In glorious sunshine this morning I watched the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment parade through Bristol. The regiment recruits from the West Country and the South West of England and is conducting a tour of the main cities and towns of the region. This follows their return last month from a six month tour of duty ...
There no longer seems to be any pretence by the media that NATO is assisting in a war against Gaddafi rather than protecting the rights of peaceful protestors. On the eve of UN Diplomats' meeting where the US finally recognise the Transitional National Council (TMC although I am unsure why this is an English acronym), I do wonder where the transition from peaceful protest to rightful ownership was. A Review It was 18th March 2011 that UN Security Council backed a no-fly zone over Libya in order to protect civilians in Libya. The bombing of Libya was headline news for ...
The Liberal Democrat headquarters in May's Leicester South by-election has become a florist's shop. Meanwhile, a little way up the hill on London Road, the building we used in the 2004 contest (which has been empty for some years) is undergoing serious renovation. I shall keep a close eye on developments.
[IMG: Barack Obama] Here's my debut post for Huffington Post UK: Grey. And wanting to pay homage to Barack Obama. That's the rather odd impression left from taking a flick through the websites of the Republican contenders to be their party's 2012 presidential candidate. Grey is the colour of the season, at least on the web. That is an odd choice, you might think, given how many of the candidates are wanting to leave behind the 'boring grey man' tag. But it reflects the colour palette which Barack Obama's 2008 campaign made so popular for political online campaigning. The homage ...
At the end of June I mentioned Andrew Gilligan's accusation that staff from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets had canvassed for Leicester in their work time. I have not learned anything further about the truth of otherwise of that, but David Maclean at the Leicester Mercury has turned up footage of Lutfur Rahman, the Mayor of Tower Hamlets, and his party being thanked afterwards by leading figures in the Labour Party in Leicester. It's so dull that I am not inflicting it on you, but you can see it if you can follow the link to David's blog. The ...
[Originally posted on Bristol Running Resource, 15/07/11] It's happened again. After last year's experience I promised I'd get organised earlier and build up over a longer period. But, exactly like last year, I've only managed to enter the Bristol Half in the second week in July. So I've got eight weeks to get my long ...
I am the not so terribly proud owner of a PC, purchased for me some years ago by my ever generous father. It is, as often happens, beginning to slow as it nears senescence. And so, obviously, I need to replace it. And that's where the trouble starts. I don't know very much about this. In fact, if you asked me to explain how it all works, I'd have to call in an eight year old (I deeply suspect that Imogen, my seemingly angelic niece, knows more about this than I do). However, Ros pointed out that I know lots ...
The last two years certainly have been emotional. Even as I write this - a week before I leave office as president of Amersham & Wycombe College Students' Union - I struggle to hold back the tears. But I'm determined to put down my experiences of not just the student movement, but of the college ...
It is always good to discover another fan of Uncle. The other day Cristina Odone wrote in the Daily Telegraph: If the worst came to the worst, and her teachers suddenly joined the three-quarters of a million strikers on Thursday, I can entertain my daughter with her favourite "Uncle" books. Or rather, with the early volumes from that quirky Sixties series. The three later books are only available second hand, and are going for more than £1,000. One reason, according to devotees (and J P Martin's works featuring a fabulously wealthy elephant and his loathsome foe Beaver Hateman command a cult ...
As many observers are well aware, Tory councils in Kent are quite happy to misuse taxpayers money to present an "official" view of local Government, Kent Council went as far as to produce it's own TV station and wasted many thousands of pounds. Thanet council is no exception, with some Conservative's showing signs of near hysteria at the thought local people daring to comment, I myself have felt the wrath of KCC for daring to object to public money being spent on vanity projects, which amongst other things promoted Freemasonry using taxpayer funds. Anyhow Michael Child, has made several FOI ...
From the Gatley Carrs Conservation Group: After the disappointment with death of fish in the ponds at Gatley Carrs Local Nature Reserve in the big freeze last December, wildlife has received a boost from activities this spring. In late February and March the ponds were cleared of encroaching reed-mace (bullrushes) by a contractor and help from British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV), enabling Mallard, Canada Geese and Moorhen to successfully breed young. Task days by Gatley Carrs Conservation Group in April and June cleared hazardous material from the old tip exposed at the pond edge. A bat survey in May ...
Uttlesford, marked red, has both the highest road injury and death rate and the highest rate of problem drinking Uttlesford leads Essex in many positive indicators such as affluence, education and health. But it badly falls down in relation to road accidents and problem drinking and the two indicators are closely linked, according to my research. The latest health profile data shows that the district's rate of road injuries and deaths per 100,000 people is 78.23 while the estimated percentage of high risk adult drinkers is 22.71%. Both indicators are the highest of the 10 districts mapped out on the ...
The Government has now published it's "Open Public Services" white paper, I've attached it below for your reference.There are, apparently, five key sure "Choice" is always going to be contentious. Choice between two poor-quality ways to get a required service is never going to beat a single way to access a high-quality service.Writing that point also highlights that "quality" isn't apparently one of the five principles. Given how fluffy the whole document is it would have been nice to have at least some statement that providing a service of adequate quality is a key principle! I'm also a little ...
