Spent the morning in discussions about play areas. First of all a site visit to Amberley Way with the artist who worked with the children of Durham Lane School on designing a play sculpture - the right wood has finally been sourced and the orientation was finally decided on today. Now everything can be ordered and work can start when the workforce are ready. Plans are being drawn up to involve
I am reminded that, as usual, Monty Python had found a lighter way of noting where we fit within the universe...
At Harborough Antiques Fair on Sunday I bought a copy of Private Eye on London. Published in 1962 and written by Christopher Booker, Willie Rushton and Richard Ingrams (with photographs by Maurice Hatton), it was the magazine's first book. It features Willie Rushton's cartoons prominently and tells the story of a man called Gnittie who visits the capital. He visits Westminster and comes across "a little man in shorts and a schoolboy cap": my name's eric BUttock and i'm a liberal MP. Evry few yeres evrybody get fed up with the other two parties and hav a Liberal REVIVAL. Then ...
The Derwent Valley Partnership's "It's up 2 U" scheme goes live on Saturday, November 5th. This ground breaking scheme allows local people to decide which local groups most deserve a share in the £20,700 which is up for grabs. It makes a change from being told where your money will be spent! If you live or work in the Derwent Valley Area you can drop in to Consett Community Sports College at Blackfyne, look around, and cast your vote for the most deserving 4 projects at any time between 10.00 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. Hundreds of people have been preparing ...
Should Nick Clegg have held out for the Chancellorship during the coaliton negotiations last year? I know, I know but bear with me. I was suprised following the coalition negotiations that none of the jobs that are traditionally considered the big 4 (PM, Chancellor, Home Secretary or Foreign Secretary) were given to Lib Dems. Sure, we got Deputy PM which depending on how you looked at it could have been a bigger job than any of the big 4 except PM. But I am not convinced it has turned out like that nor was it really very likely. From my ...
First, a quick apology – I've been too unwell to check my email since Monday, so I owe a few people emails. I'll try to reply soon. (Also, Diaspora's playing up for me and not letting me post). Those who like my linkblogs might want to know that I'm currently, while waiting for a Google ...
Cicero's Songs is encouraged by one of his rare visits to Britain: "the Liberal Democrats, dismissed as irrelevant or worse, are actually achieving far more than the media is giving them credit for. Despite the problems of the country, I find myself heartened by the political courage of the party's ministers. Morale in the Parliamentary party is good, and as the polls show a slight improvement in the still dire standing of the Liberal Democrats, I find myself wondering whether the party, far from being punished in 2015, might not actually end up being rewarded for at least trying to ...
Cicero is not impressed with the Greek Government and predicts its departure from the Eurozone. Stephen looks back as he celebrates his Triple Millennium. Congratulations! The Peat Worrier's heart is bleeding for Scotland's judges who are having to endure a pay freeze. A Liberal Dose thinks the Public Sector are much better off than him when it comes to pensions. Bellgrove Belle shows that women in politics can come up against the same problems regardless of the party they're in. Fiona McTaggart MP on doing another woman politician down - and telling us more, maybe unintentionally, about the nature of ...
A welcome addition to cinemas recently has been the number of classic films that have been re-mastered and re-released on the big screen for a new generation of film fans to enjoy. In recent weeks, I have had the opportunity to see memorable films from my childhood such as Jurassic Park and the Lion King ... Continue reading »
In today's Daily Telegraph, former party leader Lord (Paddy) Ashdown writes on the challenges facing Nato and the future of European cooperation on matters of defence. Here's a sample from Paddy's piece: These are confusing times for supporters of Nato. On the one hand, the alliance has completed its mission in Libya without a single casualty. On the other, its future looks less certain than ever in the face of fiscal austerity, increasingly uneven burden-sharing between members, and America's dwindling faith in its utility. The fact that the US feels this way is understandable. In 2000, America's share of Nato ...
Wed 2nd
18:29
Corporate Governance Committee (Wirral Council) 26th October 2011 5.00pm (Committee Room 1) Part 10
Jim Wilkie said it was a working response to changing circumstances and that councillors made policy. He asked for further discussions on its precise role and interdependencies. Cllr Foulkes said he saw it as a start despite the implied criticism. He asked for a detailed overview and said it would help corporate governance. He called ...
