Question Time on the BBC was a good one this time around, with a heavyweight panel offering some good comments and some very lively and informative audience participation. Even John Prescott managed to make sense and Brian Paddick rocked, as a policeman who has worked in some tough parts of London and who can speak with authority on such matters. It is frustrating that all debate on the criminal looting will not be this interesting or useful. As it ended I was reminded of the recent comments from countries including Libya, Iran, Russia and China on the looting, condemning the ...
Parliament was recalled today, allowing MPs to trip over each other in a competition for the best sound-bites. I suppose we should be grateful that David Cameron tore himself away from his Tuscan salad flavoured with truffle oil to deign the nation with his presence. It was not worth the effort. A pointless debate ensued with some pretty inane and stupid remarks, amid the tiresome "Speaker, may I pay tribute to ..." remarks. Demonstrating that the political class was more out-of-touch than even I thought possible, expenses plunderer Hazel Blears, sporting a riot-coloured permed coiffure, asked why the children were ...
We hear a great deal about the economy these days, unsurprisingly, and more particularly about whether or not the British Government is going the right way about dealing with our national debt. I'm not an economist and I don't claim to know the best way to deal with a debt so huge that the interest repayments on it are unimaginably high. I do have an instinct that we've got to do something
The House of Commons was rather more packed than I expected to hear the Prime Minister's emergency statement on the riots. I think David Cameron struck broadly the right tone. A mixture of outrage, reassurance, promises of help for the victims, an intention to bring the looters to justice and recognition that crime has to ...
No doubt that when the rioting blows over, the Government will have a lot of questions to answer on what they're going to do with the rioters, how the police dealt with the riots, and how they're going to put things right etc.. People aren't likely to accept what the government says – nobody ever ...Read More
"The more there are riots, the more repressive action will take place, and the more we face the danger of a right-wing takeover and eventually a fascist society." Martin Luther King, Jr. And Lo, Cameron today has demonstrated a strong right-wing response in true mettle. Social Media may well have been the aggregator for the riots, allowing hooligans and ruffians to meet and circumvent police activity during their plunder. However, the main blame has rested on BBM, or Blackberry Messenger, a service intended to provide free communications between users instead of using SMS. The biggest issue for the police was ...
"An e-petition calling for rioters to lose their benefits has hit 100,000 signatures and become the first to be considered for a Commons debate." At risk of sounding like a broken record or a parrot, I'll just say it how it is or how I see it. These riots (again, if they can be called ...Read More
They have had mixed luck with their churches in Shrewsbury. One morning in 1788 the parishioners of old St Chad's awoke to find they had a pile of rubble but no church. You can still see the ruins today, but St Chad's was rebuilt to a remarkable circular pattern elsewhere in the town. Naturally, this collapse impressed the people of Shrewsbury and they hurried to rebuild another of their Medieval churches. My town trail booklet says of the reconstruction of St Alkmund's: The limited decoration and use of cast iron tracery in the nave windows may reflect that only £2000 ...
The last few days have offered relief from contemporary images in the form of Carry on Constable and Radio4 Extra's revival of Dixon of Dock Green. How policing has changed.
The Guardian website is reporting this evening that Simon Hughes is to sue News International over phone hacking. It quotes him as telling the Evening Standard: "It is important now that all those who were clearly the subject of criminal activity help to get to the bottom of what happened during this dark period in British journalism." The Guardian goes on to say that Simon's decision is significant because the private investigator employed by the News of the World has already been convicted of targeting his mobile phone. Glenn Mulcaire pleaded guilty to hacking into Hughes's messages, along with those ...
It's only two weeks since I was up at the HIV clinic at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. That appointment was an emergency one due to the somewhat awful cough and chest infection from which I was suffering at the time. The news back then was that the results from May's blood tests were ...
