From @Sun_Politics: The Guardian apologising to The Sun in its edition tomorrow re false Gordon Brown allegations. Not something you often see. Guardian: "We incorrectly reported Sun had obtained information on the medical condition of Gordon Brown's son from his medical records... In fact the information came from a different source and the Guardian apologises for its error".
With thanks to Wartime Housewife.
In his speech in the Commons yesterday Gordon Brown spoke of those at News International who took the freedom of the press as a licence for abuse, who cynically manipulated our support of that vital freedom as their justification, and who then callously used the defence of a free press as the banner under which they marched in step, as I say, with members of the criminal underworld.Fair comment and it is impossible not to have sympathy for Gordon and Sarah Brown over the disgusting way that the Sun exposed their son's illness. But as Matthew d'Ancona shows in the ...
Squatters. It is very difficult not to rise to the (surprising) bait in the Guardian where they report squatters can be "genuinely destitute" yet provides a picture of fashionably dressed teens posing outside a property looking like an X Factor line up. The article also states "Lawyers have also warned...cases could be used against Travellers, Gypsies and protestors engaged in direct action" One gets the impression that the author doesn't necessarily consider this a bad thing. Nor do the Tories, proposing this legislation. Given the extent to which they persecuted Brian Hawes and the rise in 'sit-ins' from a younger ...
Clarke seems to have found a way to save on his prison budget; by closing prisons and putting others out to tender. The circa 15 line piece in the Guardian provides little information (Tory addage 'never explain, never apologise'). HMP Latchmere and Brockhill will close, and other prisons will be contracted out. Perhaps with so few courts left, there will be less prosecutions; or with police cuts, there will be less arrests? But flippancy won't help. I'm veru pro a strong criminal justice system that imposes the law but also takes a holistic approach, providing reasons and justified justice alongside ...
Thu 14th
22:26
The hypocrisy of Gordon brown: "The people of this country have always been at risk from huge concen...
TweetMuch will be hysterically written about Gordon Brown and his speech to Parliament yesterday on phone hacking, indeed much of it will be childish and pointless and completely miss the point. Gordon was in bed with the Murdochs just as much as anyone ever has been. But something else in his speech struck me. I read it in a tweet today, and had to check out Hansard to see if the man could actually come out with it. It was this. In the long and winding evolution of our rights and freedoms, the people of this country have always been ...
Today I joined the 2 judges as they toured Southport viewing our town and neighbourhood entries. in this year's North West in Bloom Competition. Fortunately the sun shone all day, everyone was happy and Southport was looking good. Our entries in this competition have expanded over the last few years and it now takes a day and a half to judge all of the entries. The judges were looking for horticultural achievement, environmental responsibility and community participation. The results will be announced in October at a presentation night in our own Floral Hall. Southport is also entered into the national ...
The News International crisis has been a shocking, but welcome gift to Labour leader Ed Miliband. It's tough being in Opposition. It's tough because there's basically very little to do. The Government - two parties, not just one - get on with exercising real power. When your power is reduced to opposing the Government's agenda, it takes a real cock-up by the Government or a real political scandal to really make yourself heard. David Cameron, as Opposition leader, really began to make the political weather when Gordon Brown flunked the election that never was. Even Nick Clegg, as Lib Dem ...
Phone hacking and News International are both terrible things, and they have, understandably, dominated the headlines over the past couple of weeks. However, there's another scandal in Scotland - that of the appalling conditions endured by prisoners at Scotland's only women's prison, Cornton Vale, near Stirling. Not once, but twice now, HM Inspector of Prisons has uncovered horrendous conditions there. In 2009 he outlined a series of failings. Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, did very little to remedy the situation. This may be because he and Alex Salmond have made it clear that they consider prisoners among the vilest people ...
TweetWith thanks to @Hmatthews92 for sharing this originally
Possibly not the best, but definitely one of the most entertaining – how many other PQs feature 'burlesque chanteuse Lady Beau Peep' ?!? From yesterday's written answers: Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what date the decision was taken by his Department to authorise public expenditure on an away day at the Brickhouse burlesque club; how much was spent on the away day and on which contractors and firms; what form the teambuilding event took; and what steps have been taken to reduce expenditure on away days. [59209] Robert Neill: This away ...
