So says Graeme Archer at the Telegraph.. "If the Liberal Democrats didn't exist, under what circumstances would you choose to create them? I'll assume that it's the "Liberal" bit of their historical accident of a name that matters (not many anti-democrats run for election these days). If we did feel the need for a Liberal Party, I guess it would be because neither the Labour nor Tory organisations were being sufficiently, well, liberal in their policy-making...." I recommend you go read it. I don't agree with everything he says... you probably won't either. But my god he has a point...... ...
Yesterday's consultation was a great success - lots of residents of all ages came to look at the proposals and make their comments. As a result there will certainly be some changes to the proposals. The Parish Council recreation committee always said that the views of the residents nearest to the site are very important and most of those people made the effort to come and look and tell us what
OK. I do puerile posts as well. And I am weirdly addicted to the odd sneaky peaky at www.order-order.com. Indeed, I have recently, accidentally got onto their mailing list and I am still trying to work out how to get off it. And I must admit that, refreshingly, when responding to criticism, both Guido and neo-Guido do passing impressions of human beings (unlike one prominent Tory ex-blogger who used to be tiresomely snippy and snarky when confronted with criticism). Having said that, this really has to rate as one of the most pointless posts in the history of mankind. As ...
I am just back from the (hem, hem) VIP Reception that opened Arts Fresco. After the wine and nibbles there was a performance of Cliffhanger! by the Bash Street Theatre Company. It was a live performance done in the style of a silent movie, complete with piano accompaniment. It was all great fun and is well worth seeing if you get the chance. The clip above comes from a outdoor performance of this play. The one tonight took place in the big top in Welland Park, where this year's Arts Fresco is taking place.
This year the Conference issue of Liberator has been mailed out to subscribers before the event itself. My own copy has arrived in the post, which means that it is time to spend some more time with Rutland's most popular fictional peer. In a few short days, we shall meet in Birmingham - home of municipal Liberalism, metal basing and the Clement Davies Group. Moreover, we meet as partners in a coalition government. Moreover (if one is allowed to say 'moreover' twice), we meet as partners in a coalition government with the Conservatives. Every day, letters arrive from worried young ...
Those of you who are worried about my lack of posts, I'm planning on maybe two or three more weeks' worth of overtime, at most, before my life gets back to normal and I start posting more regularly again. Even so, I'll have a Monkees post up here tomorrow, and a Doctor Who one on ...
Five years and 2164 posts ago, on a Saturday afternoon, I wrote the first post on this blog. I had no idea how much I'd come to enjoy it. I hope to keep going for the next 5 years too. The blog's birthday coincides with the anniversary of my Granny's death. I guess it was my way of bringing her into my endeavours. The first substantive post I wrote was about her. She was the kindest person I ever knew, with endless patience. She also made the best tattie soup I have ever tasted in my life. I have never ...
I'm not exactly sure when Labour decided fear was their best weapon for fighting their battles, my guess is probably around 11 September 2001, but it's something they used to their advantage to spread their rather authoritarian message of "security." However, that fear has been combined with something different recently; it's been combined with opposition. It struck me today listening to the hyperbole around the debate on the NHS, that the way Labour have acted in opposition is beyond irresponsible, their language, their actions, everything is set to scare people into believing their side of the story . The first ...
Along with another eight Dundee City Councillors and the council's Chief Executive, I today met with senior officials from Royal Mail in the hope of persuading Royal Mail to think again over its closure of the Crichton Street Collection Office. Unfortunately, there was no willingness shown by Royal Mail at the meeting to reconsider the closure decision. It is disappointing that Royal Mail is unwilling to reconsider the closure of the Crichton Street facility. All nine councillors who attended the meeting - representing wards right across Dundee - highlighted the many concerns raised by customers that, given that the Crichton ...
