LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Sunday 13th August 2006

Buying a house

I did not blog last week because getting our house in Staffordshire sold and buying one here in Edmonton had temporarily become a full-time job. Touch wood we will exchange contracts on the UK house sale next week and secure the house we are trying to buy here. It is a two storey 'foursquare' built in 1908 in Old Strathcona. It is not our ideal foursquare; it does not have a wood fire, a pajama balcony, a full-height basement or a deck at the back, but it does have a wrap-around porch and a big garden for an inner-city house, ...

Cobham Band in Canbury Gardens

What better way to spend a summer Sunday afternoon than sitting under the trees in Canbury Gardens by the river listening to a band? Except that today the 'summer' only appeared briefly between sharp showers and thunderstorms. Nevertheless, dozens of people did stop and pull out chairs to listen to the Cobham Band. The players were mercifully sheltered on the bandstand - one of my...

Dude, Where's My Country?

The Respect Party seems to have mislaid Israel: (Click to enlarge) Don't worry guys, I'm always doing that. And a rather tenuous link, but let's not forget that George Galloway, the party's only MP and his recent tirade on Sky. Via Harry's Place

The shores of Loch Lomond

I love the way this walk throws up little surprises, like tonight’s accomodation at SYHA Rowardennan, which turns out to be an old house almost directly on the shore of Loch Lomond, with giant picture windows in the common room that look straight out over the loch for some spectacular views of the changing colours [...]

Disappointing but signs of promise

Leeds threw away three possible points this afternoon at Crystal Palace. However despite the loss there were some very positive signs. Leeds went down to 10 men after 15 minutes when Horsfield was sent off but held on until the 91st minute when Morrison score for Palace. For much of the game Leeds looked comfortable on the ball particularly in the last 30 minutes of the first half when some

Flotman for England

The BBC tells us: A Norfolk couple were woken in the night after a car driven by Newcastle United defender Titus Bramble crashed into the wall outside their house. It happened on the A140 in the village of Newton Flotman on Saturday night. It must have been a shock for them. But an interesting point is that the story could equally have run: A Norfolk couple were woken in the night after a car driven by Newcastle United defender Newton Flotman crashed into the wall outside their house. It happened on the A140 in the village of Titus ...

August 2003 Draft development plans released for consultation

Focus 229 August 2003 Draft Development Plans for Coatham Enclosure about to be released for Public Consultation PROPOSALS to develop Coatham Enclosure with a mixture of Housing and leisure facilities will go out to public consultation in the next few weeks. The plans, presented by Persimmon Homes, include 294 houses and apartments, a swimming pool, an extreme sports centre, viewing tower, shops and a pub. All will be subject to public approval, finance and further technical considerations. If approved it is expected that they will be considered for ...

April 2003 Going for Gold Lib Dems pledge to give priority to re-development of Coatham Enclosure

Focus 226 April 2003 The back page of this edition comprised of a summary of Going for Gold the Liberal Democrat Manifesto for the 2003 Council Elections. Slap bang in the centre is the following pledge: Liberal Democrats will give priority to the redevelopment of Coatham Enclosure. The result of the election led to the formation of the successful Lib Dem/Conservative/Independent Coalition. In Redcar more Liberal Democrats were elected than the other two parties: Lib Dem - 7 Labour - 6 ...

Hindu wedding British style

Yesterday had a wonderful life experience. Was invited to my friend Satish's daughter Shalini's Hindu wedding. The preparations have taken months going back and forward to India to buy the items needed. She is a modern highly educated young women but the parents wanted her to have as near a traditional wedding as possible. I extensively toured India many years ago when I managed a company in Africa on behalf of British Asian shareholders. One of the perks of the job, when something was happening they used to take me along. One trip was to attend a traditional ...

Word of the week: sesquipedalian

I am currently reading Attention all shipping: A Journey Round the Shipping Forecast by Charlie Connelly, and stumbled upon this intriguing word on page 4. As a young teenager keen to make my mark in a tough rural girls grammar school I had a 'word of the week' for a short while. Perhaps if I had maintained this strict regime I would have now known the meaning of sesquipedalian and not had to interrupt my reading in order to blog about it.

July 2001 Council markets Coatham Enclosure but can't guarantee a new Swimming Pool

Focus 212 July 2001 Join the fight for a new swimming pool in Redcar RESIDENTS have come out strongly in favour of a new swimming pool for Redcar. The Council's Director of Development has reported that a six-month programme to market the Coatham Enclosure for leisure uses will start shortly, but has pointed out that there is no guarantee that potential partners or developers will want to build a swimming pool. On this basis, it would appear that the people of Redcar might have to raise the necessary ...

BBQs, Water Hydrants, City Centre Policing

The weekend has flown by, partly because of a Dundee LibDem action weekend, delivering thousands of leaflets (let's just say my feet have been in better shape!) but also because of the Dundee LibDem BBQ on Saturday (as the photos below testify to). A few recent issues: I was pleased to be advised of Police action in the City Centre to crack down on anti-social behaviour - see http://www.dundee.prai.co.uk/news/253.html. Was also featured in Saturday's Courier and in the Press & Journal. Click on the headline above to read the P&J story.Have reported dumped items (bath; plywood) in Union Place ...

February 1997 and local Labour Councillors vote to close Redcar Swimming Pool

Focus February 1997 Labour Councillors vote to close Redcar Swimming Pool LOCAL Labour Councillors put party before people once again when they voted to close Redcar Swimming Pool. Liberal Democrat Councillors Chris Abbott and Stan Wilson have slammed the decision of Labour controlled Redcar Council to close the pool, in spite of a strong campaign waged by local residents and pool users. "What really sickens me is the way some Redcar Councillors were claiming to be supporting the campaign to save the pool but when it came to ...

