[IMG: 195755_177063955675166_5662347_n] According to legend, Jo Grimond, leader of the British Liberal Party from 1956 to 1967, once said there were really only three campaign themes. The opposition always said it was "time for a change". The government always replied, "give us more time". The third party was left inviting voters to cast "a plague on both your houses" - a protest vote. Sure enough, in the run up to New Zealand's general election, to be held this Saturday, National, the lead party in the governing centre-right coalition, has used a "more of the same" narrative, in a soft-focus, reassuring ...
Boss: "You know, when I woke up today, I thought to myself "today I really need to have a conversation with Katie about her brother's cock". I'm so glad we've got that point covered." [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
The hugely talented Freddie Mercury died 20 years ago today. No-one compares :
American Samoa have finally won a game of football - defeating Tonga 2-1. The Beeb has the report. American Samoa hold the record for the biggest ever international defeat 31-0 to the not exactly great (in football terms) Australia. That's only 5 short of the most one sided match in history 36-0 Arbroath v Bon-Accord - an Aberdeen cricket team in the Scottish cup of 1885. On the same day another Aberdeen team went down 35-0 to Dundee Harp - in probably the worst day for Aberdeen football.
medicalschool: Red blood cells
1) TV As with the First Doctor, I am choosing the longest single story as my favourite from this era. It's not everyone's favourite - my poll from a couple of years back opted for The Mind Robber, and the dynamic rankings site and the Mighty 200 both went for Evil of the Daleks. The latter isn't even my favourite Second Doctor Dalek story (see below) but I do find it a tough choice between The Mind Robber and The War Games. In the end, the last black and white story gets me with its spooky music, the carefully disguised ...
Labour on Gateshead Council today proposed a motion on the economy that had clearly been cut and pasted from the national Labour website. There were no surprises in it: it contained the half-baked, uncosted, unrealistic, back-of-an-envelope proposals that are the best that Labour can come up with at the moment.In their motion, Labour claimed their proposal for a bank bonus tax would raise £2
My house was broken into and they took most of the electrical things including my computer and so I won't be able to post much for a while. All I can say is that I am thankful to Mr Burglar who kindly unplugged my external hard drive and left it for me.
... with the Leader of the Council. Who had been aggressive and rude about a legitimate question put to the Executive by a Liberal Democrat councillor. A Lib Dem who was attempting to ask a question but was being harangued to such an extent that he wasn't being allowed to ask it. What was his question about? What upset the Tories? Probably that he was questioning whether the Executive were absolutely certain to give Bulmershe the whole £6 million extra investment that was trailed in the report in front of them. The reason being that Bulmershe has needed that investment ...
Labour have a bit of a reputation in South Wales for the way they deal with their employees. In Rhondda Cynon Taf they imposed new terms and conditions on their staff, Neath Port Talbot lost £20 million of taxpayers' money in Icelandic banks whilst at the same time cutting the wages of their staff and, in Bridgend, Labour have delivered a job evaluation outcome that was described by one Unison official as the worst example he had seen in Wales in terms of outcomes for particular workers. Now the Western Mail reports that Rhondda Cynon Taf actually paid a solicitors' ...
The Xmas lights were switched on in Whickham on Tuesday. Here are the photos I took.
Today I'm taking part in my first Thanksgiving in the USA and it's got me thinking of those people and things I'm thankful for. I wrote a while ago about being grateful but in this post I wanted to single out a couple of people I'd like to give thanks to publicly: I'm grateful to ...
Police Surround Protesters Yesterday at Occupy Toronto
I'l admit, I used to find them funny. The person who rings 999 because they've spotted a mystery object in the sky (aka The Moon). The person who rings 999 because they couldn't reach their TV remote control. The person who rings 999 because they've got a hangover. And so on. So why have I stopped? I first lost some of the chuckles when realising not all the stories are quite what they seem. Get the full version and it doesn't seem quite so funny. (Witness today's 'stuck in a clothes horse' story.) But what made me stop laughing was ...
On Thursdays, when the main feature articles are written by Zoe Williams and Seumas Milne, the Guardian gives you the feeling that it has been taken over by children for the day. But on Monday it carried a terrific article by Aditya Chakrabortty. He began by looking at the career of the hugely overrated Richard Branson, but went on to point a wide moral about British business: in his desire for sheltered money-makers, the Virgin boss differs from the rest of British business only in his desire for publicity. Look at our household names: take out retail, banks and commodities ...