In the spirit of Christian harmony, the Archbishop of Canterbury has joined the Pope in publicly stating his support for a 'Robin Hood Tax'. This is perhaps a curious development given the plush residence and sartorial garments of the latter whilst the former leads an organisation once described as 'the Tory Party at prayer'. I digress. The Archbishop's intervention is very much in response to the continued presence of those incoherent trustafarians outside St. Paul's and the upcoming G20 summit in Cannes. In his FT (£) article he claims that "many people are frustrated beyond measure at what they see ...
Wed 2nd
18:17Corporate Governance Committee (Wirral Council) 26th October 2011 5.00pm (Committee Room 1) Part 9
Cllr Foulkes moved the meeting on to the Policy Unit report. Jim Wilkie said he had been critical of the formation of a policy unit, but it would have to be at the heart of the decision making process. It would initially agree policies to be implemented. He was aware of the changes in circumstances, ...
Wed 2nd
18:03Corporate Governance Committee (Wirral Council) 26th October 2011 5.00pm (Committee Room 1) Part 8
Cllr Foulkes said the report raised two issues. The first would help feed into the corporate governance work program, the other issue was to do with the work stream which would have to bid into the Budget. Cllr Anne McArdle raised the issue of external customers, schools, what schools needs and school employment. Bill Norman ...
A useful guide for the perplexed. (Originally from http://www.breakingcopy.com/social-media-flowchart-status - NB pained but unconvincing comments from Google Plus users!)
A day or so of different experiences and different impressions, the common factor linking them is the Israeli siege that is bringing misery and despair to the majority while making some others rich and extremist politicians strong. We met in ... Continue reading →
Wed 2nd
17:47Corporate Governance Committee (Wirral Council) 26th October 2011 5.00pm (Committee Room 1) Part 7
Cllr Ann McLachlan said they should not be diverted from their primary purpose or stretching too thin. She said they needed focus. Cllr Foulkes said to tell him what they wanted but it would have a direct effect on resource implications (which he said was not unique to Wirral Counci). Cllr Phil Davies said Jim ...
Wed 2nd
16:25Corporate Governance Committee (Wirral Council) 26th October 2011 5.00pm (Committee Room 1) Part 6
Cllr Harney said he agreed with all that, but he'd appreciate a flowchart with the key dates. He said the approach with reviews and milestones would be helpful as each stage was reached, this way he would know they were "all singing from the same hymn sheet". Jim Wilkie agreed and said that in the ...
Cornwall Council will be making the case against Devonwall when it speaks to the Boundary Commission public hearings next week. That was one of the outcomes of today's Electoral Review Panel meeting at County Hall. The Boundary Commission has published its proposals for five wholly Cornish seats and one cross border seat linking Devon and Cornwall. They did this because the new rules state that all seats must be within 5% of the ideal number of constituents and there is no formula that allows either five or six wholly Cornish seats within the 5% threshold. It is proposed that the ...
This great parking row in the West End...I have, in my past professional life, had a great many meetings with the parking and transport teams at Westminster City Council. No, wait come back, this is actually interesting. Let me tell you a secret. Boris Johnson does not run London. Westminster City Council runs London - the parts of London that most tourists think of as London, in any case. Westminster itself, the West End, Soho, Chinatown, Covent Garden - it is a world-class operation, managing the built environment, transport and public safety in the world's greatest metropolis. Some of these ...
Fellow nose op sufferer Ed Miliband at PMQ's but its Ed Balls who makes the most impact I've been feeling a bit sorry for Ed Miliband this week. Mostly because I've just gone through a nose operation similar to the one the Leader of the Opposition had a few months ago. I've been stuck at home nursing a bunged up and tender conk and it's not been pleasant for me or indeed anyone in the vicinity. I'm not sure what caused Ed's septum to deviate but my malfunctioning hooter was caused by a punch received on the rugby pitch during ...
Wed 2nd
16:11Corporate Governance Committee (Wirral Council) 26th October 2011 5.00pm (Committee Room 1) Part 5
Cllr Foulkes said they had additional recommendations so that all councillors and all political parties were involved. He said they needed more work as part of a wider program specifically around councillor involvement at every stage. The Budget was serious and they would be putting resources in. The Cabinet committee agreed in principle to a ...
