The Guardian newspaper has reported this week on Lib Dem efforts in the House of Lords to maintain the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Health to provide a comprehensive national health service. Follow this link for the full article by Randeep Ramesh. Nick Perry, the Lib Dem parliamentary spokesperson for Hastings & Rye said, ...
For the first time since the election I attended a cabinet meeting tonight, sitting in the row of seats labelled "Public Gallery". I attended fairly regularly for the last 4 years because there were usually important and/or interesting things being discussed and there really was some discussion. Tonight was a step back in time. There was a really important item on the agenda tonight.
The Evening Standard this afternoon carried a quote in its print edition from UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis, that 'we had worked hard to get our members to vote yes to strike action'. But sadly I cannot find it online. Assuming I remembered it correctly this is a revealing admission. It shows the current trade union leadership is not interested in properly representing their members - instead they want to pursue a political vendetta against the government. Prentis and his well paid (and well pensioned) cronies among trade union leaders are very keen to repeat the mantra of 'ideologically driven' ...
With Portsmouth fans desperate for any news about who the next manager might be suddenly last night we were overjoyed that someone was going to tell us all the inside news. A man called Kevin Shields who has never had anything published in the local rag suddenly turned up on twitter with the username pn_kev_shields (pn is used by all Portsmouth News staff on official accounts) and promised us exciting news and he started today off with this: [IMG: 'Kev Shield'] A few tweets later he pulled back from the twitter username linking him with the local rag: [IMG: 'Kev ...
This coming Wednesday (9th November) in Ealing Town Hall at 7pm, the planning committee will decide whether or not to approve the conversion of St Albans Church into ten flats. I would like to know what your thoughts are on this subject. If you are not aware of the application, it proposes to convert the church into ten residential flats and a two storey building. There are concerns regarding safe access to the site given it is located on the bend of South Parade and that it should be used for community purposes. The Council officers are recommending that the ...
A week on Monday, Reading East Conservatives, staggeringly, are meeting to decide whether or not to expel another leading Councillor. This time it's the turn of their education spokesman Mark Ralph. Quite what he's done to deserve this, who knows? But it now seems supporting his ward colleague Jamie Chowdhary is a crime, at least to the junta running Reading East Tories, led by Flight Lieutenant Willis, Chief Petty Officer Waters and Sergeant Wilson. Mark Ralph was the first Conservative to win in Peppard ward in 2004, snatching a seat from the Lib Dems and working hard in the subsequent ...
We were pleased to welcome Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to Cheadle & Gatley today. Along with local MP Mark Hunter, Nick had a tour of North Cheshire Jewish Primary, before visiting The Kingsway School and answering some excellent questions from some of the year 11 pupils (topic covered included tuition fees, EMA, votes at 16, green energy, Libya and Afghanistan).
A few days ago, I had a 286Mb/s download speed (and 96.82Mb/s upload). Now? 3.5MB (3,372,160 bytes) of 54.0GB (0%, 121.9KB/sec, 129.6hrs remaining) I never thought I would say this, but: oh, to be back in Slough. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Thu 3rd
21:10
The end of the Scottish Conservatives opens up a new opportunity for Scotland- and for the Scottish ...
The election of a new Scottish Conservative leader is not usually an occasion of great moment in British politics. From being the preeminent force in Scotland in the 1950s the party now has only the rather gauche and lumpen David Mundell to represent them at Westminster, and even that is by the thinnest of margins. Yet the choice that the Scottish Conservatives will reveal tomorrow will mark a significant change. Either they will choose the uncertain risk of Murdo Fraser, who has said openly that he intends to remake and even rename the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party or they ...
It's probably fair to say that gender matters less on the internet than it does in real life. Whatever we gather to discuss online, we discuss primarily and purely because of our shared interests - there's none of the inevitable ... Continue reading →
Social Worker Team Manager £39,000 at age 32 Alternatively Project Officer for a 'thinktank' e.g. Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (in Scotland) – around £36,000 p.a. University Lecturer – around £36,000. Advocacy Manager in a national charity (would include managing departments). Around £38,000 p.a. For comparison: the UK median household income is £31,000
"What is the wish of every educated young person in Gaza?" As our delegation travelled south from the Rafah Crossing towards Cairo I reflected on this rhetorical question posed by a Palestinian academic who teaches agricultural science. And the answer? ... Continue reading →
I'm a big believer in overseas aid and am very proud that the Coalition ring-fenced DFID money upon coming to office.