Thu 24th
17:18
SW MEP Sir Graham Watson the only formal candidate for ELDR presidency vote - but it's not a done de...
Twelve months ago we learned that South West Liberal Democrat MEP Sir Graham Watson was to stand as a candidate for the presidency of the European Liberal and Democrat and Reform party (ELDR).This week, the ELDR bureau, members, and associates have convened in Palermo, Italy, where on Friday (tomorrow) they will elect their new President and set of Vice Presidents.Nominations for all posts closed
Cornwall Council has backed down on its proposal to use the money given by the government to repair roads damaged by harsh weather to plug the hole in its parking budget. That's great news, but there will still be 22 road safety schemes which are being delayed. Last year, the Liberal Democrats warned that Cornwall Council's parking budget didn't add up. Unfortunately the Conservative-led administration refused to listen to us. As we predicted, there is a shortfall of at least £2 million this year. In order to meet part of this, the proposal had been made to use £1m of ...
It's hard to believe that 20 years ago we heard the sad news that Freddie Mercury had passed away. I know exactly what I was doing that evening. One of my former house mates called me for the second night in a row. The previous day he'd called me because the Freddie had announced that he was HIV positive and had AIDS and my friend from University had contracted HIV through a bad dose of Factor 8 to deal with his haemophilia. My friend had always been one to panic, it is the reason that why I at the age ...
The Vice-Chair of the Standards Committee has agreed that the scheduled 30th November meeting of the Standards Committee is to be cancelled because (according to a letter sent out today from Bill Norman to councillors and independent members of the Standards Committee) "there is insufficient business to be transacted, at the current time". Also on ...
At our Conference in September, the Liberal Democrats unanimously supported a motion calling for changes to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) which accompanies it. Speaker after speaker stood up to condemn the system left by Labour which subjected sick and disabled people to an ineffective, demeaning assessment process that was not fit for purpose. Many will remember the powerful speech by Shana Pezaro who condemned the WCA process as 'utterly failing many people'. The motion welcomed the first annual review of the WCA by Professor Malcolm Harrington, and the progress the Coalition Government has ...
Today our cousins across the water have this thing called Thanksgiving. It's an important thing, I think. Not to give thanks TO anyone, per se, but just to be thankful for what you have. I am thankful for:<My family. My beautiful daughter, my doggies, James and Mat, my mum and dad and brothers, my aunts and uncles and cousins... My grandparents, none of whom are still here, but even so... I wouldn't be me without them, and being me is the only thing I know how to do. My friends. So many of you reading this are people who have ...
Nominations have closed, and I can confirm that there has not been a late challenge to Graham's candidacy. Curiously, that doesn't mean that he has been elected. A ballot is still required as a President can only be elected if he or she achieves more than 50% of the vote. And that isn't necessarily as easy as it sounds, as I am reliably told that one unopposed candidate did lose once upon a time... Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
Labour have moved the writ to call the by-election to replace late MP Alan Keen. I'd be eager myself to be involved in a local LD 'Get Out the Vote' operation if anybody reading this knows the local party?
It has been argued to me by journalists, people who have a passion for foreign affairs and also a party leader that "just because we can't help everyone, it doesn't mean we can't help someone" - referring to my question of how we eagerly helped Libya, but do nothing about Syria apart from crying about how awful it must be. With 3,500 people killed by their own government, merely for opposing them, I can think of more suitable words than "awful". I take the argument used above and suggest that it's the wrong argument. I do get the sentiment, and ...
The concept of "energy" is increasingly influencing my thoughts on Lib Dem campaigning of late. We all know, yet have had some difficulty in expressing, that a good campaign team has a positive vibe – that a small team of volunteers will feed off each other's successes, support and encouragement, and this virtuous cycle will ...
The party funding report by the Committee for Standards in Public Life was barely off the printers and politicians from all parties were saying they were broadly supportive, but more importantly could not back the main suggestion that state funding of political parties be increased. Party funding will always be tough to square given the reliance of Labour on union money and the Conservatives (and increasingly the Liberal Democrats) on major donors. State funding is inevitable to reduce sleaze, real or inferred, and trust in politics. It only costs the equivalent of a couple of first class stamps a year, ...
