Friday evening I met up with Ann and our friend Gill at the Corner House in Manchester to see one of the most powerful films I have ever seen. "An Inconvenient Truth" is basically a gripping lecture by ex Vice President of the USA, Al Gore. I can't recommend it highly enough, you must go and see it - it makes you realise how important it is that we do something about climate change now before it
Well it's official my good friend Cllr Vic D'Albert has been selected to contest the next General Election for Bury South - This caused quite a stir in the labour group as apparently they were convinced another fellow Councillor was the candidate! Which explains the unwarrented attacks leveled at him at the Council meeting on Wednesday. Thursday was difficult - my father and I took my eldest son
Having stopped for an hour at this PC to type the post below, I thought I'd take a minute to peruse the web and see if I'd missed anything. Having trawled through the usual suspects (BBC news, Bury Lib Dems, my work, Hotmail, my photo site), and drawn the predictable mental blank about where to visit next, I stumbled upon an article about the Lib Dem blog of the year. I know that Cllr Andrew
This post, coming as it does part way through my Californian vacation, is less to do with dedication to the blogging cause, and more to do with a map-reading error. Whilst I do indeed have immense dedication to blogging, my travelling companion and I misjudged the scale on our map, and have arrived at our motel in the desert wilderness with hours to spare and little to do. This is great in
I'm going down to Brighton for tomorrow and Monday. Sad to say that work commitments prevent me from attending the rest of the week. Have to say that I'm really looking forward to it as it will be my first conference since Manchester 2002, just before I went to live and work in China. Hope to see lots of old friends whilst I'm there and look forward to the blogger awards tomorrow night. I think that this conference is going to be seen as defining in two key ways. On Ming's leadership and whether or not he ...
From the BBC: Father Thomas Reese, a Jesuit scholar and an authority on the workings of the Vatican, told the BBC news website of his concerns: ... "If the Vatican says something dumb about Muslims, people will die in parts of Africa and churches will be burned in Indonesia, let alone what happens in the Middle East."So, let's get this straight, if the Vatican makes a statement in relation to Muslims that is "dumb" there will be violent reprisals by angered Muslims against Christians, according to Father Reese. One part is speech, the other violence. We need to ask, ...
...or is it 100 (3)... ...is the number of levels of hell and of heaven in the Divine Comedy. ...is the number of Muses. ...is considered lucky in Chinese because it sounds like the word for long lasting, ...but is considered unlucky in Japanese because it sounds like the word for pain or distress. ...is the number of the companions in the Fellowship of the Ring, and the number of Ringwraiths sent to harry them. ...was the number of planets in the solar system until last month. ...
How different would the world have been if Al Gore hadn't been cheated out of the Presidency? Went to see his lecture at the Corner House, Manchester yesterday (on for next 2 weeks, 4 showings a day £5 a visit). I'd gone feeling SMUG - as 6 little lib dems on our local council, we'd put forward an ecological footprint motion as well as targeted Eco questions inc bio-fuel from wood chippings -and
You will have gathered by now that the purpose of my blog is not to make political comment (I make enough of that at City Council meetings!) but to update residents in the West End and City Centre of Dundee on local issues, so its really rare that I make any sort of political comment on the blog but - well - a couple of exceptions and it is all about the Tories. Firstly, I am personally really sad that the Conservative Councillor for the neighbouring ward to mine (Riverside) Neil Powrie has decided to ...
It's not often that the Mayor is upstaged by a fluffy zebra.... Debra the Zebra, Cllr Simon James and I were at the Good Going Awards 2006. Pictures created by the children here are all featured in the Walking to School Calendar for 2006/7. The Road Safety and Travel Awareness Unit of the Council does a fantastic job in making the roads of Kingston one of the safest places...