That's the conclusion of a really excellent piece on Comment is free by Janine Gibson: Brooks always had ambitions to run the show. Her supporters were pitching her as Les Hinton's natural successor as News International chief executive almost from the moment she became editor of the Sun. But, having got the job, she was out of her depth. Tabloid editors aren't strategists, they are instinctive; they don't run businesses, they run campaigns, or feuds. The only truly successful one with longevity is Paul Dacre of the Mail, and he's never ventured anywhere near the share price. Brooks was not ...
The link is to an impressive campaign by Grandparents Plus about keeping families together rather than reaching for adoption orders ala Martin Narey.The videos are well produced and deal with the real issues. They are quite emotive, but what they say is real and not a misrepresentation of the situation.
Londoner's Diary, Evening Standard today: 15 July 2011 3:12 PM Murdoch and No 10 — the secret is out Move over Tom Watson MP. There's an unsung hero in Parliament who has been chipping away at the cosy Downing Street-Murdoch nexus for years. Liberal Democrat peer Lord Avebury started a campaign in 2003 to get the Cabinet Office to reveal the times and dates of meetings between then PM Tony Blair and the media baron. He was initially rebuffed by Baroness Amos, the Leader of the House of Lords, who said such information was exempt from disclosure. When the Freedom ...
Greenpeace has turned its attention to Volkswagon with a spoof video designed to draw attention to their opposition to measures designed to tackle climate change. On their own video-sharing site they explain their campaign: Our home—Earth—is in trouble. VW opposes key environmental laws we need if we're going to stop our planet going the way of Alderaan (bye bye). But all is not lost. We feel the good in Volkswagen. All of us in the Rebellion are calling on Volkswagen to turn away from the Dark Side and give our planet a chance. Support strong CO2 emissions cuts. Despite its ...
Last week, Nick Clegg emailed Lib Dem members to appeal for their views on next steps following the allegations of widespread phone-hacking by the News of The World. Over at Richard Morris's blog, you can find a copy of Nick's reply: This is clearly an issue that so many people in our party - myself included - feel strongly about. I received over 1000 emails within just 24 hours of my request and I think this is testament to our party's democratic culture and willingness to engage with the issues that really matter. As you know, events are moving very ...
Liberal Democrats and Labour advanced against the Tories in the only council by-election in a week dominated by the hacking scandal. Conservatives saw the majority slashed by nearly three quarters in their Norfolk County Council Old Catton stronghold as Lib Dems took second place. There was a similar votes surge for Labour as Ukip slumped from runner-up last time to fourth. I wouldn't apply too much meaning to this, the last election was on Euro Election day 2009, when Labour and Lib Dems both looked fairly unelectable and people actually cared what UKIP had to say. Full article:
A rather frustrating week in that my amendments on the Education Bill and Localism Bill weren't reached. The problem is that the Government are trying to cram an awful lot of legislation into Bills, and that means a huge number of amendments. On Tuesday I spoke on two Immigration Orders, dealing with the special arrangements for processing admission to the UK of athletes competing in the Olympic Games and what are misleadingly called Games Family Members, meaning trainers, umpires etc and not relatives of the competitors. See Wednesday I joined in Sally Hamwee's topical question about the situation following ...
A new publication was launched earlier this week "Sharper Axes, Lower Taxes: Big steps to a smaller state", calling for a radical downsizing of the public sector and giving an indication of the corresponding tax cuts that would be made possible as a result. The media coverage was, as you might expect, mixed. The Guardian headline read "Thinktank advocates abolition of the NHS and slashing overseas aid" whereas the Daily Mail had a somewhat different take on the issue "You call those 'savage cuts'? Actually they are dangerously pathetic" . No surprise on the line taken by either of those ...
These are now up at Smashwords. I accidentally uploaded a badly formatted version of the book to Amazon, so while you may be able to find a Kindle version on Amazon, please *DON'T* buy it unless and until I have posted a link on this site. The text is OK, but you may not be ...
About a week ago I finally wrangled an invite to google+ - Google's new social networking platform. And let me tell you, I love it. It feels similar to facebook but it's more user friendly. I especially love the fact that you have full control over your privacy and data and that you can group people into circles and choose who gets to see which elements of your content. Now for most people this is a big selling point. After all, if someone sends you a friend request on facebook, such as your boss or your mother, then it would ...
Simples. I have reduced the US federal debt from $16.5 Trillion in 2012 to $9.1 Trillion in 2021. And it only took me ten minutes. I did it all here on the Woodrow Wilson Centre's Budget Hero.
[IMG: [personal profile] ] djm4 and I watched Torchwood: Miracle Day this lunchtime. *This doesn't feel like Torchwood to me, or, really, like part of the Doctor Who universe at all. I think this is something to do with the visual style; it feels off to me in the same way that Heroes felt off to me, despite otherwise having all the hallmarks of something I should like, and I'm pretty sure that was something to do with visual style. *Also, this is not the kind of genre I like. Despite the hints at extraterrestrial intervention, this feels to me ...