Chris has used his locality budget to pay for new trees in Victoria Street. Officials plan to protect them permanently in the next few days. Chris comments: 'This is an attempt to cheer up Victoria Street, one of the key areas into St Albans. Once the developers and planners have sorted out what is going to happen on London Road we can look at planting trees there too.'
Local Government Minister Bob Neill has accused those local authorities which are refusing to freeze council tax of showing "contempt for hard-working families". At the moment, the Tory-led administration on Cornwall Council is refusing to say whether or not they will implement a freeze. Back at the Conservative Party Conference, Chancellor George Osborne announced that the Government would be giving a grant equivalent to a 2.5% rise in council tax to any local authority which froze their element of the council tax. It is regrettable that this is a one year only offer and the money won't be embedded in ...
At each full council meeting, Cornwall Council invites members of the public to ask questions. Next Tuesday, a Mr Davidson of St Austell is first up with this poser: "Can I ask a question relating to item 12 - Parliamentary Constituencies Review?" Tweet
Obviously it isn't just a Yes/No question and if I decide in the positive then I become one, it is slightly more problematic than that but still it is a question that is reverberating around my mind a lot at the moment due to the fact I've been asked to run in May 2012. I sit here in a cold office (otherwise known as my spare bedroom) thinking about what I want out of politics. In all honesty I still don't know. When I got around to finally joining the Lib Dems it wasn't because I saw myself getting into ...
Queen have been my favourite band since I first started listening to rock and pop music and Freddie Mercury is simply the best rock front man of all time. Queen's Greatest Hits was one of the first five albums I bought (in 1983, as you ask), and I played it daily for months, staggered by the brilliance of the songs. The reaction to Queen's performance at Live Aid, in front of an audience who had bought tickets for the event, not for them, demonstrated Freddie's outstanding ability to work a live crowd. And their performance at Newcastle St. James Park, ...
It is a long time since this blog has directly criticised a Liberal Democrat Minister, but the dismal response of the Government to the BIS Select Committee's fourth successive report on the pub property management companies (pubcos) gives me no choice. The response isn't a watering-down of the recommendations which Liberal Democrat Ministers personally promised to implement after four successive damning reports on an industry sector indebted to breaking point and rotten to the core as a result. It's not short measure. It's more akin to passing off cold tea as beer, the way it's done in films. It's going ...
When the headlines are about immigration reaching record levels, you would have thought Conservative MPs would be leaping forward to complain, condemn and demand crack-downs. But I have faith. I know Conservative MPs are smart enough to read beyond the headline number and get to this bit in the ONS figures: "Immigration remained steady at 591,000. Declining emigration is the main driver for the increase in net migration". In other words, fewer people are so fed up with the UK that they are leaving for abroad. Surely that's a fantastic vote of confidence in Britain? So dust off your patriotic ...
The failure of the German Bund auction yesterday is being written off as being of relatively minor significance. It is not- it is critical. If the Federal German government is unable to attract bids for nearly half of the Bunds that they offer, it tells you that the rest of the credit market is also closed. Banks are unable to access even the interbank market, and we are seeing the system come under renewed strain. Already we have seen the collapse of the Lithuanian bank, Bankas Snoras, which has also been dismissed as being of little significance. However, the fact ...
This morning's Western Mail reports that a prospective Plaid Cymru candidate who lives within my region has withdrawn plans to stand for election after posting some dodgy jokes about Raoul Moat on Facebook and Twitter. Apparently, he does not like me either, describing me as dull, humourless and tedious. You would think he had actually met me.
Can be read here.
These photos were taken earlier this week at 6.00 am. As you can see (and would expect) the car parks were not 'full' as described on the sign.
It's been several months since I last posted, and in that time a number of people have asked why I stopped. So I thought I'd write one more post for now, just explaining why that was. It's quite simple really - Since I'm no longer an elected Councillor, I know far less about what is ...
By building new airports we will be contributing to the global rise in greenhouse gas emmissions, air travel being one of the worst culprits, increasing to the problem of climate change in already stricken locations such as the Sahel region of Africa and increasing the burden of support required for future generations, not to mention hindering rather than helping to meet our Kyoto and domestic emmissions targets and placing even more burden on the domestic power user. The cost of the project raises concern as well, how much are the tax payers going to have to contribute to the billions ...