Of the people identified by @cambscops yesterday as being involved in the disturbance in Cambridge during which police officers were injured only one still remains "at large"; Image is click-able - any information call the police on 0345 456 4564. Fantastic response from the people of Cambridge, 24 hours later and only one left unaccounted for! The support for the police has been fantastic - remember that if you want to keep track of what is going on in Cambridgeshire then the most reliable source for news is the Cambridgeshire Cops Twitter feed; https://twitter.com/#!/cambscops
Of the people identified by @cambscops yesterday as being involved in the disturbance in Cambridge during which police officers were injured only one still remains "at large";Image is click-able - any information call the police on 0345 456 4564.Fantastic response from the people of Cambridge, 24 hours later and only one left unaccounted for! The support for the police has been fantastic - remember that if you want to keep track of what is going on in Cambridgeshire then the most reliable source for news is the Cambridgeshire Cops Twitter feed;https://twitter.com/#!/cambscops
Rebecca Welshman is writing a PhD in English Literature at the University of Exeter and is a representative of the Richard Jefferies Society The old house stood by the silent country road, secluded by many a long, long mile, and yet again secluded within the great walls of the garden .... Lime-tree branches overhung the corner of the garden-wall, whence a view was easy of the silent and dusty road, till overarching oaks concealed it. The white dust heated by the sunshine, the green hedges, and the heavily massed trees, white clouds rolled together in the sky, a footpath opposite ...
It has been quite depressing watching many of our MPs and media types reach for the easy stereotypes when discussing this weeks disturbances. The news is full of how to tackle youths and... well... that's about it, so it continues to perpetuate the stereotype as the young person as a problem and a thug. I am bored of the easy youth / young people stereotype pushed by people with varying agendas. One quick look at today's court reports clearly show the the ages of the perpetrators range from young people through to people well into their 40s but we don't ...
By now, there cannot be many people in this country who have not heard about the disturbances across England this week. The scenes of wanton criminal damage and violence, the deaths and injuries, the families made homeless and businesses destroyed, have re-opened a debate that clearly was not resolved last time we witnessed such levels of disorder. Questions are already being asked about the underlying causes of the trouble, and how it was dealt with. No doubt those arguments will continue for some time to come. Everyone has a theory and everyone thinks they have a solution. What is clear ...
A few months ago I started this blog to advance 'Lefty Liberal' and Social Liberal viewpoints within the Liberal Democrats and beyond. Also I thought it was important to advance centre-left politics more generally. Now it's that time of the year again when Total Politics wants people to vote for their favourite blogs. Can I ask everyone who supports centre-left Social Liberalism or who just likes this blog to vote for Lefty Liberal Paul in the Total Politics poll. Here is the link to the poll: Please show your support for centre-left Social Liberalism!
I have been watching the debate and the analysis of the riots all day. It is clear to me. The riots weren't about class or race or the cuts. It is about people wanting things for free and without working for them. I have long seen this trait in children around me and I worry about it. The politics of envy come from the celebrity culture which is widely adored by children everywhere. Take this as an example, Justin Bieber the pop star, has a twitter account and whenever he tweets it only takes 30 seconds for it to be ...
As I went past the Waterfront Hall in Belfast today the following picture along with a couple of others got my attention. Can't think why. Maybe if you do you can tell me in the comments. So British....#6 The pictures on display were by Christof Plümacher a German photography that is part of the Belfast Photo Festival. Here are some more of his pictures. So French....#1 So Spanish...#2 Enjoy! Do a google image search to find some more examples of this work if you do.
The UK media continues its climate trance. Latest figures from the Centre for Science and Policy Research at the University of Colorado show that the downturn in media coverage of climate change has carried on through 2011. It may be more useful to see the climate change debate in the context of energy policy. I have previously suggested that UK media coverage of climate change has evolved over the last couple of years. The focus is now more on energy technologies than the latest bad news about rising global temperatures. Yet the media's interest in energy innovation may not be ...
John Dodd says Southport residents are being warned about a mail scam which says they are entitled to a claim of millions of dollars. More details are on Sefton Council's website here.
ALDC have 22 training session and six workshops at this Autumn's conference in Birmingham. To print a copy of the programme follow this link here. Winning Ways We are running a set of six 'Winning Ways' training sessions, these sessions will be run twice once in the morning and once in the afternoon: Winning Ways 1: Campaigning in your Community In communities across the country there are improvements just waiting for a successful campaign to bring them about. If you are a candidate, campaigner, councillor or Member of Parliament this is your chance to update your knowledge and skills needed ...