Tim Worstall's BritBlog Roundup

Inhale deeply.

January 1997 and the battle to save the swimming pool

Focus January 1997 Liberal Democrat Councillors battle to save Redcar Swimming Pool REDCAR Council has to make further budget cuts and what is the first thing that our top heavy Labour controlled Council proposes to close? Yes, you've guessed it, Redcar Swimming Pool. Newcomen Ward Liberal Democrat Councillors Chris Abbott and Stan Wilson, together with Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson, Cllr Joyce Benbow, have pledged to fight any plans to close the pool. They have pressed for cuts in bureaucracy which they believe are the root cause of ...

How imminent was the threat?

How This Old Brit Sees It points us to an interesting report on the NBC site: NBC News has learned that U.S. and British authorities had a significant disagreement over when to move in on the suspects in the alleged plot to bring down trans-Atlantic airliners bound for the United States. A senior British official knowledgeable about the case said British police were planning to continue to run surveillance for at least another week to try to obtain more evidence, while American officials pressured them to arrest the suspects sooner. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to ...

August 1993 and the plans are still on the shelf

Focus August 1993 When will Redcar get some real regeneration? REDCAR regeneration is not about the wasteful replacement of good paving on the Esplanade and the erection of a few flagpoles. Three years ago, in the June 1990 edition, the FOCUS team welcomed the report on the study by Consultants, Drivas Jonus. Listed below are some of the proposals which the FOCUS team felt were right for the town: WILTON STREET AREA: This could be re-developed with covered access onto a pedestrianised High Street, a sensible traffic management scheme, road re-alignment ...

More than 16 years of consistent campaigning for the development of Coatham Enclosure

Posted by Chris: One of the advantages for a Councillor of issuing regular newsletters to the residents he or she represents is that you keep an accurate record of your campaigns and can make you opponents look foolish when they start spreading malicious and inaccurate statements. The proposals for Coatham Enclosure have been a long time germinating (more than 16 years in fact). I am proud of the fact that Glynis and I have consistently supported the need for the development of this eyesore area for leisure and linked housing development and have kept people informed every step of the ...

Day 2042: Adverts, without the Advertising

Sunday Apparently, there is a new drink of FIZZY POP from the Coca Cola people. Daddy Alex has reminded me of the LAST TIME that they tried to bring out a new drink with nothing in it: it was a special brand of WATER that was called TAP WATER. Unfortunately, it turned out that this was not very good to drink and the entire project went belly up. And so did some of the people who had DRUNK it! It is good to see that the people from Coca Cola have bounced back! ...

On the Ball City

NORWICH CITY 3 LUTON TOWN 2The good times are back at Carrow Road

Taxing the polluter

The Observer reports that the Tories are to propose a radical programme for steep tax rises on air travel and gas-guzzling cars offset by cuts in council tax, VAT and national insurance. Where the Liberal Democrats lead then the others follow. The problem is that the Tory proposals do not make the tax system any fairer, nor do they add up to a coherent tax policy that helps poorer members of our society whilst penalising excessive wealth. In fact I can well imagine the Tory backwoodsmen spluttering over the cornflakes at even the very limited nature of their party's proposals, ...

Peace and Sophia Loren vs. Intolerance and Murder

I sometimes assume that people who use the same blogger templates must have something in common. Myself and Paul Walter, for example. Paul makes the valid point today that "On a Sunday it is always good to reflect on something positive being done in the world of faith. The peace vigil by the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, is one such event" Meanwhile on another similarly-coloured blog,

The Language of Terrorism

Ever since the appalling events of last July a new phrase has entered the domestic commentators’ lexicon - ’suicide bomber’. It’s not long ago that the phrase was used only in packages filed by overseas reporters but ever since a group of fanatics detonated bombs on the London Underground it’s been a staple of domestic reporting [...]

Copycat Cameron

Whilst its always worthwhile taking another look at Armando Ianucci's wonderful piece of satire, I'm referring to the news that Cameron is now planning to raise environmetal taxes significantly. One wonders how the Tory Blogosphere, having spent many pixels rubbishing our proposals, will treat this johnny-come-lately poor-quality clone version of them.

Volunteering

Volunteering is a strange thing. Strange in other people views who have never considered it or do not know much about it. For those that are involved in volunteering it can be hard work but very satisfying, knowing you are giving a little back to the community you live in. First of all, it is never the one hour that the people who sign you up say it is (this is a very good trick and I have used

Steve Norris: "us too..."

There is a familiar feeling to many of the Tory tax proposals coming from the working group headed by Steve Norris. According to the Observer: Under the proposed new policy, road tax on top gas-guzzlers could rise by over £1,000, Norris said. While dramatic tax changes on airline fuel would take time, because they required international agreements, he said he was recommending an immediate increase in air passenger duty - up from £20 to as much as £100 for long-haul flights, and from £5 to £20 for European trips. He also proposed to halve council tax, cut VAT by ...

Archbishop of York's peace vigil

On a Sunday it is always good to reflect on something positive being done in the world of faith. The peace vigil by the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, is one such event. He is giving up his holiday in Saltzburg (good choice for a holiday, by the way) to lead a peace vigil in York Minster. He will be there 24 hours a day for seven days, leading the prayer every hour on the hour. This is

We're riding along on the crest of the wave...

I love life's luxuries. I love my warm and comfortable bed. I love a clean and tidy flat and I love a warm shower each morning, sometimes more often if I so fancy. So camping for a week is a nightmare. Now don't get me wrong. I used to like camping and it does have it's benefits eg no-one can generally get in touch with me- time to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I have just

Sunday 13th August 2006

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