One aspect of electoral registration, and the potential problems with making registration voluntary, is the knock-on effect on credit and social mobility. That was the aspect which Liberal Democrat peer (Lord) Chris Rennard took up during a debate in the Lords this week: Lord Rennard: My Lords, does the Minister accept that it really is necessary to carry out a thorough, door-to-door, face-to-face canvass in order to ensure both the accuracy and the completeness of the electoral register? Does he accept that failure to do so not only threatens the integrity of the democratic process but could also cause problems ...
Wed 2nd
15:51Corporate Governance Committee (Wirral Council) 26th October 2011 5.00pm (Committee Room 1) Part 4
Chris Hyams agreed that she would report back next time. Cllr Foulkes asked if the report was agreed. Cllr Jeff Green asked if they would use an electronic or paper based system? He would prefer them to use an electronic system for the appraisals. Chris Hyams said they would but not in the first instance, ...
I took advantage of yesterday's public holiday to take F to see the new Tintin film, which has credits for Stephen Spielberg, Stephen Moffatt and Peter Jackson and so can reasonably expect to be the bearer of high expectations. Unfortunately I realised while we were out that I was coming down with some bug, and have spent most of the time since we came back from the cinema in bed, with no energy for doing anything much more than reading the three Tintin volumes that the film is based on (The Crab With The Golden Claws, The Secret of the ...
Wed 2nd
15:34Corporate Governance Committee (Wirral Council) 26th October 2011 5.00pm (Committee Room 1) Part 3
Cllr Tom Harney said there were two things. The first was the business of when, he wanted a finite date and said it "can't wait forever" and "if we miss the date we should do something about it". The second was that [the Cabinet]'s job was to manage and they were responsible for managing people, ...
One of the many joys of living in a small, dimly-lit village is the night sky. In London, light pollution means that only the brighter stars can be seen with the naked eye. In Creeting St Peter, the night sky is a sea of lights, tiny pinpoints marking who knows what. It is the sort of sky to inspire philosophers and dreamers. For me though, it is a reassuring reminder that, in a world where people can be quite irritatingly certain about things regardless of the uncertainties that exist in political decision making, that there are vast areas of doubt ...
The country's economic situation got closer to home recently with the news that my job is likely to disappear sometime over the next year. Most of the public sector has been ordered by the government to make cuts in spending, and, for me, a draft plan involves staff cuts. It is only a draft for now but any refinement is not likely to be in my favour. The silver lining is that I have plenty of notice - many have little or no notice of redundancy - once I turned up to work to be out of a job by ...
Because neither Labour nor Conservatives now represent the middle classes, and - although the middle classes may not identify with the Occupy protests - they do feel furious, not just with the banks but with our extractive financial system. Labour and Conservatives - and let's face it - much of the Lib Dems remain trapped in the old paradigm, that somehow wealth must trickle down, when it quite patently trickles up. No political force is prepared to take on the financial system and hammer out ways of making it humane and effective. But what the middle classes want, they tend ...
The Government has today set out its very generous revised public sector pensions offer. The long term savings from this scheme will come from the switch from a final salary to an average salary approach - hitting the highest earners - and from workers working for as many years as those in the private sector and most (but not the low paid) paying slightly higher contributions. The Government is also protecting those who are near to retirement. This proposed scheme is far, far more genrous than the vast majority of private sector workers have access to. A quick comparison: I ...
Today's Telegraph reports that the controversial ''fracking'' technique used to extract gas from the ground was the ''highly probable'' cause of earth tremors which hit Lancashire's Fylde coast earlier this year. A firm of independent experts were commissioned to investigate after a tremor of magnitude 2.3 on the Richter scale hit the area on April 1 followed by a second of magnitude 1.4 on May 27. A summary published by the Cuadrilla, the company concerned, said that it is probable the fracking caused the tremors. Fracking involves extracting gas reserves from underground by a process of hydraulic fracturing of shale ...