I've been writing all these posts on the phone hacking scandal, and it's remiss of me not to have taken a brief moment to say, "Hooray for Vince Cable!" He would no doubt be the first to say he should have been more circumspect about expressing his personal views, even in his own surgery. He's also going to be the last to point out the flip side of that story – that he's a good man, shafted for being honest, by duplicitous journalists who were not trying report the news but rather create it for their own enrichment. It will ...
[IMG: Story Hour Swanton, Nebraska] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: shannonpatrick17 WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS IRONY. TAKING IT LITERALLY MAY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH. It is very sad to see Charlie Gilmour ruining his life with one drunken rampage that has now led him to an 18 month jail sentence. But what beats me is how he, a History student at Cambridge University, 'did not realise the significance' of the Centotaph. Cambridge. History! What do they teach them these days?
Last week Nick Clegg invited members of the party to submit questions they would like the forthcoming hacking inquiry to cover. I submitted my concerns, and those expressed in the comments section of my blog post on the subject. I've just had Nicks reply. It's pretty comprehensive! Dear Richard, Thank you very much for responding to my email last week, in which I asked people to contact me with their views and suggestions on the phone hacking scandal. This is clearly an issue that so many people in our party - myself included - feel strongly about. I received over ...
I am pleased to see the latest Parliamentary progress of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, which includes a reform of how arrest warrants are issued for universal jurisdiction offences such as war crimes or torture. Two Liberal Democrat ministers, Lord McNally and Lord (Jim) Wallace, have led this reform's progress through the House of Lords. A rebel amendment from three Lib Dem backbenchers (which would have watered down the proposed reform) was withdrawn without a vote; Lord Palmer and Lord Carlile spoke from the Lib Dem benches against this rebel amendment. The Coalition Government's reform to this law ...
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. Here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week Opinion: Nick Clegg didn't suck up to Murdoch - that's why his minions tried to destroy him (28 comments) by James Percival Stephen Gilbert MP writes: UK housing policy in crisis (22 comments) by Stephen Gilbert MP In Praise of Nick Davies, the British Bernstein & Woodward to Murdoch's Nixon (8 comments) by Stephen Tall Opinion: Liberal Democrats didn't just avoid Murdoch, we tried to cut him down to size (37 comments) by James Percival Brian Paddick ...
This is the text of an email I received from Nick Clegg today. Yes it is a round robin reply – but the fact that I got it does mean I submitted my comments to him when asked for them last week. ___________________________________________ Liberal Democrats Dear Prue, Thank you very much for responding to my email last week, in which I asked people to contact me with their views and suggestions on the phone hacking scandal. This is clearly an issue that so many people in our party - myself included - feel strongly about. I received over 1000 emails ...
Southern Gas Networks (SGN) have a 15 year plan of gas pipe replacement for Southwark. This is a hugely disruptive programme – Borough High Street, Denmark Hill, Lordship Lane, and Freirn Road – huge traffic congestion for months on end. In the case of Friern Road plans for 15 months work. But is it necessary? Undoubtedlygas is leaking in tiny amounts from the 100yr+ cast iron pipes across Southwark and replacing them is the UK's current solution. Natural gas or methane is 20 times worse than Carbon Dioxide as a global warming contributor. But what if leaks could be fixed ...
This video of Steve Coogan slamming Paul McMullen on Newsnight has been doing the rounds for a bit. Apart from the fact that I don't think Steve Coogan did as well as he is generally credited I think this is worthy of comment. Mr McMullen seems to think it is acceptable to illegally violate people's privacy to sell newspapers if either 1) They are well paid celebrities who earn a lot of money, or 2) They have "used" the tabloids to publicise or promote their work. Now it strikes me that both of these are clearly irrelevant. If people have ...
There was one principal local council by-election held on Thursday 14th July and the Tories held the seat. There were no parish or town council by-election results reported to ALDC. The Tory Parish, District and County councillor for Old Catton Division of Norfolk resigned from just his county seat. In reality the ward is a largely suburban fringe of Norwich, but falls into Broadland District Council where we have one councillor. In campaigning terms it's virgin territory for us outside the parliamentary 2009 by-election and two freeposts in the 2010 General Election. With a small local party, stretched by holiday ...
Fri 15th
15:50
I asked Andrew Neil to take Diane Abbott to task on This Week about her offensive tweet. This is wha...
Regular readers of this blog will know I was fairly outraged by this tweet from Diane Abbott on Sunday. And I blogged as such. What was she thinking? Anyway, I received tweets from 2 of the people appearing on last nights 'This Week' (host Andrew Neil and guest Jon Snow), plus the producers - and sent them links to my blogpost asking them to raise it with Diane Abbott. I didn't hear anything back: but then on the programme, (from around 3:55), Andrew said... "and back, once again, by absolutely no public demand what-so-ever, except for the three people she ...
Norfolk CC, Old Catton Con 664 (40.6; -8.2) LD Bob Fowkes 414 (25.3; +11.8) Lab 377 (23.0; +12.2) UKIP 107 (6.5; -9.7) Green 75 (4.6; -6.0) Majority 250 Turnout 25.7% Con hold Percentage change is since June 2009. Full by-election info and commentary at the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors.
... that I made my own tiny contribution to the fight to save the cheque, by writing a letter that was published in the Independent. Every little helps, as someone said.
