Now I'm not a referee so I need a helping hand with this one. As many of you will have seen either live on ESPN or on Match of the Day this evening there was an incident involving Gervinho and Joey Barton in the Newcastle United v Arsenal game. Gervinho went down in the box mid-way through the first half. Most people thought it was a dive but referee Peter Walton decided that it wasn't and allowed play to continue with no advantage signaled. This seems pretty crucial. Next Joey Barton grabs Gervinho by the scruff of the neck and ...
The pictures opposite show the devastation after a robbery of my Home Cinema shop in Manchester. Horrific aren't they? However, these pictures were not taken on Tuesday following the rioting and looting in the North West of England, they were taken exactly two days before Christmas day, 2003. As I listened to Salford, Manchester and London traders on Sky News describing how their businesses and livelihoods had been destroyed by criminals during the violence last week, the memories of 2003 came flooding back. Unlike some shop and business owners who were targeted in these recent attacks, I had no warning ...
Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Lib-Dems on Broxtowe Borough Council. First, many apologies that there hasn't been a newsletter for the past couple of weeks. I've actually been away on holiday and didn't want to broadcast that fact beforehand. Second can I apologise to Beeston Hockey Club. I meant to mention their great success this season a few weeks ago but forgot to do so. Sorry folks and well done. 1. Riots The events of the past week or so have been truly shocking. I ...
It was 50 years ago today that construction of the Berlin Wall began. In its 28 year history at least 136 people (some estimates reckon more than 1,000) were killed trying to get over it. The fact that they were going from the East to the West gave the lie to its Soviet name - the Anti Fascist Protection Barrier. Reuters reports the current Mayor of Berlin saying he was 'appalled that some Germans were nostalgic for the Berlin Wall and supported a newly fashionable leftist view that there were legitimate reasons for building it in 1961' - words strangely ...
I've recently been sent an email by a prospective OU student asking a number of interesting questions about my experiences of studying. Rather than simply reply to the email, I thought the questions and answers might make for an interesting blog post and also allow others to talk about their experiences too. Please leave a comment if you'd like to contribute! 1. What made you want to pursue further education in the first place and why did you choose the OU? I'd done an OU course in management in 1990, so this wasn't my first experience of the OU. It ...
Today I picked up a copy of An Ambition Realised, a privately published memoir by Tony Hackett, who grew up in Market Harborough during World War II. Rather alarmingly, I recognise several figures in it from my teenage years in the 1970s. Looking at the early chapters, two points of interest has struck me. The first is that, in his benefit year, Denis Compton's XI played a benefit match here against Market Harborough. Compton himself scored a century and lit a cigarette as he walked back to the pavilion after eventually being dismissed. Hackett does not give a date for ...
OK, so you're in the main train station, waiting for a train. Then a bloke starts beating a drum. And a flute joins in. And there's a bloke waving a stick, and more people just start turning up. Isn't this cool: The Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra decided to flashmob the local station.
This is an honest question, and a request for information. I've been a member of Unlock Democracy for a few years, and took part in the disastrous AV campaign (though thanks to a lot of work by activists in Manchester, we did much better than the national campaign). Straight after that, I joined the Electoral ...
The Monkees' first album was put together very quickly, in anticipation of the band's TV debut. For the pilot of the TV show, several songs by Screen Gems writers Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart had been recorded by Boyce & Hart's band The Candy Store Prophets, as the four band members hadn't yet been cast. ...
Sat 13th
19:42
Police appeal for witnesses to assault in Chipping Sodbury, early hours of Sunday July 31
Police are appealing for witnesses to an assault in Chipping Sodbury. The assault occurred at around 12.45am on Sunday July 31, 2011. The victim, a woman in her 30s, was outside the Portcullis pub in Horse Street. She received a fractured wrist and a grazed knee after being pushed to the ground. An investigation into the assault is underway. Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact Avon and Somerset Police on 0845 456 7000. Alternatively, phone the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555111. They never ask your name or trace your call.
