Well. This might be the hardest blog post I've sat down and written since I started this blog. It might be the hardest piece of writing I have ever sat down to do. Whenever you are writing about such serious crimes it is going to be hard and I've read the indictment in full... Yesterday a Grand Jury indicted Jerry Sandusky with forty counts of sexual abuse against children. I doubt many (if any) regular or even semi-regular readers of this blog know who this man is so I'll tell you. He was the former Defensive Coordinator at Penn State ...
The G20 met in Cannes in pouring rain and failed to exude glamour, despite the best efforts of host Nicolas Sarkozy, who is in a fine state of PR denial, beaming as if all in the world is rosy. Of course, it isn't. Cannes was a washout, in more ways than one, not least because ...
We had thousands of people visiting the website this week for information on Stockport firework displays. I took the kids to Cheadle Sports Club on Kingsway – we watched the bonfire and fireworks there, and could just about see some of the fireworks from the Together Trust in the distance. Thank you to everyone who made all the Stockport events so successful – it takes a lot of hard work and planning to bring everything together for these displays, and it's all worthwhile.
Daisy Green meets "the inspirational MP Jo Swinson". "My local publicans - tied and free of tie - reckon that free houses run around one-third cheaper than pubs leased from pubcos. The tie is a restraint of trade; at a time when the small/craft brewing sector is going from strength to strength, the pubco tied model is restrictive and anti-competitive. The excessive take of publicans' earnings punishes those working for the pubcos and stifles enterprise." Gareth Epps, writing on Liberal Democrat Voice, calls for the government to act on the findings of the Commons business, innovation and skills select committee. ...
Leading active members of today's economics profession ... have formed themselves into a kind of Politburo for correct economic thinking. As a general rule—as one might generally expect from a gentleman's club—this has placed them on the wrong side of every important policy issue, and not just recently but for decades. They predict disaster where none occurs. They deny the possibility of events that then happen. ... They oppose the most basic, decent and sensible reforms, while offering placebos instead. James K Galbraith Last weekend in a brief post over at Pop Theory Clive poses one of the key social ...
The second UK political party leadership election result of the week was announced earlier today in Belfast. The SDLP were replacing Margaret Ritchie after just 19 months with a man, this is not me being sexist but a reality that there were only male candidates in the contest for party leader. There were 348 votes cast, making the quota for election of 175. In the first round Alex Attwood 46 Connall McDevitt 105 Alasdair McDonnell 127 Patsy McGlone 70 Alex Attwood eliminated 2nd Round: Transfer of Attwood's 46 votes Connall McDevitt 131 (+26) Alasdair McDonnell 140 (+13) Patsy McGlone 76 ...
Apropos of my post the other day about trust in the political system, in this week's Introduction to Politics seminar we had a little questionnaire to complete about trust and patriotism. After questions like "how much confidence do you have in Parliament?" (not a lot, said most), "Do you regard yourself as a convinced supporter of a political party?" (very few, it seems) and "On the whole, are you ...very satisfied.... Satisfied.... Fairly satisfied..... not very satisfied.... Dissatisfied..... with the way democracy works in your country?" (most said not very) we got "Thinking about voting. If there was a national ...
Yesterday, at lunchtime, I took part in the latest Dundee Transition Town group meeting at Dundee West Church hall. Amongst matters discussed was the group's proposed new website, participation in the West End Christmas Week community fayre, climate challenge funding and the Dundee Urban Orchard project. Urban Orchard is a Dundee-based art and community project that supports the planting, maintenance, and harvesting of fruit and nut trees in the city. Working with a variety of community groups including local schools, community centres, and in conversation with Dundee City Council, the project seeks to support biodiversity, encourage community participation, promoting healthy ...
Walking around the centre of Loughborough it hard to resist the impression that the planners, as the saying goes, have finished what the Luftwaffe began. But then they have had longer to finish it here than in most towns. Because Loughborough suffered a Zeppelin raid on the night of 31 January 1916 in which 10 people were killed. The bombs fell on a street called The Rushes, and I had read that there was a memorial to the victims there - the shape of an Iron Cross in the tarmac where one bomb landed and a plaque on a wall ...
