Last week's riots were shocking. The effect upon the many communities, families and individuals affected was undoubtedly profound. They have prompted plenty of soul searching and a wide range of diagnoses. If we are optimistic we should hope that they act as a catalyst for addressing problems of urban Britain that have been developing over ...
You may have read in the Gazette that the Council has now advertised the B4465, Westerleigh Road and Nibley Lane scheme. This is the next stage in the legal process for introducing the speed limits. In the paper it says that the deadline for comments is 1st September. However, Claire Young spotted a mistake in the Notice of Proposal and raised this with officers. As a result a corrected Notice of Proposal has been issued and the deadline has been extended to 12 September 2012. You can see all the details of the consultation on the South Glos website.
To help stop cardboard blowing around our streets, South Gloucestershire Council is providing local residents that want one with a FREE bag for recycling cardboard. They will be available from 22 August on a first come, first served basis (one per household) from the following local places: Yate Leisure Centre Yate Library Chipping Sodbury Library Yate Town Council (Poole Court) Dodington Parish Council (Dodington Parish Hall, Finch Rd) Frampton Cotterell Parish Council (Brockeridge Centre) Other locations are listed on the South Glos cardboard recycling web page If you have a disability or mobility issue and there is no one else ...
An excellent collection of short stories set in Botswana shortly after independence, mostly about women affected by the changes in a colonised and modernising (but pre-AIDS) society: Christianity, traditional religion, education and especially marriage rites and expectations all get critical attention from Head in a set of sharp vignettes, of which the most memorable is perhaps the title piece, about a woman who murders her husband. It is a more gritty, sexy and brutal Botswana than is to be found in the works of Alexander McCall Smith, and feels more realistic too.
The Cabinet Office is to appeal against the Information Commissioner's decision to release papers under the Freedom of Information act revealing Mrs Thatcher's views about the 1989 tragedy. Their reasoning is that an independent panel is currently looking at all the papers and will decide what should be released to the public. As can be seen from the Liverpool Echo report - there is little support for this view - principally because of a lack of trust of the authorities from survivors and supporters. It's an entirely self defeating move by the Cabinet Office. If the panel agrees with the ...
Wed 17th
22:14
Seriously, (I'm not the only one) - is it illiberal to think community service may be a good thing?
Commenting on Richard Morris's excellent blog yesterday has really got me thinking about my position in relation to national service. It feels weird that I am not straight away against it. I think back 9 or 10 years ago to when I was studying for my GCSEs and the period after. In that period you do a couple of weeks work experience which I think is good to help you adapt to the working world and I wonder would some community service be that much different? Looking back I think I would have benefited from a couple of weeks helping ...
"You don't bring politics into a school, that's just daft." Was the comment made by a politician at the end of a visit to a school. Yeah, you heard that right some daft politician tried to stop an opponent asking him a question while he was on a school visit. The daft eejit to say something that daft was none other than the first minister of Scotland Alex Salmond. Here are the facts, well at least both STV and the Dunfermline Press are having to report what happened as the incident happened away from teachers and pupils and possibly also ...
Commenting on the UK Government's announcement of further wave of Enterprise Zones in England, Kirsty Williams, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said: "We have known since March that the UK government would be promoting Enterprise Zones in England. "We already know that Zones will be established in Bristol and Liverpool. Today's announcement by the UK Government that they will create further Zones, including one in Hereford, makes the need for Welsh Government action all the more urgent to ensure that Wales can compete in attracting investment and creating jobs, particularly near the border. "The Welsh Government must urgently develop ...
There is a lot of press pressure at the moment to imply Gadaffi is 'losing' the conflict in Libya. As I have said many times over, NATO should not be fighting the rebels' war, especially in such a covert manner. Even if you consider NATO was correct to uphold a 'no-fly-zone' sanction by the UN to protect the rights of civillians, it is a huge stretch of the imagination to consider this to also mean NATO can fight the war for the rebels. The Evening Standard comments that 'we need to ensure that Libya does not collapse into anarchy and ...
After Stiperstones I got back on the bus to go round to Bridges. The pub here used to be called The Horseshoes and when I first went there it was, rather improbably, an Adnams pub. It is a long way from the Stiperstones to the Suffolk coast. Now it has been renamed The Bridges and taken over by the people who run the Three Tuns Brewery in Bishop's Castle. The pub has been thoroughly refurbished - the bar is now in its third different position since I first visited it some 15 years ago - and every table inside had ...