Prince Edward will be coming to Yate on Tuesday 13th December to visit the Armadillo Youth Cafe and Venue. Members of the public will be very welcome to see him arrive. There will be an unveiling ceremony in the garden so the public can see via fence. Free flags and drinks will be provided for the public. Local councillors are asking schools to allow young people to come, and hope they will recognise the educational value, despite it being during the school day. Cllr Chris Willmore said "This is an honour for residents who have backed the scheme from the ...
Thu 3rd
19:30
My email to Mashable: please kill the false story about 80% of burglars using social media
Regarding the widely reported but false claim that a surveys showed 80% of British burglars using social media to decide who to burgle and variants on that theme... Hi, I've tried getting in touch via Twitter and posting a comment to highlight how you're run a story based on a false statistic, but not had any response – so I hope you don't mind me also emailing you. I have no particular interest in the story, other than I don't think scare stories based on false information should be left to linger online and as someone who has previously had ...
Too many children in Essex face danger when walking to school due to the lack of safe pedestrian crossings outside or near our schools. Sign the petition to get this debated at the county council and share with your friends. Safer School Crossings ourcampaign.org.uk
I am guessing that the only Conservative brave enough to stand up for a residents in the last Council meeting must have nearly completed her suspension from the party for doing so. This suspension, I assume, was intended as punishment. A lesson - 'This is a warning, don't think for yourself again'. The people of Old Basing and Lychpit will wonder whether Cllr Cubitt is free to represent
Inspired by Caron Lindsay on facebook, and being the kind of person who can laugh at themselves, I suggested these: a) None. Lib Dems don't change anything. b) None. The blub has to be given the liberty to change itself. We'd deny it the referendum to give it the freedom it needed though. c) 1000 - one to do it, the other 999 to point out that Alex Salmond didn't do it first. d) None. Lightbulbs, like communties, can't be changed - simply regenerated. e) It's funny, but since the Holyrood elections it's been very difficult to find any Lib ...
Although I am not by any measure a professional economist, a number of things have struck me about the narrative of the economic crisis as it is portrayed on the left and the right. The opposition directs its anger at financial institutions and global organisations like the IMF which pressure states into fiscal consolidation, which it believes to be stunting growth by reducing the amount of government-supplied stimulus. The government frets about a loss of confidence in government debt and the consequence of a rise in the cost of national credit. I think the narrative of the opposition lacks nuance. ...
Yesterday's debate on European funding and the decision by the Welsh government to end funding for the Prince of Wales Innovation Scholarships failed to change Ministers' minds but it did highlight their failure to understand the scheme and their own role in it. As I said in the chamber, that decision has had a number of consequences, one of which is to send a signal to academics and investors outside Wales that we are not interested in commercially based research and that the Welsh Government does not understand the needs of business. If we are to build the Welsh economy ...
*takes a deep breath and delves into a blog and isn't isn't how it will end up sounding like* I was already researching a blog on female bloggers within the Lib Dems when I came across this piece entitled You should have your tongue ripped out": the reality of sexist abuse online over at The New Statesman by Helen Lewis Hasteley. It's a powerful piece detailing how much abuse women bloggers get and gets quite heavy and some of what these bloggers have to face up to is abhorrent and that is putting it lightly. However I'm not going to ...
Now there's a headline. More in the Isle of Wight County Press.
To say that today's day of scrutiny of the Cornwall Council budget was frustrating is perhaps an understatement. Many members left the session as unenlightened on the proposed budget as they entered it. The idea is that the council takes two days to hear presentations on each section of the budget and that councillors have the chance to ask questions on the detailed proposals. The problem is that most of the presentations spent all their time talking about the past year and no time at all about what is proposed for the future. And far too many of the questions ...
In an echo of the motto from the Spiderman movies, that with great power comes great responsibility, the Secretary of State for Wales told MPs today that it was no longer acceptable for the Welsh Assembly to spend nearly £15 billion of public money without having some accountability for raising it. She said the Welsh Government could be given powers to levy some taxes, depending on the findings of a body set up to explore greater devolution:. Mrs Gillan said the Silk Commission could offer plans to levy taxes such as rubbish dumping costs, air passenger duty on flights and ...