I blogged a while ago about plans for housing on the bit of land on the corner of Brunswick Street and Banks Road where Bankfield House used to be. There's been quite a bit of concern about this site with dumping and graffiti and it has been making the area look run down at times. Anyway, the good news is that the plans have moved forward and they are on the agenda for the City Council's planning committee later this month (July). Here is the link. You need to scroll down a bit to find the relevant section.
From the dogged determination of backbenchers Chris Bryant and Tom Watson to the grilling and spot-on mockery of some of our supposed 'senior' current and former police officers by the Commons' Home Affairs Select Committee.
A public consultation about Southwark Libraries future is currently taking place. Please do complete the survey questionnaire and tell Southwark what you think – https://forms.southwark.gov.uk/ShowForm.asp?fm_fid=591 The Museums and Libraries Association recommend 30m2 of library space for every 1,000 population. Southwark has roughly half the recommended space to support its population. Canada Water library opening will help but we're still dreadfully deficient in library space.
Overall, I'm actually quite positive about the political earthquake that is the phone hacking scandal. Electoral reform, finance sector reform, NHS reform, educational reform – these will always be contentious subjects that erode the public's confidence in Parliament. In contrast, press reform has the real potential to produce much more cooperation amongst politicians. It could be a great, positive change in the cynical nature of British politics today. This issue doesn't have to be a zero-sum game; each leader can play it with a straight bat. Their goals should be clear and complimentary: Cameron to wield his power and influence ...
........ although I'd really love to. I was having nothing to do with this phenomenon when the books started coming out. Then Bob read the first book while stuck at Rome airport during a strike in November 2001. I then started reading them the day after Boxing Day - and had the then 4 books finished by Hogmanay, totally gripped by the saga and the quality of the writing and characters. A couple of years ago, Anna lapped up the first five books with a similar fervour, but she just couldn't get into the Half Blood Prince. I have a ...
Heres how Rupert and co might have handled things. Every crisis is different and often a media storm in politics is different from a media storm in the corporate world. But there are some important rules to follow, so here is my check list. See if you think News International has managed to follow any of them so far: 1. Establish a clear decision making operation - UK-wide, or any other region around the world, ideally slightly distant from the ongoing delivery of the business itself. Perhaps News International have done just this but it is currently hard to tell. ...
In the grand scheme of things, not a lot of people know the rules MPs are subject to when it comes to using parliamentary stationery. If you were an MP with a boatload of postage-paid envelopes, you could probably abuse them with impunity, and send them out unsolicited to 95% of your constituents without getting any redress. But there is one group of people who are much more likely to know the rules: people who work in politics. A subset of those are councillors. And if you are really keen on getting shopped to the House authorities, who best to ...
(Published earlier on Lib Dem Voice) Brooks resigning is obviously a good thing, and the right thing. Her position was untenable, and as I've blogged before - whether she knew what was going on in the newsroom when she was editor of the News of the World is irrelevant. She was in charge, and needed to take responsibility. However, I can't help but worry that this is still all part of a bigger tactical game being played by News Corp. Wait til Friday to resign - fewer journalists working over the weekend, less time to make more of the story. ...
On a rare recent visit to London, I thought I'd try the "Boris bikes" – or Barclays Cycle Hire to give it its proper name (and Barclays have presumably stumped up lots of money, so we ought to). As a casual user, I paid a couple of pounds for my bike ride – using my debit card to pay on location. Getting the bike out was a bit fiddly – doubtless I'd get the knack if I did it a couple more times. The bikes themselves are perfectly decent: solid 3-gear bicycles with no crossbar, a wider women's saddle and ...
The long running saga of the 'Welsh Lib Dem two' has now been resolved but not without some pain. While Aled Roberts was able to re-take his seat as an Assembly Member, it was clear in the National Assembly that John Dixon did not have the same support. I would like to pay tribute to John Dixon. He has served the public diligently and with distinction on Cardiff Council. He would have been an enormously effective and hard working Assembly Member. He has paid a very high price and I would like to pay tribute to him for the dignity ...
The Home Office recently released figures on crime levels in the UK. (Excel spreadsheet link) For the statistically challenged, here's a guide on how to spin the statistics in your favour. If reported crime numbers have decreased in your area and lower crime rates are good news for you, put out a press release welcoming the news that crime numbers have dropped. Obviously, you're doing a good job. (Under no circumstances should you mention that it might mean that you're so hopeless people have given up on reporting crime. Especially if statistics released at the same time from a survey ...
This post originally appeared on Huffington Post. According to information released under the Freedom of Information Act by the Criminal Records Bureau, there were 298 applications for CRB checks that used the little-known "transgender applications process" last financial year. (April 2010 – March 2011) That sounds like quite a lot, but is it as many as we'd expect? In the same period, there were just over four million total CRB checks, so the transgender application process accounted for around one in every fifteen thousand applications. We don't really know how many post-transition trans people there are in the UK, but ...
Ms Brook's statement of resignation, as you might expect of a News of the World hack, is formulaic and rooted in a perverted view of morality and responsibility. Here is her take on doing the right thing: I have believed that the right and responsible action has been to lead us through the heat of the crisis. I imagine she honestly believes that. When things under her control go bad, she believes the right thing is that she should keep her job and blame other people. She works in a meritocracy, after all, and so by reaching the top has ...
