible to construct constituencies that meet thestatutory electorate range without dividing them. The Lewis Baston / Guardian projected constituency boundaries which got a fair amount of news coverage recently divide wards in far more cases than is compatible with this ...
Wed 29th
08:45
Johann Hari: You've not let me down, you've not let the left down, you've let blimey how patronising...
I expect everyone has heard about the Johann Hari and the 'plagiarism ' row. In a nutshell, he stands accused of cutting and pasting quotes from old articles into pieces he has written to'clarify' his interviewees point of view. What's more, he's putting his hand up and admitting to it - though not conceding in any way that what he did was wrong (Please see addendum - this has now changed...). There's a fairly comprehensive piece on the affair over at Andrew Emmersons blog which includes links to Brian Whelan and then Toby Young's 'expose' and 'analysis' of the issue. ...
Liberal Vision have a 'take no prisoners' piece on the Lib Dem Inquiry. A key theme which seems to be emerging from this and other discussions is the degree to which people who worked on the campaign are going to be asked to contribute their experiences.
Or so Andrew Gilligan claimed in the Daily Telegraph earlier this week: A London council leader used staff paid by the taxpayer to campaign for the Labour Party in a recent parliamentary by-election. Lutfur Rahman, the controversial directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets, took a coachload of people, including a number working for the council, to canvass for Labour at the Leicester South by-election. The visit took place during working hours on a weekday. Asked by The Daily Telegraph, the council refused repeatedly to deny that the staff were on duty at the time.Gilligan goes on to explain that Rahman ...
It's one of the most famous front page headline images in British press history. When the British sank the Argentinian Navy light cruiser the Belgrano on May 2nd 1982, it resulted in the death of 323 Argentinians - just over half of their total death toll during the Falklands War. The Sun's notorious front page summed up what was for many, a jingo-istic campaign. It was also controversial because it was said that the Belgrano was both outside the exclusion zone and also pointing away from the Falkland Islands and towards Argentina when it was struck. It was named after ...
One of the most shameful decisions by a Lib Dem council group was that by those running Aberdeenshire. In 2008 they backed the avaricious American property tycoon (and employer of some of the most creative hairdressers in the world) - Donald Trump - to tear up acres of pristine beach at Balmedie, north of Aberdeen, to create an exclusive golf resort for his millionaire chums. The decision split the Lib Dem group and allowed the SNP government to slip off the hook when the decision was called in and endorsed by Alex Salmond. However a protest movement called Tripping up ...
births and deaths 29 June 1943: birth of Maureen O'Brien, who played Vicki in 1964-65. 29 June 1980: birth of Katherine Jenkins, who played Abigail Pettigrew in A Christmas Carol (2010). 29 June 1999: death of Declan Mulholland, one of the few Irish-sounding actors to appear on Who, who played Clark in The Sea Devils (1972) and Till in The Androids of Tara (1978). 29 June 2000: death of John Abineri, who played van Lutyens in Fury from the Deep (1967), Carrington in The Ambassadors of Death (1970), Railton in Death to the Daleks (1974) and Ranquin in The Power ...
Final Minutes Of Last Harry Potter Movie To Be Split Into Seven Separate Films | The Onion - America's Finest News Source | Onion News Network Speaks for itself really! (tags: sf funny) Before You Were Born: The Real Jersey Shore | Nerve.com Young love in New Jersey in the 1960s. (tags: life)
This driver was caught by Chris dismantling the barrier on Ridgmont Road last week. Leaving aside the sheer irresponsibility of the (sadly) anonymous driver, it goes to show that the impasse reached between the county council and Network Rail cannot go on. Chris has taken matters into his own hand and is trying to get Network to recognise their responsibility for the shoddy barrier they erected. They have responded asking him for more details. Network Rail is even worse to deal with than First Capital Connect. Their shocking internal disorganisation – dating back to British Rail days – means that ...
I'm pleased that The Council has decided to let local councillors know about applications to vary licences, so we can keep an eye on them on behalf of residents. I got the first two the other day, and though neither is in this ward they make interesting reading as examples of the information given. Application for a premises licence with alcohol for The Stanefordham, The Grove, Consett, Co. Durham, DH8 8EP from Pauline Munro. · (e) Live Music (Indoors) – Mon – Sun – 10.00 Hrs until 00.00 Hrs · (f) Recorded Music (Indoors) Mon – Sun – 10.00 ...
My hon. Friend points out that difficult choices had to be made; indeed, they would undoubtedly have had to be made if a Labour Government had been returned. Does he recall that it was the policy of the last Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer to raise VAT to 19%?
