I am not talking about the cinema in Park Royal but the one opposite Ealing Town Hall. What a shame so much time has elapsed since the we thought we would have a new improved cinema. The Ealing Liberal Democrats believe that a new cinema could help to bring trade into the area especially if the land the Council bought a few months ago can be incorporated into the design. Empire have treated the project with so much disrespect. They have essentially stuck up their finger to the residents of Ealing who quite simply want a cinema that was promised ...
Seen in a Market Harborough jitty. I first noticed this in 1973 and photographed it on Sunday.
Someone recently described the Liberal Democrats as a centrist party. Here's what I thought of that in 2005 and it's still true.What's left ?During the [2005] general election various journalists with self-satisfied smirks, indicating that they thought they were doing something clever, would ask a Liberal Democrat, "Are you left of Labour ?" as if the question meant something. As well ask, "
... for the [IMG: [community profile] ] pod_together Dreamwidth/LJ community, which matches podcasters with fanfic authors, hopefully to exciting effect. I didn't write it, I just read it, but I'm still quite proud of it. It features the three witches and Death. You can check it out here. ((X-posted personal DW & [IMG: [community profile] ] pterry_fans)) [IMG: Dreamwidth] [IMG: Livejournal] [IMG: Blogger] [IMG: Facebook] [IMG: Tweet this] [IMG: Delicious] [IMG: Flattr this] [IMG: LibDig] [IMG: Bit/ly] [IMG: StumbleUpon]
After a successful Liberal Democrat campaign where we have pressed Ealing Council to take action, they are starting to move in the right direction. They have not gone the full way they need to, to ensure that Ealing Broadway has a train station and transport interchange as it deserves. The current plans now include installing a lift earlier than they had previously wanted. The original plans, however, encompassed two escalators and four lifts and a pedestian footbridge. Liberal Democrats who have been handing out petition leaflets over the past few weeks as well as lobbying politicians in Ealing over the ...
There is an interesting piece on Cameron by David Birrell in today's Standard. He writes of Cameron's ability to move away from the hacking scandal, and, rather illogically, concludes Cameron should reshuffle the cabinet to come good. From his own analysis, Cameron is a protagonist to be adored within the party. Here is an irreverent view. (I particularly like David Birrell days!) The piece starts with a glorious quote from Tony Blair (I never thought I'd write that!); "we had lost our virginity on scandal", speaking of the Ecclestone affair. Has Cameron lost his virginity on scandal? Surely a better ...
Cornwall Council's Leader tonight begged residents and community groups to stop emailing the authority saying that they could not cope with all the electronic communications they receive. At a 'Cornwall Conversations' event held in Penzance, the organiser of a community transport group asked Transport Cabinet Member Cllr Graeme Hicks why he had not replied to an email sent to him some time ago. Cllr Hicks reply was that there were a lot of emails that had not been responded to and he had tasked an officer to go through all communications and root out those which needed a response. To ...
When I was running my support groups for new mums, there were so many women who were finding the unwanted advice coming from all sorts of sources, but mainly their mothers-in-law, hard to cope with. Mostly it was because it went against every instinct they had as mothers, and sometimes it was clear how hurt they were at the manner in which the advice was delivered. Those vulnerable young mothers, trying to find their own way to develop their own family life, were made to feel really rubbish by people, often with their own agendas to put them down, who ...
The Liberal Democrat MP for Torbay, Adrian Sanders has come out strongly against the UK Government's plan to cull badgers as part of its anti-bovine TB strategy. Writing in a news release featured on his website, Adrian says: "No one should underestimate the cruel impact of TB in cattle or in badgers, and its emotional and economic effects on farmers, but any response must be based on science and the Government has failed to take on the advice from research conducted by the Independent Scientific Group (ISG). This found that "Given its high costs and low benefits we... conclude that ...
One overriding thing has struck me these last few days with the now seemingly intertwined deaths of the young innocent people in Norway and Amy Winehouse. The loss felt so keenly by the parents Janis and Mitch Winehouse and the ...
Back in 2008 I led a cross-party Scrutiny Review into Reading's private rented sector and in particular on the impacts of high numbers of houses of multiple occupation on neighbourhoods across the town - including Redlands. I did this as for years under Labour the number of HMOs were enabled to grow inexorably to a point where many residents in central Reading felt that communities had become unbalanced and the number of family homes had been overtaken by student housing/houses for rent. I made clear then and will again that this was not because I was opposed to private rented ...