According to BBC News: Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake said sentences "should be about restorative justice", not retribution.I share the concern that some of the sentences being handed down after the riots are too severe. And, as I tweeted the other day, in the long run such sentences will undermine public confidence in the judicial system rather than reinforce it. But I do not share the view, often expressed by liberals and apparently expressed by Tom Brake here, that retribution should not be a part of punishment. Because retribution - the idea that people must suffer because they have done ...
One issue which last week's appaling scenes hae brought to light is the difference between having to repair a property compared with having to rebuild from scratch. A new-build property attracts low rates of VAT, 5%. Repair and refurbishment comes at the full rate of VAT- 20%. So paradoxically some businesses might find themselves better off rebuilding from total destruction than repairing damage. This VAT issue has long led to problems whereby owners of landmark buildings have calculated that it's better to allow their property to delapidate to the point where it had to be knocked down and replaced rather ...
Right, I utterly hate the computer game company Creative Assembly (the makers of the Total War franchise). Out of all the games they've produced, the original Medieval Total War (MTW) is widely considered to be the most enjoyable and their are still many, many fans who continue to play this game in preference to the later games in the series. However, MTW has a slight flaw in that it refuses to work on any computer system more advanced than Windows XP. On Creative Assembly's official forum for the game the very top discussion, one which has been going on for ...
At last the months of hard work have paid off - the Tees Valley has its enterprise zone, announced today. Of course some will complain that it's being called Tees Valley, but to be honest I don't care what it's called as long as it helps to bring some much needed enterprise and employment to the area. The real triumph of the people who've been working on it for so long is in convincing the
I'm still very happy with my Lenovo X301, both for its performance and its robust design. I have had one keyboard failure, but the customer service was extremely good - fast and straight-forward despatch of an easy to fit replacement part. Given things are almost certain to go wrong at some point, knowing that good quality customer service is there to help out is nearly as important to me as the quality of the product in the first place. But I really do hope I never need put the laptop to the test in this way: This is a sponsored ...
It is possible to access the full text of my BMJ "personal view" article "It's time for the UK government to fully review drug policy" through the link below. I hope to have further articles in The House magazine and Liberator before conference. If anyone would like me write any other articles then I'd be happy to consider opportunities. You can also read my views on the association between drug policy and the recent riots and looting here (I didn't approve the title) http://t.co/nzEQx7E
It's me I think, half way through my fifties and I feel it's time to acknowledge, that I've reached a point where I no longer have an appetite for technology, and I blame the constant nagging of software companies, who insist on updating software on an almost daily basis "Java"from Oracle and Adobe Reader seem particularly irritating in constantly demanding my attention.Its a crude calculation made by cruder in my case since I spend a lot of my time in manual labour, any how with that out of the way, I have worked out that responding to each demand from ...
The winner, yet again, is the Shropshire Star: Reindeer head is stolen from Wem home Later: An honourable mention to the Bradford Telegraph & Argus for: Consultation on Bradford heavy horses "was a sham"
And I know that some people are going to get rather irate at that statement. The issue as I see it is this. Most regular people have known for quite some time that courts in the UK are soft on ...
Todays figures that 1.05 million women are unemployed, the highest since May 1988, shows once again how successive government's have failed to make the emplyment sector fairer for female workers. Only back in March the TUC and other unions were warning ...
1. In our modern society mass communication is essential for us to carry out business, enterprise and social activity. People should not be restricted from carrying out their lawful business because other people commit illegal acts. This would therefore amount to a form of collective punishment. 2. Social networks are useful for the authorities to disseminate important emergency information. 3. Social networks are useful for tracking and identifying criminal suspects involved in riots. Arrests of those people who use them to incite riots are a case in point. 4. It diminishes our moral authority when we accuse undemocratic regimes of shutting down networks to ...
For anybody resisting the wave of sanctimonious, riot-related bilge from the likes of Melanie Philips, there is a magnificent Bagehot column in The Economist. He's found an out-of-print book from 1982, with periodic quotes dating all the way to 1751. From the shelves of the London Library, a gem: "Hooligan: A History of Respectable Fears" a calm and witty history of moral panics that have gripped England over the ages, published in 1982, and written by a Bradford University academic, Geoffrey Pearson (later at Goldsmiths). The book is out of print, so I trust I will be forgiven (not least ...