The Independent has a story today quoting senior police officers in criticising the Tories for seeking to take credit for the police response to the looting of recent days. One senior officer is reported to have described Dave as 'idiotic' and the report states that he had to be 'talked down' from putting the army onto the streets. Thank God for that. The report also considers the role of the new adviser to Dave, Bill Bratton, formerly of Los Angeles in the USA, where he is credited with achieving much in the wake of riots there. This seems to be ...
As I noted recently, it's currently time for the annual Total Politics blog awards. Anyone with an interest in political blogging can, until 19th August, nominate their ten favourite blogs and bloggers - and their favourite tweeter. There are a lot of reasons why this year's political blog awards are exciting me in a way they haven't previously. Firstly, this is perhaps the understandable and inevitable consequence of my own transformation into a regular blogger. Secondly, I think there is real potential for Scottish and female bloggers to do well in the Total Politics awards - thus hopefully providing an ...
Sat 13th
19:14
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; ...
I just finished watching Battlefield, in which the Seventh Doctor promises to cook dinner in the final line. In The Lodger, the Eleventh Doctor actually is seen cooking (as is the Tenth Doctor in the original comic strip story that the TV episode is based on). Over on Twitter, Ian Potter points out that it is strongly implied that the Sixth Doctor cooked the nut roast that Peri reports throwing out in Resurrection of the Daleks. Any other references to the Doctor actually cooking, on TV or in spinoff literature and audios?
I struggled to recall the last athletic event I actually won. The Three Legged Race in the Fox Covert School sports day when I was in Primary seven springs to mind. I can't recall winning anything since....until today. I was part of a council team in a Highland Games. I have never shown any aptitude for the sports involved particularly Caber Tossing. Last year I was the worst at it but at least I tried. Nobody could have been more shocked than I was to actually win the event (OK tied for first place). Funny old world!
Today is the 50th anniversary of the division of Berlin and the coming of the Wall on August 13th 1961. At the Berlin Wall in 2006 It was the single most visible monument to the failure of Communism. It was an attempt by the authorities to stop their own people from migrating to the democratic west. It was also as a result, the single seminal moment that marked the end of the Cold War. The indredulous scene of Berliners climbing the Wall unhindered by the East German Security Guards sparked joys throughout the free world. The wall, which had torn ...
If you've drive down Old Hall Road in Gatley, past the Medical Centre, in the last couple of weeks you might have noticed the new signs to Gatley Carrs. As you probably know, Gatley Carrs is our own little nature reserve, with bats, birds, ponds, a wildflower meadow and more; but many people even in Gatley don't realise it's there. The Gatley Carrs Conservation Group got funding for the signs and we helped get them made up and placed. Hopefully more people will visit the Carrs as a result. From C&G casework photos View Cheadle and Gatley in a larger ...
The elections to the Council of the Electoral Reform Society which are going on at the moment have seen a large increase in candidates and an energetic slate of reformers. The prize is control of the Society's multi milion pound a year income from their very profitable trading subsidiary which provides electoral services to a large range of organisations. The reform ...
In case you thought fly-tipping was easy to get away with, be aware that local residents are quick to report it and the Council will always investigate it, and take action where possible. Here's some fly-tipping on Gatley Hill car park – looks like it's from a decorating business or something like that. It was reported to me by a resident, I've been up and taken photos and passed the information onto the Council. There's no excuse – Longley Lane Tip is just a few hundred metres down the road and it doesn't cost much to take commercial waste in. ...
The two biggest issues politicians have to grapple with — the economy and law and order — have dominated the headlines in the past fortnight. First, we saw the collapse of market confidence, triggered by recognition that the US and Eurozone debt crises could cripple economic growth for years to come. Then we saw the collapse of social confidence, as rioters took to the streets for days on end with seeming impunity. This should be fertile territory for the Labour party. The Coalition Government has looked if not weak, then certainly not in full control. David Cameron, Nick Clegg and ...