When George Dangerfield wrote The Strange Death of Liberal England it looked as though liberalism was no longer relevant to the body politic. The Liberal party had been overtaken by its rivals: the Conservatives and the newly-created Labour party. Many liberal ideas had become part and parcel of the political landscape, which might have explained the demise of the party. In 2003, David Walter wrote The Strange Rebirth of Liberal England. The author argued that liberalism was back. But that liberalism was very different to the one that was withering away decades before. It is no surprise that a political ...
Hearing both Danny Alexander and Nick Clegg speak several times at local Liberal Democrat events over the summer, something not quite right about their speeches was nagging away at the back of my mind. It was not the delivery, for both have speaking styles which are excellently suited to the semi-formal audience of between 20 and 100 which is common at such events. Nor was it about the consistency of message: without either lapsing into robotic repetition of the sort that served Ed Miliband so badly in his notorious public sector strikes interview, both in their different ways were echoing ...
Alright, so we're underway here in Palermo, in a room lit in blue lights a bit like a 1980's disco (if I find the glitterball, I'll let you know). After a fiercely early start, the 32nd Congress of ELDR (European Liberal Democrats) is deep in discussion about the future of the European economy, with a rather technical presentation on global interconnectedness. Interestingly, the United Kingdom ranks 6th of the one hundred and twenty-five nations considered, although we rank behind Ireland. Even more interestingly, thirteen of the top twenty are in the European Union, and fifteen are in the European Economic ...
For some time now I have proclaimed myself as an atheist but I prefer Les Barker's term "Agnostic Fundamentalist". Have a listen to his Shipping Forecast and then The Church of the Wholly Undecided. If you don't laugh even once, you're obviously deeply depressed.
Copies of the notices announcing 20 mph zones in central St Albans.
I am sitting on the Metro heading towards Sunderland for a committee meeting. The irony is that it is my birthday and the meeting I am heading for is the Tyne and Wear Museums Committee! I'm old enough to be an exhibit myself!The meetings don't end there. I have to come back to Gateshead for a full council meeting in which Labour are proposing a motion which claims they left a golden legacy for
Yesterday afternoon, I had a text from my daughter's school confirming that they were definitely closing next Wednesday, the day of the massive public sector strike over pensions. But, that's fine - no problem - because David Cameron and Louise Mensch came up with the perfect solution yesterday at Prime Minister's Questions - Bob should just take her into the office with him. Mrs Mensch's was I think the third in a series of questions clearly drummed up by Tory whips to give Cameron the chance to have a go at the strikers. This is how it went: Will the ...
The 23rd Camberwell Scout Group are under threat. Apparently in 2003 their rent was increased to £7,000 and after all these years they've amassed debts to the council of £23,000. With circa 100 scouts this rent level without support was always going to be a challenge. I regret that when the Lib Dems led the council we had to charge a market rent as councils are required to BUT that we also didn't provide a yearly Youth grant to such an important Youth organisation to cover that rent. We can't expect Camberwell kids to pay £70 a year just to ...
Thu 24th
09:17
The Independent View: 1 in 7 people go hungry every day. But you can help. Here's how...
It is a shocking fact that whilst enough food is produced globally to feed everyone, one in seven people go hungry every day. Around half a billion of these hungry people are smallholder farmers who struggle to grow enough food from their land to feed themselves and their families. So Concern Worldwide has launched a campaign action for you to use your influence to help tackle hunger. World leaders of the Group of 20 leading economies met in Cannes in November 2011 and promised to address the issue of hunger. However, despite some progress, the issue was largely left as ...
Tuesday 29 November 6-8pm Dulwich parents and kids will be demonstrating outside full Council Assembly at The Charter School. Councillors tend to arrive for council assembly pre meetings which start at 6pm and 7pm the full council session kicks off. For the life of me I can't see why Dulwich or Southwark kids are being put at risk by the proposals to remove School Crossing Patrols – Lollipop people – from dangerous junctions even if they're signalled. This is especially bad when the budget that pays for them is the Parking Review Account partly funded by parking permits which have ...
Opposition politicians have to cherish them. Readers with long memories will remember that at one time the county council proposed building a new "One-Point" children's hub on the Car Park at Sherburn Terrace. After initially using the scare-mongering tactic that "we've got to build it by August or we'll lose it", they succumbed to local pressure and finally agreed to build it elsewhere – outside the Junior School in Consett where having the service on their doorstep was warmly welcomed by the school. And now it will be officially opened on December 2nd. It's hard not to draw parallels with ...