It's been a while since I've done a roundup of the best blog posts I've read. I must get into the habit of doing it again. There has been some very good stuff recently. Mark Pack asks why a sportsman of the quality of Mark Cavendish has not attracted the media attention you would expect for someone of his achievements. Daddy Alex makes a rare post to talk about the atrocity in Norway and how important it is to cherish and practice your values, not ditch them when they come under attack. If I were in a crisis, I'd want ...
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Lord Bonkers' latest Diary was written on the final day of the Rutland International Arts Festival. At his suggestion, I am reproducing the whole Diary as single blog post now that the new edition of Liberator is with subscribers. I sit on the terrace at Bonkers Hall, enjoying a hard-earned macaroon and cup of Darjeeling as I survey the crowds in their Sunday best and the trim marquees erected by the Queen's Own Rutland Highlanders under the supervision of Regimental Sergeant Major Carmichael. Yes, you join me on final day of the Rutland International Arts Festival. As ever, the Festival ...
Mon 25th
19:23
A little clue as to how a 'member of the public' found out about Gordon Brown's son's illness for th...
The Sun produced an unnamed 'member of the public', who, it said, had given it the details of Gordon Brown's son Fraser's illness. However, one wonders how such a 'member of the public' would have got hold of such information. Private Eye gives us a little clue in their latest edition. I thought long and hard about whether to reproduce part of the relevant article here, but, in the end, decided not to. So, you'll just have to get hold of a copy of that distinguished organ yourself. The relevant piece is on page 6, if memory serves (after I ...
People got fed up with the #hackgate story precisely for it's lack of general appeal; as the critics observe, it's a 'Westminster Village story'. I would suggest the papers, Murdoch's aside, have been reporting it in the wrong way. A headline in the Observer yesterday caught my eye, "Victims of 7/7 fear that police gave contact details to NoW reporters". This could easily be 'NoW reporters hacked 7/7 victims' phones' but the key detail that is, as far as I am concerned, the major public interest issue, is the fear of police. If stories had, from the start, focused on ...
Yesterday I wrote a review of a brilliant book I'd just read, Jessie Hearts NYC, by Keris Stainton. In it I made some observations about locations and a couple of nitpicky technical things. She had wanted to leave a comment here but Blogger seemed to have been playing silly monkeys yesterday so wouldn't let her, so she answered me on Twitter. Here is the conversation we had: [<a target="blank">View the story "Author Keris Stainton responds to my book review" on Storify]</a> I should clarify that I didn't know off by heart where the typo was - I'm not quite ...
Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has been named number 20 in the Guardian "Media 100" list of the most powerful figures in the media, making him the second highest ranking politician (coming in below only the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, who was at 13). In a list that is clearly overshadowed by the News of the World phone hacking (note Lord Justice Leveson's abrupt promotion to the top ten, and Tom Watson's appearance on the list at 45, apparently the highest placed Labour politician, for his dogged work pursuing the scandal) this is an ...
This coming Saturday, the 30th July, at The Window in Islington I will be interviewing Dr Elizabeth Debold about the future for women. Please do come along for what will be an interesting exploration of where women have come from and where we are going next. "Elizabeth is an author, internationally renowned gender researcher, and cultural commentator. Her bestselling book, Mother Daughter Revolution: From Good Girls to Great Women, was heralded by Gloria Steinem and Carol Gilligan as "the book women have been waiting for." Elizabeth received her doctorate in human development and psychology from Harvard University, where she was ...
I'm an oldie at heart when it comes to music as anyone who knows me will testify. There aren't many modern songs that 'grab' me. Those that do may have a 21st century sound but as long as it has a good rhythmn, beat and lyrics then I'm open minded to anything. But in recent months, I've heard a song that I have just presumed was from the 1960s but which I hadn't heard before. But no, The Pierces' Glorious is very much a 21st century effort but it's one that takes me back (not that I was alive at ...
Liberator subscribers have just received the latest edition of Liberator magazine (issue no.347 - August 2011). For those of you who are not yet subscribers, here's a summary of the contents: The editorial column Commentary looks at the implications of phone-hacking scandal. There is also a call to withdraw the whip from Liberal Democrat peers who oppose reform of the House of Lords. The insider gossip column Radical Bulletin begins with revelations of what went on at a recent 'awayday' for Liberal Democrat MPs. 'Lansley undone' - John Pugh (Liberal Democrat MP for Southport) says the party has finally found ...
The graphic below has started to appear on the Open University's StudentHome page over the last couple of days: [IMG: OU 2012 Fees Banner] <Your caption here!> There's a lot of tempting space on the left hand side of the image for a speech bubble or caption. The expression on the man's face is rather strange and there appears to be a mushroom cloud exploding over the woman's head. I'm rubbish at writing witty and amusing captions, but maybe someone else out there could oblige? I'm offering a (very) small prize for the best submission I receive in the comments. ...