I woke up stiff (hush) but able to move and with no sign of any serious damage from my fall (I'll let you know when my pride comes back). I limped off to do some flyering and then to do the show. The room was so full that we couldn't stand at the back as usual and had to wait outside while each other was on stage, entering to do our bits via the door by the stage. This looked more showbiz, although uncomfortably so, as if we'd confused our free show in a small room for Live at the ...
I've been working on my Monkees book for a couple of weeks now, and am about half done with the first draft, so I'm going to start posting each chapter here as I go through and do a quick polish-up, before I do the final draft, the same way I've serialised my other books. But ...
The England Test Cricket Team - No.1 in the World. No, it isn't a surreal dream - it is an almost inconceivable fact. I'm a 1990s boy and can recall enjoying watching the cricket during those formative years. Clearly at a County level I followed Glamorgan and indeed it was a brilliant memory when they won only their 3rd County Championship in 1997. I still have the Western Mail from the following day safely stored upstairs to mark a historic event after their previous victories in 1948 and 1969 (it's a good thing too because they look nowhere near winning ...
This is the first in what will hopefully be a series of contributions from respected guest authors. This month Robert Maclennan writes on the Coalition's proposals for reform of the House of Lords. Discussion is the best kind of democracy. That wise opinion of John Stuart Mill is ample justification for bi-cameral parliamentary government. The reform of the House of Lords by the Asquith government one hundred years ago was intended to remove the power of the second chamber to block decision making by the government, not to close down discussion. In that aim, the reform was successful. And discussion ...
Back in June Mark Pack suggested that now is a good time to start debating tax ideas for the next manifesto. So, let me throw in two ideas: one brave, one not so brave. Ready reckoners published online by HM Revenue & Customs [PDF] make it easier to play the role of armchair Chancellor, so that is exactly what I am going to do. My first idea is to increase inheritance tax by 5% to 45%, raking in an extra £350m, and then spend £300m of that to cut the reduced rate of VAT to 4%. What would this mean ...
I am having an afternoon aimlessly wondering aorund YouTube. Here's a fascinating clip of Nils Lofgren, rock singer, song-writer and multi-instrumentalist, on a 1980s BBC Breakfast Time show, including an interview, incongrously, with Frank Bough. The interview shows what a relaxed, adaptable interview Frank Bough was (is).
Sat 13th
15:37
Classic TV nostalgia - "Sale of the Century" opening with Anglia knight ident, John Benson voiceover...
Andrew Collins on BBC6 Music whetted my apetite for old TV clips last Saturday when he played a few of the old Regional ITV idents and asked listeners what programme they would normally expect next after each one. After Thames, I would normally expect "Morecambe and Wise". After the gorgeous LWT ident I would normally expect "Please Sir!" and after the Anglia ident I would normally expect "Sale of the Century" (or, as a close runner-up, "Tales of the Unexpected") I've been looking for this clip below for a while and now realise it's been on YouTube since 2006. I ...
Sometimes the problem with targets are when you make them, now can cycle from Home to Bitton and back at an Average of 18 mph (18.1 mph in fact)
If you click this link and go in by around one hour and nine minutes, you can hear Marius Brill being interviewed by Paddy O'Connell on BBC Radio 2 yesterday, about his new novel, How to Forget. I've read parts of the novel and it seems to me to be an excellent combination of a comic novel, a thriller and a literary novel, as good as Marius' critically acclaimed first novel, Making Love. I have no shame and therefore urge all of you to listen to the Radio 2 thing and then go and buy the book, which A.L. Kennedy ...
TweetWe are in a global economic crisis there is no denying what we are going through is ground breaking, no one really knows what is going to happen or what the future of our economic model is (or indeed or political models) however, I think the consensus that is emerging is that debt levels will have to be permanently lowered, and their will be no binging on money that isn't available, this necessitates a question, to achieve this do we go forward with smaller government or higher taxes, or is there a third way? Governments at the moment are oversized, ...