(care of FT.com)
[IMG: champions TV] Community TV I thought had died but it seems that David Cameron's Government have yet to learn from history, long suffering readers will know my view, on Kent councils disgraceful record on blowing large sums of money, on unwatched video, still it seems that £40 million from our hard earned money, is to be squandered on the creation of small local TV stations across the nation, despite ITV having pretty much abandon local TV. Fortunately for Kent council, the spectre of their disastrous experiment, has faded to the background, even though it's still possible to catch a ...
Recommended reading for Liberal Democrat councillors and local campaigners from the last seven days: With the news dominated by riots in London and other cities around the country, that is where this week's Read All About It! will start off. In the latest edition of his news email Hughes News, Deputy Leader Simon Hughes talked about the effect the riots had on his own constituency and about Nick Clegg's visit to talk to local residents. On a visit to Birmingham, Nick Clegg also called for people to work together to ensure there was no repeat of what has happened. On ...
It is that time again. Please vote for our blog this year. Many thanks.
Thu 11th
16:14
more on: Time for more radical measures-our economic /industrial policy lacks hope and vision
Politics does not 'smell of hope and generosity' as it should for Liberals. The coalition policies for sustainable growth are predicated on a financing model that was -in large part -the cause of the market collapse that we are suffering. No generation of Liberals in the last century would have left out of their plans the radical restructuring of the ownership and control in industry. It is a prerequisite for sustainable growth as well as a crucial policy in spreading wealth, democracy and power in society. As the resolution passed at the Liberal Joint Assembly of 1968 (reproduced below) asserts; ...
TweetSo why is the Prime Minister, David Cameron deciding that measures such as preventing access to social media sites like Twitter a suitable measure to consider during rioting? That is the tactic of countries like Bahrain, Libya and Egypt in ... Continue reading →
Collected links from around the webA contrarian view: the rioters are a skilful mob « Patrick on the organisational skills of the looters Those involved are mostly skilled and organised. Shame those skills aren't being harnassed in a good way. (tags: london riots) Rosamicula - most of the kids are alright, but the bottom 15% are problematic A London based teacher's view on those involved in the riots/looting and some possible answers moving forward (tags: politics education london) Automatically posted from Delicious using [IMG: [personal profile] ] matgbs updated Delicious Glue script.
In what could well be a very good policy paper on A New Purpose for Politics: Quality of Life, to be debated at next month's Liberal Democrat Conference, I was intrigued to read that the paper's authors "do not seek in any way to encourage anyone to believe (or not) in God". This will doubtless come as a great relief to the many millions of British people who were on tenterhooks awaiting guidance from my party on this very question; God himself is unavailable for comment. The passage in question (which is actually quite sensible) reads:There is good evidence that ...
[IMG: summer open day] One for your diary, Windmill Community Allotment Project are holding an open day at Dane Valley Allotments, Dane Valley Road. This is a project all about producing food to high standards without chemicals and transforming how we get our veg. As part of that project the community offers a "vegetable box" scheme in which I presume you purchase every week and receive a box stuffed with a variety of local organically grown veg to see you through the week. Anyhow for more info click here.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has again emphasised the critical importance of retsoring law and order to the streets of Britain after the widespread rioting of the past few days. However, he also noted that — once calm is fully restored — there will be a need for a proper debate about ensuring young people in deprived areas feel they have a much greater stake in their own communities. Here's what Nick said on the BBC this morning: (Also available on the BBC website here.)
Right: I don't care what elected legislators think – we need the rule of law! Left: Keep spending money until the problem goes away! Liberal: Call me crazy, but shouldn't we try and understand the problem before making decisions? It's not PC to say it, but I'm willing to forgive an officer a degree of excess in the middle of containing a riot. There's much potential for abuse in "a degree", of course, yet there's no escaping the nature of physical confrontation.* In comparison, the greatest risk the MP faces in the House is a paper cut from their briefing ...
BBC1 have cleared the decks for an extra edition of Question Time to discuss this week's riots, tonight at 10.35. Among the panellists is Brian Paddick, my choice to the Liberal Democrat candidate for London Mayor. If you are a London Liberal Democrat party member who is voting to select our mayoral candidate, then tonight's Question Time could be essential viewing in deciding who to vote for.
