As the December edition of Eaglescliffe's Focus leaflet hit the doormats around the ward I started to receive phone calls from people offering coats for the Donate a Coat appeal. For those readers who don't live in the ward or don't read Focus, this is an appeal which the Salvation Army is making this year with Daybreak TV for warm winter coats to give to the homeless and otherwise vulnerable
The report on the beeb says the following: "The racing pedigree dog stole away during a walk and slipped past a manned access point into a cargo area. Gary Brown, the airport's duty manager, told the Manchester Evening News: "It took some time to catch it." One would have hoped so.
It hardly matters what kind of policy meeting it is, it's always the same when you talk about community. Someone will pipe up and talk about the shift to virtual communities, or communities of interest. Which is true, of course - but only up to a point. Localism is impossible without real geographical communities. So are most solutions to social problems. So are most public services. But at last politicians are beginning to remember the importance of place, and among them is Nick Clegg:
Sun 18th
22:09
A Christmas message from Julie Girling and some "reassuring words" RE UK's EU isolation
South West Conservative MEP Julie Girling has this week published a special Christmas edition of her video blog. In this edition, filmed in Strasbourg, her message remains on issues at the national level - a.k.a. the fallout of Cameron's veto at the latest EU Summit (PS: Why still no constituency issues Julie?).Anyway, my particular favourite passage:"For all those of you who are worried that we
The attached additional changes are being made to the County Councils constitution; these reflect changes within the Environment Services Management Structure (including to delegations).Given the frequency of these Constitutional Changes lately (which are mostly delegated to the Monitoring Officer) you really do have to wonder what the point of having a written Constitution is if you are going to spend your entire life tweaking it.I wonder how different the US would look if it's Government Officers could just tinker at the edges of the constitution every couple of months?! But then as only a simple majority is required to change ...
Last time I watched The Romans, just over two years ago, it left me rather cold. On F's suggestion we watched the first two episodes last night and the other two this evening, and I found I loved it (and so did he). Last time round I was watching while waking up early and jetlagged on a particularly arduous field trip; shows how the mood you are in can make a difference to your appreciation of, well, anything.
Vince Cable on how the government is pushing ahead with banking reform: Nick Clegg on his opposition to tax breaks for marriage:
Last night I was in reflective mood and was thinking I'll blog on the past year, its a cliche I know, still it is with some regret, that I announce the death of Mr Puss (the family cat), and will reflect on a significant presence at Flaig Mansions. Now I have to acknowledge, that it's easy being sentimental about a cat, certainly he is the only pet our family has had discounting Tom, Dick and Harry (goldfish), it had never been my intention to have a pet, but the cat sort of subtlety ingratiated himself, and despite already having a ...
A survey of the history of Rome from 1300 to 1590, which covers the history of Rienzi (which I knew nothing about), the Great Schism (which I did know something about) and the government of Rome once the Popes had returned. See also notes on how silly it is to have a poet laureate, the Pope as temporal prince, the Great Schism, how power transforms people, the influence of holy women, and who was right in the end. One more chapter to go!
This week I have been keeping a promise to keep the people of Chorlton informed of the current position regarding the School Crossing Patrols. I have hand-delivered the following letter to homes across Chorlton, and the message is that the fight goes on. Dear Neighbour, As you may already know Chorlton Liberal Democrats joined with local parents, campaigners and the Press to lead the fight to save Manchester's School Crossing Patrols. On Wednesday, 7th December 2011, I handed in a petition to Manchester Town Hall signed by almost 1,000 anxious parents and guardians who agree that no Lollipop patrols should ...
Cambridgeshire Trading Standards are offering festive shoppers help and advice to avoid disappointment on Christmas morning. Many people turn to on-line shopping to take the stress out of present buying, but all too often customers are not sure exactly who they are dealing with or that what they are buying is a genuine item or in fact exists at all. So far this year, the Police E-Crime Unit has shut down 2,000 websites for selling fake or non-existent goods. This follows the 1,800 similar sites closed down last year. County Council Cabinet Member for Enterprise, Councillor Mathew Shuter, said: "There ...