I often get the impression that many readers don't understand or literally haven't a clue of what little protection if any, workers in some parts of business and private sector have, in fact I was surprised recently when a Labour councillor contacted me, concerning Unite's campaign highlighting working conditions and practices at Thanet Earth ( I didn't realise there was anyone left in Labour who cared about working people). I was happy to forward contact details of Unite's organiser, whom I notice has sent me an email updating me on their campaign against Thanet Earth's working conditions, Unite's protest includes ...
The 2011 Holyrood elections were hardly our finest moment. A number of factors combined (not least the perception of our role in government) to reduce our presence in the Scottish parliament to a mere 5 MSPs. This is a particularly bitter pill to swallow that requires an honest appraisal of both our current predicament and the way forward. Our own troubles coincided with a surge in Alex Salmond's personal popularity and the SNP gaining a historic majority in Holyrood. Again, there were numerous factors in play in determining the outcome of the election - not least the ineffectiveness of Labour's ...
If damaging details emerge Clegg could go to Cameron and say that his party is deeply committed to the coalition but it can no longer serve under him as prime minister. At this point Cameron has to decide: does he sacrifice his career to save the coalition, paving the way for another Tory to take his place as prime minister, or does he soldier on as leader of a deeply unstable minority administration? Lib Dems are enjoying the prospect of bringing down Cameron. It would allow them to go into the next election saying they had saved two cherished British ...
Torchwood is on British TV again this evening, our transatlantic friends having already seen the new episode; but we've also had three new Torchwood audios over the last few days, broadcast on BBC Radio Four and downloadable from the Beeb's site, featuring John Barrowman as Jack, Eve Myles as Gwen and Gareth David Lloyd as Ianto (which gives you an idea of the setting in continuity). The first thing to say about them is that, unlike in the three Torchwood audio plays broadcast two years ago, John Barrowman appears to have woken up and discovered how to act without the ...
The Archbishop of Canterbury and other Christian leaders are organising a conference on Christians in the Holy Land, that being the subject of Rowan Williams' appeal at General Synod's July 2011 Group of Sessions. "The Holy Land" is what Dr Williams and some other religious people choose to call Israel, the West Bank and East Jerusalem (although not, on this occasion, Gaza or Jordan, it appears). Christians in Israel itself enjoy a freedom of worship that would be envied elsewhere in the Middle East, although Israeli governments do sometimes get things wrong, and there is much that can be done ...
Cllr Khan's blog It appears that Kirklees Council taxpayers may be funding political campaigning by the Council's leader, Cllr Mehboob Khan. Cllr Khan has a blog at mehboobkhan.net. I noticed recently that the domain registration information for mehboobkhan.net suggested it was owned by Kirklees Council and so made a Freedom of Information request to confirm whether this the case and find out how much this is costing. The Council have now responded to my request and confirmed that they own mehboobkhan.net and that this costs £9.99 each year; a total cost of £19.98 since December 2009 when the domain was ...
Am I alone in enjoying the exquisite vision of the Assistant Sergeant at Arms of the House of Commons delivering summonses to Rupert and James Murdoch? I think it is that little bit of Madame Tricote, which we all have in us, coming out in me. There is irony here. Rupert Murdoch is, apparently, getting his come-uppance at the hands of an apparatus which was set up by his right-wing soulmate, Mrs Thatcher – namely a Commons Select Committee. There is already speculation that Jon Stewart on the US Daily Show will spend at least ten minutes on this element ...
Liberal Democrat members of Harborough District Council have tabled a motion of no confidence in NHS Leicestershire County and Rutland Primary Care Trust (PCT) over its mishandling of the redevelopment of St Luke's Hospital in Market Harborough to the authority's next full meeting. The motion, to be debated at the next full meeting of the council, reads: On The Matter of the Harborough Hospital The anger and dismay at the inability of the PCT to provide/complete Harborough's long awaited new/refurbished hospital and in particular the modular minor procedure/endoscopy unit is cause for deep concern. The PCT has a record of ...