On my way to Manchester for Nick Clegg's speech to the Northern Dinner of a charity called the Community Security Trust (CST - http://www.thecst.org.uk/). According to the Jewish Chronicle and Jewish News "The deputy prime minister will tell the CST's Manchester dinner that it's "profoundly disturbing" that some wish to harm the community with vandalism and physical attacks. "Not everyone outside the community understands that it is normal for small children to be perfectly comfortable with men on walkie-talkies guarding their Hebrew classes. Or synagogues having CCTV, or major events involving airport style security," he will tell the ...
So we're on the final stretch of moving house now, and that means ringing up to change address with lots of people. Singled out for how well they did with this are Smile bank (as usual - their customer service is always awesome); Joe at BBC magazines for Holly's doctor who magazine, and Leroy at Yorkshire Water. All of these dealt with me in a friendly and efficient manner, and were speaking like human beings. Singled out for how awful they were are Virgin media, where the poor girl on the other end had to stick to a script even ...
From the 1st December Acocks Green and all the other Wards in Yardley, Hall Green and Hodge Hill will move to a Ward based refuse collection service. This means crews working in Acocks Green will just work in our Ward and will not work in different parts of the City on different days. This will help crews to get to know their patch better and deliver a better service. Another important change which was implimented on the 1st of November is that crews will work – and be paid for – a standard day. This will be 9.125 hours, so ...
The all-member edition of Liberal Democrat News recently posted out included this piece from myself about the party's new electoral database software, CONNECT: One of the big talking points amongst party activists at the Birmingham conference was CONNECT, the party's new electoral database software which was put through many demonstrations to different groups of future users - data officers, treasurers, campaign organisers and so on. Like others, I am impressed by its ability to make what we have tried to do in the past easier, more effective and quicker - especially given my experience using existing systems since the 1990s ...
Unison announced the ballot results for the strike against the governments pension plans and immediately social media was set alight with bile by people who seem to favour democracy when it does what they want, but are vehemently opposed to it when it goes against them. I'm not going to talk about the pension changes, partly because I'm inbetween the views of it, but mostly because I don't know enough about it to comment on it. But the people who are talking about the turnout being low representing the fact that people didn't want the strike is just wrong. What ...
The true expert of course will instantly recognise this: So, do you...? (Answer below) It's the logo for CONNECT.
I read this article by Henry Gruijters about Unions with great interest. The responses to this thought-provoking article seem to highlight the polarised view of unions in this country – if you are pro-union, you must be some pinko communist Bob Crow-ite who thinks employers are all corrupt, and if you dare to question a union you must be a right-wing anti-union nutjob. I take a very central view in that I totally support Unions, however the way they operate in the UK is skewed. Union leaders often end up wanting to hold some form of "office" without having to ...
There has been a bout of fire-flecked muttering on possible 'Plans B' for the economy. Now I do have misgivings about some of the coalition strategy - because I feel there is no magic solution and any strategy has strengths and weaknesses. It would be helpful to recognise the weaknesses and deal with them rather than ignore them. Still less just demonising and insulting those who try to point them out. Do we need to look again at very basic economic ideas seemingly absent from public discussion? For example, what happened to the Keynsian concept of the multiplier? I have ...
Thu 3rd
15:00
Day 3959: Mysteries of Doctor Who #23: Why Does "Pyramids of Mars" Take Place in ENGLAND?
Thursday: Here is me, kneeling before Sutekh! Dust? Anyone? "Pyramids of Mars" is one of the MOST famously SCARY episodes of Doctor Who, and one of the (very few) stories where Dr Woo takes down a GOD! However, even though this story is an EPIC contest between two aliens with god-like powers - Sutekh the Destroyer in his pyramid in Egypt; and Horus from his pyramid on Mars - some people feel it necessary to point out that Sutekh cannot rise from his chair and Horus is slightly dead. So neither of them is coming to England any time soon. ...
I am taking part in a public meeting in the University of Abertay Dundee's main lecture theatre tomorrow night (Friday 4th November) at 7pm - details below :
There now stand only a few critiques against Mr. Clegg's Lords reforms. The most prominent is the question of the Wakeham Option: that as a compromise between the present house and the reformed Lords, 20% of the house should be appointed. Under Mr. Clegg's reforms, that would be 40 of 200 peers, with 160 being elected under Single Transferable Vote. The question critics are asking is: will the Lords be more powerful than the Commons for having a clearer democratic mandate; and what if the voices of the 40 blocked the voices of a majoritively elected clique? The answer to ...