Great Eastern Run 2011 Residents in and around this area are being urged to check out this years GREAT EASTERN RUN map - to see if they'll be affected by the closure of roads and nearby streets. To view the map - CLICK HERE! Local LIB DEM ward councillor, Cllr Daren Fower, who has previously done marshalling of the event, but this year is partaking in the Fun Run, raising money for ASBAH, said: "Hopefully the Council will be leafleting the nearby areas, but as is always the way with a busy and modern lifestyle than many of us lead, ...
Today parliament has reconvened to discuss and debate the recent public disturbances which, if the media were to be believed, have swept across Britain in recent days. I am happy to join with MPs of all parties in condemning the criminality that has resulted in widespread destruction, looting, hundreds of people being made homeless and, tragically, some being killed. The "riots" that have been the focus of such intense media interest should be seen for what they are - a human tragedy, and a completely unnecessary one at that. Being the kind of person I am, I have tried to ...
Segment taken from her infamous free society speech; The first duty of Government is to uphold the law. If it tries to bob and weave and duck around that duty when its inconvenient, if government does that, then so will the governed, and then nothing is safe—not home, not liberty, not life itself.
Thu 11th
14:11
Note to Lib Dem MPs: We need passionate, emotional liberalism as well as sense, from you
I know this is very early on in today's parliamentary proceedings but I am feeling a bit woeful. This is exactly the moment when this country needs a strong, heartfelt liberal voice to counteract increasingly ridiculous suggestions on how to deal with the appalling theft & violence we've seen over the last week. There are petitions all over the place calling for those convicted to be sent to Afghanistan or to lose their benefits. Tory MPs are calling for tear gas, water cannon and baton rounds, for offenders to be rounded up the Army & taken to Wembley Stadium, for ...
Anyone with a pension, any kind of property or savings will be hit by the sharply increased turmoil in the 'markets' this week. Sensible folk find it hard to get their heads round this. The business that has suddenly seen its share price dive is exactly the same business that last week was seeing a steady share price rise. It seems that this increased turmoil is largely caused by the opinions of a private company called Standard & Poors. As Nobel Prize winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman notes "It's hard to think of anyone less qualified ...
It's a common concept amongst liberals that politicians look for any reason to assert control over the people, and I think we're going to find out over the next few days what the liberal credentials of our MPs really are. [IMG: BlackBerry Messenger] I've been watching BBC Parliament with some alarm as MPs talk about how to deal with social media, talking about preventing access to social media to would-be rioters, and refer to false rumours being spread on Twitter as similar to 'police hoax calls'. First of all, on the false rumours point, this sets a very dangerous precedent. ...
This post has been brewing for a while but an entertaining twitter debate regarding the merits of CCTV between Tory MP Phillip Davies and the TPA grass routes co-ordinator Andrew Allison has spurred me on to put my thoughts to paper. As an instinctive Liberal I was uncomfortable regarding the huge pieces of legislation regarding state intrusion that Labour passed over their 13 years in office and although there were more intrusive aspects than CCTV this was probably the most visible to the general public. The debate regarding the merits of CCTV has always revolved around the practical and the ...
One of the more fatuous comments on the recent riots came in Parliament today from Jack Straw who invited the Government to move even further away from Ken Clarke's proposals than they have already. Put rioting to one side for the moment & realise that the re-offending rate for 18 to 25yrolds of over 70% within two years of release versus the cost of imprisonment represents failure on a heroic scale. There has to be a better way. When one also realises that a huge number of prisoners have mental health & other problems it is clear that other ways ...
Thu 11th
13:30
LibLink | Tom Brake MP: Yes, we are bringing an end to the detention of child refugees
One of the Lib Dems' key 2010 election manifesto pledges was that child detention in immigration centres would be ended. A year after Tom Brake MP welcomed this Lib Dem policy being adopted by the Coalition government, he has written for The Guardian to highlight how the policy is improving the lives of those young and innocent victims who were treated so disgracefully by the Labour government: The current practices with regard to children awaiting deportation cannot be - and should not be - in any way compared to the shameful past. Children are no longer held for weeks, pending ...
[IMG: Burning car] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: NightFall404 An interesting point arose this week via Twitter. As part of his scheduling, Nick Clegg planned to get around to each of the regions to hold one meeting, for each region, with LibDem members during August. Last week he went to Chippenham to do this. On Tuesday, Nick Clegg had a busy day. He was scheduled to do three of these meetings, two of which were in the South West in Devon and Cornwall. Needless to say these two meetings were postponed. Nick attended the key Cobra meeting in the ...