Watching the Home Office Select Committee interrogate present and past Met Police Officers this week made me wonder whether the RSCPA should have been called in. I felt that the ferocious MPs on the Committee were (understandably) trying to make up for their previous failure to get anywhere near the full horrendous habits of some of the Murdoch media. They clearly now believe that News of the UnderWorld did have a very special relationship with the Police as well as with successive tenants of No 10. However, in the cold light of dawn I am musing on the contrast between ...
Like many I assume I noticed today's huge jump in burglary figures (up 14%) and I was a little alarmed. I like to think I don't jump to conclusions but the immediate factors sprung to mind, the recession, people struggling to get by and as a result getting more desperate. Is this the reason though? Thankfully no - as pointed out by another excellent blog by Mark Easton. The reason for the large jump is an abnormally low figure for the previous year. The current figure is actually pretty much in the same sort of region as the prior 4 ...
Fair dos and congratulations for most of the coalition's policy and actions on localism. They mean it. Even my old mucker Eric Pickles is sticking to what he says. 90% of the Localism Bill is localist and supportable. 90% of ... Continue reading →
Before the Guardian broke the News of the World story I was planning on writing a blog in relation to the smoking ban as a result of John Hemming's contribution to the Lib Dem Voice. I didn't get round to it then so here I go 10 days late. I was really happy when the smoking ban was introduced, as a none smoker I would wake up after a night out needing a shower and a fresh set of clothes (not that I don't always change my clothes you understand, but even going out with a jacket or the trousers ...
The Nomination for the LGA Lib Dem Group Elections 2011 have now closed The remaining election timetable is as follows: 22 July Ballot papers despatched 15 Aug Ballot closes 19 Aug Results announced 1 Sept Post take effect. Nominations Group Executive Group Leader Vernon-Jackson, Gerald Portsmouth Deputy Leader (Policy) White, Chris Hertfordshire Deputy Leader (Political) Ali, Zulfiqar Rochdale Kidd, Heather Shropshire Thornhill, Dorothy Watford Group Chair Shortland, Jill Somerset Group Whip Sykes, Howard Oldham Commission Leads Fire Aspden, Keith York Hilton, Jeremy Gloucestershire Price, Roger Hampshire Shannon, Paul Manchester Rural Collins, Stan Cumbria Cordwell, John Gloucestershire Dobinson, Adrian Mendip Kidd, ...
Whenever you're wondering what to blog, I find an unfortunate picture of Ed Miliband always solves the problem, and gives everyone a cheery fillup to boost. Charlotte A Henry has found the picture of the day with this beauty. But I also rather like this one. Not that funny in itself. Until you see the story it illustrated. Did they really need a News International backdrop... PS Charlotte A Henry has announced she's no longer blogging at Virtually Naked from now on...and I'll miss it. It was a terrific blog and very well written. I hope she comes back to ...
Thu 14th
15:15
"Liberal Way Forward for the Press: Free, Accountable, Plural" - Nick Clegg's speech in full
This morning Nick Clegg gave a speech on freedom, accountability and plurality of the media at the Institute for Government in London. Here's the full text: This has been one of those weeks in which it really feels like something big has changed. Pillars of the British establishment have been put under the spotlight – the media, politicians, the police – with public confidence in each crumbling before us. As the Prime Minister explained yesterday, the Government has set up an Inquiry into these events. A two-stage, judge-led Inquiry looking, without delay, at the culture, ethics and practices of the ...
At last the Labour Party has shown its true colours on electoral reform. Just months after over half the Labour Party vocally opposed the Alternative Vote Referendum, a major policy shift has emerged in Wales that threatens the very notion of Welsh democracy. This is a policy put forward by the shadow Welsh secretary, Peter Hain which aims to change the Welsh Assembly voting system from the Additional Member System to First Past the Post. The current system used in the Welsh Assembly is an Additional Member System made up of 40 seats elected on a constituency First Past the ...
It may only be a small stepping stone in regaining some of the trust lost after the tuition fees issue, among others, but we are-I believe-now firmly headed back down the right path.
The Daily Telegraph contains the sort of article today that normally one would expect to see in the News of the World. They record that the Department of Communities and Local Government, who are in charge of housing and local neighbourhoods in England, paid £4,719 to hold a team-building session at the Brickhouse burlesque club in the east end of London last May. No phone was hacked to obtain this information, indeed it came from the more traditional route of a parliamentary answer. In addition the responsible minister has insisted that no one "watched burlesque chanteuse Lady Beau Peep". The ...
