..... but is it worth the price premium? I keep a regular watch on consumption and prices, and have switched companies a number of times to keep on the best available on-line rates. On my current tariff at ... Continue reading →
Blogging's going to be light for a little while as I'm working overtime, but I can at least do linkblogs... I'll have a Monkees post on Friday and I'm starting a series of reviews of the new series of Doctor Who on Mindless Ones on Saturday, and I'm going to *try* to write another short ...
Last wednesday I was delighted to join John Leech MP on a visit to Sellafield. John had been invited to attend by a constituent who works as a contractor at Sellafield to see first hand the Nuclear Industry at work. Both John and myself set off at 6am deeply sceptical about the Nuclear Industry and the Nuclear Power alternative. The three hour drive from Chorlton to Sellafield was made slightly more bearable by the breathtaking Lake District National Park and winding country lanes, although I'm not sure if John's taste in music really helped! The drive certainly brought Sellafield's remoteness ...
At tonight's City Council meetings, I raised concerns at the Policy & Resources Committee about the recent decision of Royal Mail Group to close its Crichton Street Enquiry Office and relocate its functions, from 29th August to the Edward Street Delivery Office for customers living in the DD1 postal area, and from 5th September to the Dundee West Delivery Office, Baird Avenue, for customers living in the DD2 and DD3 postal areas. I highlighted the many concerns raised by customers that, given that the Crichton Street Enquiry Office is a very central facility in the city and the alternative facilities ...
A final photograph from my trip last week. When in the Shropshire hills be sure to take in The Bog Visitor Centre for tea, cake, books and crafts.
The Standard details apparent harasment of Louise Mensch MP and her children today. She is quick to accuse Anonymous/Lulzsec of threats to kill, but the screen clip shows the threat is made by one @WobertWedford, so I would question where that assertion came from. The problem with death threats, threats to kill and other levels of harassment on an internet forum is that it hardly qualifies an an inchoate offence. To be considered 'attempted', a crime must be within the final stages to qualify. For example it is not enough to carry a weapon to a scene, you have to ...
There is something of a battle to be had in light of so-called academic revelations that women need to capitalise on an erotic economy. That's right. Apparently, according to Catherine Hakim, we should not dismiss emphasis on looks as superficial, and instead recognise the importance of this growing trend. Words cannot be used in public as my mental dictionary fails to fulfil the various expletives I am uttering over this. Visual Representation is Everything Hakim's essential rationale for such a hideous, archaic and detrimental assertion is that Christine Lagarde is stylish, elegant and thin; and that there is an indicator ...
A selection of other peoples thoughts that have stimulated the grey matter today Mark Thompson on tuition fees Boris Johnson on the cricket And my five star read of the day The trots tell us about Gadaffi's victory
Running 10 miles between the old market towns of Alton and Alresford, the Watercress Line cuts through some of Hampshires most picturesque countryside. The old steam locomotives are run and cared for by a hardy band of volunteers who go ...
As I write this my personal Twitter account @lordbonkers has 2050 followers and my principal work Twitter account @BPSOfficial has 2056. So this evening my work account overtook my personal account. This makes me feel a little sad, but also grown up and rather professional. If you are interested in psychology you may want to follow @BPSInfo too.
Yesterday I wrote about the way listening to new music can broaden and educate your taste. Then I had Jethro Tull in mind, but it is just as true in classical music. I can remember listening to Benjamin Britten's opera The Turn of the Screw on Radio 3 because I had read the Henry James short story on which it is based. I found the music almost impossibly difficult, but interesting enough that I wanted to hear it again. So I persevered with Britten and he soon became one of my very favourite composers - up there with Bach and ...
The amount of waste that local households send for recyclinghas reached a record level. Latest national figures show that the amount of householdwaste sent for re-use, recycling or composting in Sefton now stands at justover 42% - the highest on Merseyside. Cabinet Member Environmental, Cllr Simon Shaw, said:"Once again Sefton residents are top of the local league for recycling." The full story is on Sefton Council's website.
