LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Friday 13th October 2006

Fortune Vomits on My Eiderdown Again

Hmm. For someone who has a remarkable lack of superstition, I’m having an hilariously ghastly Friday 13th (I suspect the hand, or possibly tentacle, of Cuddly Cthulhu). First, however, I should mention there’s an Avengers repeat with lots of spies-and-doubles-related fun at 11.30 tonight, which I’ve not as yet reviewed but would recommend (note for your diary: next week’s is unseasonal but unmissable). This relates to comedy misfortune number one, my strong right arm. Well, OK, it’s usually my wimpish right arm, but today it’s an entertaining mixture of ‘numb’ and ‘agonising’, due to a recurring nerve problem flaring up. ...

Where is the "Special Relationship" for Terry Lloy...

Are you as fed up as I am with the so called "special relationship", when the Americans refuse to help in to the enquiry in to ITN journalist Terry Lloyd's death. The BBC has a good report on this, and there are some choice quotes from fellow journalists and others as the way the Americans tried to cover and and refuse to offer any help or support in the whole process. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6046950.stm The special relationship only seems to mean something to the American government when they want something from us (like to go to war on their side ...

Extradition

Having taken the rather dubious decision of extraditing the Nat West Three to the USA on charges of illegally gaining money via international banking systems, Britain might naturally expect the same consideration. However, the extradition treaty only works one way. Will the United States reciprocate by allowing the Marines involved in the unlawful killing of ITN reporter Terry Lloyd to be tried in Britain? No, I thought not. It will be interesting to see how persistent and determined the British Government are in securing an extradition.

Make recycling in Prestwich easier!

Today I took advantage of my employer’s flexible working policies to enjoy a flexi-day off work. I mightn’t ever get to use my maternity benefits, but by God am I gonna use flexi-time to its fullest! I had a fair bit to do today – chores mainly. But I did do a spot of leafleting – the Kingswood Rd / Dashwood Rd / North St area. And I did the recycling. It’s interesting that Bury Council have

David Cameron produces the most boring video in the history of mankind

Oh My God, he can type! Elect him Prime Minister immediately!

Sion Simon apologises - guilty of crimes against comedy and the dictionary?

Sion Simon, after self-immolating himself on Sky News, has now apologised for his Webcameron "spoof". It is all ludicrous really. Our own Will did an excellent spoof of the whole thing, the gist of which was a rather ingenious wheeze involving a cork screw. Quality. And our own Herr Sturmblogfuhrer Tall did an interesting commentary/slight spoof/haven't I got a nice chest? videcast. But the

Happy 200th anniversary

The latest series of Who Do You Think You Are? has served as a useful reminder that I’ve been neglecting the old family history of late, so in the last few weeks I’ve rejoined Ancestry, hunted through census records, and buried a host of ancestors whose deaths have now been added to the FreeBMD index. [...]

Playing Matron at three-card brag

And they're off! The first House Points from the new parliamentary season. This column appears in Liberal Democrat News . Education gamble Culture, media and sport questions are usually obsessed with organised games in schools. But aless healthy kind of activity featured prominently on Monday: The roulette match against Fettes was won. The first XI are playing Eton at blackjack this afternoon and I expect a large and enthusiastic turn out to support them. And the boy who has still not paid Matron what he owes her from playing three-card brag: see me afterwards. Mercifully, it ...

Good luck to Peter Grant - New Norwich Manager

Good luck to new Norwich City manager Peter Grant, a former Norwich player known for his passion and determination. I heard it suggested on BBC Look East that some Norwich fans are disappointed not to get a manager with Premiership experience. Personally, I think that is rubbish. What Norwich need is a young manager looking to build a reputation for himself by doing well for Norwich. Grant has played for the club, captained the club and knows the area. he has premiership experience at West Ham and whilst there also had experience of getting ...

Prescribing Information

Stayed up in London Thursday to speak at a conference on Friday morning at the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries. Discovered a trendy new bar in Victoria called Ha Ha that serves ...

Ming Campbell delivers stinging rebuke to “antisemitic” Tonge

You may recall Baroness Jenny Tonge landed herself in hot water at the Lib Dem party conference this year for saying at a fringe meeting “The pro-Israeli lobby has got its grips on the western world, its financial grips. I think they have probably got a certain grip on our party.” The Liberal Democrat Friends of [...]

Das ist Numberwang!

Extras is always a bit painful. You cringe rather than laugh at it. However, last night I did laugh out loud at the bit where Gervais nearly swallowed a bottle of sparkling water. It has to be seen to be appreciated. And Ian MacKellen was hilarious. The funniest show on TV at the moment is That Mitchell and Webb look, following Extras. Some of the sketches are somewhat dull. But most of them are

Target Date Set For Northern Irish Devolution

Reports of the Northern Irish Assembly may have been greatly exaggerated by the BBC earlier. No party has yet rejected the Governments' plan for progress. They have until the 10 November to respond to the plan which gives a minimum of 14 days after that to appoint the First Ministe and Deputy First Minister. If, and it is still a big if, this paln is accepted and followed the Assembly should be

Tory Hopeful Lee Rotherham Launches Campaign Site

Lee Rotherham, who is hoping to become the 2008 Tory Mayoral candidate, has launched a campaign website. Unlike other potential runners Rotherham plans to campaign “to bin New Labour’s extra tier of London government” and promises to “slash the political correctness, propaganda, and waste of your tax money that is endemic in the system.”