Here they are, with quite a lot of detail people may find interesting - such as on the party HQ move, changes in the Campaigns Department, the introduction of VAN and the relatively healthy party finances (the surplus this year will all but cancel out last year's deficit): Reports to Liberal Democrat Autumn 2011 Conference
Thu 11th
13:13
Birmingham Riots: A city shows the country a way forward with amazing scenes of community (disappoin...
As I watched the news last night I couldn't help feeling that there was almost excitement in the news presenters as to what was to happen in Birmingham last night fulled from reports that people were getting messages to amass in Birmingham, race tensions or revenge for the death of 3 men. I wake today to find ...
There's a little – not much, but a little – more news on the Always advert I wrote about yesterday. Yesterday afternoon, Procter and Gamble put out a statement saying this is a spoof advert, while the production company have claimed it was an "internal use" advert that was never released. (I.e. not a spoof) Neither of these statements quite ties up with the fact that the advert appears on the film company's web site. (Under commercials, left hand column, third film down) The accompanying "about" box states that it caused "stream of controversy" when released and that it was ...
Thursday Okay, episode two of the US-ified Torchhoot and it's got better. This felt properly structured: three separate storyline that interweave before all coming together for the climax at Dulles Airport. Jack, Gwen and newboy arsehole Rex, aboard a tight little bottle show; fluffy mouse Esther caught in a re-run of every government conspiracy drama ever; and Dr Vera doing the science (fiction) bit. ...although I'm probably alone in hoping for the spin-off from a spin-off of "Danny and Greta's Giant Wacky Flying Rendition Wagon" where each week on route to Gitmo they have to do a "Blue Peter make" ...
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Franklin Just how far can the riots push Britain to the political right. At the moment, MPs and commentators are falling over themselves to come up with ever more barmy ideas for how to stop the riots. One Tory MEP wants the mass slaughter of all those out on the streets during a disorder situation. Others want to release swarms of angry bees or rampaging bulls or to cover rioters in permanent die. A petition on Parliament's new e-petitions site wants ...
Day 8 was not one of the best. For the first time, our gig was a bit flat and I wasn't sure why. I moved a couple of jokes earlier in my set to try something out but it was hard to judge from the quiet crowd whether that was an improvement or not. And just to add further confusion, one line we'd talked about rewriting suddenly got a good laugh. We consoled ourselves that one slightly weaker gig out of five so far is an all right hit-rate. I went to the gym to blow the cobwebs away a ...
I was interested at one comment from Nick Robinson in The Daily Politics show today. He did not intend to show cynicism but purely as an observation he told us that the people involved in the riots and the people I was talking about yesterday do not tend to vote. If this causes them to be ignored, and it does, then their agenda will never be the same as the politicians' agenda. Labour has moved to the centre. New Labour is a shadow of Old Labour. As for the Tories, I don't think Lord Ashcroft's money was used to support ...
I think the phrase is OMG and for once it is appropriate. Reading the comments made by Tory and Labour MPs in the Parliamentary debate on the criminal looting, you would think that we were at war. Loony Nadine Dorries wants water cannon now, not in 24 hours, David Davies (a different one, apparently) wants the use of baton rounds, Labour and Plaid Cymru MPs blame the economy for criminals. It is a shocking day when Diane Abbott is the voice of reason, cautioning against the use of the army. Where is the LD voice of reason? Where are London ...
Thu 11th
12:32
Narrativewatch: How Britain's political classes see what they want to see in this week's mayhem.
I'm experimenting with tumblr. To see this post, click here.
It's been a while since I did a screenshot based review of a mobile app. I was gratified when QR Pal asked me to review their new app. First thing's first, this is a great idea for a QR Scanner. It saves all your scans – so you can retrieve them by category, it checks to see if links are safe to click on, it allows you to share scans with friends, and it also has a gameification element. But I really don't like it. It's slow to start up, has a UI which is only really suitable for iPhone ...