“Lib Dem conference will be dominated by leadership questions”. So says the BBC’s political correspondent Nick Assinder. He continues: It may not be the biggest question the party wants to address when it gathers in Brighton. But it is the one that is already hanging over the event.I travelled down by train to conference today, together with three fellow Lib Dems. The issues we discussed ranged
So far, so good. Despite all the warnings that my first taste of a Lib Dem conference would be an interminable queue to register I was in and out within 10 minutes. (In fact the only reason it took even that long was that Royal Mail failed to deliver half the conference packs to delegates, and I was one of the victims – the party (understandably) wanted to make a note of whose hasn’t arrived so
It is a relief that Muslim groups in the UK have praised the Pope for apologising following his speech in Germany last Tuesday. For the first time, earlier today, I visited the Vatican web site and read the text of his speech. (I notice that it is only available on the website in European languages, which might explain a lot). I am developing the strange hobby of comparing the actual text of
This is nice. Arrived in Brighton an hour ago, checked into my hotel with no problem (although apparently the water will be off most of Monday…), popped to the conference hotel and ran into Rob, who pointed me in the right direction to collect a badge holder and lanyard. Now sitting on the beach, reading some [...]
Just a quick summary of what I've been up to this week as a ward councillor for Lewisham Central, in the London Borough of Lewisham. Went to a meeting of the Liberal Democrat Group of councillors on Monday evening for very useful presentations by Sunguard, who are taking over the Council's IT contract from 1 October, and from John Miller, the Council's Head of Planning. Not sure that I can divulge what goes on at Lib Dem Group meetings, but I don't think we left much blood on the carpet. Spent Tuesday evening knocking on doors in ... 
Thought I'd give a bit of publicity to the Green Chain Walking Festival which hits SE London from 16 to 24 September. As my 50th birthday approaches, I realise more and more how unfit I am, yet how various forms of exercise become less and less realistic. But not walking. So I must do more of that, and resolve at one point to take part in the Festival. I have done part of the walk already from the Thames Barrier to Lee station. Will try to do some other bits this time. For more information, ...
Andy Ellis used to tell amusing story about the conference motions he had to redraft (and probably still does). One of these involved a motion that included the words "Conference calls on the Pope..." Sadly, this means a few people out there are probably scribbling emergency motions including these very words. It always seems odd to me when religious leaders make respectful comments about other religions. One suspects they don't mean it. But anyone criticising another business ought to know where they have problems with their own reputation. Still, I don't think we should have any motion on the comments ...
If I’ve been counting right, I’m up to 736 miles now, having walked all the way to Redditch, where I’m now enjoying a day off doing as little as possible - and I’ll be doing the same on Monday. I haven’t had a full day off in almost two weeks, so I’m making the most [...]
The media are a funny business and it’s very interesting to see what makes the news, what doesn’t and how different similar events are reported. Some weeks ago the Italian media had reacted with outrage, and rightly so, to a gruesome honour killing where a young Pakistani woman, Hina Saleem, was killed by her father in northern Italy. The honour killings were portrayed as a threat to the idea of
We had a team out delivering this morning across Blackness and Logie (special FOCUS newsletter for these areas and Pentland and Ancrum - you can download page 1 by clicking the headline on the headline below and page 2 by clicking the headline above!) Whilst in Blackness Avenue, received a complaint from a lady who pointed out that the "Blackness Avenue" street sign at the south junction with Hyndford Street is broken - see below - have reported this to the Planning & Transportation Department of the City Council.
Broken Blackness Avenue Sign {Posted by Picasa}
That's the rank I've been given by Iain Dale. I suspect that I lost quite a few places when I suggested that he receive the Order of the Brown Nose for one of his posts on Cameron. Thanks to Iain for making the effort to put together the rankings. Anyway, its nice to be considered to be in the top 100 although I have to be honest and say that I blog for the enjoyment of writing, for personal expression and to campaign on various issues that matter to me, try to persuade others to my point of ...
So, here I am at Conference registration. Complete disaster. Half of the delegates haven't had the informaton packs delivered, so everyone who has registered needs to queue and have their name ticked off a list (one word, database!). You are then given a raffle ticket of seemingly random colour to exchange for a pack. Longwinded. Now, here's the best bit. People who haven't registered in advance go through the normal process (forms, photo etc) and obviously don't have an information pack. So, they then have to go *BACK TO THE START* for raffle ticket collection to ...
