There were seven principal local council by-elections held on Thursday 17th November. We held three seats and lost one to the Tories. The SNP held one seat, the Tories gained one from Independent and Labour gained one from Plaid. There was one parish or town council by-election results reported to ALDC, a Lib Dem hold. In Warrington we were on our third by-election in 7 months in Poulton North. Avid readers of this column will remember our first success in a Labour facing ward in July. Unfortunately our excellent popular councillor died shortly after the by-election and triggered a third ...
A fortnight ago the whole world of Penn State blew up. Allegations of unspeakable proportions were alleged to have happened within the institute. Charges were filed against senior administrators accused of covering up. The legendary head coach who until a fortnight ago was believed not just one of the greatest football coaches but also one of the greatest men to have ever worked in college athletics was accused of not doing enough and was forced from his job. The university handled the situation about as badly as any institution can ever handle anything. It has just been a desperate time ...
I have seen some comments along the lines of 'We have technical governments running Greece and Italy because both countries have PR. The leader of each country is dependent on the support of special interest groups and therefore is not able to tightly control each nation's finances'. This sort of argument sounds very attractive until you look at the last election results in each country. In Greece, the Panellenic Socialist Movement has 160 seats in a 300 seat house. So, someone would have to explain how the PSM have to rely on special interest groups when they have an outright ...
Omani Embassies all round the world have been celebrating Oman's National Day today, in London's case with a sumptuous reception at the Carlton Tower Hotel in Knightsbridge. Gulf Arab hospitality is invariably generous. There were no speeches and no-one acknowledged (at least in my hearing) the obvious landmark that has just been passed: with the ...
What have the Occupy protesters got to complain about? Why don't they just go home and leave things to the properly elected politicians? Well, it turns out that they have a point. As a new report shows, despite an epidemic of financial crime federal prosecutions in the US have fallen to under half their level of a decade ...
Last night, after my weekly surgery at Blackness Primary School, I attended the latest meeting of the West End Local Community Planning Partnership, taking place at the Tartan Coffee House on Perth Road. It was a lengthy but very productive meeting at which there were presentations on Dundee West park and ride and on the Community Carbon Exchange. The Community Carbon Exchange has operated successfully in the Coldside and Maryfield and an extension of activity to the West End will be welcome. The new draft local community plan for the West End was agreed, the success of the local Fire ...
Later yesterday afternoon, I had a very interesting tour of the fabulous newly opened Gardyne Campus of Dundee College and I am most grateful to the Depute Principal of the college for the guided tour of what is a superb learning facility - see right. My main reason for the visit was to see the TV facilities, given my interest in the Fife and Tayside television consortium. Dundee College's new facilities are tremendous but, as I have already highlighted, the Scottish Government is disproportionately cutting college funding - and this will affect the life chances of thousands of local young ...
This piece was originally published on LibDemVoice on 15/11/11 The current approach to the United Kingdom doesn't work. The current approach treats each home nation as an individual, yet this approach leads to everyone pulling the centre in every direction. It leads to infighting, or to one country taking control and dictating to the others ...
Yesterday afternoon, I had the pleasure of attending the 2011 graduation ceremony of the Al-Maktoum College of Higher Education, that took place in the Marryat Hall. It was great to see the academic success of the graduates being recognised and the college, situated in Blackness Road, going from strength to strength. In the past year, the college has undergone a name change from Institute to College - recognition of its role as an independent and internationally-recognised research-led college of higher education. Next year, the college celebrates its 10th anniversary here in Dundee. It has achieved much thus far and has ...
Tomorrow is the 35th anniversary of the release in the UK of the Rutles seminal 'Tragical History Tour' album - even though it had been released in the US nine years earlier. It marked the start of the band's decline, following the departure of their long time manager and confidant Leggy Mountbatten who had tragically accepted a teaching post in Australia. It was rightly panned by the critics and the official Rutles site describes the concept as 'not the stongest idea for a Rutles film, four Oxford History Professors on a walking tour of English Tea Shops'. Just over two ...
Just back from a meeting of the Friends of Garston Park. It was our last actual meeting before Christmas but we have loads of activities between now and then so perhaps it's just as well. Tomorrow, as well as the regular morning litter pick we've got wildflower planting as part of the creation of two wildflower meadows on the park. Next week (24th November) we've got the kick off meeting for our art project - 6pm at the Leisure Centre. We'll be commissioning some community artists so you don't actually have to be a dab hand with a brush to ...