Another day, another story about the National Archives releasing UK government files about UFOs. This always takes me back to being nine years old and thinking that UFOs were the coolest thing on Earth (or not on Earth, I suppose). Until 2009, there was actually a section of the Ministry of Defence that people could ring to report having seen a flying saucer. It was in or near High Wycombe, and I once walked past an RAF base that I worked out must be the one where these people were based. Today's news tells me that a branch of Defence ...
HM Government's E-petition site appears to be down. Are we really that surprised when the BBC is reporting that it had more than 90,000 signatures at 6am from BBC News Perhaps the Government did not expect people to actually sign these petitions. No one could have predicted what has happened in recent days. Let's hope ...
Following on from the success of our 2011 artwork pack, ALDC has again commissioned a series of FOCUS and campaign material templates for use by Liberal Democrat campaigners. These are exclusively available to members of ALDC. Pack 1 was released at the start of August: The templates include: a range of A4 focus templates (to add to the A3 templates produced last year), and a wide variety of materials for "knocking on doors" - surveys (national and local), single issue door-knocking and candidate calling leaflets. - all of which have been produced in black and white, two colour (for RISOs) ...
No. Here come Labour, chuntering on about policing cuts in the absence of any acceptance of responsibility for the recent criminal activities - some of whose participants were born and grew up under a Labour government. Same old Labour: trite responses to a hugely complex issue. Well, here's a response to Labour. The country has just been through one of the worst recessions ever. We are poorer than we were in 2008 and the economy is flatlining. Despite the Labour spin, any party which had emerged from the election in 2010 in control would have had to make swingeing cuts ...
You can tell when the first couple of links were found, and then when the last three found their way onto the list, can't you? B-Movie Posters for Classic Films – Good stuff from Cracked readers, and some excellent artwork in there Idiots – From Who Rules Where, "a table for idiots who think the death penalty is normal." Let's not bring in the army – David Allen Green on why calls for the Army to be brought in to 'sort things out' should be resisted. Just another country – A typically interesting post from The Gaping Silence on the ...
It's a hundred years since the British government last tried seriously to overhaul radically the House of Lords, the Upper House of the UK Parliament. And the 2011 White Paper put forward by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition government would indeed be a radical overhaul: reducing the number of members to 300, 80% or even 100% ...
Whilst recently going polar bear watching in Canada, I visited what must be a very strong contender for the world's least successful military fort. Construction of the Prince of Wales Fort, at the mouth of the Churchill River on the Hudson Bay in Canada, started in 1731 (probably; though the plaque on it says 1733), to replace a previous wooden affair. The inhospitable and far-flung location meant construction went not only slowly but really slowing. It was not until 1772 that it was completed, 41 years on. It was meant to be a modern design displaying the very latest in ...
It's that time of the year again, and my usual exhortation. Please go vote, and vote for some girls. If Caron isn't in the top five this year there's no justice. [IMG: Click here to vote in the Total Politics Blog Awards 2011]
Last year, Anna and I went to the Doctor Who Exhibition in Newcastle and I wrote about that fantastic experience here. Part of the reason for the trip to London was to go to the new Doctor Who Experience at Olympia. We were booked in at 11am last Wednesday morning. Because of a fairly major failure on my part in understanding the transport system, we arrived, a bit frazzled, on the Number 10 bus from Kings Cross, which had taken us on a very picturesque tour of the city, 20 minutes late. I was really worried that we weren't going ...
There is something very dramatic about the name COBRA! The centre of the United Kingdom Government's response to any crisis is a committee made up the PM and other people as needed. It has co-ordinated responses to crises for as long as I can remember: foot and mouth, terrorism, and of course the recent riots. On twitter @Puffles2010 retweeted a silly quiz question by @TheBigShow1976: "Easy," said hundreds of people, "Cabinet Office Briefing Room A." As did I when I woke up this morning and read the tweets. But apparently not... @DavidAllenGreen (blogger Jack Of Kent) replied... There then followed ...
Earlier in the year, I did a series of posts profiling forgotten liberal heroes (to which a couple of other people also kindly contributed), looking at some of those who achieved great things for liberalism in their time but have been unjustly forgotten - such as Margaret Wintringham, the very first female Liberal MP. There is also another group of people who I think are often unjustly obscure - those local campaigners who are often at the heart of their local community and local party, delivering liberalism and helping others, but as their stage is a local one they are ...