Our understanding of the world comes from the media. Yet opinion polls that ask about how things are show the public are highly misinformed. Here is a clear example of this effect: Asked to estimate the proportion of foreign-born people living in the UK, the average guess is 29.4%. The true figure according to OECD data is 10.8%, lower than Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Canada and the USA. How do the public become so misinformed about the scale of immigration? Here is yesterday's Daily Mail frontpage: Millions of people will have seen this frontpage headline. However, the numbers are simply ...
Today I'm publishing a guest post from Cllr Peter Downes our Education Spokesman on Cambridgeshire County Council. Cllr Downes represents Brampton and Kimbolton in Huntingdonshire and is writing in light of the Secrety of State's decision to accept the transfer of all secondary schools in Huntingdonshire into a single academy;"I can fully understand why all the local secondary schools have decided to become academies. The financial incentive is powerful especially when schools are threatened with reduced resources. I also welcome the idea that all seven secondary schools should become academies at the same time. It would have been unhelpful to ...
Whilst the News of the World scandal has drawn virtually all of the attention, the clock has started ticking on the work of the Joint Select Committee on the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill. Comprising twenty six members appointed from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, it is charged with considering the draft Bill and reporting by 29 February 2012. At its first meeting, which took place on Monday, such decisions as how often it would meet were discussed, but the key decision was to proceed with a Call for Evidence. This represents your chance ...
Following the campaign residents and I have led over many months for action to tackle ongoing anti-social behaviour by the shops on Northumberland Avenue, I have heard today that a Dispersal Order has been sought by the Police and the Council to cover the area affected. The Dispersal Order will commence on Friday 29th July and will run for 6 months until Friday 27th January 2012. The order provides the police with the following powers: Require the persons in the group to disperse either immediately or within a given time and manner specified by the Officer. Require those persons that do not reside within ...
I see that government inspectors and the Tory local government minster have given the go-ahead for more housing at Picket Piece (Andover Advertiser July 8). In doing so the have overruled Test Valley Borough Council's Planning department and councillors. Once again Test Valley's planning policies have beeninvestigated by a government inspector and found to be flawed. The decision to grant planning permission for over 500 new houses at Picket Piece throws into doubt the council's policy to allocate almost all new housing in Northern Test Valley to just two major development areas at East Anton and Picket Twenty. This plan ...
A few weeks ago, I blogged here about the #daftarrest-gate happenings down in nearby Carmarthenshire. Whilst Councils such as ours in Ceredigion have, as there reported, began to investigate ways of opening up local government to modern technology and greater scrutiny, it would seem from developments this week that Carmarthenshire are regressing even further backwards. At its meeting on Wednesday, members of the public found themselves confronted for the first time with security provisions which stopped them from entering the public gallery without having to go through new and rather draconian procedures. Jacqui Thompson who has found herself at the ...
Lord Norton has an interesting little post on Lords of the Blog about the power of Parliament to summon subpoena witnesses. It seems straightforward and unremarkable to me. Intuitive, even – it would be surprising if it were otherwise. So why was much of the media commentary that Rupert Murdoch, as a foreign national, could not be summoned? Further confirmation of their disregard for fact checking? Although to be fair, Lord Norton writes the post because a journalist did ask. More evidence that very few people in the UK know how the UK is supposed to work, I guess. I ...
Why not get our latest headlines by email? Hundreds of Lib Dem Voice readers already do. Some people like regularly visiting Lib Dem Voice to see the latest stories. Others like to look out for us on Twitter. And some like to subscribe to our RSS feed and check that way. But if you prefer email, you can sign up for our daily early morning email with a summary of the previous day's posts from Lib Dem Voice. It has convenient links to click through to the full article, and a note of how many comments each post has got. ...
Fri 15th
12:53
News of the World stories which mentioned confidential phone/email messages IN PRINT when Rebekah Br...
Now she has, laudably, resigned, it will be interesting to see how much Rebekah Brooks sticks to her previous line at the Culture Select Committee on Tuesday. That is, the line that she knew nothing about phone hacking going on at her paper when she was editor. Brooks was editor of the News of the World from 2000-2003. The Telegraph have put together a very handy collection of NOTW stories which actually mentioned confidential phone messages, emails or web browsing IN PRINT in the last ten years. These are the ones published from 2000-2003: 2001 – Prince William's call which ...
Coverage of the crisis in the Eurozone is astonishingly poor. Commentators scarcely try to analyse the situation properly; instead they revert to one of two unsatisfactory critiques. First, the Eurosceptic one, is that the Eurozone was always an unworkable idea and the best thing to do is abandon the whole thing. The alternative, the Europhile critique, is that a currency union without political integration was a major mistake, and the best thing to do is move further towards the political integration of the union. These positions are both unhelpful. The Eurosceptics fail to see the benefits of the currency union, ...