Link to the Numbers Game
Not far from Acocks Green is Moseley Bog & Joy's Wood Nature Reserve. The Reserve is run by The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country, and the Trust is running a series of free events in the Reserve in coming months, several of which would be great outings for families: Sunday 29th January 2012, Archaelogical Guided Walk – 1pm to 2pm Wednesday 15th February 2012 (half term week), Family Fun Day – 12 noon to 3pm Friday 30th March 2012, Welcome to Spring Walk – 6pm to 7pm Wednesday 4th April 2012, Easter Hunt and Quiz – 2pm ...
Red Velvet at Consett has made an application for a Sexual Establishment Venue Licence and the 28 day consultation period ends on 10th January 2012. There was a good deal of controversy when Red Velvet applied for a licence in 2006. In the five years since then I have read and heard little about it, but the introduction of new law and new licensing regulations makes this application open for debate once more. Last time only people living within 100 metres of the premises were allowed to object, but the rules are now drawn much more widely. As well as ...
Overall unemployment by rose 16,000 across the UK in November with claimant unemployment up 3,000. In Birmingham seasonally adjusted unemployment actually fell (from 12.6% to 12.5% in the past month) with the total number of claimants in the City falling by 48 from 50,876 to 50,828 in the month. Birmingham's unadjusted figure fell by 532 in November, to 50,541 (12.5%). Unadjusted unemployment always tends to do better than the adjusted figure in the month of November as people find seasonal Christmas jobs. Acocks Green continues to outperform Birmingham on an annual basis. Whereas unadjusted claimant unemployment in Birmingham has risen ...
Back in 2006 I was interviewed live on air a few times on Sky News by Colin Brazier. When the video below was originally broadcast, Steve McClaren was the manager of the England national football team and he had just dropped David Beckham from the squad. I didn't think it was a particularly good idea at the time (and I still stand by that now). I'm introduced about 2 and a half minutes in.
From the tribute on Huffington Post: "A great fighter for the freedom of nations and for democracy has died," said Lech Walesa, his fellow anti-communist activist who founded neighboring Poland's Solidarity movement. "His outstanding voice of wisdom will be missed." Among his many honors were Sweden's prestigious Olof Palme Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest U.S. civilian award, bestowed on him by President George W. Bush for being "one of liberty's great heroes." An avowed peacenik whose heroes included rockers such as Frank Zappa, he never quite shed his flower-child past and often signed his name with ...
Three years ago I chose a video by Jeff Buckley's father Tim Buckley. In fact I liked his Dolphins so much that I remembered it when asked to choose a video as part of my "Meet the Liberal Democrat Bloggers" feature on Lib Dem Voice. Jeff Buckley's life and reputation were dominated by his similarity to his father. They looked alike, sounded alike and both died ridiculously young (Jeff at 30, Tim at 28). Yet they met only once. As a New York Times article reproduced on the Jeff Buckley website records: Jeffrey Scott Buckley was born in 1966, the ...
So read the headline on Page 2 of the Sunday Express today. I saw it laid out on my father-in-law's table as we fetched him for his 89th birthday lunch at the wonderful Queen Victoria pub at Hare Hatch. (Special thanks to landlady Chrissie who made us feel a million dollars. When was the last time the landlady of a pub opened the door especially to you and welcomed you in? Well it happened to us today – thank you Chrissie.) The article is a particularly venomous, twisted take on a speech which Nick Clegg is yet to make. The ...
Being told to imitate James Delingpole. Being told I sound like Tony Blair. Being told the BBC's lawyers were nervous about what I might say in an interview. Life may be an uncertain thing, but I'm pretty sure next week, the week after or the one after that won't repeat that trio...
Via the BBC: Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has said the idea of tax breaks for married couples is wrong, and would not work. The deputy prime minister told Sky News there were "philosophical differences" with the Lib Dems' coalition partners, the Conservatives, over the issue. He said there was a limit on what the state "should seek to do in organising people's private relationships"... Mr Clegg told the Dermot Murnaghan programme he was in favour of marriage, but said children "thrived best when they see their parents happy together", whether they were married or not. He said that he ...