Last night, I attended the monthly meeting of Community Spirit Action Group, the residents' group covering Polepark, Pentland, Cleghorn, Ancrum, Tullideph and surrounding areas. There was an excellent presentation on Community Payback, given by a representative from the Tayside Community Justice Authority. We also had a very productive and useful discussion about some local issues - particularly related to car parking and local bus services.
I like Apple products, they look nice, they feel good, they do what I want them to do, when I want them to do it, they work! And as someone who likes Apple products I have to like everything they do and evangelise how great the company is and all its range are. But I recently bought the iPhone 4S and have to say, it's not all that! I upgraded from the 3GS having waited far too long for the mythical iPhone 5. I'm not going to go into all the technical details because to be honest who really cares? ...
As reported in this morning's Courier, yesterday afternoon, I have the pleasure of presenting a cash award of £150 from Barney's Fund to Dr Hilda Spear, Chair of the Friends of Balgay, to help the group with its excellent project to replant the historic Rose Window at the park. The photograph below is of my presenting the award to Hilda, with Barney's Fund committee members and representatives from Friends of Balgay looking on. Below the photograph is the Barney's Fund news release on the event.The Friends of Balgay are the first of many to receive a donation from the newly ...
Cornwall Council appears not to have learned the lessons of the past year when it comes to car park budgets - and it was doing so well. As I've blogged before, the current year's budget made a hugely over-optimistic assessment of the amount that could be earned from car parks. It was so over-expectant that halfway through the year the Cabinet agreed to cut the income expectation by £2.5 million. When it comes to next year's budget, the initial signs looked quite good. The Council agreed to freeze the income requirement and there were local meetings around Cornwall to look ...
An article by Mark Pack on Liberal Democrat Voice has sent me back to my blog again. Mark does an occasional series on local liberal heroes and yesterday he wrote a delightful piece about our own Roger Hayes. If you don't know Roger then I should start by mentioning that he was the agent behind the Lib Dems recent victory in Surbiton Hill, our success in the local elections in 2010, and the re-election of Edward Davey to Parliament, and ... (the list could go back some way). He has also been Leader of Kingston Council, councillor and Parliamentary candidate. ...
Jericho House Yesterday, at lunchtime, I attended the latest meeting of the Jericho House support group, a regular meeting at which a number of us discuss fundraising and other projects to support this extremely worthwhile facility in the West End Ward, that assists those recovering from alcoholism. Yesterday, we were given a rehearsal preview of parts of the play "A life in the day of ..." that the service users and staff are to be undertaking in the near future at the Bonar Hall. We also discussed the forthcoming Jericho House dance/disco/karaoke, taking place during West End Christmas Week! Its ...
Thu 3rd
13:45
The Independent View: Slashing early years spending contradicts the desire to improve social mobilit...
In its Social Mobility strategy launched last April, the government made clear the dual priorities shaping its agenda: "Tackling the financial deficit is the Coalition's most immediate task. But tackling the opportunity deficit - creating an open, socially mobile society - is our guiding purpose." These are strong words indeed, marking an unequivocal commitment to improving the life chances of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. At a very minimum, they indicate a clear intention to manage the necessary public spending cuts in a way that recognises this laudable goal. Last week, an analysis by the IFS revealed an expected fall in ...
So says this TNS-BMRB poll. Thanks to PoliticalBetting.com for the graphic.
The breaking news is that George Papandreou seems to have played Roulette with his nations debts but many in his own party and the rest of the government have prevented him from staking it all on a referendum. Earlier today four of his own cabinet opposed the measure and the Prime Minister will be seeing Greek President Karolos Papoulias to offer his resignation. The crisis came to a head today after the EU withdrew its bailout offer of a rescue package unless Greece decided immediately whether they were in or out of the Eurozone. Earlier the main opposition leader Antonis ...
Yesterday I saw a tweet with the comment depreciating an article by Laurie Penny and Remembrance Day stating how disrespectful and inaccurate it was. Of course, despite my brain telling me how much I would hate it, I read it and boy was I cross. Any way on my third read I have managed to come up with a review and can see what she's driving at in a few places but I also agree that her attacks on "the Establishment" is a little misplaced and her facts a little shaky. Anyway the actual article is here. One of her ...
I *will*, as promised, have some non-Smile material up here later today, but I realised I'd never posted a considered view of The Smile Sessions, just my linkblog. For disc one, which is what most casual listeners will care about, Mark Linett and Alan Boyd had to reconcile two irreconcilable objectives. Firstly, they had to ...