I always wondered about this issue. What goes up normally comes down (unless it reaches terminal velocity). The link is to an interesting BBC story. Who, What, Why: How dangerous is firing a gun into the air? The rebel advance into Tripoli has been celebrated with gunfire Libyan rebels have celebrated their advance into Tripoli by firing guns in the air. How hazardous is this? It is,
The establishment of a one-party state in Leicester has not meant there has been less argument in the city's politics. Labour is quite capable of having rows all on its own. A couple of weeks ago there was a story in the Leicester Mercury about claims that the new elected Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, was purposely overshadowing the ceremonial Lord Mayor Robert Wann. Though the story originated with the city's only Conservative councillor, the Mercury was able to obtain the following quote from "an unnamed source close to Lord Mayor Robert Wann": "The cream is being skimmed from the top ...
Bath. Terminus has been moved from the Bus Station to University of Bath and the route changed to serve Frome Road (Sainsbury's) instead of Midford Road. Pulteney Road will no longer be served as all journeys now operate via Churchill Bridge. All journeys will serve R.U.H grounds and Ivo Peters Road. Buses will stop on Dorchester Street and Manvers Street instead of the Bus Station
Bath & North East Somerset Council is consulting on whether to adopt new powers to give local people greater say over the number and location of lap dancing clubs in their area. The Council is currently able to regulate 'sex establishments' such as sex shops and sex cinemas under Schedule 3 to the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982. http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/business/
I got hold of this because for some reason I had got the impression that it belonged on my list of sf and fantasy books set in Ireland. But apart from a couple of friendly ghosts, this is basically a bog-standard romance where the American heroine realises that her destiny is to drop her independent academic career and marry the sexy Irishman so that she can be a barmaid in his pub. Of course, he has to ask her very nicely first. Not really recommended.
How cool is this? Letters of Note: Back in 1936, renowned sculptor Isamu Noguchi was in Mexico working on a 72-ft-long public mural when he hit a snag: for some reason, he couldn't precisely recall the famous formula, E=mc². Rather than risk a mistake, he decided to seek advice and wired his good friend, Buckminster Fuller — a famed architect and great admirer of Einstein — for clarification.I find telegrams almost impossible to read (ALL CAPS SHOUTING IS HARD OK), so while there's a picture of the telegram and a transcription, I thought I'd try some CSS to get rid ...
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has delivered an excellent speech on the Arab Spring at the British Council today. If you are interested in UK Government policy on the Middle East and North Africa, then this speech repays a thorough reading. One striking line is: "Successful revolutions may change the world overnight. But, in many ways, it's the morning after that the real work begins...Many of the programmes (the UK is) supporting are technical, bureaucratic, but don't ever underestimate this stage of reform. This is when you lock in a revolution. This is when you turn the hopes and dreams ...
ALDC reports: The Liberal Democrat Group in the Local Government Association has announced the results of its elections to group positions and the various LGA commissioners, boards and panels. Those elected are listed below with the results available here and the full breakdown of the results by stage available here. Group Executive Group Leader – Gerald Vernon-Jackson, Portsmouth (Elected unopposed) Deputy Leader (Policy) – Chris White, Hertfordshire (Elected unopposed) Deputy Leader (Political) – Dorothy Thornhill, Watford Group Chair – Jill Shortland, Somerset (Elected unopposed) Group Whip – Howard Sykes, Oldham (Elected unopposed) See the full list of those elected at ...
The Western Morning News has unearthed a move by Cornwall Council to employ someone to manage the Olympic Torch procession through Cornwall at a cost of £20,000. This seems like completely unnecessary expenditure and is the wrong way of approaching the matter. There is no doubt that the Olympic Torch coming to Cornwall is a good thing and we should try to make the most of it to showcase our appeal to visitors as well as to engage residents and businesses. What's more, because Cornwall is at the very start of the procession, we'll get far more attention than others ...