There are two days left to vote in the Total Bollocks Willy-Waving Awards this year. Many of you reading this will have already voted, but if you haven't I'd like you to consider doing what Caron, Stephen and I have done: whoever else you vote for (and you must vote for a minimum of five in each of the two categories), vote Andrew Reeves Running Blog number one and Andrew Reeves top blog author. Andrew was a mainstay of the Lib Dem blogosphere until he sadly passed away not long ago, and his blog was warm, witty, and is much ...
The rioting or wanton criminality that we saw last last week (whatever you want to call it) was both disturbing and horrifying. Plenty of people got involved who were just along for the ride and they deserve some sort of punishment. However we are seeing sentences that I personally deem disproportionate and down right unfair. Take for the example the two eejits who got four years for Facebook posts. Yes just posting on Facebook trying to organise some criminality gets four years. Look I know these two guys are complete pillocks and probably deserve some jail time (although I can ...
Because if you do, as punishment for such disobedience, I'm going to ask you to go and vote for this blog in the Total Politics blog awards.* Voting closes at midnight this Friday. *Many thanks.
Wed 17th
16:17
Riots, moral degradation, the collapse of polite society, use of technology and David Starkey. It's ...
The ever brilliant Graham Linehan (@glinner on twitter) has just circulated this excellent piece from Bagehot in the Economist - comparing the worst excesses of the left and the right reactionaries after the riots and comparing their words to what has been written over the last 200 years about similar incidents. In each and every case, the collapse of society has been predicted, calls for extreme punishment have been at the forefront of the debate, and the advent of new technology has been blamed - even down to the introduction of the new fangled silent movie in the early 20th ...
Me. I suspect only a handful of people who ever stumbles across my blog will even know who Grant Coleman is. Well for those that don't he was Sports Editor at BBC Radio Solent for what seemed like my whole childhood. He often got accused of being a Southampton fan but Pompey fans and vice versa by Southampton fans. Bournemouth fans just thought he hated them. Oh the joys of being in charge of sport for a station with three league clubs. When I first used to listen to BBC Radio Solent's sports show they didn't have any live commentary ...
High across the meadow pastures, lazy in the late summer sun, swoop house martins and swallows, coursing the waterways for insects while willows scrabble along the banks below. Roads, barely above the water level, intersect the canals and ditches, meandering through villages built of mellow ham stone. Georgian and medieval houses, thatched cottages, farms and hamlets all holding back the surrounding wetland with stone walls and neat kitchen gardens. All of this spreads out from my vantage point on Glastonbury Tor. It is one of those beautiful late Sunday afternoons, where the heat of the day is slowly rising to ...
I am many things, but an expert on Turkey and the Kurds is not one of them. I was saddened to read this story about eight Turkish soldiers being killed in a suspected PKK attack. The BBC says: "There has been an increase in Kurdish rebel attacks since July." I don't recollect hearing anything about that, which is doubtless my fault...The BBC also says that "more than 40,000 people have been killed in the violence" since 1984. This compares to 51,000 people having been killed in the Arab/Israeli conflict between 1950 and 2007. Given the numbers of deaths involved, why ...
The news that the FCC franchise is to end early (September 2013) is certainly an opportunity – but also potentially a threat. The announcement is essentially technical – there is no suggestion that the appalling treatment of passengers or poor performance are a key issue. But it does mean that there could be an opportunity in 2013 to have a better company in place. Equally, it could be that First Group could get a 15 year contract from 2013 and campaigners need to focus on this – and on making sure that the new franchise better reflects passenger interests. The ...
Cross posting from LGBT Lib Dems Northern Ireland Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesra may have won the the 2011 Martin Ennals award for Human Rights but she has been denied entry into the UK to be a keynote speaker at Foyle Pride. This lesbian campaigner was due to kick off the Foyle Pride festival on 24th August. The limited resources of the Pride committee of Northern Ireland's second city were looking to increase on the spalsh they made last year with the first Pride Parade in the city. They booked and paid to get the Executive Director of Freedom and Roam Uganda, ...
The speeches this week by David Cameron and Ed Milliband made for a very interesting bit of bed-time reading. For me, both the Prime Minister and the Labour leader were pretty wide of the mark. Ed, as he often does came across as being reactionary. Too scared to be seen to defend looters and join the dots toward massive social injustice but too hidebound by his party to talk about throwing away the key, he was left very much floundering somewhere in the ether; neither talking about the roots of the problem (possibly because they lie a little close to ...