The winner is Tokyo Sexwale - one of Sepp Blatter's best friends.
Yesterday brought news of the rescue of a woman from the old mines at Snailbeach. Today we learn from the Shropshire Star of the discovery of a previously unsuspected cave in Bridgnorth that "could be hundreds of years old and may once have been lived in". The Cartway is the steep, curving Bridgnorth street that packhorses once used to bring goods from the wharves of on the Severn at Low Town to the top of the cliff and High Town. It is shown in the photo above. For more on West Midland troglodytes see this 1958 film.
Safe water and sanitation are critical. Without them, life is in crisis. Read more at WaterAid.
Just heard Sepp Blatter, surprisingly still the President of FIFA, say that there should be a "zero tolerance" approach to racism. Zero tolerance does not equate to a handshake at the end of the game to deal with it. Indeed zero tolerance should mean that a player or official or fan who is racist during a match shouldn't be anywhere near the game at the final whistle. He says he was left with "no option but to apologise", actually I can think of another. He says that the reason he is not resigning is because "When you have a problem, ...
I woke up on the 17th, a month after my stroke, with new pain in my wrist and knee. Previously the evil had withdrawn from those regions. I was worried that this reversal of progress might indicate a new stroke. My wife drove me to A&E, where I had a new battery of tests. They called my consultant, who ordered another MRI scan, and asked to see me after that. I swear that scanner is getting
There is only one scheduled meeting of Blyth Town Council next week Planning & Development Committee , at Ebor House, Blyth , on Thursday 24th November at 6pm This meeting is open to the public We can only comment on Planning Applications of course , we don't grant permission .
Jeremy Browne and a panda eating a carrot
Budget Simulator A new online tool gives residents a chance to see the type of decisions Stockport councillors will have to make to balance the books for 2012/13. By 2014 the Council will have to make savings of £35 – £45 million from a total budget of over £230 million. The Council has provided a Budget Simulator so that residents can create their own budget and understand the difficulties in setting a council budget when trying to make savings. The Simulator will be used throughout the year, at various locations and engage a number of different groups such as children ...
Stockport Council has changed the look of its transport and streets web pages to make it even easier for residents to access information. Launched as part of the 'Streets Ahead' initiative the new web pages allow users easier access to important information, including online forms to report faulty street lights and potholes as well as details of planned highway works and inspections taking place throughout the borough.
...A viral video which is being lapped up by right-wingers. It's like that bloke in the pub who bores you to death at 10.55pm. Worse, he's like the bloke in the cravat at 10.55pm in the bar in some foreign capital who feels he has to shout in order for "foreigners" to understand him. He breaks Godwin's law at 0'54". Look on the bright side. Voters in the South-East of England, who he is supposed to represent, can be reassured that Nigel Farage is standing up, very energetically, for the Italians and the Greeks. ...And here's a transcript helpfully (and ...
And while we are about it - on the 200th anniversary of the start of the Luddite campaign - was there anything we might learn from the Luddites before we consign them to another century of oblivion? Fro example: the critical importance of real human beings in our public service systems. That is what I said at the recent RSA debate with Halima Khan and John Seddon, and this is the audio of the debate: Buy the Human Element...
Angry Liberal Democrats have attacked Tory plans to spend £375,000 of developer's cash on promoting the Guided Bus while ignoring pedestrian safety and cycling improvements. They say the promotional campaign for a service that is out of reach for many residents is "scandalous". The move came in draft proposals for how to spend developer's contributions received by Cambridgeshire County Council for the Cambridge University North West site development. The Tory-controlled Cabinet gave its backing to the proposals which included just £5,000 to improve the junction at the city's Northampton Street and nothing to improve pedestrian safety at Lady Margaret Road. ...
This is what a petitioner against Planning Application APP/10/01105 had to say on Tuesday evening. This is the first three minutes whole five (and a bit minutes) . The missing bits are either gaps in the audio record or personal information (as it's a member of the public) that have been removed at the request ...