The left wing seems to me a touch delusional about how the phone hacking scandal is playing out. Pieces such as Anne Perkins in The Guardian are starting articles with subtitles such as "The prime minister's leaden-footed approach to the phone-hacking scandal has prompted a significant political shift". It starts off by referring to, "The moment, only 10 days ago, that the Guardian revealed that the News of the World had hacked Milly Dowler's phone". She says that in only ten days, the Prime Minister has prompted a significant political shift in response to a national scandal. How is that ...
Excellent news this afternoon from London as the UK Government have announced a much welcome u-turn in its original decision to close Milford Haven and Holyhead Coastguard Stations. The original plans were widely condemned as 11 of the 18 UK-wide bases were earmarked for closure under extreme measures to cut down on costs with only 3 remaining open 24 hours a day. But now, 11 will remain open and all of them will be open 24 hours a day. A large campaign to save our station here in west Wales has proved successful as this BBC News article states. Holyhead ...
This morning Deputy PM Nick Clegg gave an impressive speech on freedom, accountability and plurality of the media, in which he outlined the Liberal Democrat view of these things. There was some powerful stuff in here about the nature of power and how vested interests have been able to exercise inappropriate influence unchallenged for too long. It's worth pointing out that he made his speech on the very morning Julian Astle in the Guardian pointed out how vital the Liberal Democrats as a party have been, challenging the Murdoch empire for years and how "if there was no Liberal party ...
As with expenses, politicians are tempted down the route of self-flagellation which does not tackle the root problem. "It was the Sun wot won it" crowed the front page after the 1992 general election. On the previous day, their front page warned the voters "If Kinnock wins today, will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights". Sometime later, a story emerged that in a focus group someone said "I didn't vote for Neil Kinnock because I heard he had a light bulb inside his head". Entirely plausible, because people often have impressions of politicians and rarely ...
Details of this planning application can be found by following this link: The case officer is Kate Challenger - please email comments and objections to her at kate.challenger@lewisham.gov.uk , and don't forget to copy us in.
Surprisingly, this is not a post about Rupert Murdoch or Rebekah Brooks. In fact, the person who has been summonsed to appear before a committee is Cornwall Council's Tory Leader Alec Robertson. Cllr Robertson had been asked to appear before the authority's Communities Scrutiny Committee to answer questions about his new cabinet structure and how services such as libraries and leisure (which are now dealt with by non-voting cabinet members) will be represented. Cllr Robertson refused to attend and sent a note instead. At today's meeting, councillors refused to accept his note and, in accordance with our constitution, the Chair ...
Row breaks out as Labour backs proposals to elect all AMs by first-past-the-post @walesonline: http://t.co/aI285ee via @AddThis Labour is desperate to remain in control of the principality. The worst piece of political gerrymandering is currently being considered in Wales – ... Continue reading →
The British government has been talking darkly about the exploding demands on the National Health Service, which will rapidly make it unaffordable if it is not reformed. This has recently been challenged by Professor John Appleby, at the health think tank King's Fund. This was in a recent article in the British Medical Journal, behind a paywall, but summarised by the BBC here. This question goes to the heart of health policy in the UK, but politicians dare not discuss it – because it puts the very principles of the sacred NHS in question. But the problem will not go ...
Letter from Dr M at King's to my GP following the last consultation, when he had the result of the JAK2 test. He doesn't say, though it was said at the time, that he also needs a test for iron in the blood for a complete diagnosis. The bone marrow biopsy is on October 19, with follow-up consultation November 29. Diagnosis: ? Myeloproliferative disorder Disease status: At diagnosis Follow up: Three to four weeks FBC: Haemoglobin 10.2, WCC 2.7, platelets 1031 Lord Avebury was reviewed in clinic today. A JAK II analysis was negative but 1 note a C-MPL mutation ...