Having a quick catch up back from hols (see last post) , on what's what and whats not, something you cannot access from abroad are the letter pages of the local papers, reading through last weeks Gazette, I see the highly popular Labour bod Cllr Ian Driver was at it again, sending a letter that is, last week, he seemed quite vexed about what TDC was doing for the homeless. Cllr Driver's plee was for more social housing whilst apparently criticising TDC, it seems he is unaware of how recently Cllr Clive Hart's Labour Party fought against social housing. No ...
I've only just seen this...Last week, it transpires, one of the Jewish Chronicle's (JC) reader-bloggers (nothing to do with the paper officially - any reader can start one) wrote this short review of my then-latest blogging activities. This might not be one of the notices that I post on the billboard above the theatre to promote the show. For reasons that remain mysterious, the JC blogger concerned hides behind a photograph of Mahatma Gandhi and calls himself (or herself) Real Real Zionist. I see...OK...I love it when reader(s) of this blog moan about how much they dislike reading it. When ...
Last night, I had the pleasure of attending the latest St John's High School Parent Council meeting. Parents of pupils affected by the loss of the 4S school bus spoke eloquently about the problems this is causing their children getting to school on time and I hope that the Education and City Development Department officers who were also present last night take their concerns on board. As if to emphasise just how unsatisfactory the so-called alternative buses are, the 26 service that should leave Perth Road at Step Row at 8.05pm was 20 minutes late, making the possibility of any ...
This is a good visualisation of the results of the West's post 9/11 escapades (although from an American perspective). It is beyond my imagination to think of the lost lives, potential and integrity. Sunday the 11th of September, 2011, is going to be a day of deep contemplation for a lot of people. It feels trite and facile to hope for peace for the many thousands - millions, really - directly affected by losing a loved one. But I hope for it anyway.
Sainsbury's has applied for a premises licence (to sell alcohol and late-night refreshments) at the Cambridge Leisure Park on Clifton Road, where they plan to open a Sainsbury's Local. They wish to sell alcohol between the hours of 6.00 a.m. and 11.00 p.m. Details can be found at www.cambridge.gov.uk/licences If you live or work nearby, you qualify as an interested party and can make a representation on the application. Your comments must relate to one of Cambridge City Council's four licensing objectives, which are: the prevention of crime and disorder public safety the prevention of public nuisance the protection of ...
I'm sorry, but Andrew Dismore is attacking Hendon's Tory MP, Matthew Offord, for the amount of time that Mr Offord spends abroad? In a letter to Hendon Times - can't find it online. This is the same Andrew Dismore that we're talking about here, right? The one who, as Hendon's Labour MP until last year, had a passport that never exactly complained of under-use? As an MP, Andrew was renowned for taking an interest in foreign affairs, which meant that he often travelled abroad. Indeed, the circumstances of his travels proved newsworthy in the run-up to the General Election. It ...
I've been away much of this week at Crieff Hydro running a conference with the "day job" - here's a photo of me there (below).Was back in Dundee last night just in time to attend last night's St John's High School Parent Council meeting - and have spent much of today catching up with constituents' calls and e-mails.
The Court of Appeal have reduced his sentence so he is now free. However, there really is a question asked when recording a court hearing is thought to be worse than looting.Indeed if courts are now to be televised should we not compromise and keep out the cameras, but allow recording (even if the recordings are not broadcast).
Since their installation in June 2010, I have received mixed opinions about the effectiveness of New Road's Access Only signs and some of the residents questioned their location and lack of illumination. Officers said that these signs would be in place on an experimental basis and their effectiveness would be discussed at TMAP in 18 months. TMAP Meeting [IMG: DSCF0233] On the 8 September 2011, there was a TMAP meeting to, once again, discuss these signs. In the report, Council officers suggested that these signs should be removed as there wasn't adequate funding to pay to have them illuminated and because ...
Fri 9th
18:50
On the off chance you didn't think the 2011 elections went too well, you'd best drop someone a line....
