11:03 pm
Tonight a friend of mine from school was dining at The Ivy. This is not a normal occurence, I don't want to give you the wrong idea. At a nearby table the cast of Pirates of the Carribbean were celebrating after the premier of their latest film. Meanwhile I was eating a microwave lasagne whilst watching Big Brother.
10:54 pm
The agenda for the Council Meeting on Tuesday 11 July has now been published and can be found here on the City Council's website. Items on the agenda include: a Scrutiny report on Devolution and Localisation;a Scrutiny report on Day Services for Adults; andthe annual reports of the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Families and the Council's Lead Member on the West Midlands Police
10:47 pm
The new Sports Centre at Selly Park Technology College for Girls will be formally opened by the Lord Mayor tomorrow (Tuesday 4 July). Lord Mayor Councillor Mike Sharpe said: “As a big fan of football it is a pleasure to help Selly Park Technology College for Girls to open their impressive new sports centre. “This centre will bring pleasure to thousands of people as it will not only encourage
9:49 pm
Last Friday's House Points column from Liberal Democrat News was written before I went on holiday. Demob happy? You could say that. Fishy stuff Poor Ben Bradshaw. He has put so much effort into pleasing the prime minister, but still finds himself with a boss who is younger, brighter and prettier than he is. Worse, David Milliband got to be secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs through talent. Bradshaw has made it only to parliamentary under-secretary of state for environment, food and rural Affairs and won himself an unfortunate reputation along the way. “The ludicrously ...
9:28 pm
The boredom of just sitting on the tube has now forced me to buy a new book to read on the journey. I've gone for The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart (or George Cockcroft). Inspired by The Diceman, a show I used to watch on the Discovery Channel. Which predictably was inspired by the original novel. Both are based on the premise of a roll of a dice making decisions but one is a quite eccentric travel show whilst the other appears to be rather more shocking. Plus Private Eye is out on Thursday which seems a very manageable ...
8:38 pm
One of the things which reputedly turned voters off William Hague when he was Tory leader (if they had ever been turned onto him that is) was that he obviously jumped onto any passing bandwagon. We appear to have the same trend emerging with Mr Cameron. There is a gap in his press release schedule and the figures from Bromley don't look good, so he hurriedly (by all accounts) slaps together a
8:04 pm
Got a lot of 'what about the English?' on doorsteps during the 2005 general election and have thought that this would erupt as a debate at some point. The Union is one of our sacred cows, a hangover from a more turbulent past when the wishes of the people had little effect on what passed for government. The existence of the Union skews this debate about English representation in a devolved
7:35 pm
A new way of helping at least 6,000 households in Redcar and Cleveland who cannot afford to heat their homes adequately has been launched in the Borough. Redcar and Cleveland Council, through Warm Zones, has a proven track record of removing people from this difficult situation, providing energy efficiency measures to their homes and helping to increase their income through benefit entitlement checks. With the closure of Warm Zone, the Council's strategic partner, Jarvis Accommodation Services, has been working to establish a new way of helping these vulnerable households, many of them elderly, sick or disabled or low ...
6:42 pm
Just an update on what’s happening with my preparations for the walk. Everythings going pretty smoothly so far - I’m getting in a nice selection of long day walks as training, and discovering that an astonishing number of nettles grow around the fields of Essex. Even with long trousers on, I came back with quite [...]
6:26 pm
Quite late on I have a response from the Treasury Solicitors. This is after a long sequence of no substantive responses. They seem to think that the Speaker is concerned with the content of ministerial answers. He is quite clearly not as he has made clear on numerous occasions. I was wondering if they might come up with some new killer argument that I was unaware of, but no. We now await the
6:18 pm
Reports today that scientists have pioneered a way of attaching artificial limbs directly to patients bones. This could lead the way to fully functioning prosthetic limbs controlled by our own central nervous system (and a computer within the limb).I don't know about you, but I've always found the idea of limbs partly-controlled by computers slightly worrying - I don't want to be jerking off and then have my willy fly half way across the room just because my artificial arm has crashed, do you?
6:11 pm
There are a few things actually worth the money you pay for them. Yesterday I brought a fan from Woolworths which was £20. The window in my room opens 2 inches at most and then you have to deal with the traffic noise. It has got the air flowing and cooled the room right down, so it already seems like a good investment. Today at work the BBC's interactive constituency map, which before I'd always find rather slow and annoying, became very useful as I tried to find MPs who were close to each other. Tommorow should be interesting as ...