The following seats have recently announced they are seeking Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (people to run as the Lib Dem candidate for MP at the next General Election). We list the constituency name, application closing date, and the contact details of the Returning Officer, whom you should contact for an application form. Barrow and Furness, 16 Oct, Elizabeth [...]
Seeing the new Tory logos yesterday filled me with mirth and made me wonder what those who commissioned it were thinking of. Firstly, the English version looks like the tree is leaning over and set to fall over. Secondly, by using the oak tree they have managed to associate themselves with the history of defeat. After the Battle of Worcester during the English Civil War, Charles II had to flee the field of battle after a major defeat by the Roundheads. Legend has it that he had to hide in the branches of an oak tree. I ...
I didn't get the chance to post yesterday, Battle of Britain Day, but I wanted to record my thanks to the pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain all those years ago. You will never be forgotten.
Partisanship is an issue in the US more than here in the UK* - we generally don't throw bile over opposition parties that we might disagree with. We treat them with a degree of respect, listening to their point of view and then offering our own. Perhaps the only exception to this is in the chamber of the House of Commons, where they seem to do all in their power to ensure the other side can't
I was sorry to hear of the death of Raymond Baxter. His voice always reminded me of one of the television staples of my childhood: Tomorrow's World. Come to think of it, it was rather a tedious programme - it seemed to be about motorway crash barriers most weeks - but we can't choose what makes us nostalgic. Lord Bonkers often pointed out that Baxter was the first Briton in space, blasting off from Woomera in Coronation year.
It's all very well being a wacky libertarian like me, but aren't all these government databases justified if they help protect children at risk? The trouble is, the definition of "at risk" has been stretched to such an extent that it could now include every child in the country. ARCH - Action on Rights for Children - says: 'At risk' now means at risk of not receiving services that arguably might prevent a child from: becoming a criminal; failing at school; becoming pregnant in her teens; becoming 'socially excluded'. The Government estimates that 3-4 million children (one-third ...
Ming has laid into Gordon Brown, criticising him for "centralisation and authoritariansim". In particular, he has criticised him for the means testing for the families tax credit saying "That is dynamite. That is wrecking their lives." It is great to hear striking such a precise blow against Brown.
Iain Dale has posted a list of his top 100 Lib Dem blogs. I am impressed that are so many of the things. Modesty forbids me to mention that this blog appears at no. 4 in the list. Iain has also just pubished Iain Dale's Guide to Political Blogging in the UK .
We all need training from time to time to keep up with the fast moving world in which we live. In my case, I've just been selected for something called the Next Generation programme, which is a 12 month training programme designed to help me become a more effective councillor. As part of the programme, I've got to carry out some research and publish a report about a policy area of my choice. At the moment, I'm thinking of researching how the planning system can be used to help the environment. For example, how can we ensure that new homes ...
Because the Council doesn't meet in August or September, myself and my fellow councillors tend to spend most of our time over the summer helping residents with their individual problems. Because this casework is confidential, there's not a lot for me to report back on these pages. However, I thought I'd write a quick post to bring everyone's attention to the Cheltenham literature festival, which runs from 6th-15th October. There's a fantastic programme this year: visit www.cheltenhamfestivals.com for full details. I believe that Cheltenham's four major festivals (jazz, science, music and literature) are a real asset to this town: to ...
Denis Healey's advice: "“It is a good thing to follow the First Law of Holes: if you are in one, stop digging” doesn't seem to have entered the consciousness of one George Walker Bush. He is digging ever more furiously with his proposal to loosen the standards of the Geneva Convention. This is despite opposition from Republican Senators (including John McCain) and Colin Powell, who said: The
Saturday: Late at night, Daddy Richard consults the DIGITAL TV GUIDE. "There's the ITV play on in a bit, something called 'the Mint'." You can see the hope in his little eyes: ITV may be rubbish in the daytime, but now that it's after midnight they've commissioned a late night play to fill the small hours with a bit of class. Daddy Alex groans. "That's not the ITV Play," he says through gritted teeth, "that's ITV Play – one of those 0898 phone in quiz shows." Daddy Richard, hopes dashed, buries his head in his hands… ...