Let me be deliberately jingoistic. Given that part of British culture is that we went to war in 1939 to save freedom and democracy from the Germans, how bad is it that Germany is now declaring that "British Democracy Is A Farce"? As a painful example of what's being said about us: It's common knowledge that British politicians kowtow to the tabloid press. But that the police were also serving these papers gives the News of the World hacking scandal a new dimension. Their excuse — that Rupert Murdoch's company News International (a subsidiary of his News Corporation) was uncooperative ...
North East Fife's MP has expressed his "profound disappointment" at the news that Forth Coastguard in his constituency is set to close. The announcement by the Transport Secretary Phillip Hammond in the House of Commons, despite vigorous representations by Sir Menzies Campbell, saw no reprieve for the station based at Fife Ness near Crail. If the proposals go ahead, the stations is set to close at some point between 2012 and 2015. Speaking during the announcement at Westminster, Sir Menzies said: "The Secretary of State predicted disappointment and with that at least, I can agree with him. The proposed closure ...
Stony Stratford in Buckinghamshire, UK, is a small market town, with a long history and a serious claim to ownership of the term 'cock and bull story'. At the height of the great coaching era, when Stony Stratford was an important stopping-off point for mail and passenger coaches travelling between London and the North there was much rivalry between the two main coaching inns – The Cock and The Bull -the two inns fighting to see which could furnish the most outlandish and scurrilous travellers' tales..... You might be forgiven therefore for thinking that the latest news to emerge from ...
The son of the Pink Floyd guitarist will not be returning to university in the autumn to continue his History degree at Cambridge. Instead he'll be looking out from behind bars as he has been sentenced to 16 months inside for violent disorder during the student protests last year. Now I really do not know how I feel about this. Is jail really going to stop him doing anything like this again? No it's not. He's not going to be doing anything like this again anyway. So is it a just punishment for the crime? Well that is debatable. Wouldn't ...
Recommended reading for Liberal Democrat councillors and local campaigners from the last seven days: You've probably noticed there has been some news recently about News International ..... The story is changing by the hour, but here are some specific Lib Dem angles: In The Guardan's Comment is Free, Julian Astle writes: Phone-hacking scandal shows why Britain needs the Liberal Democrats Here's Nick Clegg's speech on the future of the media in full (from Lib Dem Voice) and here's the full text of a letter sent by Simon Hughes, Tim Farron and Don Foster to Rupert Murdoch. Elsewhere in the news: ...
We're currently recruiting for the 2011-2012 "Liberal Democrat Next Generation" programme. This is an excellent opportunity for younger and ambitious Lib Dem councillors to develop your leadership and political skills. [IMG: Next Generation 5 Portsmouth and Eastleigh November 2010] Next Generation is now in its sixth successful year. Uniquely, it is developed within party tradition, by party political experts, creating a political development opportunity for participants. Next Generation provides the support and continuous personal development that ensures councillors have the right skills to transform into the sort of leaders required to reinvigorate the local political scene. 'Next Gen' is designed ...
I am currently observing the decline and fall of the Murdoch Empire with a flickering 3G card ensconced in cottage near a sleepy Cornish hamlet. Observing the Westminster village take on the media village from this outsider's redoubt is interesting. News filters through that News of the World staff have been offered up to assuage the angry volcano gods of Parliament. Having not seen eruptions subside, the village Chief tain has generously allowed his high priestess to hurl herself into the caldera as well to protect the inheritance rights of his son, whilst postponing his mooted takeover of the prime ...
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People interested in schools may have seen a story about a month ago that primary schools that were regarded as persistently failing would be made into Academies to try and boost performance (See the Telegraph version of the story).If you've been wondering if any Camden schools would be effected by this - there won't be. The council says:There are no such (failing) schools as measured by Ofsted or the DfE for standards. Currently the following is true of the following settings; Early Years, Primary, Primary Special Primary schools (41) • 13 - Outstanding, 25 - good, 3 - satisfactory. Special ...
As I blogged before, Cornwall Council's communities scrutiny committee yesterday looked at the threat to the Performing Arts Library that had been highlighted by the Cornish Guardian and by a large number of local arts organisations. We heard reassurances from Communities Director Gill Steward that the service was not about to be closed (indeed, she said that it 'would never' be closed). We also had assurances that, if relocated, it would remain open to the public, with expert assistance, for at least as many hours per week as it currently is. However, there remain concerns about the service and its ...
Ed Miliband participated in AskEdM 2.0 yesterday. This time, the leader of the Labour party decided to reply to many of his critics – including Guido Fawkes. Questions related to his infamous "the strikes are wrong" interview and his ridiculous ... Continue reading →
Thank you, everyone for the terrific reponse! It must be at least up to 800 now – and responses are still pouring in. Local democracy is clearly alive and well in Tring and the Villages. The Tring Parking Survey has been discussed with the Tring Town Clerk and is to be used as evidence of local feeling in favour of retaining Tring's Free First Hour in the town centre car parks. The DBC Portfolio-Holder responsible for car parking is aware of our survey and was informally briefed about it after the Dacorum Council Meeting on Wednesday evening. We will be ...
St Albans only Green councillor, who announced this week that the county council was planning to shut the household waste recycling facility in St Albans, has been sharply criticised for running scare stories. Local Lib Dem county councillor Chris White said: 'Clearly he's losing the plot. There was indeed a meeting at county hall last week but he wasn't there – nor was anyone else from the Green Party. The Panel of councillors looked at moving or expanding the existing facility in St Albans – not closing it. In fact the position has not changed for many months so his ...