This weekend, the Her Britannic Majesty's Ambassador in Dublin will travel to the banks of the River Boyne to play ...Continue reading »
Leslie Clark's article yesterday brought to my attention this irritating video from the pro-Tobin Tax lobby. (I refuse to call it "The Robin Hood Tax" because, as I keep pointing out, Robin Hood devoted his life to waging a war on tax collectors. He would be turning in his grave if he wasn't a mythical figure) What annoys me about the film is that it sets Bill Nighy up as a particularly-corny straw man; a cardboard cut-out of a banker who is utterly unable to explain why a Tobin Tax is a bad idea. Much like the Make Poverty History ...
Shame on David Norgrove and the Family Justice Review which has rejected the right of children to a meaningful relationship with BOTH parents. As Ken Sanderson, chief executive of Families Need Fathers said, the review's failure to recommend shared parenting legislation or a statement on the importance of both parents in law represents "an abdication of their responsibilities to children and
Bill Gates and Rowan William's have joined in the calls for a Tobin tax, or Robin Hood tax as it is now being marketed. This is a new chapter in the legend of Robin Hood, where large corporations back the merry men. When you have Microsoft and the Church of England backing you up, you know you must surely be challenging the status quo. So why is Bill Gates backing the Merry Men? Has he had a redemption on the road to Damascus or is it because the government is almost certainly Microsoft's largest customer in the UK, and his ...
Councillor Norman Lewis and I paid a visit to Chorlton Central Community Centre, on Barlow Moor Road at its junction with Sandy Lane. The centre is a hive of activity these days, with classes on things as diverse as yoga to computers for beginners. The centre holds Tea Dances on the first Tuesday of the month, and welcomes anyone wishing to take part. You could also try your hand at interior design and decoration, with a qualified Art and Design tutor leading you through a full programme of interior design and decoration. The Centre is also currently running a Skills ...
Greece is on the verge of leaving the Euro and the European Union. The French bank BNP profits have dropped 72%, Italian bonds have reached all time highs, Ireland is scheduled to miss targets; growth has been downgraded. European Union will withhold aid, which Greece desperately needs next week (which is required to pay public ...
Like most cricket fans when the Pakistani players were alleged to be involved in spot fixing the only thing that once my mind wasn't 'I hope it's not true' as deep down we all thought it was but in fact 'Please not Mohammad Amir'. Sadly though my hopes and those famously of Michael Holding on Sky Sports were to be dashed relatively quickly. Having been a cricket lover all my life it pains me to see the sport brought into disrepute but what pains me more is to be the best young player I have ever seen coming through the ...
I'm currently on a roll with near-future Science Fiction (Rule 34 currently graces my iPad Kindle app) with all it's predictions of a capitalist, dystopian and advert-laden future. And I run across a blog post called 5 Terrifying Things Movies Don't Tell You About Los Angeles. It's number 5 entry bemoans the capitalist, dystopian advert-ladent present that is LA. Billboard ads for gastric bands proclaiming "Dieting sucks!"? With a man who appears to be struggling with some sort of food-related being that's attempting to stuff itself down his throat? Perhaps Ridley Scott just came forward in time three decades to ...
As Liberal Vision has of late focused on the here and now, perhaps it is time to turn to the vision. The Liberal Democrats have much to think about between now and the general election. One important element, that can easily get subsumed by being in government, is to develop a manifesto that tells voters what liberalism looks like in the 21st century. Of course, one can argue about what liberalism means. Assuming that the reader broadly accepts the aims of this site, (individual liberty, limited government and a free market) what sort of policies would maximise these? The party ...
Just when policymakers and the financial centres around the world thought the problems in Greece were being dealt with, a referendum is called and uncertainty has returned. If you have been following this crisis you will know there has been a lot of speculation around whether the Euro can survive, whether the EU countries in the Euro will join a fiscal union and whether there will be another recession because of all of this. Amidst all this uncertainty, the one thing we can say for sure is that things are not going to be the same. If a fiscal union ...
Yesterday morning I was up before the lark to attend Mattins at St Paul's Cathedral. "What's Mattins?" - I hear you, my dear reader, cry. "Morning service" in normal English, is the answer. For some reason, many in the Church of England still think everyone is walking around with a passing knowledge of Old French and Latin. It was a great privilege to walk into St Paul's without any tourists milling around. It was just me and a clerical type who was posted just inside the revolving doors. On informing the said clerical type that this was my first Mattins, ...