This is a particularly good book in the Rebus series. Rebus and Siobhan Clarke find themselves investigating an apparent serial killer and a dead junior government minister in the week of the 2005 G8 summit and the 7/7 bomb attacks in London; very often when mystery writers try to fold real life events into their novels they fail, but this works brilliantly, as Rankin takes us to meet well-meaning protestors, dodgy defence contractors, obstructive special branch officers and a local politician on the make, combining it with a final twist reminiscent of Agatha Christie except frankly rather better executed. I ...
Nick Clegg has given a speech on the Arab Spring today at the British Council. He also included a passage on last night's dramatic events in Libya: The advances made by the Free Libya Forces in Tripoli would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. Unimaginable, even, for the generations of young Libyans who have never known a world without Qadhafi. Now, that world is within their reach. The momentum for change is breathtaking and, for the cynics who said change wasn't possible, who had written off the Libyan uprising, written off the Arab Spring, clearly, they were wrong. ...
Peter Day's Franco's Friends is a lively tale of the often implausible collection of British and Spanish characters who helped bring General Franco to power in Spain and then keep Spain out of the Second World War. The British who feature in the story vary from the disreputable right-wingers who were keen on Franco, dictatorship and extremism through to honourable pragmatists who were willing to pay large sums in bribes to help ensure Spain's neutrality whilst Britain was busy fighting Hitler. All often read like figures out of espionage fiction, especially the British spy caught dressed as a woman who ...
St John's Church on Hills Road will be holding an Antiques Open Day on 24th September, from 12:00 until 5:00 p.m. Five local antiques experts will be present Please bring portable items or a photograph if the item is large for expert advice and valuation
Won't be much use to those who are not already fans of Herbert; Mason interprets "The Collar", "Love", "Aaron" and "The Flower" as at least in part expressing the author's feelings about being a priest, but I do not know enough context to appreciate it.
Mon 22nd
14:00
Tuition Fees. It's not just setting out the facts. The problem is getting anyone to listen.
Mark Thompson has written an excellent article this morning on Iain Dale's blog about myth busting and tuition fees. His basic argument is that if the proper facts were known about tuition fees and they had been properly communicated by both the government and the media, then a lot of concerns would have been allayed. And he is probably right. But may I suggest that another problem may lie at the root cause of people's unhappiness with the new system. Maybe it's not the communication - maybe they are just not listening. And this comes down to Behavioural Economics. Behavioural ...
Autumn conference in Birmingham will see a new type of campaigning event which sounds rather fun: a Dragons' Den style fringe meeting at which people pitch their ideas for new approaches to campaigning. The panel will be Alistair Carmichael MP, James Gurling (Chair, Campaigns & Communications Committee), Hilary Stephenson (Director of Elections and Skills) and Kirsty Williams AM. It will be on Sunday 18th September at 1pm in Room 103 of the Jurys Inn. Submissions are open to any party member except for Campaigns Department employees. Step one is to submit your idea by Monday 12th September to Tim Pollard ...
Mon 22nd
13:42The people who are threatening Louise Mensch and her children should be locked up for a very long ti...
I've not been a big fan of Louise Mensch and her views around how the government should grant the police powers to turn off social media should they so desire - as posts like this and this indicate. However there is absolutely no justification that she should be subjected to threats against her children for whatever views she may hold, and it makes me sick to the stomach that she has been. The scum responsible for this are not only evil - they are also gobsmackingly stupid, as they cannot seem to see that they are attempting to deny Louise ...
Today I posted over at Dale & Co: It will be interesting to see how the Chancellor responds to the Treasury Select Committee's report on the Private Finance Initiative, released to relatively little fanfare on Friday. The Select Committee's conclusions are stark. The Private Finance Initiative, in its present form, fails to deliver value for ...
Six biographies of important figures in early monatsticism - Athanasius' life of Anthony, three short biographies by Jerome, Sulpicius Severus' life of Martin of Tours and Gregory the Great's life of Benedict. They all live holy lives and perform many miracles (often involving expelling demons from the possessed). Arians and other heretics are at least as bothersome as the pagan authorities (and more so after the early fourth century). Devils take on physical form and wrestle with our heroes. I had come across some of this material in Gibbon (who hates monks and all they stand for) but it was ...