My good friend, and fellow contributor, Soph is celebrating her birthday today. She is an absolute star and a wonderful friend to me; I hope she has a lovely day. This post isn't being done due to me forgetting to send her a card or present *coughs* p.s you can send her wishes via twitter ...
The one thing I enjoyed about my short time doing A level psychology (I dropped the subject)was looking at optical illusions. The fact the we see the world not as it is but how our brain interprets it amazes me. Or, to put it another way, in the words of that old sage Ben Kenobi. " Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them." So, for your entertainment and amusement, I bring you one of the best optical illusions I've seen in quite a while. H/T and a little explanation courtesy of bad astronomy blog
After two caravans recently moved on to land in Hurn Road, Werrington, in the last week or so, local residents contacted their councillors, including local LIB DEM Darren Fower, to raise their concerns. The news was surprising given the previous public battle last year, which saw a planning application thrown out by the City Councils planning department. Commenting, Darren told us: "As soon as I heard the news I contacted the Council. We had a long battle previously over this issue and the final message from the Town Hall was pretty clear. I understand that the site has now been ...
Wed 17th
13:58Do enjoy this video of us laughing at the American Penal System. Because shortly they'll be doing ex...
I'm not an apologist for the rioters. I think they need to be punished and in many cases, an example set. But all the time I've been listening to the reports of frankly ludicrous sentences being handed out to people for stealing bottles of water, nicking chewing gum or receiving stolen property in the guise of wearing a pair of shorts, something has been nagging away at me. And it's the video above. Because as soon as we punish out of all proportion, we're another step closer to a failed prison system, a failing criminal justice system and a refusal ...
On the day that Southeastern have announced an 8% rise due in January angry commuters from Medway raise questions about the government and our MPs for failing to keep their pledge on fighting fare increases. All three MPs fought, as we the Lib Dems did, to stop unreasonable train fare rises. It is a key issue in the Medway towns and even beyond, that commuters pay a extra chunk of wages that their colleagues who live in the capitol don't. At the moment it stands at 24% of my wages, after tax, going before mortgage, bills, food etc... Currently it ...
Wed 17th
12:45
Nick Clegg gets praise from the Telegraph...........and a few thoughts on prison sentences
There is only so much right wing bile and nonsense a girl can take. I feel that my head's about to spontaneously explode. I probably shouldn't say that, though, or Quentin Letts might turn up on my doorstep ready to make a citizen's arrest if I make a mess. It's bad enough when it's just the press that's telling you that the riots happened because of our "broken society" and that those responsible need to be locked up for a very long time/birched/packed into Wembley Stadium/sent on National Service (I can't add to the brilliance of Liberal Burblings on that ...
One reason. Just the one. An article posted on Wales Online outlines the increase Leader of RCT Council saw in his salary as Council leader (not including the other two salaries he receives) whilst other council members saw a cut of 40% in their terms and conditions to "protect front line services". It seems that ...Read More
Something I've come across recently is the Emile Durkheim school of thought on the differences between deviancy and crime. There are some behaviour which are considered deviant by society but are not necessarily criminal, for example picking your nose in public, spitting, swearing or, my favourites one surround female behaviour (not wearing makeup, wearing tarty clothing etc). In contrast there are acts that are completely permissable by society which are, in fact, criminal. Taking a pen from work is theft, speeding in a 30 mile an hour zone and putting your cigarette out on the street are all examples. Further ...
When strapped to a table and showered with the pleasures of socialised medicine yesterday, I woke to the announcement of a 'collective government' for the Eurozone. Perplexed, I investigated further, and was startled to discover this was indeed true – the EU President would head this new 'collective government'; and, course, not subjected to a ...
Before we get into too big a brouhaha about the consultation on equal marriage by the Scottish Parliament let's take a look at what the different parties actually said in their manifestos. The big two were quite similar both only saying they would start a consultation. The SNP page 17 under the header A more equal Scotland "We recognise the range of views on the questions of same-sex marriage and registration of civil partnership. We will therefore begin a process of consultation and discussion on these issues." Labour page 67 under the heading Championing equality, celebrating diversity "Scottish Labour wants ...
The geo-location social network Foursquare is still combining impressive percentage growth in traffic with (especially in the UK) relatively low user figures. If that percentage growth continues, it could break into the big time as Twitter has. But already there are some niches where it has a worthwhile audience, especially if you want to read digitally-connected (aka addicted) people who can be vocal online. Three good examples to see how Foursquare can be put to use, both now and in the future, are: The Foreign Office - using Foursquare to give travelling tips at venues around the world.The White House ...