In 1951, the Liberal Party fielded just 109 parliamentary candidates. 1959 was better with 216. And in 1979, shortly before the foundation of the SDP, we were fielding 577 - virtually a candidate in every seat. Most of us have grown up in a political landscape in which our party attempts to field a full slate, at all levels. In the darkest days after the merger, in first-past-the-post European elections cynically rigged against us, we fielded candidates throughout Great Britain even though we knew we would likely win no seats at all. Indeed, I still remember my excitement at the ...
As I start another gruelling month of blog posts for NaBloPoMo, it strikes me that I've had an incredibly busy year. 12 months ago, I was working at IPC Media – doing all sorts of interesting mobile stuff for them. Launching around 28 mobile versions of their existing websites. I then went and joined WAC for a few months, going of to MWC, and really getting stuck in to their standards processes. I am currently at InMobi – the world's largest independent mobile advertising network – where I work as the "Developer Community Manager". Primarily for Europe, but also bits ...
Yesterday, the Government issued a statement on the timetable for the transition from the current welfare framework of multiple benefits to the new Universal Credit. "Today the Department for Work and Pensions announces its strategy for moving 12 million working-age benefit and credit recipients on to Universal Credit by 2017. Universal Credit is intended to provide a streamlined welfare system which makes the financial advantages of taking work or increasing hours clear to claimants. We recognise that the move from one welfare system to another needs to be carefully managed to ensure social outcomes are maximised and no one is ...
Wed 2nd
13:45
Manchester's Labour Leader Celebrates Money-Saving Staff Appointment by Inviting 270 "Great and Good...
Manchester's Labour Council Leader Sir Richard Leese has been slammed as a "hypocrite" for celebrating a new staff appointment by personally inviting 270 people to a £4,000 Town Hall banquet, just days before implementing cuts to services for Manchester's vulnerable older people. Those invited to the freebie included 4 Labour MPs, 9 Labour Councillors, a Labour peer, 20 University staff, and numerous Council and quango staff. The Leader of the Opposition was invited but declined to attend. The banquet took place a week before Labour agreed to cut services for older people. Earlier this year, with Lib Dem support, the ...
During the 2010 General Election the three main parties where asked to declare the extent of the 'cuts' they would make. There has been a lot of hype since then so I thought I'd post this graph which came to my attention recently.
Northern Ireland's Social Democratic and Labour Party elects its fifth leader this coming weekend, with four male candidates in the running (the deputy leadership has been filled, without contest, by a woman). Since 1998, when the party topped the first preference tallies for the first Assembly election, the SDLP has lost votes and seats at almost every election cycle (the one exception being a sliver of a gain at the last European election) and now runs consistently 10% behind Sinn Féin, whereas twenty years ago it was the other way round. Margaret Ritchie, elected leader in early 2010, did not ...
A controversial decision to raise county councillors' allowances by 25 per cent has been thrown out after it was found that the process was flawed.Mistakes made by the Tory-run Cambridgeshire County Council have wasted over £5,000 of public money and means the whole process must go back to square one.The decision is a victory for Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats who had voted against the increase and campaigned to overturn the decision.It came after former Liberal Democrat councillor, Clare Blair, called the issue into the council's Standards Committee today (Tuesday, November 1) claiming the process broke the rules of the council's constitution ...
A controversial decision to raise county councillors' allowances by 25 per cent has been thrown out after it was found that the process was flawed. Mistakes made by the Tory-run Cambridgeshire County Council have wasted over £5,000 of public money and means the whole process must go back to square one. The decision is a victory for Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats who had voted against the increase and campaigned to overturn the decision. It came after former Liberal Democrat councillor, Clare Blair, called the issue into the council's Standards Committee today (Tuesday, November 1) claiming the process broke the rules of ...
Cambridgeshire County Council Governor Services has compiled a list of Authority Governor vacancies across Cambridgeshire which have been empty for six months or more. Governor Services is working with Local Councillors and the Schools themselves to fill these vacancies as a priority.Chair of Governors of the schools, as well as local Councillors, have the opportunity to nominate people for the role (who will then require the support of the Governing body). If you are particularly interested in any of these vacancies and would like your details passed on please let me know. There is no requirement to live in an ...