Lib Dem Voice have published the party's initial consultation document on the May 2011 election results and have invited members to submit thoughts on it to ccc@libdems.org.uk or to attend the consultation session at conference on the Saturday morning to put in their thoughts. The document contains two brief reviews of initial thoughts on each of the local election and the AV campaigns, and then a series of questions they would like answered. Do access the document at LDV, e mail in your thoughts or go the consultation session - the more people involved, the better. Here is the response ...
Arroz Congri with Avocado Citrus Salad
TweetRegular perusers may be aware I am against the action in Libya. Today's brief observation is that CIA agents are now hunting Gaddafi. Was that part of the UN resolution to maintain a no-fly-zone and a complete cease-fire. Nope, didn't think so. We can adhere to the media line that Gaddafi is a war criminal who must be incarcerated. Alternatively, one can see him as an old man who has offered peace negotiations weekly in recent months. The truth is somewhere in the middle. And all the time NATO continue to persecute and avoid restricting themselves to UN sanctions, Gaddafi ...
Stockport Libraries are offering a new service – you can borrow eBooks and audio books online (to read the eBooks, you need a reader that works with the eBook standard – that's pretty much all of them except Kindle which is difficult). The service officially launches on 19th September, but it seems you can get a sneak preview. (It may be possible to convert from eBook to Kindle format for those of you who are more technically minded – let me know if you try it out). Here's the official announcement. Stockport Council will be offering customers the chance to ...
Occasionally I divert myself from tweeting and blogging long enough to write something a bit more academic, usually about housing. I have a paper in the current issue of the journal Housing, Theory and Society. It looks at Uncertainty, expectations and behavioural aspects of housing market choices. The paper is coauthored with my good friend ...
I was just going through my spam folder and found the following e-mail allegedly from former MP Patricia Hewitt: Dear Friend, GREETINGS FROM THE UK HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT This might startle you a little as you might have seen or read about me but really don't know me in person. Well, I am Rt. Hon Patricia Hewitt MP. A British politician and Labor Party Member of Parliament for Banking. I was the first Minister for Children appointed in a newly created post with the Department for Education and Skills and presently Minister of State in the Department for culture, Media ...
Just finished watching a fascinating interview with Tim Ferriss (Four Hour Work Week, Four Hour Body) and photographer Chase Jarvis where they discuss creativity and entrepreneurship. I'm a HUGE fan of Tim and had the pleasure of meeting him a couple of months ago in San Francisco at a film premiere. This is a long ...
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. Here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week Four Lib Dem MPs vote against NHS Bill; three vote for Dorries on abortion (47 comments) by Mark Pack Brian Paddick selected as Liberal Democrats' London Mayoral Candidate for 2012 (16 comments) by Helen Duffett Chris Fox to step down as Liberal Democrats' Chief Executive (18 comments) by Helen Duffett Liberal Democrat conference and security checks #ldconf (30 comments) by Mark Pack Opinion: Should I stay or should I go? (40 comments) by Nick Tyrone 5 sample ...
Yeah this morning the Rugby World Cup got under way. There was no surprise in the result of the first game, New Zealand's All Blanks beat Tonga, I won't give away the score in case anybody still has to watch. So here is a preview of what you can expect over the next few weeks...in Lego. We are in Haka country, but the hosts haven't lifted the Well Ellis Cup since the first competition in 1987, something that Addidas combines in this advert. Of course no World Cup list of music could be complete without a rendition of World in ...
You'd have thought after all the high tech security checking of delegates getting to Lib Dem Conference that they would be a chip, or a bar code or something high tech and gizmo-ey with the passes to ensure that who we said we were could not have our passes taken over by someone else. NO! Don't be daft. Instead even of the credit card type plastic cards what we get is a bit of card that we have to self double laminate. Now suppose that before someone were to self double laminate they were to score out the picture and ...
