Saturday 5th August 2006

9:38 pm

Coming Soon - the Bob Neill Should Quit the GLA Petition

Gravatar I'm working on the code to make this work and once I do I will be putting up a form for people from Bromley and Bexley Boroughs to sign to call on Bob Neill to resign from the GLA so that we can have full time representation. He appears still not to have done the decent thing and should not be let off the hook. For outsiders, the Bromley and Chislehurst MP Bob Neill a.k.a "Three Jobs" Bob has still to resign from his seat on the Greater London Assembly. As a council tax AND taxpayer I believe that ...
9:26 pm

Yet ANOTHER Humiliation for Cameron

Gravatar Hot on the heels of the EPP fiasco, Cameron has had to step in and stop the London Mayoral Candidate selection because no high profile candidate has come forward. Signs of genuine recovery? Signs that the Tories have become a more attractive party? We think not. There is lots of evidence around that the wheels are now starting to come off the Tory bandwagon in a big way. At this rate Cameron could be treading water in the old tank of pyranha fish that is the nasty old Tory Party. We might start seeing some ...
9:14 pm

Castro's Last Stand?

Gravatar Perhaps we are at long last seeing the last of the Castro regime in Cuba? I wonder if Fidel's brother Raul is more pragmatic than him? We can only hope and pray that after Fidel Castro is gone that Cuba will move towards a genuine multiparty future. Let us not forget our Liberal brethren both in Cuba and in exile and hope that they will soon be able to contribute to a more open and democratic society in the not too distant future. Viva libertad de exprecion. Viva Cuba Libertad!
9:01 pm

I`m never voting again

Gravatar In Big Brother, that is. Last night's announcement that they're letting four evicted contestants back into the show, and one of them could win, shows there is no longer any point in spending your money voting to evict someone. If Endemol don't agree with your opinion they'll just put them back in and make them eligible to win. Whoever makes it back into the main house - and we all know who it's going to be - will arrive back too late to be evicted, and slap bang in the positive voting stage where you can't even vote ...
8:34 pm

Weekend update!

Gravatar A few things to update since last blog entry: City Council advises the loose setts on the roadway in Shepherd's Loan are being re-cemented, following my complaint.Concern about gulls in Seafield Road area - I've reported to Head of Environmental Health & Trading Standards.Got first meeting of West End Christmas Week 2006 committee organised for mid-August. Good new initiatives suggested by a number of us for this year's Christmas week!A very (very!) warm morning spent today delivering Claire's & my FOCUS newsletter in the City Centre, but almost complete now. Already good feedback from residents.
7:52 pm

Great - the season is underway and 3 points in the bag

Gravatar Excellent start to the season after last seasons disappointing trip to Cardiff. I must admit I was nervous about this one - expecting Norwich to be stronger than last season and thought that a hard fought draw might be a possible outcome. Still this win sets us off on the right foot for a long hard season ahead. It is good to see some activity on the transfer front despite the fiasco with Livermore with three more players arriving in the last couple of days. According to the preview on Leeds United Life this win keeps a great run of ...
7:10 pm

Children and Families Campaigning Summary Report

Gravatar Family Court Secrecy Many people will know of the difficulties that have historically been caused by secrecy in the Family Courts. There have been three recent changes that are of significance in this area. The Family Proceedings (Amendment No 4) Rules 2005 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2005/20051976.htm This change to the rules relating to the family courts make it much easier for parties to
6:15 pm

£558 raised for Redcar Lifeboat from sales of white roses

Gravatar Posted by Chris: Yorkshire Day, this year (Tuesday 1st August), was spoiled by heavy showers but the efforts of Redcar Lifeboat Ladies helped to boost sales of white roses. £558 was raised this year and every penny will go to the local lifeboat funds. It is always a thrill to see people queuing up to show their pride in Yorkshire on Yorkshire Day, by paying £1, for one of our white roses. Each Spring the Ridings Society holds a coffee morning in Marske. We use the money raised to buy the roses and then sell them for a local charity. ...
5:29 pm

Fair Trade PCs?