I'm not one of those who react with tribal anger to COMPASS's Plan B for the economy. I was actually quite pleased that at least some sections around the Labour Party were seriously engaging in the issue of how to get growth going, I also have a sneaking suspicion that if we had not taken on the burden of sharing government with the Tories(chiefly because the Labour Party had lost the public's confidence and hence their votes) we would be floating plans not too distant from Compass Plan B but with some distinct differences. Like many Liberals I have been ...
Each month at Trading Standards we receive enquiries about things people have paid for that they could have got for free. In this article, we give advice on where you may be able to save unnecessary expense. Warranties and GuaranteesWhen you buy goods, whether on their own (like a washing machine) or as part of a larger piece of work (such as a new bathroom installation), by law those goods must be of "satisfactory quality" and be "fit for their purpose". They must be of a standard that a person would expect, bearing in mind the price paid, and be ...
At Prime Minister's Questions, David Cameron just referred to the former tax arrangements of someone hired to advise Labour on its next General Election campaign. I had missed that story, so I just looked it up. Here it is. There is no need for me to say anything. It speaks for itself. This looks like another mess that the Labour Party is choosing to get itself into. Not my problem!
The attached information has been circulated to County Councillors regarding re-ablement* in Adult Social Care. A website link with more details is available below;http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/social/re-ablement/* One day people will learn that making up names for things is possibly the least efficient way of communicating what they mean. I note, for example, that the link above page title is "Re-ablement (being independent)" which just shows that people do *realise* how unclear Re-ablement is as a word!
Oops, it's only my second month in the Kitchen Reader book club, and I'm already two days late posting. My apologies to all my fellow club members - October was a difficult month both personally and professionally, but I should be able to do better in November. October's book was Spiced: A Pastry Chef's True Stories of Trials by Fire, After-Hours Exploits, and What Really Goes on in the Kitchen by Dalia Jurgensen, and it was chosen by Libby of Domestic Wandering. I'm not normally a huge fan of chefs' memoirs, as it's such a different style of cooking from ...
Further to my earlier post "Bunch of disgruntled Lib Dems resort to Plan B" – I have now received three emails, all effectively asking whether the London Liberal Democrats have declared UDI from the rest of the party? I'm certain they haven't. The Lib Dems in our capital work hard and quite brilliantly – often in "non benign" circumstances. But London Lib Dems now have a problem judging from the emails I have received. Cllr Stephen Knight (one of the Guardian letter signees) appears at least to be using his position as a London assembly candidate to promote the national ...
From economic and financial turmoil to the brink of political catastrophe, you've got to hand it to the Greek Governemnt - they're not doing anything by halves. Prime Minister George Papandreou's snap decision to hold a nation-side referendum on the latest EU debt rescue package caught everyone by surprise. The negative reaction of European stock markets on hearing the news yesterday bore testament to that. It is a quite incredible twist in events that has seemingly stolen from the jaws of an improbable victory, a catastrophic defeat for Greece. The latest EU bail-out deal was probably as good as Papandreou ...
Earlier in the year, I penned a series of posts profiling forgotten liberal heroes (to which a couple of other people also kindly contributed), looking at some of those who achieved great things for liberalism in their time but have been unjustly forgotten - such as Margaret Wintringham, the very first female Liberal MP. There is also another group of people who I think are often unjustly obscure - those local campaigners who are often at the heart of their local community and local party, delivering liberalism and helping others, but as their stage is a local one they are ...
Here are some funny, and indignant, responses to the question, is Obama a Keynesian. It is also a sad reflection on the state of political debate. Sourced from the Lew Rockwell blog.
On Monday night's Never mind the Buzzcocks, host Will Young slipped an interesting confession into the general banter: I once had sex in a Grundon bin This was immediately tweeted as "sex in a bin", like as if he stood with one foot in a waste paperbasket to do it. That is far from the case. Let me explain. I come from the same area as Will Young. Grundon are a well established local waste disposal company around Berkshire and surrounding counties. 30 years ago, when I worked in a warehouse in Reading, we had a "Grundon" outside our roller ...
It seems recently politics has turned into a bit of a scrap. The EU referendum debate has created a few crossed words and political posturing. The idea to scrap employment legislation caused a few more. And the so called Plan B for the economy has caused yet more. It leaves the public with a sense ...