Collected links from around the webSome Viking settlers were women shock. Sexist archeologists debunked Half of norse settlers to England probably women. Some women used swords, which caused the confusion. (tags: archeology sexism Vikings) Marvel puts ultimate comic geek in charge of film universe The guy that tought Meg Ryan how to use email for You've Got Mail is now the guy making sure the Marvel films make sense and are succesful. Seems to be doing a pretty good job so far, really looking forward to The Avengers. (tags: marvel Kevin-Feige geekery) uK Smartphone market incredibly competitive, Nokie still holding ...
Not many of us face the dilemma of deciding whether to pay ourselves an extra 18 grand or not on top of a 210K salary, still Peter Gilroy former chief exec of Kent county council faced that problem and after some consideration, paid himself £18,350 for acting as returning officer, in county county elections during 2009. No surprise then at some point later he apparently questioned the wisdom and commissioned a report, on the legality, my own view is that part of a chief executives job is to oversee the democratic process, not to think of opportunities for enhancements to ...
There were two principal local council by-election held on Thursday 21st July. The Tories held one seat and Plaid Cymru held the other. In the only parish or town council by-election results reported to ALDC the Tories took a seat off the Lib Dems. At times in Welsh elections there can be an "anyone but Plaid" mentality from both activists and voters. By-elections naturally encourage a wider field of candidates than usual and this was the case in the Glyder ward of Gwynedd Council and split that vote. This Bangor ward divides into two; a council estate and a largely ...
I wrote an article for the last Liberator on the future for the Scottish Liberal Democrats in the wake of a bruising election result. The new edition is now out so the old one is available online here. It'sprobably very wrong and utterly egotistical that the only time I've drawn your attention to the publication that's in many ways the Party's conscience is when I've written in it, but it is worth reading. I let my subscription lapse for a couple of years and regretted it. I've now got it up and running again and can definitely recommend it. Alongside ...
Chicken pox. One of those "mild" childhood illnesses that most of us assume just has to be endured at some point. Sure, it itches like crazy, but what's the big deal? That's how I saw it until two friends of my four-year-old son went down with it in the same month. They described the misery their children went through, the sleepless nights for all the family, the seemingly endless quarantine. And worse: it can put children in hospital, and occasionally even kill them. As the dreaded varicella zoster virus seemed to creep ever closer to my son's unprepared immune system, ...
My colleague John Dodd has been active pursuing the Dowd Gravytrain. John is a member of the ITA and along with other Lib Dems has raised these issues over many years. Here is his latest salvo: Cllr John Dodd Slams Labour "Gravy Train" on Merseytravel Cllr John Dodd, the Sefton Council Liberal Democrat representative on Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority (Merseytravel) welcomed the U-turn by Labour Councillors on Liverpool City Council to stop claiming multiple allowances on Merseytravel and back the Lib Dem calls for councillor allowances to be set by an independent panel. Cllr Dodd said "Liverpool City Labour Councillors ...
I've been in the process of setting up a local business partnership with Rory Laing. We have now launched with our website, and we can offer a range of campaigning services. Of main interest to people in Calderdale and Hebden Bridge might be the printing and design services we can offer. We do all of our printing on either Riso machines or a full colour laser printer and offer very competitive rates. We also have an envelope stuffing machine, if you need to get a direct mailing out to people. We can deliver free of charge to anyone local, and ...
Rudolf Diesel has a lot to answer for. The compression engine he invented has become the great workhorse of heavy duty vehicles like the buses, taxis and vans which fill our streets. But the nasty side effect of diesel fuel is fine particulate exhaust emissions that are creating a major health crisis. Tiny particles get deep into the lungs, causing thousands of premature deaths and a big increase in ill health. The biggest culprit in central London, where the health problems are most acute? Yes, buses, taxis and commercial vans – all run, regulated or approved by the Mayor of ...
One of the striking features of the banking crisis was the way in which the Left utterly failed to capitalise upon it. A casual observer would've thought that worldwide financial calamity brought on by the mismanagement by the private sector of the planet's finances would provide the perfect prop to those demanding more state intervention. ...
Drink Driving. It is one of those issues that I have zero tolerance for. I think you make a decision to not only put your own life at risk but also that of innocent others who are getting on with their lives. Accidents happen but when someone involved in the accident has their judgment impaired either by drugs or drink then it isn't strictly an accident is it? Fast forward to the reason of this blog post. Local Radio DJ and former pop star Tracie has been found guilty of drink driving and has subsequently been banned from driving for ...