This morning I spent some time with Allotmenteers from our new site in Tan Y Bryn in Rhos-On-Sea, assisting with a clear out, allocating new plots, we also gave them some of our "Conwy's best" Compost (Compost made from our Parks and Gardens). This afternoon I spent some time with Senior and Junior members of our community in Llandudno Junction, organised by Conwy Youth Services. Our young people organised an event for their elders, bingo with prizes donated from our local business's, tea, cake and sandwiches made by our young people, a raffle and a dance show from Llandudno Junction's ...
It's time for some clarity among Liberal Democrats on the issue of referenda. General Elections decide the government. Going in to these elections, all parties issue a manifesto and tell the voters what they will do if elected. So the first thing to say is that if the new government has promised a referendum within ...
Cllr Carolyn Caddick My congratulations go to Cllr Carolyn Caddick, Scottish Liberal Democrat winner of the Highland Council Inverness South by-election on Thursday - a gain from Labour and against a strong campaign by the SNP. As our party leader Willie Rennie said yesterday, "It is great to see Liberal Democrats back to our winning ways."Carolyn is just what good Liberal Democrat representatives are; champions for our communities with good liberal values at the core."Winning a seat from Labour and beating the SNP shows that Scottish Liberal Democrats offer something that people want."
The Friends of Garston Park have their next general meeting on Friday 18th November at 6 30pm at Long Lane Church. Do come along if you want to get involved. The Saturday is our normal litter picking day but we may be out there planting new trees instead.
Here's the latest newsletter from the Friends of Brooklyn Crescent Park, Cheadle. Brooklyn Crescent is one of those lovely little parks that's been transformed in the last few years through the hard work of a dedicated Friends' group. 2011 FBCP Autumn Newsletter View Cheadle and Gatley in a larger map
Last month, following residents' concerns, I raised with both the City Council and Scottish Water the unfinished state of the east pavement of City Road, near the junction with Milnbank Road, following work by Scottish Water. The matter was also raised at last week's Community Spirit local residents' group meeting. I again contacted Scottish Water, who promised a site visit with the City Council last Thursday. Following this, I was advised : "Following the site meeting ... I can confirm repair work will start next Tuesday. The road will need to be closed during the repair work and local diversions ...
We had good news a while ago when the licensing committee of Liverpool City Council turned down the application to sell alcohol from the building on the corner of Garston Old Road and Stormont Road. Arguments included the fact that the building was opposite Clarendon College ( a school and nursery) and that this could add to anti social behaviour on Garston Park. The bad news, if you are opposed to alcohol sales here, is that the applicants have appealed. There'll be a hearing in the magistrates court to decide whether or not the licensing committee made the right decision. ...
A few weeks ago a planning application for a takeaway on Greenhill Road (by the corner with Melbreck) was turned down. Local people were pleased because there'd been all sorts of worries about smells, litter, traffic etc. I've now heard that another application has come in for the same site. It's still an application for a takeaway from the same person although the opening hours are a bit different and there are different arrangements for the fumes and the front of the shop. I've had a look at the application and to be honest it presents the same problems as ...
While out door knocking today in South Liverpool I called on a house in Garston where the owner runs an animal rescue sanctuary. She takes in dogs, cats, puppies, kittens and others that have been abandonned. I am not sure I could live in a house so completely full of animals but this lady's commitment was so impressive. She ploughs all her earnings back into the charity and works so hard to look after, and rehome, the animals. Some of the ones I saw today were rather ill - the dog with cancer was particularly sad. But others were just ...