This blog's objective when it began was to write about how politics is communicated in the UK. It strayed into the US politics during the presidential election and into things that interested me like The Wire. The more I wrote about how political ideas are communicated the more I thought about certain ideas. That took me to discussions of how those ideas could help move to a more liberal society. I now do occasional blog posts here and here. For a while I have been asking myself whether the blog needs a central focus or whether it is better to ...
I am back from rest and recreation in sunny Italy to another form of R&R, though thank goodness, the riots in England seem to have dissipated. This is not going to be a blog post looking at the causes of those disturbances. I have read much since getting back home, but I do not live in the affected cities and can not hope to understand the motivations of those who took part. That has not stopped some politicians from using them to make political points, no matter how cheap. People like Peter Hain have their crystal ball out again. He ...
I stood against the Conservative Matthew Offord at the last General Election. He got many more votes than I did, hence the fact that he (as as opposed to me) is now the MP for Hendon. I have blogged previously about how I got on well enough with him on a personal level when he and I were campaigning against each other; he was always courteous and friendly. There is now a 'row' about his being on holiday while the riots and looting have happened, and his not having come back. I care very much about the riots, but I ...
Sat 13th
14:25
The Independent View: Ben Hammersley writes... Let the Internet be so that good can flourish
It was only going to be a matter of time before the technology was blamed. The rioters, along with the rest of the western world, were found to have been using the dominant communication platform of the 21st century as, well, their dominant communication platform. The government's response: give us powers to turn it off. As the Prime Minister said this morning, So we are working with the Police, the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and ...
Robert Robinson was a broadcaster who was, in a good way, part of the furniture of my life for several decades. "Ask the family", "Call my Bluff", "Today", Brain of Britain" – all benefitted from his urbane, cheerful and intelligent professionalism. Here's a wonderful clip from a classic "Call my Bluff" from the 70s. Sadly four of the performers on it, all great and entertaining men, are now no longer with us:
'Anonymous' has asked a series of questions on the comment thread of this post. I responded by saying I would reflect on the those questions and respond. The first question was how would a Whig government respond to the riots and looting? Well we know what Whigs did at the time. The Riot Act came out of the government attempting to deal with the mob. 'Anonymous' makes the point that property rights are at the heart of classical liberalism. He or she asks how property rights can be reconciled with the 'rights' of those who took to the streets. This ...
Well, the title of this post speaks for itself. I don't know if you're wondering about why I'm ashamed to be British at the moment but, given that this post is going to be an explanation of why, then I'm going to assume you are. I'm not ashamed of the rioting, as damaging for our reputation as that was, because it was crime committed by a vanishingly small percentage of the population and I would say that the response to the riots (such as the brilliant #riotcleanup) by the people of this country as a whole has been something to ...
David Starkey digs a hole for himself and keeps digging! As one of the comments says, "Starkey is like Enoch Powell - an educated bigot!"
It's been announced that the Peterborough North Neighbourhood Committee, that covers the South Werrington and North Gunthorpe area, is to be a pilot for the roll out of the Neighbourhood Police Panel and the Neighbourhood Committee meetings, to be held on the same night. According to officers at the Town Hall, the "..learning from this can then be used to complete the roll out process." The date of the next meeting is 15th September 2011 Commenting, local ward councillor, Darren Fower, commented: "It makes complete sense to have the police meetings alongside the neighbourhood committee meetings, its something I've been ...
Jo Swinson MP writes very powerfully on Liberal Democrat Voice about the positives we can take from the aftermath to the riots. Having watched the rioting unfolding from Glasgow, she says it is unhelpful for anyone in riotless Scotland "especially the First Minister, to express any feeling of superiority about that." I have just had the community responder around my house with defibrillators at the ready. I collapsed with light-headedness at the very suggestion that it could be conceivably possible that the Right Honourable Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond MSP would "express any feeling of superiority" about anything in the known ...
I have had a number of complaints about the condition of the Victoria Park tennis courts - see right. The courts and its nets are in poor condition (and one net is completely missing) and the lining of the courts requires to be re-done. I have raised the issue with the City Council and the Head of Environmental Management has promised to have the matter investigated and report back to me.