Gravatar Spotted this on Guardian Unlimited today: Mac adverts on behalf of exploited Chinese workers You know those artsy Mac adverts where a couple of people explain why they have a Mac against a white background - well a group has done one highlighting the plight of workers in the electronics manufacturing industry in the far east mostly. As you watch it, of course, bear in mind that since Macs basically use the same bits inside as any other PC they're not particularly worse than anyone else - just that the slightly "holier than thou" (I'm a Mac ...
1:58 pm

Dai laughing

Gravatar Earlier this week the Labour MP for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, Dai Havard, accused Tony Blair of having a "misdirected obsession" with publicly agreeing with American foreign policy. He wrote: We need you to change the "realpolitik" not by retaining the delusion that you "have the ear of Bush", but by stating what is morally, politically and strategically right.When it comes to Blair's relationship with Bush, the President's ear is not the orifice that first comes to mind.
1:41 pm

Fetching Free Radical

Gravatar I was pleased to be sent a copy of the latest issue of the Liberal Democrat Youth and Students magazine Free Radical. Presumably I am intended to pass it on to Lord Bonkers, who contributed a problem page. My pleasure was only slightly diminished by the fact that it was sent without enough stamps on it and I had to go the local sorting office and pay £1.05 before I could collect it.
1:22 pm

Uncosted Labour spending proposals

Gravatar Anyone got examples you can send me of uncosted spending proposals made by Labour MPs and Parliamentary Candidates? Here's one I came across in Gateshead today: Labour MP Sharon Hodgson (who???? you ask - a PPS to a minister so she's just started shinning up the greasey pole of ministerial promotion) is calling for all children to have free school meals. (Is there such a thing as a free
12:45 pm

Another Oxford byelection looms

Gravatar As if Oxford City Council hasn't had a difficult enough time adjusting to changes in the balance of power in May and since, the Oxford Mail reports another City Councillor Set To Quit: Labour Oxford city councillor Dan Paskins has forced another by-election by announcing he is to quit the Town Hall. The 26-year-old executive board member and Lye Valley councillor will become the fifth Labour councillor to quit this calendar year. He is due to leave officially in a couple of weeks. Dan is generally the decent sort, and has done the decent thing - he's been ...
12:38 pm

Clever chap, that Diogenes:

Gravatar "When I look upon seamen, men of science and philosophers, man is the wisest of all beings" I think Charles Darwin, Robert FitzRoy and John Lort Stokes all qualify as such. The Beagle Project now has its own weblog, currently graced by a fantastic painting of Beagle off the Galapagos. So before all Beagle Project news decamps over there we have: • been contacted by the BBC - would we
12:16 pm

Who is in charge?

Gravatar Hopefully, Liberal Democrat News will not mind me reproducing this cartoon from this week's edition. Blair has not yet gone on holiday of course, but when he does expect the media and bloggers like Guido Fawkes and Iain Dale to focus in on Prescott.
12:07 pm

My faith restored...

Gravatar I was up London with a friend shopping on Wednesday and the service was awful. It was not one particular shop or restaurant it was across the board. I had to wait ages before someone served me and then they didn't give me full attention. In fact in one store the person found it more interesting talking to her friends than to serve me (and no one would deny I was i was a boring person! LOL). At
12:05 pm

Golden arches

Gravatar It is only a week to go to the McDonalds charity shield, featuring politicians from all around the UK. Included in the package of hard-fought football games is the opportunity for the said politicians to stay at the Hilton in Cardiff, courtesy of the fast food chain, including a drinks reception and the 2006 Parliamentary Shield Dinner. On the Sunday they will be whisked off to the Millennium
12:04 pm

Colin's pal wins the North Riding Duck Race

Gravatar Posted by Chris: This year's North Riding Duck Race attracted 182 £1 entries and was held last Saturday in Saltburn Beck. The weather, this year, was fine and a good crowd attended. I did my usual job of shepherding the ducks that get snagged up, in my fishing waders - bought three years ago and not yet used for fishing. Councillors Josie Crawford and Val Miller stood on the wier with my fishing nets to catch the winners. North Riding Group Chair, John Curr gave his usual commentary, whilst filming the proceedings. The race was won by Rowland Gaunt from ...
10:44 am

This was the session that was...