A large number of our politicians are showing that they are not much better than the Rioters them selves, as rather than just condemning the riots they try and twist them to their own political ends. Link to Guardian The original Riot in Tottenham may have started out from a legitimate protest (the full results from the IPCC has not been released yet), but no riot is excusable - and the spread of the riots was just Thuggery. Various left wing social commentators are finding excuses for the Rioters, despite them committing inexcusable offences against their communities. They had no ...
Scans Daily has bits of the end of Batgirl (see link below for more). I'm not sure which I love more - Oracle as Ripley!Green Lantern or Stephwing at the end... *sniffle* Don't want it to be the end. (tags: comics) DC Women Kicking Ass - Batgirl #24: the Director's Cut by Bryan Q. Miller Since I got back into comics recently, the one I have loved the most has been Steph Brown Batgirl. No question. It has been the most consistently excellent, beautifully written, gloriously characterised book I have read in a long time. I'll miss you, Steph. I'll ...
With the news of a delay in the Westminster marriage equality consultation, attention has turned to Scotland where there has been a pointless argument brewing. It all began when a SNP MSP called John Mason put forward perhaps the most misleading motion in Scottish Parliamentary history: "That the Parliament notes the current discussion about same-sex marriages and the Scottish Government's forthcoming public consultation concerning equal marriage; further notes that while some in society approve of same-sex sexual relationships, others do not agree with them; desires that Scotland should be a pluralistic society where all minorities can live together in peace ...
And, ahem, me. Yup, it's the Total Politics Blog of the Year awards again, this time with the sensible innovation of letting people vote for both their favourite political blogs and also their favourite political bloggers, thereby reflecting how some people now blog in many different places. Further details are here and you can cast your vote here. Voting closes on 19 August so vote early and, er..., encourage others to vote.
On Tuesday night there was a lot of twitter conversation about expected trouble in Crouch End, Muswell Hill and Highgate. I contacted our local police commander around 6pm to ask what intelligence the police had on potential trouble in these local areas. The commander checked police information and phoned me back to say there was nothing coming in on that over the police information channels. Police information was correct. Whilst Tottenham High Road sustained massive damage (as we all saw) - in Hornsey & Wood Green constituency - Wood Green High road had substantial looting and vandalism – but the ...
Thu 11th
09:39Lib Dems need to distance themselves from Cameron's 'happiness agenda': The making of the politics o...
The development of the UK's Happiness Index has completed its consultation phase which may produce some interesting results for Government policy. The Lib Dems need to understand it and outline our 'differentiation' strategy on the issue as it may have a larger impact than many people believe. While Andrew Oswald, professor of economics at the ...
Aditya Chakrabortty has a pretty compelling article in today's Guardian scrutinising the political responses to the past few days' rioting under the concise headline, UK riots: political classes see what they want to see. He summarises the binary analysis that has dominated: If you're a leftwinger, the causes of the violence and looting are straightforward: they're the result of monstrous inequality and historic spending cuts; while the youth running amok through branches of JD Sports are what happens when you offer a generation plastic consumerism rather than meaningful jobs. For the right, explaining the violence is even simpler - because ...
Nothing can justify looting and wanton vandalism but without hope there is nothing. In the absence of hope there are no aspirations or responsibilities, no fears of repercussions or respect for others and their property. Alongside the rightful condemnation of those who looted or destroyed and those who stood by and watched, or turned a blind eye when stolen goods arrived in their household, there is a need for understanding of what lay behind these acts of criminality. A world in financial meltdown cannot offer the next generation a better deal than the last, but it can offer hope if ...
Doncaster born Jeremy Clarkson waxed eloquent in his Sunday Times column about the awfulness of Greater Manchester &, in particular, the BBCs move to Salford. He said " If the BBC said I had to move back up North I'd resign in a heartbeat". Don't be a tease Jeremy. For some of us that would be wonderful news but I'm not holding my breath.