On Wed 31 August Network Rail will be carrying out survey work for electrifying the railway line, so they will be digging a couple of test trenches in the approach slopes to Sergeant's Farm Bridge. Despite the warning notices the footpath will not need to be closed, so you can still get across from Shire Way to Wapley Bushes. Network Rail will also attend to the sunked patches in the path near the Radar Gate when they reinstate the survey trenches.
Cornwall Council is proposing to axe the entire team of 30 library managers. This entire highly skilled and experienced team is being cut and allowed to apply for just eleven new roles such as stock manager, youth services manager or locality manager. The remaining 19 managers are set to be made redundant. Instead of having a library manager, each branch will, in the future, have a senior library assistant in charge. I've talked to a large number of people in the library service since I first heard about these plans at the end of last week and not one of ...
An early morning (Fringe time) trip to the gym engendered a delightful sheen of sweaty smugness and a calorie deficit that excused a massive Sunday roast. Our show isn't on Sundays so I took my last opportunity to catch The 90s in Half an Hour by Marc Burrows. Turns out that I was right and the 1990s were brilliant. But then I was always going to enjoy a show whose audience walk-in music included Suede's Filmstar and Sleeper's Inbetweener (a lyric from which was a chapter title in a Paul Cornell Doctor Who book, if I recall). I have seen ...
I have blogged before about Prince Charles using his position to secure privileged access to Government Ministers so as to promote his own agenda. I do not dispute Charles' right to hold a point of view or even to express it publicly but I do find the abuse of privilege indefensible from someone who is not elected or accountable for his actions. However, this morning's Guardian is woefully wide of the mark when it starts to target Prince Charles' charities for lobbying government ministers and senior officials to change policies on politically sensitive topics including VAT rates and regional development ...
The Liberal Democrat Group in the Local Government Association has announced the results of its elections to group positions and the various LGA commissioners, boards and panels. Those elected are listed below with the results available here and the full breakdown of the results by stage available here. Group Executive Group Leader - Gerald Vernon-Jackson, Portsmouth (Elected unopposed) Deputy Leader (Policy) - Chris White, Hertfordshire (Elected unopposed) Deputy Leader (Political) - Dorothy Thornhill, Watford Group Chair - Jill Shortland, Somerset (Elected unopposed) Group Whip - Howard Sykes, Oldham (Elected unopposed) Commissions Fire Jeremy Hilton, Gloucestershire - Lead Paul Shannon, Manchester ...
The TV comedy The Thick of It brilliantly satirised the tendency of New Labour to govern by 'initiative'. Politics was reduced to public relations. Policies were created on the hoof with an eye to the next morning's headlines. If you thought those days ended at the last general election, think again. The recent riots should have given everyone pause for thought. Instead, many politicians and commentators were shooting from the hip or trotting out predictable responses. Playing to the gallery pays only short-term dividends. Yes, "something must be done". But politicians of all parties have a duty to think before ...
Like many bloggers and tweeters I stayed up late last night, transfixed by the scenes in Tripoli, where the National Liberation Army (as I prefer to call it) penetrated neighbourhoods of the city, including the iconic Green Square, which was immediately renamed Martyrs' Square. At least two of Mouammar Gaddafi's sons have been captured and it can ...
At a time when Wales is seeking to pull itself off the bottom of the UK economic league table, when its education system is underfunded and failing international comparator tests, and when the health service is under huge financial pressure and providing worse outcomes than England on cancer and other illnesses, it is interesting to see the new Welsh Tory Leader has his finger on the pulse of the nation. Andrew R. T. Davies has chosen to major on a plea to reintroduce fox hunting. I do not think I need to say that this is hardly the subject on ...
August 21st 2011 – The day Tripoli was liberated from a tyrant. 80% of the capital is in control of the revolutionaries, and Gaddafi forces remain strong but are falling; but NATO will continue airstrikes, though. Prime Minister Cameron has called for an unconditional surrender of all those loyal to Gaddafi. The International Criminal Court ...