The facial hair odyssey rumbles on... mobro.co/jeremyrowe
Is sensation too strong a word? Well, if your 4 minute long Youtube musings on bullying are re-tweeted by Stephen Fry via John Prescott to their combined total of 3.5m + followers and is being shown in school assemblies across the country in the fight against bullying then yeah, I call that a sensation. Here below is Hannah Thompson's video on the effect that school-yard name-calling bullying had on her as a 13 years old. Now I must declare an interest here. I know Hannah and I know her very well. She came to work with us in Mark Williams ...
The Mayor admitted this week that bus capacity is being cut back on key bus routes across London. Starting from tomorrow capacity will be cut back on a number of routes. As well as conceding that there would be a real reduction in capacity throughout the day on this bus route the Mayor conceded that reductions have also taken place on some other bus routes and will continue when further bendy bus routes are converted. I think at the key issue is not whether bendy buses are good or bad, but simply whether people can get on a bus. The ...
The more Euro-sceptic, Tory-supporting press, has jumped on the words of German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, that the UK will have to adopt the euro 'faster than people think' as if it is a major threat to life, the universe and everything. The Daily Mail in particular is rather scathing, describing the comment as an astonishing claim that comes despite deepening crisis that threatens the existence of the single currency. They also say that Germany has drawn up secret plans that could prevent Britain holding a referendum, which could lead to powers being clawed back from Brussels. If all this ...
I have been asked by the county council to add the following clarification to my blog entry of October 24th regarding the stopping up of public rights of way on the following map: Can I clarify that the proposed Order is strictly limited to the terms of the planning permission granted, as the purpose of the Order is to enable the implementation of that planning permission. Therefore the area where public rights of way are to be stopped up, shown cross-hatched on the first plan, is the only area that is to be enclosed by any fence, as required for ...
One of the blogs I've been reading recently is Munguin's Republic. One of his recent posts made me stop and think. You see, in addition to his perfectly justifiable complaint about the BBC apparently not realising Scotland exists when it comes to news reports, the situation he mentions is quite interesting. You see, in the Western Isles of Scotland, petrol has to be imported from the mainland, which means it costs a lot more - in fact, they've got possibly the most expensive petrol prices in the world. In recognition of these unique circumstances, the government recently waived part of ...
This week I attended a meeting of Chorlton Civic Society. The indefatigable Jenny Slee gave a presentation on Basic First Aid for adults, including a demonstration of CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation to be precise). The meeting had been due to hear from MP John Leech, but at the last minute he was recalled to Parliament on a three-line whip and had to send his apologies. Well done to Jenny for filling the gap. It is important that as many people as possible have at least some knowledge of basic first aid as it can make the difference between life and death ...
Fri 18th
12:39
Council Excellence Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Wirral Council) 17th November 2011 Early Volunta...
Chris Hyams continued by saying that the restructures had gone to the Employment & Appointments Committee and in the Finance department there had been a number of new posts since the Early Voluntary Redundancy program started. She referred councillors to paragraph 7.1 as there was an error in the number given for new posts. Chris ...
Writing as myself, and not as a Liberal Democrat (I don't know what all other London Lib Dems think about this), I am strongly, instinctively opposed to any moves by Transport for London (TfL) to phase out Oyster cards. We've only had Oysters for five minutes anyway and it is already a modern, high-tech and convenient way to travel. I detect zero desire among passengers for it to be replaced. Unlike so many other big IT projects, it has actually been a great success and very popular, so why tinker with it unnecessarily?The supposedly cash-strapped TfL has somehow managed to ...
I'm not very good at this sort of personal blog post; in fact, I hate it. But, alas, I feel my readers deserve an explanation. Firstly, I do enjoy blogging and I know it's a cliché, but it means a lot to have met so many different people who wish to hear my thoughts and ...
Well when I saw this Duran Duran video earlier in the week I just had to share it, because it is absolutely brilliant. the band are 30 years old this year and famous for including models in their music videos. Who Girl Panic! though they have gone one step further and have Super Models playing the five members of the band. Naomi Campbell (as lead singer Simon Le Bon), Helena Christensen (Roger Taylor), Eva Herzigova (Nick Rhodes), Cindy Crawford (John Taylor) and Yasmin Le Bon who as the guitarist is always changing says "She is not in Duran Duran", an ...