I've been thinking a lot about why Google seem so concerned about having "real" names; what difference it could actually make to them whether, for example, someone in Hong Kong uses their chinese-script name or the romanised name they are commonly known by; why Skud is not acceptable but the name nobody uses for her is desired so much that they prefer to have her absent entirely. What is the business case for this? And the only answer I've come up with so far has been around the equivalent functionality elsewhere: either a Census or the Phone Book and the ...
Great news! In the July edition of "Victoria Ward E-news", Councillor David Allen gives this update: At a recent Town Council Policy and Resources Meeting the Committee voted in favour of supporting a modest development in the Park – eg a cafe, toilets, park wardens office and boat storage area. I pointed out to the Committee that since the building of the Parkway shopping centre, the Park has become a very important open space and we are not keen on seeing a large development in the south-east corner (the 'Pavilion'). If you have any views on this subject please do ...
What drove Anders Breivik to commit the atrocities on Friday July 22nd? His 'manifesto' is, truthfully, not the ramblings of insanity – it was quite articulate and coherent, throughout. Everything was coldly calculated to perfection. Anders knew what he was ... Continue reading →
Is the Syrian Government for real in its claim that it will soon allow the formation of political parties other than the ruling, dictatorial Baath party? It is difficult to feel very optimistic about any promise that comes from the mouth of President Assad's regime. Is it possible that the regime has been left with no alternative but to embrace reform, however little it really relishes the prospect of so doing? Given how many of its own people the regime is happy to kill, one really has to wonder - let's just say that the proof of this particular pudding ...
Like many people — and most Norwegians, I suspect — I observed a minute's silence at 11am, to mark the death of 93 predominantly young people at the hands of murderous right-wing fanatic Anders Breivik. The dignity with which the tragic episode has been handled by the Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and the Royal ...
Cllr Dodd said "research shows that the transport authority pays Councillors more than other transport bodies". Merseytravel is the only travel authority in the country that has not set up an independent allowances panel. Instead, members vote for their own pay. At the Annual Meeting of the Transport Authority, Cllr Dodd remarked "After the MPs expenses scandal, it's amazing that Labour Councillors think they can get away with setting their own salaries, and also claim multiple allowances for attending meetings. When the public see over 30 paid jobs created and shared between just 13 Labour Councillors, they must think the ...
Back in 2009 I speculated that the plan for a centralised version of the country's electoral registers (the CORE project) should win a prize for worst government IT project: Back in early 2001 I sat in a consultation meeting where the project was being planned, with the data available on CD (ah! those were the days) and then securely online in early 2002 ... One of my favourite memories of this whole saga was when both the Electoral Commission and the Government in fairly quick succession carried out a consultation that went over pretty much the same ground. As a ...
I have been a member of a political party on and off for about twenty years. I studied 'A' level politics and Government at university so getting involved in politics seemed the obvious thing to do, especially if one believed in certain things and not in others. I lapsed for a few years and then rejoined, lapsed again and rejoined again. I never agreed with every single policy but then who does? Political parties are broad coalitions and you opt for the one that is closest to your world view. I have always been a bit torn between what is ...
Not by me but Obnoxio the Clown. He offers a thoughtful piece, bar a robust view on Obama, on how we should react to what happened. You can read it here.
The Liberal Democrats at County Hall have expressed concerns over the way in which the county council is rolling out its plans to switch off street lights at night. Lib Dem Leader Chris White, who raised the issue at this week's full council meeting, said: 'The goal of switching off street lights at night is a good one. But the way in which the county council is approaching it has thrown up a number of problems: '1. Why is midnight chosen as the cut off time? it is not unusual for people working in London or going out to the ...
Thanks to everyone who made yesterday's "Stockport Loves Bikes" event at Bramall Hall such fun. In addition to fun bike rides around the park, there were old bikes (not only penny-farthings but also a 19th century bike designed for a couple to sit side by side and a few others too). Then there were the bikes for the disabled – which plenty of the kids had fun riding around. And the unicycles. And the "decorate your bike" competition (giraffe bikes, for example). And the design a cycling jersey competition. And the camera obscura. Whilst I'm at it – well done ...
You have to have sympathy with Michael Brown, a man who's seen his daughter brutally murdered by her violent partner. I can only imagine the pain he's gone through, and he will quite rightly be looking for ways in which this violent tragedy could have been prevented. Clare Wood met George Appleton online in 2007. In their relationship, she was subjected to repeated, horrific physical and sexual violence. She ended the relationship, but Appleton continued to harrass her and ultimately murdered her in 2009. Appleton had a history of violence towards women, which the Police were well aware of. Michael ...