This is obviously a good thing, and the right thing. Her position was untenable, and as I've blogged before – whether she knew what was going on in the newsroom when she was editor of the News of the World is irrelevant. She was in charge, and needed to take responsibility. However, I can't help but worry that this is a still all part of a bigger tactical game being played by News Corp. Wait til Friday to resign – fewer journalists working over the weekend, less time to make more of the story. Time it for the morning the ...
Day two in the Pyrenées is the easiest day here. If climbing the 19km western approach of the Col d'Aubisque easy. Before the long slog up the d'Aubisque we have the minor issues of the Côte de Cuqueron and the Côte de Belair at 43.5 km and 65km. Both these 3rd and 4th Category climbs come before Bielle at 82.5km where the Sprint is placed today. As with yesterday look for HTC Highroad to lead out for as many Green points for their leader Mark Cavendish as possible before he drifts of the back a little under 10km later at ...
I was very sad to see the story about Mumbai this week, as well as the reports that Afghanistan was even more dangerous than last year in the six months to June, (and that four people were killed at Hamid Karzai's brother's funeral.) We should also not forget that there are still significant problems in Sudan and South Sudan, where we hear of "heavy bombing and gunfire," and while numbers of deaths go unreported (presumably for lack of reliable numbers,) we know of the 70,000 people displaced last month as the creation of the new country was underway, and in ...
So finally Rebekah Brooks has gone. Now that the Murdoch's have been leveraged into going in front of the Select Committee on hacking there was little use for Brooks in the company. If she couldn't protect the Murdoch's then she had no use to them. She was meant to take all the flak but the story has just rumbled on and on and the public seemingly still want blood. Whether the public really want this or whether this is purely a media driven firestorm is a story for another day but it is a question that certainly needs asking and ...
This morning's Independent seems very keen to challenge Gordon Brown's version of events regarding his premiership and News International. They say that former members of Gordon Brown's Cabinet have questioned his claim that he wanted to launch a judicial inquiry into phone-hacking while he was prime minister. Whilst the ex-Prime Minister's claim that his proposal was blocked by the civil service was rejected by Gus O'Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, who argued that he could have overruled his advice. As the former prime minister sought to rebuff Tory claims that his government had failed to stand up to Rupert Murdoch's empire, ...
Well, it's official. In a month I'll be flying down to Cape Town, South Africa. Then on to Johannesburg. Then up to Nairobi. Then west to Lagos. Four cities, three countries, two weeks, one massive continent. Africa. I'm flying down with InMobi, my employers (this blog post is personal and doesn't reflect company policy etc). We'll be visiting all the local mobile developers and researchers and seeing how we can help them. I'll be posting work related stuff on the official InMobi blog – but I'll be posting on shkspr.mobi any personal thoughts, reflections, and fears. FEAR! Yes, I have ...
The Manitoba Museum is fantastic and much larger than might appear when looking at the building from street level. (I went on a 90 minute guided tour and it felt like I had only seen half of its contents.)Even for a city designed around multi-lane roads dedicated to cars, Winnipeg has very wide streets. That is because the layout dates back to horses, wagons and muddy roads. Heavy rain in the area often made the roads very muddy, which meant that wagon trains wanted to proceed with the wagons in parallel rather than one following the other so as to ...
Needless to say the news that all the phone hacking business may well be down up me has come as something of a surprise. Fortunately, there's someone I can share the blame with. Apparently it's your fault too. Have you noticed? There's a thread beginning to emerge in the media. I'm starting to see or hear it every day. Patience Wheatcroft referred to it again in last nights (generally excellent) Newsnight discussion (at 34 minutes in). It generally goes along the lines of ' well of course if only people weren't interest in salacious gossip, the papers wouldn't chase it, ...
I was a huge fan of Torchwood, Dr Who's uglier sister, and would say at some points, noticably during the Martha years, it was better than Dr Who. So I was looking forward to yesterday's showing of the all new US-BBCWales version of the show. I have to confess I came out disappointed. It was a perfectly enjoyable show, good pace, gore and suspense. But I would compare it to The Island, a film that is centred around a stunning premise of clones for plastic surgery, but lacks the core three dimensional elements to make it anything more than an ...
RT @paulwalteruk The happy couple: newly-weds @jamesgraham and @alexrunswick arrive on the Wedding Belle http://t.co/kIdgso4 < Congrats! # RT @Sun_Politics NotW – RIP. A loss to 1st class journalism. Ed Miliband, Guardian and BBC; how proud you must be. <yeah cos its their fault # RT @VictoriaPeckham Frankly the Guardian crowing at this moment is utterly disgusting. < Yes, they are the ones who shd be ashamed. # @gedrobinson Should be working now: http://t.co/Deo2M9r in reply to gedrobinson # 'Murdoch: the network defeats the hierarchy' http://t.co/Mw4JNIj < fascinating post by Newsnight's economics editor, Paul Mason. # RT @jamesgraham Listening to ...