I realise this is unlikely to be a popular blog post but yet again I find myself compelled to stick up for a politician who has done something highly inadvisable in their private life and who has paid for it with their political career. Aidan Burley, the Conservative MP for Cannock Chase has been fired by David Cameron as a PPS to Justine Greening because he attended a stag do where some guests were wearing SS uniforms and during which there was a toast to "the ideology and thought processes of the Third Reich". The story broke last week but ...
In January 2003 I was delighted to observe this neon heart fixed to the ancient Prague Castle. The New York Times said: "The heart is an artwork by Jiri David, who said part of his intention was to pay homage to President Vaclav Havel." Prague Castle and neon heart photo credit: Some rights reserved by Tolka Rover [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
I went to Whickham Pharmacy on Wednesday, not because of anything to do with my state of health (political opponents will be delighted to know that I am in the best of shape!). The visit was on the invitation of the owner of the business, Mark Burdon. In the summer he contacted me to help with a planning application. At that point his shop was in a smaller unit but a bigger shop had become vacant
Somehow I have fallen behind with logging my progress with the latest Big Finish audios, so here are three, in continuity order (which is coincidentally also release order). In The First Wave, the story of Steven and audio-only companion Oliver, and their travels with the First Doctor, comes to an end. It's a story which features the Vardans, which is a stroke of genius - they really belong much more to Season 3 than to the colour era, and somehow the sense of the story fits rather well to the era in which it was set, with Peter Purves and ...
I'm typing this in my now-empty office in the University of Oxford's Lubyanka-esque headquarters at Wellington Square. After 13 years, Friday was my last day working for Oxford. My Oxford connection goes back still further: it was 17 years ago, December 1994, that I came to interview for a place to read History. Exactly half my lifetime ago. So I think it's probably fair to say that it was time to move on, try something new. That something new starts in January: Development Director for the Education Endowment Foundation. I'm genuinely thrilled with the opportunity. The EEF is one of ...
I'm going to try to get a Who post up on the Mindless site tonight, but that'll be it for a few days, probably, as the heady social whirl of Christmas approaches. Tomorrow, after work I'm going to see Paul McCartney. On Tuesday we've been invited to a party after work (I may not go, ...
Our recent trip to Stratford was made even more interesting by our accommodation for the night, Wroxton Abbey, just outside Banbury. The Abbey, with its eighteenth century garden, is one of the perhaps less well known stately homes but its history is an interesting one. Originally built in the Jacobean era, on the site of a monastery torn down on the instructions of Henry VIII, the house became to home of the Norths, one of whom went on to become Prime Minister. Lord North, for it was he, is probably most famous for, let us put it tactfully, misplacing the ...
This weekend in Paris the usual tide of pilgrims to the tomb of Irish playwright Oscar Wilde were able to see the product of approximately 40,000 euros-worth of renovation, most of that funding being provided by the Irish government. The maginificent carving by Jacob Epstein — commissioned by Oscar's friend and patron, Helen Carew – has ...
Saturday: From Star Wars Lego Advent Calendar Day 17 Time to Arm Up
Oh dear, we're back to the 80s. And I don't mean Thatcherism. In his autumn statement, George Osborne announced a number of measures that betrayed a clear line of thinking: the environment is a luxury issue that's all well and good but mustn't be allowed to get in the way of the interests of business. Such as giving energy-intensive industries £250 million to offset carbon costs, and softening EU nature protection laws. This was very much the line of thinking that made Labour such a slow convert to 'green' issues. As the party that had grown up representing the industrial ...
Next year, more than half a million additional children will qualify for the Pupil Premium. In Hampshire, 27,152 children are expected to be eligible, meaning that Hampshire schools are set to benefit from an extra £16.2 million, over £600,000 of this in Andover, to support disadvantaged pupils. The Pupil Premium will be extending its reach to cover any child that has been registered for Free School Meals (FSM) in the past six years. For 2012-13, the Premium will be worth £1.25 billion in total. These are England's most disadvantaged pupils, including looked after children, and they are set to benefit ...
