LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Tuesday 22nd August 2006

Labour criminalise young black people - reclaim your data

The New Nation reports this week that over 37% of black men and are on the government's DNA database, compared to 9% for white men. 140,000 people on the database have committed no crime and 25,000 are also children. The DNA data is taken on many occasions when people are simply profiled to eliminate them from inquiries or during stop and search, which disproportionately targets young black men. The government are even being attacked on this by one of their own MPs, Diane Abbott. Both the Liberal Democrats and Genewatch are running campaigns to encourage people to 'Reclaim ...

Tonight, I am very tired

To find out why: 1) Go to Google Maps and type in ‘Eddleston to Melrose’ 2) Note that I took a longer route that mainly followed the south bank of the Tweed and the National Cycle Network route 3) Imagine how my feet and legs are feeling 4) Expect a fuller post tomorrow as I have a well-deserved rest [...]

Slow process of Housing reform continues

The South London Press has decided the housing casework they are being fed from Southwark amounts to a strapline of "Housing in Crisis". The unfortunate reality is that most councillors from across the Borough would recognise the stories they're running as not untypical of any surgery from the last 40 years. Housing has always been challenging Southwark and it's only in the last four years that the serious failings of successive Labour administrations have begun to be addressed. Not fast enough of course, and the new Housing Executive member Kim Humphries is beginning the latest phase of reform with ...

I am turning into my Dad

There comes a time, so I am lead to believe, where you turn into one of your parents. There is the old wives tale that a groom should look at his bride's mother to see what the bride will look like when she grows older. I am often told, although I have yet to admit it, that I look like my Dad. Although, in secret I sometimes think my mum or dad would have said what I had just said. Anyway

Labour railroad democracy to stave off financial crisis

Ruth Kelly, the Labour Government's 'Communities' Secretary has decided she only likes local communities when they agree with her. Despite proposals for a 260-flat development by Barrett homes in Downtown Road, Rotherhithe, being refused by both the Council and Government planning inspectors, Kelly has pushed the scheme through. This is not just some marginal decision with a good case on both sides. Local residents care so passionately about stopping Labour ruining their area that they have for sometime been clubbing together to run the Downtown Defence Campaign. It has now got to the point where the Campaign Chair, Steve ...

The UK is not a PLC

There is a good article by James Whyte in The Times today. It takes apart two ideas. The first is the idea that a nation should be viewed as a commercial company. The second is that it is economically imperative that the government acts to ensure that the British education system produces more scientists. Of course, there may be other, non-economic reasons for wanting to see more scientists. I can imagine a prosperous economy with no poets, artists or musicians, but it is not one I would like to live in. But these quotations are spot on: The idea ...

European worries, International consistency

Reluctance by several European nations to deploy troops in large numbers in south Lebanon is, it seems, a direct result of worries that troops will not be able to defend themselves if attacked by Hizbollah fighters: European nations appeared to be waiting for UN guidance that would clarify the rules of engagement, including the crucial question of using force against Hizbullah. This is a legitimate concern. Blue beret troops have previously been charged with an impossible task, forbidden to engage when fired upon. However, this would not be a worry if France, Italy and others were confident that their ...

A Relationship That Has Become Too Special

With opinion polls looking the way that they are we might be in for a change of government sooner than we think, and irrespective of the Parties, inevitable changes in the medium term to our own leadership and that of the United States make this a good point to consider where we might want to take our side of the relationship with the United States. We ought to start by finally accepting that although our principle ally speaks the same language as us in a literal sense, as a nation the international agenda that they are pursuing is informed by ...

Lib Dem Blog Meet in Brighton

We should have a Lib Dem blog meet at party conference, don’t you think? Anyone know Brighton well enough to suggest a pub? Anyone have any preference when? Maybe we could get tanked up in advance of one of the big debates and moblog sarcastic remarks from a corner of the Brighton Centre. Perhaps we can get somebody [...]

The price of living in SE19…

…£10 extra a month in home contents insurance. Come near my house, you bastards, and I’ll cut you down….. No Tags

Dangerous books

At the time of the sudden airport security crackdown when all hand luggage was banned, I quipped to friends that we were being prevented from taking on board books deemed dangerous: Nineteen Eighty-Four, Brave New World, that sort of thing. It was satire of the highest order, of course, but with no truth in it. Until [...]

Sgt Dilbert

Scott Adams is prescient. Today’s Dilbert cartoon BBC: Police arrested over web selling Compare and contrast.

Home Spun Politician

Can it be true? The Tories have a poll lead sufficient to give them a majority? Well, not really. They will have to do much better than this mid term if they are to get the swing they need to win an election outright. Whilst 40% in today's Guardian ICM poll will no doubt have brought a smile to the Cameroonies, as the Times points out, that will give them a majority of only 10, on a uniform

News or entertainment?