I'm intrigued to read in the Financial Times about the 'Vatican option', which would upgrade the Palestinians' UN mission from 'observer entity' to 'observer state', "the same rank enjoyed by the Holy See. Palestinian leaders believe the upgrade would mark an important step towards formal statehood and pave the way for Palestinian membership of other international organisations - including, most controversially, the International Criminal Court." The UN General Assembly could vote to do this on 20 September (when it is poised to vote on Palestinian statehood), and it would then actually happen. Whereas, if the General Assembly voted instead for ...
I've been a bit slow in getting my Southport Flower Show photos uploaded this year (-not least because I have used up all my storage allocation on Picasso) I shall get that sorted . |In the meantime here are a few to be going on with. I have also done a couple of posting on Gladstone's Library and these two come together in the person of Martin Edwards. He is an excellent crime novelist whose latest book was launched at Gladstone's library and indeed feature a residential library based on St Deniol's. He was also at the book festival which ...
I said I would return to my posting on Gladstone's Library which I have been visiting as part of a conference for work. I should begin by saying it is a marvellous mock gothic building designed by Chester architect John Douglas. It replaced the 'tin tabernacle' where Gladstone deposited his 22 000 books. The present building was opened in 1902 as the National Memorial to Gladstone and now has a collection of over 250 000 printed items. I must say that since I first attended a conference here over 20 years ago the facility has significantly improved. It is now ...
Gladstone seriously considered becoming an Anglican priest and the Library that now bears his name has a major collection of theological books. There is also a large representation of Victorian work including literature. When the Library first opened it was dedicate to St Deniol-who also has a shopping centre in Bangor named after him.. Originally-the guide book tells me - Gladstone wanted to call the Library Monad-which it helpfully explains is a Greek word meaning the One, oneness or one truth. Now in the hands of some of the less generous adherence to Christianity that could have become a declaration ...
Yesterday Nick Thornsby and I were lucky enough to get letters printed in the Financial Times. Nick wrote a letter on the 50p tax rate that was published in the UK print edition. He argued that abolishing the 50p tax ... Continue reading →
The Lib Dems have long shared residents concerns about the number of take-aways in Gatley. We feel that enough is enough. When an application was submitted for a new takeaway at 7 Church Road (next to the Oakwood Avenue Co-op), the Council's planners agreed. We have policies in place to restrict the number of takeaways in any one small area and the Council's planning department agreed with us that this application fell foul of that. Unfortunately, the Planning Inspector from Bristol has come back and has overruled that decision. We have no choice but to live with the Inspector's ruling, ...
Liberator subscribers have just received the latest edition of Liberator magazine (issue no.348 - September 2011). For those of you who are not yet subscribers, here's a summary of the contents: The editorial column Commentary contrasts Nick Clegg's pre-election prediction of riots with the situation now. There is also criticism of the declining proportion of time allocated to policy motions at party conference. The insider gossip column Radical Bulletin begins with an exposé of a 'policy and strategy' document prepared by Nick Clegg's adviser Richard Reeves. 'Cut the cringe' - Matthew Oakeshott (former Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman in the House ...
At another time I will explain how I've landed up at Gladstone's residential library in Harwarden . Suffice to say that I'm here with work for a couple of days After Gladstone conceived the idea of building a library to house his collection 32 000 books -his diary suggests that he read 22 000 in some detail-the question arose what of building would house them. Well the initial answer was to build a 'tin tabernacle'. It was to this corrugated iron building that Gladstone wheeled his vast collection of books. He also rented the former village school to become hostel ...
Some days change your life. Some people do. Twenty years ago today I was a teenage activist at my first ever Liberal Democrat Federal Conference, and I was told off by Paddy Ashdown. But not in the way you think. And given that, though I've not missed an Autumn Conference since, I may well not be at next week's Conference because I've still yet to hear if the police - the police - will deign to permit me to take part in our democracy, Paddy's moral is very resonant today. So what was it that our then Party Leader said? ...