Off to Liberal Democrat conference today! What do I expect – other than being very busy! Well - outside of the media terming us 'economic' or 'social liberals' - their favourite sport will be will Kennedy come back and will Ming be merciless, but what I hope is that we will debate and decide policies on a whole range of issues which really matter. And the Lib Dem conference debates are still real
may not be the carbon-saving panacaea some would have you believe, according to New Scientist. When built on a peat substrate, the building of the turbine parts, the concrete base and the disruption to the peat incurs a CO2 debt that it takes (according to new research) the 'clean' electricity generated between 8 and 16 years to pay off. The windustry claims the figure is around four years, with
A vacancy has occurred within the Campaigns Department for the post of Campaigns officer for the West Midlands.
I can't believe it! I really can't. I was checking out Lib Dem blogs this morning, like I do most morning and saw that Forceful and Moderate was talking about their position in Iain Dale's top 100 Lib Dem Blogs. So I thought I would have a look at the list to see who was on it. Unbeknown to me I am on the list (Although Woollcott is spelt with two l's). Poisition 73. Now I don't know how Iain
Much of the global debate about the Pope's speech misses the point. The linked article from The Guardian is, however, much better than most reports. It still confuses states and religions in its strapline. The point The Guardian makes is that the Vatican is unhappy about persecution of Christians in Muslim states. This obviously links to the popes denunciation of the use of force for
F&M is 29th... despite us not posting very often (blushes all around). On a personal note, I'm hoping this changes very shortly since on Thursday I'm booked to submit ~ 46,000 words of badly written, poorly justified speculation cobbled together last minute, linked together by an utterly contrived theme and liberally illustrated with numerous incomprehensible diagrams that are referred to in
Is it wrong to look round a check-in queue/departure gate/aeroplane full of people and think: I really hope the plane doesn’t break apart in flight with the passengers miraculously surviving and leaving me stranded on a weird desert island. With them. More on that story later. Now in London en route to party conference in Brighton. Hurrah. Tags: [...]
The morning of Conference has arrived and I am pulling all my stuff together for an exciting three days before I have to abandon all the important debates on the future of the party and head back to Cardiff to discuss the future of Wales instead. In this morning's Western Mail the Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Leader, Mike German, makes much the same point. In previewing the Conference and next May's Welsh Assembly elections he underlines some of the uncertainties our party needs to overcome before we have a settled programme to put before the electorate. I was ...
Thousands of Liberal Democrats are today heading to Brighton for their annual conference. The two centre-pieces of the week are expected to be the tax reform paper, to be debated on Tuesday, and the report of the Meeting the Challenge Working Group - 'Trust in People: Make Britain free, fair and green', which will be debated on Wednesday.
Cardiff Liberal Democrat campaigner Alison Goldsworthy gives us her insight in to Welsh politics, and looks ahead to next year’s Assembly elections. It’s 100 years since the Liberal Landslide and 40 years since the Welsh Liberals were made distinct from the UK party. History hits everyone’s g spot once in a while, but mine? I get [...]
I'm not wholly surprised that this letter wasn't published in Lib Dem News - there must have been a backlog building up while the paper was "off the air", so to speak. But since I was cross enough to write it, I reckon I'm cross enough to post it here...I note with some dismay that the reception for Parliamentary candidates at conference in Brighton will be sponsored by Tesco. Would this be the same Tesco that is busy destroying jobs and small local shops across Britain, siphoning money from local communities to its shareholders, clogging roads with traffic and filling ...
Here’s the first video produced with Alex Davies, Paul Tyler and Billy Bragg as part of the Taking Power consultation. There’s more to come… It was an extremely interesting and thought-provoking conversation: unfortunately the camera ran out of batteries so we didn’t get it all on video, although we did get it all on audio. [...] | < | September 2006 | > | ||||
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