You have to give it to the Swedes, they certainly know how to get people tuning into their news bulletins. The BBC report that Swedish state broadcaster SVT has admitted a "huge blunder" after a porn film was accidentally shown in the background of a news bulletin. A five-minute news update shown at the weekend included explicit scenes from a Czech porn movie on a monitor behind the anchor Peter Dahlgren. The error is explained thus: Usually, the monitor shows the output of other news channels - but the workers had changed it to watch a sports event on ...

Most of a marathon

As you may have seen from Nick’s blog, I joined him for a section of his mammoth cross-UK walk on Sunday. We trekked from Linlithgow station to Edinburgh Park station along the Union Canal, also known as the Contour Canal because of its consistent height of 73m above sea level, and as the Mathematical River [...]

Polymorphic light eruption

When the sun comes out I have to cover my legs. I have now discovered, courtesy of the BBC, that the 'heat rash' I get most years has a proper name - polymorphic light eruption. It has even been subjected to serious medical research, although I found this explanation easier to understand. It's not the same a prickly heat, which affects the damp bits, but is simply triggered by...

The cost of websites

The Institute of Welsh Affairs latest Assembly Monitoring report, New Powers - New beginning, reports that the new Welsh Assembly Government website cost £2.7 million. They say that the website is being redeveloped to take in many recent changes, such as themerger of former quangos. It had been intended that the new site should be operational byApril 2006 but it had been delayed. The original estimate had been £1.5m but this has now gone up and the final bill will now be at least £2.7m. Not having had much experience of commissioning websites I was staggered by this cost. After ...

Poll Figures Show Cons Up 1%

The BBC are reporting, further to today's Guardian front page, that the Tories now have a 9% lead over Labour. Good news for the chinless wonder, bad news for The revealing paragraph comes towards the bottom of the report: "The results suggest a 1% rise for the Tories since last month, and a 5% increase for the Lib Dems, but Labour are down 5%." Spot the Chin So, support has not drifted from the

Excuse me, BBC?

This is one of the front page headlines on Politics at the moment: Tories surge ahead, poll suggestsHowever, reading the article tells you the following: The results suggest a 1% rise for the Tories since last month, and a 5% increase for the Lib Dems, but Labour are down 5%. So who is doing the surging? Where are the headlines saying "Campbell revives Lib Dem election hopes?" This should give

Editing organisation descriptions on Flock Together

Do you run a Lib Dem organisation or local party? If you’ve added any meetings for a particular organisation to Flock Together, you can now edit the details of that organisation. Just go to the organisation page in question and hit the ‘edit this page’ link.

A different headline

theguardian announces: Tories open nine-point lead as Labour drops to 19-year low Wow. The Tories went up a lot? Actually, no. The Conservatives have gained 1%, Labour have dropped 4% and the LibDems have gone up 5%. How this squares with the article saying The poll shows former Labour voters switching to the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in almost [...]

Liberal Democrats up 5% in latest ICM Poll to 22% and four out of five in August

After a bad July Poll for ICM, the Liberal Democrats have bounced back with 22% in the latest (August) ICM/Guardian Poll. Almost all the addition support has come from Labour. Labour's rating of 31% is a 19 year low for the party and the second lowest rating sine the Guardian started this polling in 1984!

Nobody Does It Better

The Daily Show's Jon Stewart hits Fidel Castro's target better than I did last week.: (There's a bit about Kim Jong Ill first)

The Problem with Labour

Iain MacWhirter suggests that if we had a fairer electoral system, we would not get drawn into conflicts such as the present occupation of Iraq.He is undoubtedly correct in this, and his conversion to support for the immediate introduction of proportional representation for GeneralElections is very welcome.MacWhirter also asks "why does Labour do nothing as the world burns?". The answer is very

Meme of Three

Jonathan Calder has tagged me with this meme... 1. Things that scare me: Conventional WisdomThat Dubya still has two more yearsRoller Coasters- absolutely hate 'em 2. People who make me laugh: PJ O RourkeGraeme GardenEmo Philips 3. Things I hate the most: CommiesBeligerent stupiditySprouts 4. Things I don't understand: HebrewWhy the West deals with a Russia that fails to show contritionBasketball 5. Things I'm doing right now: Writing a term sheet for a transaction in PolandThinking about another coffeeThinking that I won't tag anyone else on this meme 6. Things I want to do before I die: Make a pilgrimage ...

What have your parents ever done for you...

Tristan writes in my comments box: You are less likely to invest knowing that the state is going to take half your wealth when you dieAnd unless you scrap income tax, inheritance tax is a double tax Would you tax someone because their parents gave them genes to be intelligent? They didn't have to do any work for that. Or perhaps being attractive?I started responding, but my response became a post

Do you leave your door open?

Labour's Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair is back in gaffe-land with his latest comments that "community-based Safer Neighbourhood Teams were making people feel as safe as they did 25 years ago" and that in many parts of London, people are happy to "leave their doors open". What's odd about this gaffe is Blair usually clears his public comments with the Labour press office, he is one of the most political and least independent Police Chiefs we have suffered for some time. It's hard though to imagine that this latest stunt was cleared by John Reid. Labour and Reid's ...

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Tuesday 22nd August 2006

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