Recommended reading for Liberal Democrat councillors and local campaigners from the last seven days: There has been two bits of news on police this week. Firstly, the good news that the elections for Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales will be delayed until November 2012 instead of being held on the same day as next year's local elections. Secondly, in Scotland there has been opposition from local authorities to proposals by the SNP government to merge all of the police forces in to one force. Something which the Scottish Lib Dems have been campaigning against for some time. ...
If you're not careful you can lose sight of quite how far housing policy has travelled in a relatively short space of time. Some of the fixed points in the housing policy debate have been destabilised. Grant Shapps talks of radical change and the need to disturb the "lazy consensus" in housing policy. I would ...
Predictably, the heat is mounting on the British government to soften its fiscal policy in light of weak economic growth. Today the new IMF chief Christine Lagarde seems to be adding to the pressure, even if she wasn't explicit. The code for changing this policy is referred to by political types as "Plan B". I am now convinced that some sort of Plan B may now be a good idea – but it would not take the form that a lot of Plan B advocates, especially the Labour opposition propose. First, why? I have been progressively convinced by the FT's ...
He was an extremely generous leader, inspiring huge devotion among colleagues who - like him - would always go the extra mile. It's amazing what you find when you actually start to read through your Conference papers. I was really delighted to see Tim Farron pay a fulsome tribute to Andrew Reeves in his Federal Executive report to Conference. For those of us who are missing him, it's always good to see how much he was loved and appreciated. It's clear that Tim had really thought about what to say and I think his heartfelt tribute deserves circulating to a ...
Fri 9th
14:16
Paul Burstow MP writes: Lifting of lifetime gay blood donation ban - progress, but not the final wor...
The lifetime ban on men who have had sex with men (MSM) is an issue that our party has always felt uncomfortable with. Superficially it looks little more than a discriminatory throwback to the 1980s stereotypes associated with gay men and increased risk of sexual disease. Yesterday the Government took a significant step in changing their position by announcing the lifting of the lifetime ban on MSM from giving blood. So let me give you the detail about how that decision was reached, and what it means for men wanting to donate blood. The previous Government had also questioned the ...
Nobel laureate Paul Krugman has delivered an admirable speech on the rot at the heart of the economics profession. He's clearly criticising the economic liberals, but there's a healthy dose of humility in there as well. This is a speech that contains wisdom as well as knowledge. It's worth reading if you're trying to get your head around why economists have provided so little value before and during the ongoing financial crisis. Some economists are pushing forward with new macroeconomic models that incorporate the lessons of the crisis. Me too! And by all means, let's do that. But as I've ...
Cambridgeshire Tories have reinforced their lack of commitment to the climate change fight by going cold on wind power. They plan to put a hold on allowing wind farms on Cambridgeshire County Council land and blow away almost £1 million a year in extra revenue. The move comes just months after they deleted tackling climate change as a strategic objective. On Tuesday, Cambridgeshire's County Council Cabinet will decide whether to go-ahead with the deferral despite lining up developers for four sites across the district - Farcet, Chatteris, Littleport and Coveney - where wind farms were to be built on Farms ...
Cornwall Council cabinet papers for next week's meeting have revealed that the authority's transportation department is a massive 32% over-budget so far this financial year. The extra spending is down to bus passes (£2.6m) and car parks (£2m). In an organisation with a budget as big as ours there will always be variances. The most common over-spend comes in adult care which is almost entirely demand led. But even there the difference from the projected spending is usually less than a couple of percentage points. That service is currently 0.7% over budget. And at a time of massive structural change ...
If you've got unwanted IT equipment around the house, bring it along to the IT Takeback event between 10am and 3pm on Sunday 11 September at the Enterprise Depot, Sandridge Gate Business Centre, Ronson Way, St Albans, AL4 9XR (this is next to the Household Waste Recycling Centre). We accept:- · Computers · Monitors · Printers · Video players · Games consoles · Freeview boxes · Televisions · MP3 players This event, which is hosted by the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership and EcoSystems I.T. Ltd, aims to reduce the impact of IT waste on the environment, while helping people clear their ...