5:46 pm
You may or may not have seen this in yesterday's Observer (I know, two posts about the Observer in as many days, it's not healthy): How the Lib Dems devalue politicsTo the people who fight elections rather than the people who vote in them, the Lib Dems have a reputation for dirty politics second only to the BNP. Last week, Bob Neill, the stunned Tory candidate in Bromley, condemned their 'cynical
4:29 pm
It might have taken nearly a decade of lobbying, but the Labour government might finally be getting the message on letting local government govern and are proposing to loosen the shackles. The oddest aspect of Labour's "566 separate performance criteria" that cost councils on average "£1.8m a year" to administrate, is they were essentially designed as a weapon by Labour against Labour councils. Councils that tend to have the reputation of playing fast and loose with public money and being no good at running services. Southwark was no exception under Labour with the 8th highest council taxes in London, ...
1:23 pm
Its not often you'll hear me arguing that we should side with Conservatives (not because of ideology, they just spend most of their day being wrong), but the current debate about Scottish MPs voting on English matters provides a good...
12:36 pm
Labour MSP Dr Elaine Murray has spoken the words that Jack McConnell has feared to say in saying that her party will rule out a veto on new nucleur power station in Scotland. While the Scottish Party is alone in Scottish politics on taking an official stance on the subject DR Murray told BBC Radio Scotland yesterday that Scottish Labour had no objection in principle. She said: "The position of the Labour Party going into the Scottish Parliament elections will be that we would not, on principle, block an application for a new nuclear power station in Scotland. ...
12:31 pm
It was very enjoyable to spend a few days in Bromley. We had a very strong candidate in Ben Abbotts and an exceptional Agent in Shaun Roberts who led a fantastic by-election team. There has been a lot of talk by the sore losers of the campaign - the Tories (Yes - I know that, technically, they won - but it is clear to everyone that they were the losers on the night) - about a 'nasty' and 'vicious' Lib Dem campaign. What rot! The Lib Dem campaign simply pointed out two undisputed facts: that Bob Neill ...
12:23 pm
After popping down to Sutton for an election debrief I headed to Hyde Park on Saturday to watch Roger Waters perform a set which included The Dark Side of The Moon in its entirity. (Note to younger viewers - this is a classic Pink Floyd album from the early 70s - Roger Waters was the main songwriter, joint vocalist and bass player) At one point in the set he launched into the song 'Vera' from 'The Wall' - an unusual choice for a live set. All became clear though when the chorus kicked in: 'Bring the Boys Back Home' - ...
11:49 am
The Met Office, together with the Department for Health, has issued the following heatwave advice for the West Midlands: "Stay out of the sun. Keep your home as cool as possible - shutting windows during the day may help. Open them when it is cooler at night. Keep drinking fluids. If there's anybody you know, for example an older person living on their own, who might be at special risk, make sure
11:28 am
Today I am starting a ‘road-test’ as to whether the Immigration and Nationality Directorate is fit for purpose. This is not a political act but a personal one. I have a query that I need answering about British citizenship eligibility. I have a phone number that the IND website tells me can provide the [...]
11:14 am
Here’s a test blog using the new beta of the excellent web browser “Flock”. Edited to add a title, and fix the HTML. Blogged with Flock
10:53 am
...good luck. Well it appears that Sir Sean Connery thinks that young Andy Murray might have been up celebrating reaching the third round at 3 a.m. before his win on Saturday against number 3 seed Andy Roddick. However, his call if probably more likely due to the elder Scot forgetting the time zone difference. However, as young Andy said there is "nothing cooler than being woken up by James Bond". Even though he went back to sleep and let the answer machine take the message. Good job it was about an important message. One problem with Saturday's match, apart for ...
10:42 am
9:20 am
An ITV Wales poll of twelve of Wales' 71 Police Authority members reveals that seven of them would like to see North Wales Chief Constable, Richard Brunstrom, head up and all-Wales Police Force. The response of the four Chief Constables is to seek an injunction to try and block publication of the poll. What the value or validity of this poll is, I do not know. Why the Chief Constables would want to give it credibility by resorting to the law, baffles me. If it turns out to be prophetic though there will be a number of Cardiff Bay ...
9:09 am
A letter in this morning's Western Mail pinpoints a problem that has been perplexing Assembly Members since February, the microphones in the Senedd Committee Rooms do not work properly: I understand that Jack Straw has backed plans to redesign parts of the House of Commons. Can we ask him to do the same for the Welsh Assembly? Consistently you cannot hear the debates in committees as microphones don't work. It is pointless in videorecording them (in case) as the broadcasts suffer exactly the some fate and I wonder how the world views all of this, trying to ...
7:54 am
After an appropriate period of mourning the St Georges Flag has now been removed from my blog and normal service may now slowly resume. I will probably still watch the semis and the final though. Then a few days off before pre season begins in earnest.
Sunday 2nd July 2006,
Saturday 1st July 2006,
Friday 30th June 2006,
Thursday 29th June 2006,
Wednesday 28th June 2006,
Tuesday 27th June 2006