The jury has deliberated and here are the results of The Rambles of Neil Monnery panel: The following blogs got votes: Caron's Musings No brainer. Caron is a fine blogger and doesn't just focus on politics (any F1 blog of hers will certainly get my trigger finger on the hyperlink) but it is her politics stuff that gets her this vote. Blogs often and varies it from the mundane to the opinion-filled. It is how I like my blogs. A little bit of everything. Political Parry Most people would think Kel and myself wouldn't get on. Most people think I ...
Wed 17th
10:30When the Chinese government are praising your attempts to control social media, surely then you know...
As has been widely reported the very worrying bandwagon to give the police powers to control social media is still rolling along. But surely the statement below from an official Chinese news agency that both pokes fun at the UK government and lauds the possibility of the UK introducing such controls will give pause for thought in Downing Street? Let's hope Cameron is scarlet with shame and embarrassment. The original release can be seen here. (thanks to @davidallengreen who tweeted this link yesterday) BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Following days of violent riots in Britain, speculation has grown as to ...
Following comments made at the weekend by Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Simon Hughes, in which the Bermondsey MP discouraged kneejerk reactions from Government, Nick Clegg has today unveiled plans for a riot payback scheme alongside an independent inquiry into the reasons for the outbreaks of violence and lawlessness. Speaking about the riots in language which differs markedly ...
I was really annoyed to read via Neil Monnery of the appalling treatment handed out to Nancy when she was falsely accused of shoplifting a bottle of shampoo because the security people had apparently seen her put it in her bag over the CCTV. They clearly saw wrong as it wasn't there. Now, it doesn't matter whether someone spends thousands of pounds a year or a few pounds a week in a shop, or is in for the first time. They should not be subjected to the appalling, humiliating and distressing ordeal she was put through, especially in front of ...
There is a serious and substantial analysis from Professor Dave Adamson in this morning's Western Mail of the problems facing many Welsh communities, which he says are as critcal as those in English cities, which suffered riots last week. It is a marked contrast to the opportunistic and shallow warnings offered by the First Minister yesterday. Professor Adamson says: "We have created a poorly educated, unemployable, disengaged and alienated youth who do not even understand the culture of wider society let alone share it. "If Wales has escaped the scale of problems experienced in England it is only a temporary ...
Another nice show (I know I keep saying that but thankfully we have had a lot of nice shows). It was also the second outing for my as-yet-unmentioned new cardigan, which, it has to be said, is getting pretty much the same reaction as my old cardigan (nothing – it's just a bit of knitwear). One of my uni mates was in the audience so I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with her before heading to Helen Arney, Matt Parker and Steve Mould's comedy science show Festival of the Spoken Nerd. I've been to several editions of ...
The Daily Telegraph write Nick Clegg has an antidote to bang-'em-up fever. Good in which Nick Clegg gets a very good review for his response to the riots: At last, someone talks sense on crime. Nick's Clegg's announcement that rioters spared prison must clean up their neighbourhoods is the best suggestion so far. Research has ...
One of the consequences of the failure of the AV campaign may be radical change at the venerable Electoral Reform Society. The ERS is conducting the biennial election for its Council at the moment with no less than 53 candidates standing for election to fill 15 places. There is also a range of motions at the AGM on 3 September, some of which would make fundamental changes to the ERS. The main prize for anyone who controls the ERS is financial – they have by pressure group standards a huge income through their ownership of Electoral Reform Services Ltd which ...
Mark Steel: Flogging is too good for them Of course, if they DO make criminals do some sort of national service to TEACH THEM DISCIPLINE you can bet your arse itll only be the poor ones... (tags: politics)
Wed 17th
09:57
Example of positive changes the Government is making to Public Services (which will help families)
For anyone in the Party it is important to know what this Government is doing which can be considered to be good so we can at least explain it to people who will have missed it. Unfortunately much of what is done well will be missed. So this is an example that shows how this ...
I loved this. The Doctor, Ace and Benny arrive in England in 1976 and team up with UNIT, to discover the person behind their recent set of misadventures is none other than the Meddling Monk, posing as Richard Branson - surely rather bold to put this in a book published by Virgin? Lots of hilarious nods to contemporary music and TV, including a great scene with the Goodies (one of whom, of course, actually appears as the Meddling Monk in recent Who audios), and also a deft merging of the continuity of both televised Who and the Virgin New Adventures. ...