It may have been OK for Quentin Letts who's earl,y schooling took place at Oakley Hall Preparatory School run by Richard Letts Pere to Letts, Q.R.S. His father was around, if in the headmaster's office, when he was growing up. However, seeing as the man lists his hobbies in Who's Who as including "character defenestration" he should really have looked a little more closely before picking a window to attack Miriam González Durántez, the wife of Nick Clegg in today's Daily Fail. For a start her name is within the Spanish convention where even married women will keep the name ...
This morning we spent two hours discussing whether people who live in rural areas should be able to complain about the noise of farm animals including chickens. The debate stemmed from a 1050 name petition submitted in support of a resident of Probus who has been served with a noise abatement notice because of the noises made by his cockerels and chickens. The officers explained that they had to follow particular guidelines and felt they had to issue a noise abatement notice in this case. I accept that our officers have to follow policy but feel that the policy is ...
Thu 14th
12:16
Long-term the Lib Dems (and Vince Cable) will come up smelling of roses on the phone-hacking saga.
I think everyone should read this excellent piece in The Guardian by Julian Astle entitled Phone-hacking scandal shows why Britain needs the Liberal Democrats. The article doesn't just show why the Lib Dems are a good force in this country but it also shows how the party might come out of this phone hacking situation smelling of roses. There is little doubt that as it stands Ed Miliband is looking the best out of the three leaders on this and the Labour Party seem to be leading the fight against the Murdoch's but there are many twists and turns and ...
I spent probably too much of yesterday following PMQs, David Cameron's statement on the phone hacking enquiry and the Hacked Off Campaign's press conference outside 10 Downing Street. By the end of the day, we had been assured of a wide ranging judge led enquiry, and News International had withdrawn their bid for BSkyB. However, what I can't understand is why Rebekah Brooks still has a job. She was in a very powerful position at a time when, as we know now, heartless, dishonest, unethical things were not just happening but hard wired into the organisational culture. And she claims ...
When I told the BBC's John Sopel, minutes after the result of the last London Mayoral election was announced, that my second preference vote had gone to the 'Left List' candidate Lindsey German, he would not believe me. There were many of her policies I did not agree with but her party was passionate about building more social housing in London. In every debate during the campaign I found myself in agreement with her and disagreeing with the other candidates on that issue. I believe housing is the single most important issue facing London and this is why. Quite rightly ...
Mr Rathbone – or Quentin Letts as he sometimes likes to be called – seems to have it in for Clegg, presumably as Nick has been blocking the more right-wing, homophobic, misogynistic and generally oppressive policies that Quentin and his fans would like to see. He's criticizing Clegg in his Daily Mail column (Istyosty link) for managing to fit in "doing the school run" alongside his job as Deputy Prime Minister. Personally, I'm not seeing the issue. I'd rather have someone in charge who has managed whatever semblance of a work-life one can achieve in such a post instead of ...
If it seems odd that this opinionated fool has not commented on the NewsCorp story, its not because I'm not interested. The issue is that it is moving too fast to comment sensibly. Perhaps the best thing to suggest is that this is the moment when everything changes in the print media, with the Guardian on its uppers, the Independent going free and possibly providing a new model and the Times being dragged deeper into the NewsCorp sewer where it has existed for the past 30 years. With so many electronic sources now available to read these papers, this is ...
Dear Nick, Greetings, I am writing to you as leader of the party to plead a case for a section of Alarm Clock Britain. I, like many people commute to London from outside of the capital, working forty five hours a week for £21,000 per anum, which as a civil servant puts me in the pay freeze. This would be alright but for the high probability of a rise of train fares that will occur over the next few years which could leave me in the very worrying situation of not being able to afford to go to work.I have ...
Yesterday was a lovely day. The afternoon was spent with Alyson on her birthday and a lovely meal in Aberaeron's Harbourmaster Hotel. That followed the morning graduation ceremony in Aberystwyth's Great Hall where I sat on stage as Vice-Chair of Ceredigion County Council. It wasn't the first time that I've sat on the stage representing the local community but never have I known so many of those graduating in one ceremony as I did yesterday morning. The Class of 2011 Yesterday saw Amy Brown, Greg Foster, James Grove, Kevin Lennon, Tom Lister and Heather Lowe graduate from the Department of ...
Why women writers and stories about females are taken less seriously (tags: feminism film)
The Data Protection Act makes provision for anyone to access information held on them by a given organisation. However, it has several exemptions from this, including: Personal data which are processed only for the special purposes are exempt [if] the processing is undertaken with a view to the publication by any person of any journalistic, ...