Gravatar Nick Assinder has a round up of the parliamentary year. This is what he says of the Liberal Democrats The removal of Charles Kennedy amid confessions of a drink problem had a quite different impact on the Liberal Democrats. The party was pitched into a nightmare leadership contest marked by revelations that one candidate, Mark Oaten, had been using a male prostitute while another, Simon Hughes, had for years hidden the truth about his own homosexuality. The outcome was a bitter, divisive and even shocking battle which ended with the original front runner, 65-year-old Sir Menzies Campbell, winning ...
10:42 am

Heather wins the Flat Cap Fling

Gravatar Posted by Chris: A packed Redcar High Street was the venue for the Council's Yorkshire celebrations on Saturday 29th July and there were lots of activities going on to suit all ages. As part of this the Yorkshire Ridings Society (YRS) organised a, free to enter, Flat Cap Fling for the first time. It was won by teenager Heather Brinsley of Redcar. David Tucker, Managing Director of D.J. Tucker Ltd, kindly sponsored the event with a nice cup for the winner. We set up a stall in front of the Council's Event cabin and sold white roses, duck race entries ...
9:30 am

LibDems on Drugs

Gravatar Now I'm not sure if it's the computers here at work, but the current crop of Google Ads on LibDemBlogs seem to be drug related. Including this classic block of ads. {Cocaine - Methodone - Heroin Detox - Ming Campbell}
8:38 am

A weekend in Liverpool

Gravatar A weekend away from politics, well almost. I came up to Liverpool last night and am staying until Sunday visiting my friend Vic. It is only almost non-political because it is politics how i know Vic, she used to work for the Party as a Campaigns Officer and now works for Liverpool Council as Head of the Leaders Office so there will be gossip I am sure.
8:25 am

Who rules who?

Gravatar Intriquing suggestion from J. Cyril Hughes in the letters page of today's Western Mail: Given the success and punctuality of the completion of the Millennium Stadium and the Millennium Centre and the absolute chaos surrounding the Bath Spa and the ill-fated Wembley Stadium, surely the time has come for England to be ruled from Wales. I offer no further comment.
7:57 am

A different world

Gravatar In recent days I have woken up to the latest news of violent death and personal disaster in the Middle East, Afghanistan and elsewhere and despaired. Like many people I am in a state of denial, trying not to come to terms with the huge global issues and problems facing all of us, for fear that I will fall into a deep depression about the future of the human race. Emma Brockes in today's Guardian
4:11 am

Drinking and Society

Gravatar According to this report, Durham, Newcastle and Liverpool are the booze capitals of England. In the north-east and north-west nearly a quarter of all adults consume double the limit in one or more drinking bouts each week. This is equivalent to four pints of beer or eight spirit measures in one session for men - three pints of beer, three glasses of wine or six spirit measures for women.... Professor John Ashton, the north-west regional director of public health, blamed the government for failing to act against the drinks industry. "Alcohol is racing ahead as one of the biggest threats ...
DataFlame
1:03 am

War of Error

Gravatar Pssst. Did you know there's a world war on? Oh, I know that what with the rise in interest rates, utility bills, what Tony Blair will do next, climbing on the property ladder and what's going on in the Big Brother House etc. it's hard to keep an eye on the ball. Anyway, don't we employ professional soldiers to deal with that kind of thing so we don't have to?Well yes we do, but here's the rub; they are losing. Not, I hasten to add, through any lack of professionalism, courage or even shortage of equipment. Quite simply, little in ...
12:16 am

Sign Dance Theatre

Gravatar Just back from a performance by Common Ground Sign Dance Theatre. I am a board member of the organisation, but had never had the chance to actually see a performance. And I must admit I couldn't figure out how a deaf dance troupe could perform with music, or without music. Surely, I thought, a lot of keeping in time etc is to do with the sound of the music or at least some sort of noise. Well I saw two pieces - one with sounds rather than music and one with a well known piece of classical.. ...

Previous days:

Friday 4th August 2006, Thursday 3rd August 2006, Wednesday 2nd August 2006, Tuesday 1st August 2006, Monday 31st July 2006, Sunday 30th July 2006