The Liberal Democrats are inviting potential candidates for the new Police and Crime Commissioner posts, which, if the legislation is passed, are expected to be elected in May 2012. The party wants to encourage the widest possible range of applicants so the membership can select from the best possible choice of candidates. So if you're interested in applying, you need to be an approved Parliamentary candidate: The Bill to create directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners is currently before Parliament. The first elections of Police and Crime Commissioners are expected in May 2012. The English Regional Parties will be inviting ...
Latest figures show that Stockport is performing well on jobs, with our poorer areas sharing in the benefits. Nationally, Job Seeker's Allowance claimants are slightly down, whilst the month-on-month job vacancies are up 23.2% (a big increase, but the total number of job vacancies is still lower than the historic figure for the month, suggesting things are improving but we're not out of the woods yet). The Stockport picture is of the Borough outperforming Greater Manchester, the North West and the UK average, though everyone recognises there is a lot of hard work still to do to. o At June ...
This article originally appeared in the Liberator in the June 2011 edition. The Liberal Democrat 2010 General Election manifesto was launched by Vince Cable and Nick Clegg and a key theme in the campaign was that Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and rest of the Lib Dems can be trusted to deliver a progressive agenda. The ...
The Labour Party in Wales is proposing that because Wales voted No the electoral system for the Welsh Assembly should be changed to First Past the Post. Intriguing to see if Labour suggest similar changes to the Scottish Parliament and Mayoral elections.
There's only a short time left for community organisations to get in their application for a grant of between £500 and £3,000 for a project they would like to run in our area under the "It's up to U" scheme. I actually really like this idea which is to give to local people the task of approving which projects get funding in a "Vox Pop" or even X Factor style approach, rather than always leaving it in the hands of the great and the good (which includes me of course!). The correct trm, for purists, is participatory budgetting or PB ...
Fri 15th
08:53If Rupert Murdoch doesn't behave himself, he could (technically) end up in one of these
This is an oubliette (on the right). In the middle ages they used to put people in them, lock them up and leave them. They're like a slot in a castle just big enough to fit a person. So basically, the person would undergo a very slow death of starvation/thirst. There is one of these in the Houses of Parliament. It's in Westminster Hall. So, technically, if Rupert Murdoch doesn't behave himself and is in contempt of the House of Commons, he could end up in it. Technically. But that would be against the Human Rights Act. But Rupert Murdoch ...
The European Parliament's Culture and Education Committee debated a motion on the European dimension in sport this week, UKIP salivated and the Daily Mail and the Daily Express foamed at the mouth.Here's the idea that shocked our great patriotic newspapers:"The European Parliament...26. Proposes that the European flag should be flown at major sports events held on EU territory and suggests that
My speculation is it will affect the leaders as follows: David Cameron David Cameron's image will be tainted by hiring Coulson. But the public thinks Labour also has a dubious past with the press, so it won't hurt anywhere near as much as the left wing would like it to. He'll come out ahead by sticking to his strategy of expressing deep regret, making it everyone's problem, and pushing for prosecutions. Labour's remarkable achievement of getting a motion unanimously passed without a debate will actually prove a Tory win. Cameron will build on this unanimity to get what he wants ...
Residents living around Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital are facing the growing problem of patients parking near their homes to avoid paying parking charges. Cars lining the streets caused problems for a fire engine trying to reach an incident recently. Worried councillors have been lobbying the Tory-run Cambridgeshire County Council calling for action; but despite the problems, it has failed to agree a parking review. Geoff Heathcock, County Councillor for Queen Edith's has been told that the council has no resources to go-ahead with a review. He was told the council has other priorities because of staffing levels. "The county council is ...
There are moments when your interests are contradictory. "I'm hungry," one might muse, "but I'm on a diet.", for example. In my case, it is, "I believe in reform of the House of Lords, but my wife is a baroness.". That in itself is bad enough. However, I am a member of the Management Board of 'Unlock Democracy', an organisation which leads the campaign for Lords reform. And I have a secret - I'm not entirely convinced by the draft Bill. Set aside my personal interest for a moment though, as I take you through three of my concerns. One ...
Following the devastating early-morning flash flood last Monday that affected the Meadow Mill area, near to the Verdant Works, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage, I have been in touch with the City Council and Scottish Water about the flooding issues in the area. This is a significant problem - at its worst last Monday, water reached two feet in depth and its force ripped up parts of the roadway. There have been calls for a storm drain to be provided to help protect properties from future occurrences and I have asked Scottish Water and the City Council to ...
Sotheby's made a small fortune yesterday selling off two old documents - one Sheffield FC's original rule book - the other an unfinished Jane Austen novel. As Channel 4 news pointed out the Austen proved more popular - at least in terms of the price people were prepared to pay. Given the wealth showered on semi literate professional footballers - who are happy to name their offspring after numbers and Disney characters (sometimes at the same time) - I find it a shame that the world's oldest football club is forced to sell off historically significant documents to keep the ...
Interview with Botswana Beast and Illogical Volume up here. We talk about Seven Soldiers, Jeremy Paxmam, self-publishing, blogging, and some other stuff. I come across as a bit of an arrogant prick in this one, I'm afraid. If you're wondering about days three and four, I've been too ill to complete them, so they'll be ...