It's easy to find fault with controversial thinkers, and few are more controversial than Ayn Rand, mother of Objectivism. Her faults are plenty; I could quote Rand on homosexuality ("immoral and disgusting") on Arabs ("savages") or on American Indians ("a ... Continue reading →
"Good grief," you're thinking, "what's he on about this time?. Is this an obscure attempt at humour by using metaphor?". Actually, it is pain-induced. Yesterday, whilst bringing in logs for the wood burning stove, I attempted to reach outwards and downwards for a last log and discovered the outer limit of what my back is actually capable of. It isn't that, it appears. Twenty-four hours later, after much resort to painkillers, and some rather gingerly negotiation of various parts of the house, I am capable of moving around, albeit stiffly and cautiously, although it isn't pretty. As I have noted ...
Out canvassing with James Allie and Sarah Teather Brrrrrrr. It was off to the cold streets of Wembley Central this morning to go canvassing for Afifa Pervez in the ward which, during the 2001 census, has the highest proportion of overseas-born residents in the country. One quick look at the canvass cards showed how multicultural the area has remained and the doorsteps quickly revealed how in an area with high private renting the sort of electoral registration problems which research identifies are confirmed by direct doorstep experience. The reception from the people I spoke to was, metaphorically, very warm (and ...
It is a story fit for the Ancient Greeks. Such as Helen of Troy's gift to always be correct in her visions her curse was to always be disbelieved. For the time whence Nick Clegg was considered to be universally correct and everyone "Agree(d) with Nick" the Gods became angry and cursed him so that from May 2010 he would always be wrong - No matter what he did!!! The most recent one occurred but yesterday. Nick Clegg blasted a French Minister for his criticism of the British economy as unfair and wrong. Moments later a tweet appeared featuring Mr ...
Now there's a headline I never thought that I would write. Me backing Cameron - well it is only a 75% success rate because I don't agree with absolutely everything he says. Where he is right is in accepting that ... Continue reading →
It's been a sad week. My mother's sister, my Auntie Elinor passed away peacefully last Saturday aged just 67. She had battled ill-health all of her life but recent years had been particularly difficult for her. Yesterday, the family and the community of Eglwyswrw gathered at my maternal family's Bethabara Chapel in Pontyglasier to pay our final respects. Along with my 3 elder brothers, I was one of the pall-bearers. It was a role I have never undertaken before and it was particularly sad as we took her coffin in the cemetary after the service, past those of her mother ...
Today's Scotland on Sunday suggests that the SNP Government will bring forward legislation to allow civil marriage for same sex couples. However, religious ceremonies, even for those organisations who want to conduct them, will not be permitted. I really hope this isn't true. In this day and age, for the state to bow to the leadership of the churches is pretty sad, particularly when polls consistently show a significant majority of Scots in favour of equal marriage. Even the most ardent supporters of equal marriage, and I'd count myself as one of them, would not compel any church to conduct ...
There are no meetings of Blyth Town Council in the weeks beginning 19th December and 26th December The office ( Ebor House ) will be closed from from close of business on Tuesday 20th December and will reopen on Tuesday 3rd January The next scheduled meeting is:- Planning & Development Committee , Thursday 5th January, 6pm at Ebor House
The link is to a story behind the paywall of the Sunday Times relating to Friday's jailing at around 4pm of Vicky Haigh for 3 years.On the way to the meeting in London (at which she asked a question of Anthony Douglas which was one of the reasons for which Doncaster MDC tried to have her imprisoned) she saw her daughter and went to say hello.At a time at which the press would not ordinarily be
It's December which means for those who have them, it's time to get out those chocolate advent calendars! But for those of you who, like me, don't do such things anymore (and indeed for those of you who still do!), I thought I'd give my own unique little twist on this festive time of year with my Musical Advent Calendar countdown of my Top 25 favourite Christmas songs! I'm blogging a song a day, culminating with my favourite on Christmas Eve. So let's continue on our seasonal countdown... Cole's Musical Christmas Advent Calendar - Day 18! Today we have my ...