South Central Liberal Democrats at its Regional Conference today voted unanimously to back my motion calling for the Government to act on the recommendations of the BIS Select Committee and take action against the abuses of the pubcos. Read my latest piece on the fight to save the pub at socialise this: [IMG: add 'South Central Lib Dems Vote To Save The Pub' a Del.icio.us] [IMG: add 'South Central Lib Dems Vote To Save The Pub' a digg] [IMG: add 'South Central Lib Dems Vote To Save The Pub' a Stumble Upon] [IMG: add 'South Central Lib Dems Vote ...
Meeting at the University of Abertay Dundee Last night, along with representatives from the University College Union (UCU) at the University of Dundee, the University of Abertay Dundee and London Metropolitan University and a UCU national representative, the National Union of Students (NUS), Abertay Students' Association and parliamentary representatives from Labour and the SNP, I took part in a public meeting on the future of post-16 education - addressing the audience and taking part in the panel discussion thereafter. For me, key messages include the need for clarity about what is actually meant by "closer collaboration" between Dundee's two universities ...
There are reports this afternoon that FIFA have denied England their wish to wear kits with Poppies on next weekend. The FA wanted to mark Remembrance Day at next Saturday's game, but FIFA are reported to have stopped them. I had hoped that it was one of theose "Urban Myths" spread by Facebook and so on, but it appears to be true. So come on FIFA, show some common sense and reverse the decision !!
I'm going to be attending the Thought Bubble Comic Convention on the 19th and 20th – as an exhibitor. I, along with The Beast Must Die and Illogical Volume, will be representing The Mindless Ones on a stall, where we'll be selling TBMD's comics and my books, and where you can touch Illogical Volume's head. ...
In September, the BIS Select Committee unanimously delivered a devastating verdict on the pubcos for the third time running and lambasted them for repeatedly breaking promises to change their business practices. They also found unambiguously that 'the tie', as operated by them, is unfair to licensees, many of whom can't earn minimum wage despite healthy turnover figures; is bad for pub customers who are overcharged for a pint, due to the hugely inflated prices the licensee has to pay for beer; and it is closing pubs that need not and should not close. The Committee found that, even after four ...
When I posted three years ago about appearances of Belgium in Doctor Who, lonemagpie chided me justly for failing to note the very first Who story set in my adopted country, this Eighth Doctor Adventure published in 1999 and set during the Battle of the Bulge around Bastogne. Though to be honest there's not much Belgian about it apart from the weather and the landscape; the extra characters are mainly German and American soldiers, and the rulers of the otherworldly realm reached by Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream and which is threatening to leak into our world here. So ...
The National Centre for Social Research has been very busy interviewing young people caught up in, and not caught up in, the August riots. They've produced an absorbing report which can be read in full here. I hesitate to offer any summary of this document. It's best read in full. But, here are a few passing impressions from the paper. The phrase "moment of madness" crops up a few times. I was left thinking that if the police in Tottenham had issued a short empathetic statement after Mark Duggan's death, the riots wouldn't have happened. A young person in Tottenham ...
I've blogged here about my reactions to the proposed new parliamentary boundaries for Luton that were published in September and written in detail about the proposed new seats of Luton South and Luton North and Dunstable. Those interested in these changes should be aware that the Boundary Commission is planning to hold public hearings in Luton on Monday 7 and Tuesday 8 November at Luton Town Hall. This is your chance to have your say about what is proposed for the town, the rest of Bedfordshire, and the Commissions proposals more generally. More details of the Luton hearing are here ...
Have you heard of Mitt Romney? Herman Cain? Rick Perry? Almost certainly not Jon Huntsman? Or other damp squibs for Bonfire Night (though a fanatic who wants to blow up the legislature and install a theocracy isn't a million miles from some of the contenders)? Yes, it's the exciting world of the US Republican Party, and after studying the race, I can announce a winner. Not of the nomination, naturally, or (I hope) against President Obama. Step forward, instead, Texas Governor Perry, whose brand new "simple" tax plan is surely the most brain-meltingly stupid in the history of the world. ...
Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Lib-Dems on Broxtowe Borough Council. A special welcome to the new readers that we have this week, it's been a very good week for new subscriptions. 1. Toton Garrison I read an email from Anna Soubry this week which claimed that the council were in talks with the MOD about plans to build 2,500 houses on the garrison. She even produced a plan of the alleged site. All of this is completely incorrect. The council are not in discussions with ...
Very interesting to see the Jewish Chronicle's (JC) report of Nick Clegg's commendable comments on how best to counter extremism in a speech the other night. "Engage to change, yes, endorse and fund, no" about sums it up. JC quotes him as saying in the speech:"...when individuals and groups express attitudes that are hostile to Jews - Muslim and non-Muslim alike, that cannot be tolerated."And we need to be tough and smart in our approach. I've always believed (in) the general principle that you don't win the fight by leaving the ring, you don't walk away from the battlefield ...
Sunniside Methodist Chapel are always happy to see me at their fairs and I always make it a personal requirement to go to them. They are a useful source for plants for the allotment and garden and for cakes. And so this morning, when I was there, I bought their entire stock of wild strawberries. At the cake stall, I mentioned I needed some cake to eat on the train to London this afternoon. This
[IMG: The Court Jester] Objectives for Banking Reform There are some clear objectives that need to be reached by global banking reform, and any proposal needs to be assessed against them. The objectives must be to: Ensure that a similar crisis cannot happen again by reducing high-risk investment Get Banks lending to sound UK businesses to stimulate growth Recoup the money invested in bailing out the banks Protect our savings from the excesses of high risk banking Address the 'bonus' culture within the banking sector Unfortunately, on examination, the Robin Hood Tax is actually counter productive on the first three ...
Ruth Davidson, new leader of the Scottish Conservatives The BBC in talking about the new leader of Scottish Conservatives in a different way to some of the tabloids, for more on that see Scottish Liberal. What they have picked up on is that Ruth Davidson under the new structure of the Conservative Party is a colleague of David Cameron with a final say on what goes on in Scotland. You see the thing is that the Scottish Conservatives like Scottish Labour are both going to be lead by a leader of the party overall in Scotland and not have a ...
Perhaps this year we'll be lucky and not have another freeze, but Stockport's ready if bad weather does arrive. We've got more grit than ever before and we'll be gritting more roads than ever before. The Council is also working with the Probation Service to get people on Community Payback to help clear our pavements. You can see all the information on the Council website here. But even with all that help, there's still no way the Council can clear every road and footpath across the Borough. There's nowhere in the world that manages that – the resources just aren't ...
I know nothing about Steve Williams, Tiger Woods' former caddie. He said something (what, I don't know) about Woods that caused a row. He has now said: "I now realise how my comments could be construed as racist. That was not my intent. I apologise to Tiger and anyone else I have offended." Oh, if only everyone who is ever accused of racism could just do the same...Especially as Williams has avoided the weasel words "I apologise if anyone was offended" or "I apologise to anyone who may have been offended" - people always say that when they know full ...
Why not join hundreds of other Lib Dem Voice readers in getting our latest headlines by email? Some people like regularly visiting a site to see if there's new stories of interest. Some people like subscribing to its news feed (RSS) and checking that way. But if you prefer email, you can instead sign up to get a daily early morning email with a summary of the previous day's posts from Lib Dem Voice, complete with a note of how many comments each post has got and convenient links to click on if any take your fancy and you want ...
I was going to blog on the Greece referendum but events have been moving so fast that every few hours I would of had to of changed my blog. I can't blame Greek PM George Papandreou for wanting to hold a referendum. It's his attempt to make something happen and to give the people a voice and a democratic choice in a country which has seen so much unrest and anger. The Greek people never wanted to join the euro and were never given a choice by their political elite. Greece was able to use the power of the euro ...
I joined the online campaign organisation 38Degrees well over a year ago. But yesterday I finally made the decision to leave. For a while now I've been a bit exasperated by the way 38Degrees has been behaving. For example, inundating individual members of the House of Lords with exactly the same email from thousands of 38Degrees members is exactly the wrong way to get them to listen to concerns about legislation and exactly the right way to get them to just delete all of the emails without reading them. On top of that, during their campaign against the NHS reforms ...