Court secrecy and injunctions act to undermine the rule of law.What is interesting in the courts at the moment is the revelation that many of the injunctions that were granted should not, in fact, been granted. A number of these were granted on the basis of allegations that were untrue and have not been substantiated.One of the problems with secret hearings (and we have still been having some
As I mentioned in my last post, we've just had solar panels installed! Because of Greg Barker MP's idiotic decision to scrap the Feed In Tariff with only six weeks' notice – we've had to get this done in rather a rush. Thanks to Angi and Philip at Sunny Future Solar, we were able to get our system installed before the deadline. Yesterday, we received confirmation that panels were installed and working and had generated their first 15W of electricity! Total cost of installation: £12,000. Ouch! How Making Money From Solar Works Once solar panels are installed, there are three ...
There is an excellent, thought provoking piece on the Guardian's website by Mehdi Hasan "If you lived in Iran, wouldn't you want the nuclear bomb?" Mehdi makes a very logical case, Iran is basically encircled by either the US's allies, countries the US are currently occupying/have a strong military force, or nuclear armed countries. Also there is the potential nuclear power Israel just a missile launch away. If you back someone into a corner then they are likely to want to fight back or at least have the ability to if pressed. He makes the valid point that Iraq, Afghanistan, ...
Below is a video of David Laws speaking at a Liberal Vision/IEA fringe event held at Lib Dem conference back in September. As ever, he makes some excellent points.
[Originally posted on Liberal Democrat Voice, 18/11/11, under a slightly different title] It is a truth universally acknowledged that Britain has a housing problem. There are problems of shortage and, consequently, access and affordability. There are three principal mechanisms for dealing with significant housing shortage and indirectly reducing the affordability problems that go with it: (1) You can reduce the number of households needing to be housed; (2) You can increase the number of properties available; and (3) You can improve the utilization of the existing stock of properties. You can try to do something on all three fronts. A ...
I'm delighted to tell you that last week Lib Dem Minister Sarah Teather announced that 900 two year olds in Southwark will get free early years education, targeted on children from deprived families who need it most. Improving social mobility is a key Liberal Democrat priority in Government and early year's education is crucial to achieve this. Targeting early education at those who stand to benefit most, it is important to achieve this goal. It will be an integral part to disadvantaged children's healthy development. This means they're not falling behind before they have even started primary school. As a ...
Opponents of "urban sprawl" and "Greenfield development" propose a number of ruses for increasing London's housing stock without building on previously undeveloped land - indeed, sometimes without building at all. One favourite is the "empty houses" myth. According to its advocates, huge numbers of houses are currently lying empty, just waiting to house the homeless. For example, The Guardian ... estimate that "more than 450,000 properties have been empty for at least six months... 25% higher than previously thought... enough to put a roof over the heads of a quarter of the families on council house waiting lists". But even ...
Can I start with a terrible confession which might get me thrown out of the Honourable Company of Politicians forever? I don't know everything that there is to know about housing! Yes that is obvious to everyone that reads these ... Continue reading →
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Britain has a housing problem. There are problems of shortage and, consequently, access and affordability. There are three principal mechanisms for dealing with significant housing shortage and indirectly reducing the affordability problems that go with it: (1) You can reduce the number of households needing to be housed; (2) You can increase the number of properties available; and (3) You can improve the utilization of the existing stock of properties. You can try to do something on all three fronts. A couple of weeks ago LibDemVoice co-editor Mark Pack identified six options, covering ...
Not from me (although I could be persuaded), but from Amma, the Divine Mother, at Alexandra Palace. I am all for this. It is generally a good thing. Amma photo credit: Some rights reserved by vaniAmrata [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Fri 18th
09:45
The Independent View: And then there was one... (Unmasked! The only backbench Lib Dem MP 100% loyal ...
When a quarter of the parliamentary Conservative party rebels, everyone sits up and takes notice. On 24 October, 2011, 81 Conservative MPs defied a three-line whip to vote in favour of an EU referendum: cue a blaze of negative publicity for David Cameron and the Tory party whips. But a week or so later one-quarter of Lib Dem MPs rebelled, and (almost) no one noticed. In nine separate votes on 1 and 2 November, a total of 14 Lib Dem MPs voted against various aspects of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill. The largest single rebellion saw ...
At Stockport's Full Council meeting last night, all the parties were united in supported the need for changes in the law to be considered to tackle the serious problem of scrap metal theft – perhaps with stricter rules to stop "cash in hand, no questions asked" scrap metal merchants, as the scrap is only useful to thieves if they can pass it on. Last year (2010/11), 1,250 grids were stolen from Stockport's roads. It cost the Council £250,000 to attend to them, make them safe and then replace with a non-metal grid – that's £200 per stolen grid. If current ...