The following compares the UK's highest marginal tax rate to that of competitor nations: UK – 50% Top UK trading partners Netherlands – 52% Belgium – 50% Germany – 45% Italy – 43% Ireland – 41% France – 40% USA – 35% Spain – 27.13% Other Australia – 45% Japan – 40% Switzerland – 11.5% Not often one gets something useful from the BBC!
Yes that's right folks. The man who represented me when I lived in Southend West has been on the attack this week. With so many huge issues flying around about Libya, NHS reforms, Jobs etc... what is at the forefront of David Amess' mind? You guessed it. It is the fact that female newsreaders on the BBC smile too much. Now this wasn't just an off the cuff remark to a journalist this was in a debate in the House of Commons. The MP for my now neighbouring constituency stood up in the House and said about the female news ...
My new MP is Paul Blomfield and my new ward (Sheffield Central) is, interestingly, a Green ward. I won't know anybody in Sheffield least of all any Sheffield Lib Dems, so if you're a Sheffield Lib Dem, by all means get in contact with me.
I was distraught to come in last night and find an e-mail from Anmesty International telling me that Troy Davis's execution has been re-scheduled for less than 2 weeks' time - 21st September. I wrote about his case the last time he faced execution almost exactly 3 years ago. At that time, the killing was stopped with only 2 hours to go. Troy has been on Death Row in Georgia for 20 years, having been convicted of the murder of a police officer in 1989. However, there are clear reasons to suspect that his conviction is not safe. This article ...
NFL fans in the UK know there are a few things that are assured as the Sun rising each morning and that Ed Hochuli works out. They are that Kevin Cadle will butcher any presenting gig. Mike Carlson will always be amazing and that Nick Halling will butcher a Thanksgiving Turkey and openly root for his team the Pittsburgh Steelers on live NFL coverage on Sky Sports. Well last night the NFL season opened up with what turned out to be a great game (certainly if you have Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees as your fantasy QBs) but there was ...
Liam Fox, February 2007 on the allegations against British solider Jorge Medonca over the death of Baha Mousa: A whiff of political correctness hangs heavy over the case against Col Mendonca. Liam Fox, September 2011, on reading the report that condemned British solider Jorge Medonca over the death of Baha Mousa: As I read the report, my predominant feeling was disgust that individuals could have acted in this brutal way and that their appalling behaviour has tarnished the reputation of the British army. Liam Fox's change of stance should be welcomed. He's had new evidence presented to him, he's changed ...
A quick round up of QRpedia in the news: The New Media Consortium has produced a report entitled Technology Outlook: UK Tertiary Education. The full report (PDF) specifically mentions QRpedia Codes as "smart objects" and predicts a time-to-Adoption of four to five years. I think we can do it sooner than that, though! The report is CC-BY and well worth reading. One of our friend in Indianapolis, Angie Mcnew, was interviewed by the radio station WFYI (mp3). We now have our own Wikipedia entry – in 8 languages – which was recently featured on the Wikipedia homepage. Finally, Álex Hinojo ...
(Thanks to @juptin for passing this one to me) In the past I have been quite critical over the matter of the wasted expenditure, and it is something that I think we should keep an eye upon as Councils (and even the Government) spend our tax money in trust on services that will benefit the area/country. I am proud to say that the LibDem faction of Southwark council caught and blocked this bid by the Southwark Labour council to spend £120k on building a roof terrace at the Council HQ at Tooley Street for VIP functions! According to Lib Dem ...
The multi-national science research project that is CERN is best know in non-specialist circles for helping to give us the world wide web and intermittently being talked up as bringing about the end of the world. However, it has another - more obscure - claim to technological fame as it was the employer of Willem (known as Wim) Klein, a Dutch mental arithmetic genius who was also in his role at CERN probably the very last person to have been employed as a human calculator. Before the rise of pocket calculators, mental arithmetic geniuses were often employed to do the ...