Thu 3rd
10:45The Independent View: Labour is a puppet of the unions - Lib Dems must stand up for non-unionised wo...
As a member of the Dutch liberal party the VVD who was studying in the UK during the last election, I was pleased that the Lib Dems formed a coalition with the Conservatives. Yet I feel that a strategy that distinguishes the party from Labour is just as important as one that distinguishes the Lib Dems from the Tories. Instead of stressing coalition differences, the Lib Dems have the opportunity to show that they are a true alternative to Labour. The Lib Dems should stress that, unlike Labour, they protect ordinary workers by deregulating the labour market, and do not ...
A consultation is taking place now about whether controlled parking should occur near to East Dulwich station – please gives your views here. Currently 450 cars registered to homes in the proposed streets and on average each night 475 cars parked. The proposed parking would enable 558 vehicles to park. so a CPZ is one way parking pressures for residents and non commuters could be resolved. But the real question is whether people on the proposed streets think the parking stress is sufficient that parking controls with the £125/permit are worth it as a solution? What do people in neighbouring ...
'Expectations management' is a crucial tool of modern politics: what matters is not how objectively effective or ineffective a person is, but whether they can exceed the standard people (or, more importantly, the media) expect of them. My expectations of ... Continue reading →
Can anyone please explain why we are seeing increasing numbers of Occupy London middle class boys and girls wearing those Guy Fawkes masks? (And before you tell me they are NOT middle class professional complainers explain why the four that got invited into the crypt to have a chat with the clerics were a 40 year old South African with a masters degree, 32 year old actress (with a fancy drama college background), a 27 year old religious studies graduate , and a 36 year old former PR exec (now running something called "Queer Resistance")... not a hairdresser, taxi driver, ...
Well, the SNP Government's bill to tackle sectarianism really can't have much going for it. The Scottish Liberal Democrats and Greens opposed it from the start, even before the measure attracted criticism from across Scottish civic society. I thought it was a good sign when Alex Salmond decided not to rush the Bill through before the Summer recess, but, sadly, the Government has not listened to the criticism that has been resoundingly heaped on the measure. You would expect the Liberal Democrats to stand up against anything that could have implications for freedom of speech, but Labour love creating new ...
The Electoral Commission's recent proposals for new constituency boundaries are, with a few exceptions, a politician's rather than a people's issue. In my 24 years as a councillor I've never had anyone beating a track to my door to raise the issue of ward or parliamentary boundaries, even when changes are proposed. When my ward boundaries were last changed, I wrote to every constituent to tell
Orwell's other island Ken MacLeod on Jura and Orwell's political legacy. (tags: books writing ukpolitics ) democracyarsenal.org: Shadowboxing with Wolves Heather on the craziness of not talking to the other side. (tags: usa war ) Rescuing Children in Wartime: Nevil Shute's Pied Piper | Tor.com Jo returns to a brilliant book. (tags: )
The completion of the refurbishment of Runway 1 at Manchester Airport (technically runway 23R/05L) has been delayed by a few weeks. It was aimed to finish in November, but due to issues with the new lighting, will now (hopefully) be completed on Wednesday 21st December 2011. During the final weeks, Runway 1 will remain closed at night, with runway 2 being used between 21:30 and 06:00 from Sunday to Thursday nights. The refurbishment of Runway 1 is costing around £20 million in total and includes The laying of 60,220 metres of ducts The replacement of 110 kilometres of cable The ...
On Tuesday, I helped to launch a report 'Keeping People with Diabetes out of Hospital'. As a person with diabetes, I know only too well the pressure that our diabetes care services are under. Whether I'm speaking to my Diabetes Specialist Nurse, to my consultant, or to my colleagues in Westminster, it is clear that the 'diabetes epidemic' is increasingly being recognised as of major concern. Of the 2.9 million people in the UK living with diabetes, a worrying proportion will suffer additional complications and will require hospital care. In the last year alone, another 130,000 people have been diagnosed ...
The "Wiki Loves Monuments" project in Russia has been featured on Russian TV. Check out the QRpedia codes! [IMG: Russian QRpedia TV] You can see all the articles (and their QRpedia codes) – there is also a list of articles which need translating. QRpedia's Name There is some confusion about QRpedia's name. @QRpedia please answer me, QRpedia = QR + wikipedia or QR + encyclopedia? I need it as a prooflink for [[ru:QRpedia]].02/11/2011 20:32 via webReplyRetweetFavorite@dslraveRave The answer is very simple. The "pedia" isn't from "Encyclopedia". It isn't from "Wikipedia". It's an acronym. P – Potentially E – Every D ...