Brendan O'Malley, God at Every Gate: Prayers and Blessings for Pilgrims (Norwich: Morehouse, 1997, ISBN 0819218464). I picked this up after my Camino because I was looking to incorporate some pilgrimage-themed pieces into my regular devotional prayers. I didn't end up using anything from this book, but I think I may need to read O'Malley's The Animals of St. Gregory, which features extensively. Chris Cleave, Little Bee (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008, ISBN 9781416589648). This is a really excellent novel about the intersecting lives of two women, one British and the other a Nigerian asylum-seeker. It contains the most ...
A tweet from the Mercury's political correspondent David MacLean.
How quickly we have become accustomed to being treated like cattle. Here is Simon Hoggart writing in the Guardian this morning: Coming home the other day we found ourselves in one of those endless lines waiting for immigration. But a TV screen told us that, as they had little camera logos on the front, we possessed e-passports and could jump the queue. So I stood at the gate, pushed my passport on to the scanner, and waited for a minute or so while brilliant lights shone in my face. And, having satisfied itself that the ugly mug in front of ...
Sat 13th
12:51LibLink: Mark Pack - Is it simply a question of politicians and pundits always trying to ban technol...
Over on the MHP blog, Mark Pack makes a good point about the calls from some politicians to ban or restrict the use of social networking in response to the riots. Here's some of what Mark has to say: Yet from some commentators and MPs there were immediate demands to suspend, curtail or otherwise regulate social networks. This was echoed today by David Cameron who promised that the government will look into this very question. However, the number of communication technologies in the firing line is far short of the number involved in the events. Rolling TV coverage gave the ...
When I was a child, I really looked forward to Monday evenings when Ask the Family was on. I loved the mix of word games and general knowledge questions and enjoyed taking on the families single handedly. Here's a link to the 1983 final on You Tube. I was sad to see today that presenter Robert Robinson has died at 83. It seems that all the people I really enjoyed watching in my childhood are slowly departing. I am too young to remember him on the Today programme but I'd have loved to have heard him tackle Ted Heath and ...
The Friends of Ram Hill Colliery are still looking for a new Chair and also volunteers for gardening at the site on a Wednesday or the 2nd or 4th Sunday of the month. If you can help please contact David Godden at da.godden@btinternet.com . If you'd like to find out more about the site, why not go along to the Heritage Open Day between 10am and 4.30pm on Sunday 11th September. Or if you'd like to raise money to help the work of the Friends, get a quiz team together for Thursday 22nd September in the Miners Institute. To book ...
Global gas prices are going up, and prices for UK consumers are going up too. Gas suppliers are raising prices by around 18-20%. Consumer price rises are inevitable when the wholesale price goes up. But my supplier, E.ON, has structured its price rises to hit the poor more than the rich. They are doing this by raising the cost of gas much more for small users than large users. They have raised the price of the first 2680 kWh by 46%, but the price of additional units by only 15%. This means that the poor - and the green - ...
TweetIn the clamour for a response to how to deal with the rioting many will start with a default phrase, 'government must', but we'd be far better of with just a slight adjustment and a massive change of mindset, we must say 'government mustn't' if we are to progress on the issue. To trace the issue back it seems sensible to with the Major Government. Who produced two outstandingly bad pieces of legislation from knee-jerk reactionary positions. The Dangerous Dogs Act and The Handgun laws of 1996 in response to Dunblane. Labour continued this legacy with many bits of legislation ...
I have now returned from holiday (has much been happening over the last week?) and noticed that the Total Politics Blog Awards are in process - hence my plug to vote for me! If you have liked reading my views over the last year, whether you have agreed or not, please click here and your vote would be much appreciated.
It is important for 'orthodox' Christians to understand that many gay Christians believe that planting our feet on any foundation other than the Bible is a dangerous and perilous place to stand... Andrew replies to Stafford Carson.
Sat 13th
10:04Jo Swinson MP writes: Determination, courage and kindness in response to riots shows true British so...