Mention the words "competition" and "the NHS", and you will often get the same two responses. A misapprehension which confuses competition with privatisation. But also an instinctive desire to reject new providers in order to protect the NHS. We understand this reaction, and we understand why people are cautious about competition. The creation of the NHS is a cherished part of the liberal story. It was a liberal, working in a Coalition, who first imagined the NHS and its values of healthcare available to all, free at point of delivery, based on clinical need, not ability to pay. That's why ...
The only time we are likely to see the new wearer of the green jersey Mark Cavendish in today's stage is at 92km when he will be after as many points as possible once again. In the last couple of days that as been everyone that was going for the peleton. The reason that this will be the last we see of Cav, we're heading to the Pyrenées. After the sprint we make our first ascent in the Tour of the Hourquette d'Ancizan. Over a 10 km distance we climb about 800m. This is however, the easiest of the three ...
While I have been to the newsroom at The Sun, funnily enough to meet Andy Coulson (more of that anon), I've been wondering what it must be like to work at the coal face of a Murdoch tabloid. Fortunately some former reporters are giving the inside track and painting a very vivid picture of the pressure, the tension and the single-mindedness of News International.. Here are two of the better ones I've read, one negative (from The Telegraph) and one rather more positive (from The Huffington Post UK.) They are both fascinating reads. But why it's worth reading both is ...
From this rather tranquil corner of the blogosphere, the suggestion that group blogging is the way forward is an interesting one. And whilst we've suddenly had a mini-burst of new collaborative websites, I find it hard to get too passionate about any of them. The Huffington Post has recruited a number of bloggers of my acquaintance for the launch of its UK version, including Matthew Harris, an old friend and rather more pro-Israeli colleague from my former days in North London. Like Global Post, which set up a couple of years ago, the means of selection seems a bit vague ...
I'd love to believe that the revelations about what the News of the World did lead to more significant changes than the closure of that one paper. We all know News International is not the only organisation tainted by the historically common dodgy practices of the media. It's just unfortunately the one bearing the weight of the scandal. Wouldn't it be wonderful for all the dirty laundry to be aired now so perhaps our media can move on to improving the way they work, what they report and the very nature of their business? But alas I, being ever-increasingly cynical, ...
I'm prepared to bet that the only part of Wednesday's Cabinet Meeting that will have made it into this morning's paper will be a report of Durham County Council's decision to close Ferryhill, Sherburn and Crook Leisure Centres. The reason why I say that is that as soon as the Sports Centre item was over the press and most of the meeting observers left. So here's what they missed. Seaham and Spennymoor are to get new secondary schools, funded out of grants from Central Government, proving that scrapping the bureaucratic Building Schools for the Future scheme is not the end ...
While Ed Miliband's performance on yesterday's PMQs was hardly disastrous, it was a missed opportunity. Cameron started off on the back foot, stuck into a corner where his every comment was essentially, "Ed Miliband's absolutely right, and of course we'll be doing exactly what he just suggested." Why then did Miliband give him an escape route? He could have stayed in front of the discussion, leaving the Prime Minister to simply follow his lead in dealing with the scandal. Instead, Miliband chose to get down into the mud in attempt to score points. He relied on names that are unknown ...
As opposition leader I get a slot for a motion at Liverpool City Council meetings. I decided to go on derelict pubs as these buildings are really blighting some of our communities. The meeting is on 20th July. I've pased the text of the motion below: Liverpool Derelict Public Houses by Councillor Paula Keaveney Council recognises that public houses serve as significant community hubs in many areas of the city, often in impressive buildings, and have developed roles beyond simply being places for the consumption of alcohol. Council recognises that the closure of Public Houses has left many neighbourhoods across ...
Cambridgeshire County Council has failed in its bid for £5 million of government money for community transport and cycling. The decision undermines the Tory-run council's feasibility of its already struggling Cambridgeshire Future Transport project. And the Tories have left a question mark hanging over the future of bus services across the district after putting a hold on their decision to cut 100 per cent of bus subsidies but not completely rejecting the idea out of hand. Susan van de Ven, Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet Member for Transport said: "This is a blow to prospects for community transport across the county. ...