They say that February 3rd 1959, the day when Buddy Holly died, was the day that music died. Another such similar date it could well be argued was November 24th 1991. As a 9 year old, I can only vaguely recall the death of Freddie Mercury. Only 10 days earlier on November 14th 1991, the only grandparent that I ever met and knew passed away. 5 days later on the 19th, he was buried. I didn't attend the funeral but was back in the wake instead. I remember it vividly because the news on the TV showed the release of ...
People campaigning for the release of Stuart Syvret were having a problem getting an e-petition tabled in support of my Early Day Motion. I, therefore, tried to get a motion tabled. It has taken about 2 weeks (and being raised at two select committees), but we now have the e-petition.That is here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/22394There is also one in support of my EDM calling for
Thu 24th
07:45LDVideo | Jeremy Browne's pledge to Sam Fox: I'll raise issue of tiger farms with Chinese government
As the BBC reports: The former model and singer Sam Fox challenged foreign office minster Jeremy Browne on the Daily Politics about tiger farms in China which she wants to see closed. Mr Browne told her that he would raise the matter with the Chinese. Fewer than 3,500 tigers remain in the wild around the world. You can watch the exchange below: (Video also available on the BBC website here.)
[Originally posted at Dale&Co, 22/11/11, It is an earlier version of material discussed in Laying the foundations?] The much anticipated, and heavily trailed, housing strategy for England - Laying the foundations - arrived on Monday. The Government's claim is that the strategy will "get the housing market moving again", while at the same time "laying the foundations for a more responsive, effective and stable housing market in the future". How do those claims stack up? The document presents a plausible portrait of the situation we find ourselves in, in terms of the housing shortages and affordability problems. And some of ...
Last night, I attended a very well-attended initial meeting of what we all hope will become a friends' group for the newly opened Riverside Nature Park. The meeting, kindly hosted by the Dundee Botanic Garden, had three excellent presentations by David Bell, Alison Anderson and Peter Sandwell, and there was real interest in setting up a group to move this superb park further forward. It was a very positive meeting and will be meet up again early in the New Year to progress this.
Further to the item in yesterday's Courier and on www.dundeewestend.com, you can now download the West End Christmas Week brochure. Page One - events and activities - also see below Page Two - offers, prize draw and thanks! Two key events! Saturday 26th November at 10.00am - Christmas Week starts! The eleventh annual West End Christmas Week will be launched at 10.00am in Dundee West Church's Community Facilities (enter at top of Roseangle) where a West End Community Fayre is taking place. Many local organisations are participating and all residents are invited to attend. Entrance is entirely free of charge ...
Lancashire County Council's policy is supposed to be to make the speed limit on all residential roads 20 mph, but there is not a single road in Ormskirk included in their current plans (phase 1). Why?
Transcript: It is marvellous how the right hon. Gentleman repeats his soundbite every time he discusses the NHS. I have to tell him that he is wrong. He knows that the NHS has to evolve. He knows that we have to improve and enhance patient care. I think he does himself a disservice by simply ... Read more
Earlier this autumn the Boundary Commission published its proposals for reducing the number of MPs in England from 650 to 600 while equalising the size of most constituencies. While some of the new boundaries the Commission is proposing are sensible, many more needlessly tear the heart out of the communities they serve and will make effective representation in Parliament much more difficult. We are now in a period of consultation and as a local party – supported by our colleagues in the Liberal Democrat North West regional office and National Headquarters – we have put in a series of counter-proposals. ...
Tonight is the anniversary of the first ever broadcast of Doctor Who, so the adult members of the household all picked an episode to watch which was special for some reason. James chose An Unearthly Child, because that was the start of it all. I chose Caves of Androzani episode 4 because it is the introduction of Colin and a massively powerful childhood memory for me. And Mat? Mat chose The Mind Robber episode 2. For Zoe's arse. Still, a bit of Trout is always a treat. Happy Whoniversary everyone :) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Thursday: I REALLY like the bit where the MILKMAN breaks into the SECRET BASE in order to bundle the important PRISONER into an aircraft and make off with him! Oh, no, wait! I've been watching James Bond in "The Living Daylights"! My Daddies have been watching a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT bonkers spy adventure. It does have a Colonel James in it though... information The Prisoner wakes to find, without any explanation, that the Village is utterly deserted, saving only a solitary black cat. If "A. B. & C." is the archetypal episode of "The Prisoner" then this one is textbook enigmatic. ...