The campaign group JUSTICE have released an important report 'Freedom from Surveillance' it details how RIPA legislation brought in by the civil liberties hating new-labour government has led to 3 million acts of surveillance. Fewer than 5,000 of these cases were approved by a judge. The disgusting extent to which Councils & Quangos snoop on people has to stop. The Coaliton has hardly done anything to reform this. The Coalition agreement (p12) promised to: "ban the use of powers in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) by councils, unless they are signed off by a magistrate and required for ...
Here it is, another faintly scary picture of this year's Movember effort. Feel free to donate here: http://mobro.co/jeremyrowe - only another 25 days to go...
What a fascinating read – the OECD Education at a Glance survey of 34 member developed nations. UK students contribute 65.5% of their university tuition fee costs - around double the OECD average and only less Korea and the United States - though the OECD is clear that the state-backed loan system is stronger than overseas. Still a significant financial advantage of going to university - with degree-level educated men earning £131,578 excluding taxes, over a life time. UK spending on education as a share of GDP is at 5.7% below the OECD average of 5.9% – though school spending ...
There's no prize at stake - just the opportunity to prove you're wittier than any other LDV reader... (Hat-tip to international development action group Tea Time for Change.) Here's Lib Dem MP for Birmingham Yardley John Hemming enjoying a cuppa a in a good cause. What do you think might be being said or thought by those pictured? And the winner of our last caption comp is... Some fantastic entries for our most recent caption competition, Liam Fox "was he pushed?" Edition. The winner, according to The Voice's judging panel of one, was this one by Judith, with highly commended ...
Taken from Highland UA Council website "The seven-cornered by-election for Inverness South (Ward 20) on The Highland Council has resulted in a victory for Mrs Carolyn Caddick, Scottish Liberal Democrats. The turn out was 26.8% and the total number of valid votes cast was 2,607. The by-election was held following the resignation of John Holden (Labour). The count was held at Inverness Town Hall. David McGrath (Independent), was eliminated at the end of stage one, with 94votes. His votes were then redistributed and Donald Boyd (Scottish Christian Party "Proclaiming Christ's Lordship") was eliminated at the end of stage 2 with ...
With Luminar Holdings gone, Basingstoke's premier night club, Liquid, has closed its doors. It is a sad time for the staff . I'm surprised the administrators didn't keep the place open for a bit longer and cash in on the Christmas period that has always been the most profitable and give the staff a bit of notice that their jobs were going. It will seem strange for Basingstoke not to have a
I've been kind of busy this week helping Michael and Andrew to move. Therefore my blogging has taken a back seat. However, as a thank you from them I did go to see The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn in 3D, here is a trailer, just ignore the dates it is available in the UK now. Keeping a liitle bit on the theme here is how Steven Speilberg and Peter Jackson, for it is they, got to come together on this project and just what they have done behind the scenes to make the cartoon books come ...
Ruth Davidson is the new leader of the Scottish Conservatives. The first openly gay Tory leader, 32, emerged victorious over Murdo Fraser - whose grand vision to reinvigorate his party's fortunes was to disband it. I have noticed that there has been much made of Ruth's sexuality in the media, not all of it accurate - such as the announcement that she is the "first gay leader of a UK political party". I can only imagine what Patrick Harvie makes of that. The Daily Mail is also keen to highlight her sexuality as super-significant, leading with the headline "Tories elect ...
On Monday I visited the Sita energy from waste plant on Teeside. We had a look at the line that deals with Northumberlands waste but in 2014, an almost identical plant will be opened next door which will be used to burn Gateshead's waste.This is the video I shot inside the plant.