Meols Ward Lib Dem Councillors John Dodd, Nigel Ashton and David Rimmer are holding their next monthly advice centre on Saturday 10th September, from 11 am to 12 noon at St John's Primary School, Rufford Road, Crossens. We will be there to meet you and discuss any Council problems you may have. No appointment necessary. Just pop in. We hold our advice centre every month (except August) on the second Saturday of the month at St John's School.
As most of you already know, libdem members now can't go to conference without being accredited by the police. It 'requires party members to disclose personal data to the police and which is designed to enable the police to advise that certain party members should not be allowed to attend. ' I can't think of more ...
According to BBC The government is to ban referral fees in personal injury claims in an attempt to curb the "compensation culture". This is a topic close to my heart as despite my tutor's advice 'don't work for dodgy lawyers' I very briefly was an intern at one of those 'personal injury firms'. One of ...
Cornwall Council members such as Alex Folkes have been pushing for some time for the council to tighten up its implementation of electoral registration rules in the face of the county's large number of second homes. Where people genuinely split their time between living elsewhere and living in a second home in Cornwall, they can register at both addresses (though vote in a Parliamentary election at only one of them). However, there are widespread concerns that many people who register to vote at a Cornish second home are not qualified to do so as they only use it as an ...
Just back from my hols, managed a couple of blogs whilst away, but eventually I though why bother, when there were more important distractions, such as whether to have a beer or another bottle wine. A few issues seemed too trivial to comment on such as nurses apparently wearing clothes with the legend "Do not Disturb" ( a clear indication of all that's wrong with the NHS and the contempt for patients ). I've had a good holiday, despite Thomson fly, er not flying, until 14 hours after they were due to, my last package holiday was similarly screwed up ...
In a few days time the United Nations will decide whether to recognise Palestine. Listening last night to Richard Perle, Washington's "Prince of Darkness", on Question Time, I heard him lie many times. In particular he denied that Israel was in breach of any UN Security Council Resolutions. A member of the audience immediately cited UNSCR 242 as I shouted it at the television. There are
Mention "YouTube" and "British government" and "failure" to most people interested in online politics or comms and the chances are they will think of Gordon Brown and that YouTube film with the unusual smiles. There is however a quieter failure, going on every day and hitting many Whitehall departments. It is quite simply this: lots of films made, almost no-one watching. Take the example of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Plenty of films on its YouTube channel but not many viewers. The most watched at the time of writing has just under 4,500 views accumulated over two years. ...
The fact is that the financial crisis was rooted in a failure of politics in the first place. The changes to mortgage regulation under President Clinton forced US banks to enter the "sub-Prime" Market in the first place. The Banks, attempting to improve- as they hoped- the riskiness of these loans, bundled them with safer loans in order to try to insure themselves. Meanwhile, the monetary management by the global central banks was very loose: interest rates were historically low for a prolonged period. The implication was that there had, under the influence of new technology, been a significant improvement ...
Your Focus Team is worried that more of our countryside could be at risk. The Public Inquiry to consider the plans for future development in South Gloucestershire, the Core Strategy, will not go ahead in October as planned. The Inspector appointed by the Government has told the council it must think again about how many homes will be needed, in the light of the latest population forecasts and the Minister's view that development should go ahead where possible. He also wants the Council to put forward proposals for the development of Filton Airfield and to justify the Green Belt boundaries. ...
"We're all off to the seaside" announces train driver. Cheery. Alas wrong. #backtotheoffice # Haven't read M Wolf art yet but surely characteristic of slow recov is it follows a boom built on credit not inc in productivity (in West)? # RT @rorybremner: Looking forward to Madonna's film about Wallis. Who plays Gromit? « Ed Mili of course. # @neilfawcett Your eldest has a flat? Makes *me* feel old... in reply to neilfawcett # Having Outnumbered back on telly makes autumn worthwhile. # Fair assessment of the Lib Dem London mayoral race from Dave Hill http://t.co/p5StiTE. Conclusion: "Congratulations, Brian. I'm ...