If Dickens had invented a character called "Mark Reckless", it might have looked a little contrived. The Conservative MP for Strood and Rochester has argued that Britain should withdraw from the EU, and claims that over half his Conservative colleagues support him. And not since such Dickensian figures as Sir Leicester Dedlock or Artful Dodger has a character lived up to his name with such enthusiasm. For think how reckless it would be if Britain were to withdraw from the EU, a scenario which even Margaret Thatcher considered suicidal and which was once the lonely position of the lunatic, Bennite ...
Wed 2nd
10:02
Hertfordshire County Council Service on adoption and children in care: "failing" according to Depart...
Hertfordshire County Council has been accused of failing to provide suitable support and care to looked-after children following the publication of statistics by the Department for Education (DfE) during the first national adoption week, launched by the government yesterday. The DfE's performance figures clearly show how the county is failing in providing suitable services for its looked-after children. Out of 15 indicators covering Placements, Adoption, Attainments and Leaving Care, Hertfordshire was better than the national average in only four. "The figures tell a sorry tale," said Mark Watkin, Herts Lib Dem spokesperson for Education and Children's Services. "The key indicators ...
The Greek referendum will be an interesting exercise. At some point the Greek government runs out of cash. After that point no-one gets paid. I suppose they can start by holding back on big payments, but after a point salaries are not paid, pensions are not paid, suppliers are not paid.Cash becomes "king" because no-one will give the government any credit unless they are forced to.The
This is worth repeating for information:High quality emergency trauma care moves one step closer The introduction of a regional trauma care system that will see people who suffer major trauma injuries get access to the best possible emergency trauma care moved one step closer today, following the decision to approve the introduction of three designated major trauma centres for the West Midlands,
Whilst Suffolk County Council has rowed back somewhat from its originally announced goal of divesting itself of all services, our Conservative f(r)iends are still keen to ensure that, regardless of what Suffolk residents want, there will be little scope for an incoming council to change very much. The road to Stonham Aspal? Their next wheeze is to hand over responsibility for all highways related services to a single private sector organisation, the Fully Private Sector Model, as it is called. The new organisation will be responsible for, amongst other things, the design and construction of highways improvements, winter maintenance, road ...
I have slammed those responsible for further vandalism at Balgay Cemetery that occurred overnight Sunday 30th into Monday 31st October and saw another 6 gravestones damaged within the graveyard along with ceramic pots and figurines. This vandalism was utterly despicable and yesterday, I had a lengthy and useful discussion with our local police inspector about this latest incidence of vandalism at Balgay Cemetery and I am assured that Tayside Police is putting in a lot of effort to catch those responsible. However, it is vital that any resident who may have seen anything suspicious in the cemetery and surrounding area ...
Hertfordshire County Council has been accused of failing to provide suitable support and care to looked-after children following the publication of statistics by the Department for Education (DfE) during the first national adoption week, launched by the government yesterday. The DfE's performance figures (see comparison spreadsheet attached) clearly show how the county is failing in providing suitable services for its looked-after children. Out of 15 indicators covering Placements, Adoption, Attainments and Leaving Care, Hertfordshire was better than the national average in only four. "The figures tell a sorry tale," said Mark Watkin, Herts Lib Dem spokesperson for Education and Children's ...
Wed 2nd
09:10
A fair voting system for Westminster - to save the union and end the macho culture of politics
Gerry Hassan recently set out 11 reasons why independence for Scotland would be a good idea. Reading them, I just kept thinking that independence was a bit of a drastic solution. The Scottish Parliament already has powers that would enable it to do something about child poverty and inequality - yet the SNP has slashed the social housing budget. He also mentioned changes to the NHS in England. I think the phrase "in England" was pretty critical. Are they happening up here? Does anyone want to see them happening up here? No. We don't need independence to insulate ourselves from ...
Earlier this week, the Lib Dems' Communities and Local Government Minister Andrew Stunell wrote here on LibDemVoice about the Coalition's measures to increase councils' powers to cut tax relief to those with second homes: ... our plans [are] to allow local authorities to charge an Empty Homes Premium - up to an extra 50% of council tax - on any property that has been vacant for two years or more. Crucially, we are retaining the exemptions for properties empty as a result of the death of an owner, or if the owner has moved into hospital or to give or ...