Back in February we predicted that the Tetbury - Yate - Bath bus service would be vulnerable to cuts in Gloucestershire County Council's bus budget. At the time this was denied by the GCC Cabinet Member for Transport (see the comments on our February article) Well, we were right. GCC have withdrawn their support, and from 4th September the bus will start in Old Sodbury, then run through Yate, Pucklechurch and Wick to Bath - the new 620 timetable is here There will also be some minor changes to the 482, 483 Chipping Sodbury - Yate - Cribbs Causeway route ...
Southport is a "Cool" place to be, according to articles in national newspapers. On Friday The Guardian included Southport in it's report on Cool Culture in the Country. Our town was included in a list of 6 places to visit rather than heading for the cities. It describes Southport as "home to a thriving street art scene" and recommends a stay at "the super stylish Vincent Hotel". Add to this a story carried in saturday's Times entitled "The Cool Weekend Guide". It listed 20 places to stay and Southport came in at number 12. It stated that Southport "has a ...
This is how EDF subcontractors left the pavements in Wallington following emergency repairs for an electrical fault just weeks after the new paving had been put in. Utility companies are obligated to 'make good' any paving dug up in the course of works, and this is a very long way from 'good'. There is a ...
I am not sure whether or not the UK can blame a general moral collapse for the riots that convulsed the country in early August, although that is what Prime Minister Cameron appears to believe. I am, however, pretty sure that any comments about morality from Tony Blair should be treated with disdain, if not actual contempt. As Peter Mandelson helps himself to the point where he can now afford an £8 million house, and Mr. Blair himself continues to collect ever larger cheques from various international investment banks, it seems pretty clear to me that at least two of ...
This letter has just been received.
Last Friday's Telegraph published a couple of brief pieces drawing on a wide ranging interview with Eric Pickles. The Communities Secretary had a few characteristically pithy observations to make in relation to the ongoing debate over the future of the 50p tax rate and the alternative mooted by the Liberal Democrats of moving to a ...
Who are the real looters - rioters or MPs? My instinct is to agree with this. It doesn't excuse the behaviour of the rioters to point out that there is rank hypocrisy in the moralising coming out of the HoC (tags: politics) The Big Finish Podcast OMG why did I not know about this? Hat-tip to the lovely Andrew Hickey for publicising this :) (tags: podcasts) What if the news media was a person? (tags: funny media) The Pervocracy: Pink just isn't my color. "I'm a woman, and uncomfortable with a lot of the crap that comes with that, and ...
The BBC has a report today from the LSE which demonstrates the benefits of cycling to the whole economy in terms of jobs created, manufacturing, taxes paid and perhaps most crucially in the health benefits cycling brings. I have started cycling to work regularly, though not every day and it remains a bit of a trial at some parts as most motor vehicles retain the view that they own the road. If this is you, have a look at this report and consider that more cycles means fewer cars, so more space for you. More bikes also means less pollution, ...
This really is an absolute gem. In three parts, an entire Harry Worth episode from the 1960s. Harry Who? I hear anyone born after about 1965 asking. He was quite huge, enjoying three long series on the telly in the 1960s and 1970s. You only have to see the opening of this clip to remember how wonderful he was. Unfortunately I can't find a clip of him doing his famous "window trick", but here's a photo.
Mon 22nd
09:45
Were the riots caused by the police? A compelling case of CCTV and poor tactics (Opportunities for t...
How come we spend more on policing as a proportion of GDP than any other OECD country and yet they were not able to manage the riots effectively? Even after the cuts there will still be as many police as we had in 2004 along with twice as many special constables yet they complain they ...
There have not been many dictators who have hung on with such determination as Colonel Gaddafi. Even with much of Tripoli taken by rebels, he was, this morning, sending tanks out from his compound. So, it looks like a bitter, Hitler-like end is in store for the man. One can hardly be optimistic about the future of post-Gaddafi Libya. The National Transitional Council currently has no cabinet and its leader is holed up in Benghazi and has played no role in the Tripoli offensive. There are deep splits amongst the rebels following the murder of Abdel Fattah Younis. So, before ...