Today marks the start of the 7th Rugby World Cup and over the next few weeks there will, I'm sure, be a number of Rugby related posts... I'm going to kick things of with some music. Specifically Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's version of the Rugby World Cup anthem "World In Union" from 1991: Kiri Te Kanawa - World In Union on MUZU.TV This year's version has been recorded by Hayley Westenra and you can hear it here. To my ears though, it lacks the richness of her compatriot's version which I've loved for 20 years(!) now. I even had it ...
Alcohol support services for patients and their families must remain a priority under NHS reforms, Geoff Heathcock, Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet Member for Health on Cambridgeshire County Council says. He has called on the government and local authorities to make sure services are retained when GP commissioning is introduced in 2013. Cllr Heathcock has spoken out following the news that Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital has seen over 10,000 admissions in a single year resulting from alcohol. "These figures are disturbing and they put an unacceptable strain not only on the accident and emergency department but other specialist units," he said. "We ...
TweetThe Metro had a unique 'Cancer' headline today, "Cancer could be cut by 25% with healthy life style'. One could also suggest that suicide would be greatly reduced if people stopped killing themselves, as one tweeter suggested. This is a far cry from tabloid titles inferring cancer can be caused through bacon, light bulbs, oxygen and fruit. Most of these are based on non-latitudinal studies of no statistical validity and generally phd students or universities exploiting PR opportunities. Cancer, contrary to popular opinion, is not the UK's biggest killer, heart disease is. However, in our lifestyle choices, we are all ...
As far as I am aware there are only two meetings at Blyth Town Council next week The Assets Committee meets on Tuesday 13th September at the Isabella Centre, firstly "Councillors only" and then "With Allotment Holders". I think that the first is 7pm, I'll confirm when I hear. The first seems to have turned into a pre-meeting ready for the meeting with allotment holders. I'm not on the Assets Committee, but I may attend just to observe, bearing in mind the initial opposition to having meetings with the Allotment Holders.
Whatever the merits and demerits of the 50p tax rate those seeking to abolish it need to do better than claims it raises little or no money. The 20 high-profile business experts who wrote to the Financial Times believe that lower tax for the richest in our society is necessary to enable Britain to return to an "internationally competitive tax regime" to stimulate the stuttering economy. However, in interviews afterwards some were claiming that as a revenue raising device the 50p rate was particularly ineffective. According to yesterday's Independent that has led the Chancellor of the Exchequer to ask Revenue ...
County council press release Schools may only have just started back after the summer break – but many Hertfordshire carers and parents are already planning ahead for school places in 2012. If your child starts primary, or moves on to junior, middle, secondary or upper school next year you need to apply for a school place in good time. The process for moving onto secondary or upper school opens on Monday 5 September. Leaflets explaining the process will be distributed to families through their child's primary schools at the beginning of September. The closing date for applications to secondary and ...
I'm nearly three months late but it has been pointed out to me that there is at least theoretically some summer left yet, so here goes: bring on the third Dreamwidth Darkroom Orgy! For reference, orgy #1 happened in 2009, and orgy #2 was in 2010. Dreamwidth Darkroom Orgy, v3 Comment with your account name. If you see someone who takes your fancy, leave them a message describing exactly what depraved and thoroughly rude things you would like to get up to with them. Anonymous commenting is enabled, so you can look at this as the Dreamwidth version of a ...
As a fan of the game with the oval shaped ball, I should be rather more excited about the Rugby World Cup than I am. This is because it is a rather unsatisfactory tournament for one simple reason - there are too few games where the result is in doubt and likely to make a difference to who qualifies for the next round. In soccer there is a sense that in any given match anything can happen. Algeria can hold England to a draw; the cup-holders can be eliminated without winning a game. Even the weaker teams who are unlikely ...
Drunken elk here.