In an age where the police have powers to force telecommunications companies to hand over data and install interception equipment in their networks... where we spend vast amounts of money maintaining listening posts... on an operation where apparently even MI5 were involved... Just how did the police crack the various BlackBerry Messenger groups used to coordinate the riots? According to The Times: (£) Scotland Yard said yesterday that it had picked up conversations on the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) system after confiscating phones from arrested troublemakers. Police were then able to access the instant messaging network and respond to the more ...
So, I'm pleased to see that the government has just announced the locations of the latest enterprise zones. There are going to be 21 enterprise zones in total and I think they're absolutely brilliant. Basically an enterprise zone is an area where ultra high speed broadband is provided, where planning regulations are relaxed and where there are business rate and tax breaks worth up to £235,000. The basic idea is that they will attract new business to these enterprise zones and create new wealth and new jobs. Business have been tried in the past, by Margaret Thatcher, but back then ...
The headline comes from a quote from Nick Clegg yesterday. According to the Guardian "he said there was a tendency for parties to adopt 'cardboard cutout' positions to social problems with one side blaming the problems on a breakdown in society and the other blaming government policy." Both positions are far too simplistic. The country is still in a state of shock after last week's riots, and we should always be wary of far-reaching solutions to problems advocated in the middle of a trauma. Unfortunately people look to politicians for leadership, and politicians want to grasp the moment for their ...
The Guardian's 'Saturday Interview' last week featured as its subject Liberal Democrat mayoral contender and former Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick. Unsurprisingly, much of the interview concerns the recent riots and the police reaction to them, but Brian's political ambitions are also covered. Here's an excerpt from the piece: Four years retired, Paddick remains remarkably relevant to the Met's current predicament. The grandson of a policeman, he climbed the ranks to become commander of Lambeth, south London, where he famously initiated a pilot in which officers cautioned, rather than arrested, those in possession of cannabis. Despite falling victim ...
Further to my article about the Friends of Magdalen Green Christmas Card Competition some weeks ago, and with thanks to the Courier, today's newspaper gives the competition a mention in the "Local Digest" section. You can take part in the competition up to the closing date of 3rd September and if you click on the headline above or go to http://tinyurl.com/magdalencomp, you can now download the entry form and rules.
On a number of occasions in the past, I have sought, on behalf of residents, the tidying of the very overgrown site of the former James Laurie and Son Nursery in Perth Road, west of the junction with Riverside Drive. Last year, the owners did some thinning of the bushes on the site's edge with Perth Road and replaced damaged "for sale" signage, but the site has remained unused for more than ten years. Today's Courier highlights that the administrators of the former developers who owned the site have engaged property agents to put the land back on the market ...
The Representation of Women in Fantasy: What's the Problem? - a guest post by author Juliet E McKenna | Bad Reputation I really do not want my teenage sons unconsciously absorbing notions of male privilege and entitlement in stories where a woman's importance is always defined by who she might choose to sleep with, or better yet, save her precious virginity for. Where women who transgress male authority are invariably punished by supposedly indifferent twists of fate. I don't want my niece and god-daughters reading stories which imply that true happiness lies in meekness, submission and doing the cooking and ...
In most Western countries, the rich are taxed less than the poor. This is even though most Western politicians demand that the rich should pay more tax than the poor, both in absolute terms and also in relative terms. Yet the fact is that these same politicians then enact policies that precisely fail to bring this about. They enact more and more detailed tax codes in order to "close loopholes" and to promote some specific social or political benefit, and with every regulation that they put into place they increase the burden on the the low and middle income earners, ...
Tonight was a meeting where a number of parties discussed the riots that occurred in Ealing last week. Initially we had a number of faith groups speaking, a resident giving her experience where three masked attackers broke into her home. Then Ealing police's Borough Commander gave his account of the police's actions. Many residents had the view that Ealing police had failed. However listening to the top Ealing police chief it was clear that he had orders to have half his police force leave to attend other areas of London that were under threat or being attacked from riot. Part ...
There are now less than two weeks left for residents to havetheir say on the way that waste collection and disposal is managed acrossMerseyside. One of the key objectives is to reduce the amount of wastethat goes to landfill. Issues up for debate include plans to stop collecting any blacksacks left alongside wheelie bins, and local councils joining forces to collectwaste. Sefton already carries out some of the proposals, such as alternateweekly collection and food waste collection. Once the Merseyside Waste Strategy has been agreed, it willbe up to each local council to decide how to implement it in their ...