I remember watching the Wall come down in Berlin. I remember on Christmas Day in 1989 watching the evidence of the end of the Romanian dictators. I was watching when the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled. Last night was another of those days. For hours, into the small hours of this morning, I was engrossed on the rolling news. Not the BBC which seemed so far behind it may well have been reporting on England winning the World Cup, or Mr Chamberlain saying he had no concerns with Herr Hitler. Ibit the bullet and watched Sky News to get ...
BBC Radio 4′s latest series of "The House I Grew up In" (which revisits the childhood neighbourhoods of influential Britons) includes an episode featuring Liberal Democrat Peer, Shirley Williams. Shirley Williams, now Baroness Williams, returns to her childhood homes in London's Chelsea and the New Forest. Her mother was the writer, Vera Brittain, whose most famous novel – Testament of Youth – was a best-seller when Shirley was a child in the 1930s. Her father, George Catlin, was an academic and and an instinctive feminist whose own mother had been an early suffragette, ostracised by Victorian society. He was a ...
... for putting three of my posts in this weeks Lib Dem Voice Golden Dozen including the most popular post. I am humbled that people spend time seeing what I've been saying, thank you. The site is currently down so if you would like to see what made the grade it was: 1. I live in Richmond. Last night, Jack Straw declared war on me. 2. Does being a Lib Dem mean my kids shouldn't be made to pick up litter in the streets? 3. What else did Nick Clegg get asked in London last week? And more to the ...
Here is a fascinating insight into the life of Edinburgh Council Leader Jenny Dawe and her previous life in rural Africa. Curiously the Councillor who held Jenny's seat before her, Donald Gorrie, described the City Chambers as a "Snake pit" once. It looks like Jenny had excellent training for dealing with snakes!
I have to say that it is very good to see that Col Gaddafi and his Green Book appear to be on a very shoogly peg this morning. Why Tony Blair ever thought it was a good idea to bring this man in from international ostracisation is beyond me. We can only hope that the International Criminal Court is going to be kept very busy with big files marked "Gaddafi" for the foreseeable future. The man himself is nowhere to be found, although two of his sons have been captured as rebel forces entered Tripoli to remarkably little resistance. I'm ...
There is going to be substantial patch work to fix problems with the A14 between junctions 32 and 31 starting on the 1st September - this includes two nights of closures which will no doubt substantially affect traffic. The details of the works are reproduced from the letter below; "On behalf of the Highways Agency, I am writing to inform you of overnight repairs to the westbound carriageway of the A14 Trunk Road between Junctions 32 (Histon) and 31 (Girton). The works will involve patching to worn out sections of the carriageway. The works are due to commence on 1 ...
Susan Harries published her Nikolaus Pevsner: The Life last week. In this guest post for Liberal England she looks at Pevsner's treatment of Leicestershire and Rutland. Pevsner's mood as he set off to tour the buildings of Leicestershire was subdued. By the mid-1950s Penguin Books were losing money on every volume of the Buildings of England and Pevsner had been pressed into service as a fundraiser - a role in which he did not shine. His letter to Sir Hugh Beaver, Managing Director of Guinness, was hardly brash: "The sum involved is not large per annum and the use within ...
Just one final reflection on the council by-election in Edinburgh last week and I think this is important. The idea that the LibDem led council is a bad administration is a total myth and bears no relation to an examination of the facts. Over the weekend I have talked with a number of people close to council affairs. Since 2007 the LibDems have in fact run the city extremely well but what they have failed to do is be political and have at times lacked an eye to the politics of some of the situations the city council has faced. ...
The Independent's pop music critic Simon Price excuses his surprise at learning that the country and western artist Brad Paisley sold out the O2 arena by saying 'he operates in a genre which still dare not speak its name in sophisticated company.' He adds: The one thing, in the great tribal Taste Wars of the Eighties, that everyone could agree on was that country-and-western was rubbish. Even its main British proponent had to sneak past the defences by giving himself the self-consciously wacky name Hank Wangford. While it's certainly the case that people who should know better unthinkingly mock country ...