Some timely advice for charities > 'How to pull in last-minute online donors' http://t.co/HIdlyUIj via Philanthropy Journal. # 'Dole Queues and Demons' > fab title for book looking at history of Tory election posters over the past century http://t.co/mlfmrZhb # How party election broadcasts used to be: http://t.co/87j9dF7T < Cecil Parkinson in '83 talking about the economic recovery. # RT @NottsProfSteve Self-publicity alert but regarding party election broadcasts, this is also good: http://t.co/qrD5n6Bc < He's right y'know # Y'know what: I rather liked Craig's version of Gaga. #xfactor # So has Berlusconi lost the public vote already? It's not even ...
One of the most attractive features of Estonian society is the complete lack of anything that could be described as social hierarchy. Even in countries smaller than Estonia a great deal of pomp is given to the political leaders- large numbers of bodyguards, police outriders on motorcades, government jets and all the toys of the powerful. In Estonia the ministers fly commercial and the level of security is minimally discreet. Talking last night to a friend who is the head of one of the largest local banks, he remarked on the fact that Estonians do not feel constrained by different ...
The County Council is currently reminding parents across Cambridgeshire who have a child born between 1st September 2007 and 31st August 2008 that they need to apply to the school they wish their child to attend from September 2012. The application process opened on the 14th November and parents have the choice of returning a paper form (which can be obtained from Bar Hill Primary School, of in fact any Primary School) or applying online via the Counties website; http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/admissions The completed form needs to be received by the Admission Team before 15th January. Applications received after that date will ...
The County Council is currently reminding parents across Cambridgeshire who have a child born between 1st September 2007 and 31st August 2008 that they need to apply to the school they wish their child to attend from September 2012. The application process opened on the 14th November and parents have the choice of returning a paper form (which can be obtained from The Grove, King's Hedges Primary School, of in fact any Primary School) or applying online via the Counties website; http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/admissions The completed form needs to be received by the Admission Team before 15th January. Applications received after that ...
Many Lib Dems will know Duwayne Brooks as a dedicated Lib Dem, a councillor in Lewisham and the party's lead member on the Safer Communities Board at the Local Government Group. To most of the public, though, he is better known as the best friend of Stephen Lawrence, whose murder was the subject of the Macpherson report into London's Metropolitan Police. And it is that night on 22 April 1993 which Duwayne has once again been forced to re-live this week, as was widely reported in the media yesterday. Here's an extract from The Guardian's report: Duwayne Brooks, who was ...
Yesterday I posted some photos taken in Bristol's Arnos Vale cemetery. The active part of that cemetery is beautifully tended whilst the older areas have become a nature reserve. Prior to visiting that, I popped into the Catholic burial ground, Holy Souls Cemetery, next to it. This was different in character, partly because it was much smaller and partly because the first area you enter has a number of overgrown graves and gravestones clad in ivy and other climbing plants. There was also a grave marked by a rather ostentatious crucifix - I've never seen anything quite like it. In ...
Cornwall Council's Cabinet discussed the upcoming Budget this week. After kicking things off with a stay of execution for Cornwall's public toilets – a 'U-bend Turn', as Richard Whitehouse put it – much of the rest of the meeting was spent in a self-congratulatory haze, with the Council's leading lights heaping praise upon themselves for ...
Chris White has demanded action over the pavements outside the Cock public house on Hatfueld Road. Chris said: 'As this photograph shows, the pavement is very uneven and floods badly in wet weather. It is time Herts Highways relaid it.'
With Syria facing increasing isolation from its Arab neighbours, as well as the international community and now increasing opposition domestically - President Bashar al-Assad's days are surely numbered. The only question being how much of a bloodbath is he prepared to unleash on his own people in delaying the inevitable? Like Gaddafi - Assad has benefitted for too long from tacit and explicit support from democratic leaders and their advisers whose belief in 'strongmen' to hold the middle East together has been proved an abject failure in terms of delivering more democracy, freedom or peace.
I've been unwell since finishing work yesterday, so I've not got anything prepared for the blog today (I still haven't replied to most of the emails I've had since Tuesday for that matter). Since I'm going to be away at Thought Bubble over the weekend, I'll just post this, about two related but opposite things ...