Using the name "Robin Hood Tax" is misleading because it implies that it is a new tax.The UK has had a Financial Transaction Tax for many years. It is called Stamp Duty. The logic is quite simple. For transactions in shares to have any merit then there has to be a legal system. People should pay on an ad valorem basis for this.This happens in England and in Ireland. England charges 0.5% and
Last night, I chaired the latest meeting of the West End Christmas Week Committee at the community base in the Vine at Magdalen Yard Road. Christmas Week is taking great shape and, amongst the many activities, are : Saturday 26th November : Community Fayre to launch Christmas Week, starting at 10am. Taking place at Dundee West Church lower hall (Roseangle). Opened by Lord Provost John Letford and featuring stands from many local community groups. Also P5s' football competition on Magdalen Green. Monday 28th November : Nethergate Writers reading evening, with musical entertainment from Sophie Ramsay. Taking place at the West ...
On Monday, a handful of Lib Dems wrote a letter to The Guardian (itself hardly newsworthy!) expressing "broad support for the Compass Plan B proposals reported in the Observer" the day before. Notwithstanding the fact that these are the "usual suspects", Lib Dems that have proved very keen to cozy up to the Labour Party, the question remains, does Compass Plan B have anything to say about how we might resolve our economic woes? Let's first consider the Compass proposals: What would Plan B entail in the short term? The cuts would be reversed until the economy is growing strongly. ...
The text of the Address I will give at his Memorial Service at St Luke's Church, Chelsea, later today: Remembering Francis King Francis was a man with many voices. That is, of course, the novelist's prerogative. But he had multiple personalities as well. Many people only saw his formal side; a short and for many ...
The Electoral Commission has called on Parliament to modify the Localism Bill to delay the proposed start date for local referendums on Council Tax levels, neighbourhood development plans and local authority structures (e.g. elected Mayors) from Spring 2012 to Spring 2013. It's forthright message, headlined (in capital letters no less): "IMPORTANT RECOMMENDATION TO PARLIAMENT" is that with the legislation not yet passed by Parliament, there will simply not be enough time between it being passed and the proposed first possible local referendum date for the contests to be properly run. Instead, it says implementation should be delayed by a year ...
The Dundee Science Festival takes place on Sunday 6th November. The Festival includes a special event on genealogy, which will be attended by experts from brightsolid online publishing. They will be able to offer advice, suggestions and tips to anyone who is looking to find out more about their family history, as well as helping those whose research appears to have reached a dead end. The ScotlandsPeople Team will also be there to offer demos of how the website works, as well as giving help and advice about the best ways to use online records to trace family ancestors who ...
As the Scottish Lib Dems' website announces: Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie MSP has announced that former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell MP will chair the Home Rule Commission, set up to develop a blueprint for Home Rule in Scotland. The party's Scottish conference in Dunfermline last month voted to establish a Commission to look at a settled distribution of powers between London, Edinburgh and local councils. Sir Menzies will join other Liberal Democrats to set out a long-term vision for a strong Scotland within the UK and powerful local communities in every part of Scotland. ...
Last Wednesday I spent an interesting couple of hours with the Principal designate of the Consett Academy, Kevin Reynolds. It was clear to me that, like the rest of us, the new principal faces a world in which many choices have been made in areas where he has had no influence; the choice of site, the decision to open the school in the middle of a school year, the requirement to operate on two sites for the best part of three years. Equally out of his control was the county's decision to move eligibility criteria for free bus passes for ...
As loyal follower Chris rightly points out (see his comment to "100 Economists and Plan B [1]"), the 100 may be a slight overstatement, as two of them, Prof Malcolm Sawyer of Leeds and Dr Pritam Singh of Oxford Brookes, appear on the list twice. However, as my former students and colleagues will acknowledge, I have never claimed that economics is all that precise a science: we look for trends and tendencies. The French, as usual, have a word for it,une centaine, which means "about a hundred." The centaine make five specific proposals for their Plan B: 1. reversing public ...