Here are details of the Remembrance Sunday services across Stockport. Civic Service (Stockport) 10.35am – The War Memorial (A6) Bramhall 10.30am – Procession from St Michael's Church to Bramhall War Memorial. Bredbury 3.00pm – Service at the War Memorial, George Lane, Bredbury, Cheadle 10.30am – Parade to assemble at junction of Massie Street with High Street to proceed down High Street to War Memorial Cheadle Hulme 9.40am – Meets at Hazel Road (by old Police Station) proceed to War Memorial Compstall 10.55am – Laying of wreaths at War Memorial, Compstall Brow, Compstall. Prior to service at St Paul's Church. Gatley ...
Former BBC Wales Director, Menna Richards is right when she says that the debate on broadcasting in Wales has focussed almost exclusively on the future of S4C at the expense of all else. She argued in the Welsh Political Archive's annual lecture at the National Library of Wales on Friday that the Welsh political class need to fight harder to protect English language broadcasting. She points out that between 2007 and 2011 the number of hours of English language television programmes broadcast by BBC Wales fell by 16% and contrasts the situation in Wales with that in Scotland: "The BBC ...
Scottish Conservatives elect gay leader Aged 32, she joined in 2009 and fought first election this year. (tags: ukpolitics scotland ) Edward Lear (1812-1888) Tom Shakespeare on the nonsense poet and landscape artist who also had epilepsy. (tags: life disability ) BBC Breakfast - Sadie Miller interview - YouTube Elisabeth Sladen's daughter on the new posthumous autobiography. (tags: doctorwho ) Laurie Penny: A woman's opinion is the mini-skirt of the internet "Many commentators, wondering aloud where all the strong female voices are, close their eyes to how normal this sort of threat has become." (tags: internet sexandgenderandsexuality ) Asteroid 2005 ...
Yesterday I quoted a passage from Charles Dickens with contemporary resonance. Here is another, this one laying bare the world view of a certain sort of entrepreneur: The earth was made for Dombey and Son to trade in, and the sun and moon were made to give them light. Rivers and seas were formed to float their ships; rainbows gave them promise of fair weather; winds blew for or against their enterprises; stars and planets circled in their orbits, to preserve inviolate a system of which they were the centre.Next year the bicentenary of the great man's birth will be ...
Here's your starter for ten in our weekend slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate... A few weeks ago a campaign advert made by ONE, an organisation founded by Bono (of U2 fame) was banned from TV because it breaches political advertising rules. Many people seeing this story for the first time might be quite pleased not to have to deal with the unbearable smugness of Bono on their TV screen again. But outside of any personal dislike of a particular celebrity, politician or political party is this an issue where broadcast regulations are simply out ...
The Remembrance Day Service and Parade will take place on Sunday 13th November as follows:- Service at Consett Methodist Church, Station Rd at 9.30am. Remembrance Day Parade assembles at 10.30am outside Consett Police Station and Christ Church. Service and wreath laying at the War Memorial beside the former Consett Civic Centre at 11am.
For the last few weeks I've been unable to run Spotify in Linux using WINE. I was continually getting a crash with this error message: Unhandled page fault on read access to 0x00000068 at address 0x7bc34e57 After lots of fruitless digging around, I discovered that the issue is with the Facebook integration! The fix is simple. Visit the Facebook Applications Page, remove Spotify. I've noted this error on the WINE Site. If you're a premium Spotify user, you can run their Linux Preview of Spotify
Road Safety Officers at Cambridgeshire County Council are urging all road users to take extra care on the roads once the clocks go back this weekend. The change of the clocks means it will be darker in the afternoons, when many people are making their way home from work or school. The darker conditions make it harder for pedestrians and cyclists to be seen by other road users. Parents are being encouraged to make sure they and their children 'be bright, be seen' by attaching reflective strips to their bags and coats or other clothing. Cyclists are also reminded that ...
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 ...
This week we're going back in time and featuring X Factor USA and former American Idol judge Paula Abdul's first UK hit - 1989's No.3 hit "Straight Up"... Oh yes, it's cheese but oh such good cheese... I take no responsibility for this getting stuck in your head. Andrew