In politics the final poll is what matters but polls can only really be understood in a context of how the party has been doing over the years. By taking a long term view of the polls we can see how one poll relates which will give us a idea of how good or bad ...
Those of us who have, I put it politely, been about for a while, will remember the carnage that followed John Major's 'Back to Basics' campaign in the mid-nineties, as a series of hitherto anonymous Conservative MPs were outed for their less than entirely conventional view of human sexuality. It demonstrated, beyond any doubt, that politicians are human, like everyone else. Unfortunately, with the media sub-contracted to act as moral arbiters, it was never going to end well, with effects that still impact on our politics today. I find myself in what seems like a counter-intuitive position. Because, whilst our ...
Just a thought: As the Welsh First Minister is now running his own foreign policy with regards to Europe, would he like to step in and intervene in the case of Pembrokeshire-raised Bradley Manning as well?
Good news about the economic situation across Europe has been in short supply recently, but there has been one piece of good news this week. One which, moreover, shows politicians learning the lessons from the 1930s (although quite what some of the right lessons are is a somewhat controversial topic). In the 1930s, depression caused countries to sink into rounds of beggar my neighbour protectionism, putting up barriers to trade in vain attempts to protect domestic economies but which only ended up dragging everyone further down. This time round, not only is protectionism not on the march in the same ...
Like many other elected representatives, I have consituents who lost money as a result of the collapse of Christmas savings firm, Farepak five years ago. Attempts to salvage something from this mess and get compensation for the victims of this crash have now clearly run aground and in my view, Government intervention is the only alternative. What irks more than anything is the way that the whole compensation process has become mired in professional fees, so much so that according to this article in the Wales on Sunday, the professional advisors stand to make more than the victims. The paper ...
In the UK, and in many countries across the world, there are many different forms of marriage. These are all accepted as marriage, even though they aren't "Christian". On its own, that is enough to suggest that conservative Christians should not oppose the emergence of same-sex marriage. True, same-sex marriage isn't part of traditional Christian ...
The final Sunday before Christmas itself brings about another more sacred contribution to my Advent Calendar of delights. After the Ukrainian Carol of the Bells last week I've decided to use another of the Carols has some more unusual choral words. So as arranged by Malcolm Sargant based on the Polish original here's The Zither Carol:
Sun 18th
08:46
'Now is no time for us Lib Dems to lose our nerve...' My latest blogpost for The Huffington Post!
The Lib Dems need to fight for socially liberal policies from within the Government..
Sun 18th
08:40'It's time for Occupy St Paul's Protesters to go home...' my latest blogpost for The Huffington Post...
They've made their point...it's time now for them to return to their normal lives.
Cambridgeshire County Council's Trading Standards Service is warning of an emerging drainage scam in the county. The service has had reports that residents, specifically the elderly, have been called on by drainage contractors claiming to be working at a nearby property or business with blocked drains and claiming that the problems are coming from blockages in the resident's drains. The residents are then charged up to £7000 for the repair. It is believed this is the work of rogue traders. The approach is similar to a drainage scam that has emerged this week in London where people call on householders ...
Residents have asked why the traffic management at the above location is still in place, following the recent motor vehicle damage to the rail bridge. The City Council's Head of Transportation advises : "This is a deliberate section of temporary traffic management to ensure that no further vehicle strikes occur. The City Engineer's Structural engineers have undertaken a survey and we (City Engineer / Transportation and Planning) are considering a permanent layout that will prevent any further bridge strikes in the future. I am unable to give any date for removing the traffic management as this will be dependant on ...
It's that time of year for me, a rare treat to be awake and at home at this time (00:50 Sunday), normally at the weekend if I`m up at this time it's because I've just started a 12hr shift on the railway, with all that entails. However that's not the case this weekend, so its interesting to sometime step back a bit, one subject in the news of recent that still intrigues me is the slow way in which our society is dealing with the newspaper scandal centering on the defunct News of the World, I have to say that ...
I think this blogging thing will become more regular. So Adrian Burley went to a party in France. He was talking to a man in Nazi uniform. How dare he have friends who do some inappropriate things. It's another example of excessive political correctness gone too far. He should have no responsibility over what his