Feminist cartoons Quite a lot of these are depressing rather than funny. (tags: feminism comics) Feminism 101: Helpful Hints for Dudes, Part 6 "there are men who treat women like people, and men who treat women like not-men". I treat every person as an individual. Lots of people don't. Lots of people make assumptions about a person based on their (visible) gender or skin colour or mode of dress. This is one of the biggies. (tags: feminism)
Sunday Newspaper tries to halt Dowd's gravytrainBUS and tram bosses have been accused of riding on a publicly-funded expenses gravy train.A culture of free spending at the Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority is suggested by monthly statements for corporate credit cards.Records obtained by the Sunday Express show expenses for five top Merseytravel managers and its elected chairman Mark Dowd.The credit cards were used for anything from a cup of coffee to a £1,300 corporate banquet at a leading Liverpool restaurant.The items include a £140 payment to the Labour Party by Mr Dowd and £165 restaurant bill for a meal he paid ...
An online currency has been launched called Bitcoin. The video below explains how it works. Hat tip to the UK Libertarian forum. It looks like an interesting initiative but the question with all these things is will it take off and if it does how will that change the transactions we do on the web.
For many in the Liberal Democrats we have got used to a steady increase in the Lib Dem vote at General Elections which gave rise to the expectation of a break through at some point only to be disappointed when the results come in. Now in Government people have become panicked at the drop in ...
That's the topic at the CIPR's Social Summer event on 25 August, at which I'll be speaking along with one of the good folk from Tweetminster. You can book your place here. Now all I need to do is to work out what to say...
There are some who interpreted my question yesterday as to whether Rupert Murdoch and his company are fit and proper people to own any media in this country as a call for censorship. Nothing could be further from the truth. My point was that in the current 24/7 news cycle those who own and control the media have great power and need to exercise that responsibly. They should not be allowed to misuse that power by seeking to subvert democratically elected politicians, bribe policemen and break laws with impunity as has happened. There needs to be a standard that all ...
Mon 25th
08:05
The Inverness Spinners are on their way - Day 4 of their Land's End to John O'Groat's Cycle
A couple of weeks ago I wrote that my wee sister was cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats as part of an intrepid group called the Inverness Spinners. They set off from Land's End on Friday morning. I've never been down to that part of the country, but apparently it has an awful lot of hills so the first couple of days until they got to Bristol were pretty hard core. I think if any of them ever saw another Mendip it would be too soon. They are doing a phenomenal amount of miles - 310 in just three ...
Julian Huppert has welcomed tough action announced by the government to save more than £1.5 billion from the Private Finance Initiative. Importantly, much of the money saved will be used to improve services, including those in Cambridge and the East of England. In a Written Ministerial Statement, Treasury Minister Lord Sassoon laid out government plans to save more than £1.5 billion on existing PFI deals. The announcement comes after a series of forensic investigations by Treasury experts into PFI contracts including at the Queens Hospital in Romford. Julian has strongly supported the PFI Rebate campaign of more than 80 MPs, ...
Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Belinda Brooks-Gordon is fighting for a fairer deal for part-time university students under the government's education loans scheme. She has teamed up with Baroness Sal Brinton, former Cambridgeshire County Council Liberal Democrat leader to make sure part-time students are not discriminated under the scheme. For the first time, part-time students are eligible for loans to pay for their education; but they have to start repaying those loans after three and a half years before they have completed their courses. And the system for accepting repayments will not be in place until 2016 meaning that students who become ...
I have reassured a number of elderly constituents in the West End served by the subsidised 69 bus service that rumours of its demise are inaccurate and that a replacement service (204/204a) will cover much of the route from 15th August. The 69 service in the West End covers streets like Roseangle, Magdalen Yard Road, Windsor Street, Newhall Gardens and Invergowrie Drive - streets that otherwise would not have any bus service. It is well-used by elderly residents to get shopping, to go to the City Centre and to Ninewells Hospital. A number of sheltered tenants in the Paton's Lane ...
It is not often that a country has the constitutional right to dissolve a Parliament by referendum. It is even rarer that this right is exercised. Thus the decision by the Latvian voters,to dissolve the Latvian Seima, and by a fairly substantial margin is a fairly unique set of circumstances.. But then again Latvia is a fairly unique country. Latvia came under intense pressure as the Great Recession began- its largest domestic bank went under, and the government budget fell out of control. The result was not chaos but determination. The technocratic government of Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis slashed the ...
Following complaints from residents of Shaftesbury Park to me regarding the state of the grass area in the street, the City Council advised me last Friday that : "The area in question is currently being covered by one of our relief drivers. Unfortunately, he was unaware of this particular site. He has been instructed to cut the area today and future cycles."