Just a reminder that tonight from 6:30pm your local Councillors will all be at North Area Committee which will be meeting at the Buchan Street Community Centre (as opposed to it's normal venue of the Manor on Arbury Road). If you'd like to come along there is an open Forum from 7:30pm where members of the public are encouraged to raise ideas and suggestions for the Committee to look at. As always you can contact your local Councillors using the links on the left. If you can't make the meeting or you would like one of us to raise an ...
Two weeks ago Rupert Murdoch-controlled News International has a minority holding in BSkyB and full ownership of four national Daily and Sunday newspapers. True, He had explored turning his Dailies into seven day operations, but that looked to be a little while away. Also true, he was bidding for 100% control of BSkyB. Now he has a minority holding in BSkyB and full ownership of three Daily and Sunday newspapers. A seven day Sun looks to be only a few weeks away and although the current bid for BSkyB has been shelved, another bid could be tabled within a few ...
Peter Hulme, Campaigns Officer for Grandparents Plus, introduces the charity's campaign Keep Families Together. Who would you want to bring up your children if you weren't around? Some readers might not have thought much about it. But for many others this will be a question that has deeply affected you personally or someone close to you. There are very good reasons for trying to keep children with grandparents or other family members if the worst should happen. Our charity, Grandparents Plus, is campaigning for more support for grandparents and other family members to Keep Families Together and to stop children ...
From Sarah Gittins : The above exhibition will run from 10th to the 17th July, open daily from 10am to 4pm. It is part of a whole series of public art and performance events taking place during the very exciting Dundee Live festival. Please see www.d-air.org following the 'Dundee Live' link, for more information. (Within Dundee Live, I also have work in group exhibitions at the Central Library and the Hannah Maclure Centre). I will be giving a talk at 2pm on the 17th July in the Botanics which will be followed by a rice picnic (cooked by Spice Restaurant ...
I'll be playing around with Google+ over the next few days. I doubt its primary appeal can be summed up any better than xkcd's take:
No one can have watched yesterday's TV pictures of David Cameron and Ed Miliband lambasting into Rupert Murdoch without a high degree of cynicism, since they and their parties have kowtowed to Murdoch in order to curry his favour over such a long period. Vince Cable,the one politician who is on record of having got it right from the beginning (and been downgraded for his pains) received no mention at all in the bulletins I watched. Alas in politics there are few rewards for being right, but if Vince is experiencing a smug glow of self-satisfaction at the moment it ...
How to consistently get London-Brussels or Brussels-London Eurostar tickets for €49 single // Jon Worth Avoiding the ripoff prices on Eurostar.com! (tags: travel) Opinion: Schools should suit working parents "Nursery is run for working parents: open 8-6, three meals a day provided, flexible arrival and departure time, and one itemised monthly bill. School is very different: closed 14 weeks of the year, and finishing around 3pm the other 38." (tags: life) Republican bill to ban energy-saving lightbulbs fades Republicans fail in bid to defend freedom from energy-saving lightbulbs. (tags: usa politics)
Emmeline Pankhurst's Birthday | Jennie Rigg Today is Emmeline Pankhurst's birthday. Emmeline Pankhurst gets a lot of credit. She's got a statue outside parliament and everything. A lot of the credit she gets, she doesn't deserve. By the time women actually got the vote, the WSPU had been disbanded. So my post for Emmeline Pankhurst's birthday isn't going to be about her.It's about Millicent Fawcett, who you really should have heard of and who really really deserves the credit for getting the franchise extended. Pankhursts? Shouted a lot, annoyed people and had good publicists. Go read, because while not written ...
Today is Emmeline Pankhurst's birthday. Emmeline Pankhurst gets a lot of credit. She's got a statue outside parliament and everything. A lot of the credit she gets, she doesn't deserve. By the time women actually got the vote, the WSPU had been disbanded. So my post for Emmeline Pankhurst's birthday isn't going to be about her. The lady I want to celebrate is someone who doesn't generally get the credit she deserves, even though she had a much bigger hand in winning the votes for women than the Pankhurst sisters. She, like me, was a big fan of John Stuart ...