Everyone across our country has been horrified at the scenes unfolding on our TV screens, and, for some, outside their homes and workplaces. Watching from Glasgow, I was certainly relieved that the riots did not spread to Scotland, but I think it is unhelpful for anyone, especially the First Minister, to express any feeling of superiority about that. My constituents are feeling solidarity with the victims of the violence, and with everyone who is afraid in their own community as a result of the riots, not gloating that this hasn't been happening in Scotland. The question that everyone is struggling ...
What caused the riots? A handy list. (tags: funny) Bert and Ernie to continue 'living in sin' (tags: funny) Tachyon TV - Mexican Cooking? Why should I write a Crotchw00t review when tachyon tv have done it for me: "Davies, Gardner, Espenson et al made great play when Miracle Day was launched of insisting it was just a continuation of the BBC series rather than a reboot and they were right - it's the perfect extension of a series that has never remotely managed any consistency in tone, performance, content or even taste." Violent video games calm you down; driving ...
[IMG: LibDem conference] Many Liberal Democrats will no doubt wish that fixing the nation's finances would be as easy as fixing their own party's finances. For flicking through the details of the reports and motions published ahead of the party's September conference in Birmingham you find a positive financial tale for the party. 2010 may have seen a £335,000 deficit, but that was a general election year and 2011 is set to see a £325,000 surplus, all but cancelling out last year's deficit and set to be achieved despite significant one-off costs for moving party HQ from the SDP's old ...
Sat 13th
09:16
Interested in computer games? Get yourself to Dare Protoplay in Dundee, today or tomorrow
We spent yesterday in Dundee, at the Caird Hall, where, for the third year in a row, Anna was a Junior Judge in the Dare Protoplay competition. This is the culmination of 10 weeks' slog for the 15 competing 5 member teams in Dare to be Digital. This is a competition run by the University of Abertay in Dundee, the hothouse of Scotland's vibrant gaming industry in which these teams are locked up for 10 weeks and mentored by industry experts as they develop a new game. This game is then judged by the public and by industry experts during ...
If you are visiting the Shropshire hills I recommend the Shropshire Hills Shuttles: The Shuttles are 16-seater mini-buses which provide easy access into the Shropshire Hills AONB for walking, sightseeing, pub lunches, picnics and more. The Stiperstones and Long Mynd Shuttle will run from 16 April until 25 September 2011, every weekend and Bank Holiday Monday.Sadly, the service is not as good this summer as it was last year. Then the buses reached as far as Clun, Bishop's Castle and Craven Arms. But they will still take you from Church Stretton over the Long Mynd and the Stiperstones to Pontesbury ...
There is not much I can say or write about the riots, criminality, thuggery, or whichever term you care to use to describe the occurrences earlier this week. What concerns me more is the knee jerk, horse has bolted, reactions ... Continue reading →
Liberal Democrat Fire Authority members have launched a petition against cuts in front-line fire emergency services. The petition is in response to plans by fire chiefs in Cambridgeshire for £6 million of cuts to the fire service budget of the Conservative-controlled authority. The petition can be signed on-line or can be printed off in order to collect further signatures and will be presented to the Fire Authority at its meeting in October. Opposition Leader on Cambridgeshire Fire Authority, Councillor Nigel Bell said: "I urge people in the county to sign this petition to oppose the plans for cuts in front-line ...
This was the best-selling novel of 1911, a romantic tale set in about 1811 where you know what is going to happen from the very first page, when Peter Vibart is promised a vast legacy if he will marry Sophia Sefton, but declares he would rather not. He flees metropolitan life to the village of Sissinghurst in Kent, where he encounters many good-hearted comic yokels and falls in love with a mysterious woman who comes to live with him in his cottage. She has firm, well-rounded arms. (That's arms, I say, arms.) It takes Peter (unlike the reader) most of ...
The Bible vs the Facts Dissecting the difference between faith (believing things that cannot be disproved) and superstition (believing things that can). (tags: religion)