Party positions seem to be hardening ahead of today's parliamentary debate on the riots. The government - both coalition parties - seems to be focusing on punishment, including the nutty idea of making people homeless. The Labour Party is trying to blame the government's cuts whilst simultaneously condemning the rioters. This won't work as Harriet Harman found out on Newsnight. The media
Cambridgeshire County Council may soon find itself forced to make cuts in this year's budget to find the extra money needed to fund the schools that have become academies. The government has realised that it is wildly over budget for its academy programme and is now consulting about how to plug the gap. In a recent consultation document the government conceded that it is facing a shortfall of over £600 million over the two year period 2011-2013. This has arisen because it is paying academies more money than they need and consequently more schools have decided to become academies than ...
Saint Clare was born Chiara Offreduccio in Assisi in 1194. She followed her fellow citizen, Saint Francis, in a life of poverty and became mother and foundress of an order of nuns, the "Poor Clares" in Assisi. The Poor Clares were devoted to Our Lord and led a very active and fulfilling life, even though ...
I have recently had complaints from residents that the pathway on Pentland Avenue that runs in front of the houses (above the main Pentland Avenue pavement) has badly overgrown foliage beside it. Over the wet weather last weekend, it was difficult to pass without getting covered in rainwater (see right). The Housing Department own this path and I have asked that the adjacent trees be trimmed back.
From Sheena Wellington : On Saturday 27th August 2011, the Eighteenth Century Girl Band, Lady Georgianna, will delight and titillate Dundee concert-goers with a recital of Regency music performed on harpsichord, cello and voice. Wearing the flamboyant fashions of the Georgian and Regency eras, the trio, Allegra (Abigail Seabrook), Isabella Wrighten (Hetti Price) and Signora Storace (Micaela Schmitz), perform popular hits from the time of Marie Antoinette and Mad King George. With voice, cello and harpsichord, their aim is to bring to life the songs of the 18th century pleasure garden, interspersed with poetry and readings, for an unforgettable Georgian ...
Bubble Universe (A Short Story) « Sci-Ence! Justice Leak! Andrew Hickey writes yet another awesome short story in the true-SF genre. (tags: fiction) 98-year-old woman earns judo's highest degree black belt In the middle of this, let's have some awesome news. "Be gentle, kind and beautiful, yet firm and strong, both mentally and physically." <- I think I want that cross-stitched on a cushion. (tags: judo) MLK on rioting. Asim relates a Martin Luther King speech to the race related issues being brought up by recent events. "Every large city reaps the results of the myriad poor and black people ...
wwhyte: Top posting FAQ "A3: Please.""Q3: Should I avoid top posting on this mailing list?" (tags: internet) wwhyte: Bottom posting FAQ " Is there a way of contributing to email conversations that allows you to make your contribution easy to find for people who've been following the discussion, while preserving the entire thread for the benefit of people who are new to it?" (tags: internet)
Police and thieves in the streets, so goes the lyrics of the Clash song! In many ways 2011 seems like a re-run of 1981 to me. Royal wedding, mass unemployment and riots in English inner cities. Or is it? I read an excellent blog earlier this week from Dave Hill in the Guardian. He pointed out that the riots produced a predictable polarisation of views. The right condemn criminality, give uncritical support to the police and show a contempt for diagnosing the events in reference to any wider social and economic context. The left give an insistence that the events ...
Unless you've been living under a rock the past week, there have been riots around England in the past few days. Maybe it's just me, but I've felt myself drifting towards the left in the past few months; while I was, I admit, a little skeptical of public sector worker marches over the winter and spring, I'm rather sympathetic towards the original set of rioters in Tottenham and several other areas. There are obvious parallels to the eighties; a Conservative government, economic troubles, racial tensions, public sector strikes, even a royal wedding. The only thing that needs to happen now, ...
The 'Dolce and Gabbana' riots (which unsurprisingly seem to have been postponed in the north of England due to rain) will not see the police taking anti-terror powers, so I hear. Thursday's debate in Parliament will simply be a platform for pointless self congratulatory politicians to offer up trite soundbites about how best to deal with the unrest. One might think that politicians might have better things to do with their time (like spending it with their families) and let the police get on with their job. A job which it now appears they have found some appropriate tactics that ...
WARNING! More rioting!! There's been a fight in the biscuit tin. A lad called Rocky, hit a Penguin over the head with a Club, tied him to a Wagon Wheel with a Blue Ribbon and made his Breakaway in a Taxi. Police say Rocky was last seen just After Eight in Maryland with a Ginger ...