Last night I chaired a meeting for users and supporters of Launceston Library. Despite the weather we had a great turnout and some really positive ideas for the future. At this time last year, the future of our local branch looked to be in jeopardy. The Conservative led Cabinet had voted to allow the closure of as many as 30 of the branches across Cornwall and they appeared to have no alternative for how to save money from the service. In Launceston we got together a petition of more than 1000 names of people who supported our library. In other ...
Following a determined campaign from Cambridgeshire County Councillor Dr Belinda Brooks-Gordon, the Government has just announced that it will now give part-time university students a fairer deal under the government's education loans scheme. She teamed up with Baroness Sal Brinton, former Cambridgeshire County Council Liberal Democrat leader to make sure part-time students are not discriminated under the scheme. From 2012 eligible part-time students will be able to borrow the full cost of their tuition fees for the first time. Changes announced today will see students becoming eligible to start making repayments over four years after commencing study, up from three ...
Unsurprisingly, for a panel dominated by people who run the family justice system and without representation from those who go through it, the Family Justice Review has essentially defended the status quo with a few cost saving tweaks.
I hate to see money going begging that could help our community. There's a real risk of it just now, however. There's about £7,000 "Sportivate" money available for Derwentside but it hasn't all been taken up. Sportivate is a nationwide programme that aims to capture the enjoyment of sport, providing increased opportunities for teenagers and young adults to participate regularly in sport. If you have an idea to attract / engage 14 – 25 year olds to take part in sport in Derwentside please let me know as soon as possible and I'll put you in touch with the right ...
Some embarrassment for Willie Rennie, MSP and leader of the Scottish Lib Dems, this week following the publication by party staff of a cartoon satirising First Minister Alex Salmond's hailing of the similarities between Scotland and Qatar: The Stv website takes up the story: The image, made by Liberal Democrat staff, came after Mr Salmond had hailed similarities between Scotland and Qatar during a five-day trip to the Middle East on Monday. The cartoon, which depicted Mr Salmond in Arab dress holding a camel, had been criticised on Twitter and Facebook after it was put online on Monday. It mentioned ...
The birth of the earth's seven billionth citizen this week has focussed predictable attention on the optimum size for the population of our planet. Commentators on population matters have long been divided into "Isle of Wight optimists" and the "Malthusian pessimists." The former point out that we must get the issue into proportion. Large as it is, if you stood us shoulder to shoulder you could still get the world's entire population on an the Isle of Wight, so there's nothing much to worry about. The pessimists predict starvation and doom, as did the Rev'd T R Malthus in the ...
The release below explains how Lib Dem led Edinburgh Council have been working in partnership with the voluntary sector to reduce and prevent Homelessness. I am immensely proud of results the report highlights. First major prevention study into pioneering service shows stopping homelessness saves misery and money The first ever major study into Scotland's pioneering homelessness prevention service has shown a near 100 per cent success in stopping people from losing their home, while saving a local authority money in the process. The 'Prevention Saves Money and Misery' report (1) released today (Thursday) by the Edinburgh Cyrenians and focusing on ...
The View from Creeting St Peter has taken a philosphical turn of late.... [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
peterbirks: Sort of calling it a day Pete explains why he is giving up online poker. (tags: money ) The other horn of Africa - Opinion - Al Jazeera English President Silanyo: "Behind stock images of a region trapped in chaos, economies are growing and governance is improving." (tags: ) A Sister's Eulogy for Steve Jobs - NYTimes.com "We all — in the end — die in medias res. In the middle of a story. Of many stories... What I learned from my brother's death was that character is essential: What he was, was how he died." (tags: death ) ...
The other night, I caught the tail end of a discussion on Twitter, wherein Andy Emmerson had decided to leave the party, seemingly because his local party were inactive and unresponsive. Fortunately, by the time I looked, he'd decided to transfer membership to a more active local party instead. I was pleased to see Tim ...
The district council is consulting on the following: Civic Centre Opportunity Site Planning Brief (CCOS): Draft Supplementary Planning Document (SDP) – Public Consultation To find the consultation click here. Further related documents can be found here. Please tell us what you think!