Footie Tonight

I'm off to Almondvale tonight to see by beloved Livi take on the Accies in the league. It is an experiment in Friday night football at the club to see if juniour club supporters and Old Firm, Hibs and Hearts supporting dads might accompany their children to a Livi game. Anyway it means I'm able to see my team play and still attend the Scottish Lib Dem Conference on the same weekend which I

Written Parliamentary Question: 13th October 2006

Freedom of Information Q:To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the local authorities which have applied under the Freedom of Information Act for information from his Department in 2006; and what information they have applied for. (John Hemming) A:holding answer 27 February 2006 I have been asked to reply. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Department for Communities and

People trafficking and prostitution

The Guardian notes the publication today of a report on human trafficking from the parliamentary joint committee on human rights. There are some startling figures: "The suggestion that the number of women being trafficked for prostitution into the UK is on the increase seems to be corroborated by the fact that 'whereas 10 years ago 85% of women in brothels were UK citizens, now 85% were from

Discrimination

The word discrimination comes from the Latin "discriminate", which means to "distinguish between". Usually this means the unfair treatment of others, usually because of prejudice. Well that enough of dictionary definitions, what does descimination mean too me and how can it be related to the news this week about Jack Straw et al. All this discussion made me start thinking, what would I feel

Cameron spoof taken off website

The BBC are reporting that Cameron spoof taken off website, however on the same page is a link to their media player which still shows the clip. 16:01 Edit: Link now gone 16:07 Edit: Try this? (Can’t confirm if it’ll work as the firewall at work won’t let me try). 16:21 Edit: Does work for the time being [...]

I'm a councillor, get me out of here...

Four of Kingston's worthy councillors are isolated in a virtual jungle waiting to see who is going to be evicted by young people next week. Taking part are Councillors Frances Moseley, Patricia Bamford, Sheila Griffin and Paul Johnston. They have each provided a manifesto for young people and are now busy answering questions posed to them. To watch what is happening go to...

An Inconvenient DVD

I should have mentioned this earlier in the week, but over the weekend a friend of mine bought a pirate DVD of An Inconvenient Truth off some bloke in a pub. When we sat down to watch it on Saturday, the disc turned out to contain a 90-minute Fox News documentary that was all [...]

Warning to Uninsured Drivers

WEST Midlands Police are issuing leaflets to homes in Birmingham and Sandwell warning drivers that if they are uninsured they could face having their vehicle crushed. Police have identified Hockley, Newtown, Alum Rock and Smethwick as hot spot areas in the West Midlands for uninsured drivers and the leaflet drop is a warning to offenders to get insurance or face the consequences. Regular

The Queen - the days before we cottoned on to spin

Chris and I went to see The Queen (the movie, not the pensioner) in Croydon last night. It’s good. It’s not a brilliant film, but it’s good. And it makes you think. But what really made me sit up was five seconds of archive BBC news footage in which BBC newsreader Martyn Lewis repeats Tony [...]

That spoof video

its just a Sionist conspiracy.

DUP Says No! Again!

The headline on the BBC news site has just changed to DUP rejects Government plan. I expect the story will catch up soon. Also nothing yet on the Ulster Unionists Blog of the talks. UPDATES 3:00 pm Headline has been reset to 'Hope Rise in NI Talks Agreement. Who knows what is going on? Such is the nature of Northern Irish politics. 3:19 pm The UUP blog has now said that while they expect to

Park Ward Liberal Democrat campaign continues to grow

News reaches me in Romania from Robin Lawrence updating me on the progress in Park Ward. He rung me - forgetting I was away -asking for some more Direct Debit forms to recruit members as he has run out, this is obviously good news. Before leaving for Romania I processed a number of membership applications and also recruited a new deliverer, we are also picking up more and more support on the doors too - roll on May 2007!

Eternal bosom of hot love...

wouldn't you just love to be called that on TV? It's just one of the titles bestowed on Kim Jong Il, according to Independent NORK TV (no debate about the license fee there, I bet). He is also Supreme Commander at the Forefront of the Struggle Against Imperialism and the United States, which I reckon is asking for a thousand pounder down the chimney. Full list of hilarious bullshit here. We can add to the list Twat Whose Nuclear Bomb Was A Lash-Up And Didn't Go Off Properly And Who Starves His People To Death. ...

Further reflections on the veil debate

As the veil debate rumbles on, what will its consequences be?

The Army Says No!

Well as I wrote yesterday the US Army said the situation in Iraq is too unstable to foresee a withdrawal of troops before 2010. Well British Army Cheif General Sir Richard Dannatt can tell them why. It's because we are there!. This is most forthright statement from inside the allied forces military which says that far from being the peace makers in Iraq our troops are seen as occupiers and a

Do Labour ministers do anything other than headline grabbing?

The news today that the announcement of £10m government investment in renewable energy made by so-called 'Environment' Secretary David Milliband is not actually new investment but a cut of funding for far more important, and basic, energy efficiency measures shows just how little Labour understand such issues. Locally this has been evident in York for some time where both the Labour...

Context is everything

The comments of General Sir Richard Dannatt calling for the early withdrawal of British Forces from Iraq are probably right. I too tend to think that British troops would be better used in Afghanistan and, as I have written recently, I believe that the British mission in Iraq needs to be given an exit timetable as soon as practical. However it is one thing for me, as a private citizen, to call for these courses of action. It is quite another for the most senior General in the British Army to enter the political arena. The General does not have ...

Blears - Failing to Spot the Obvious

Over on Comment is Free Blairite apologist in chief Hazel Blears writes: “Today, people see politics as something to benefit politicians. This is a travesty.” Predictably there’s not a single word of acknowledgment of the reasons people aren’t joining political parties - and indeed are leaving them. Blears of course can’t address this issue without accepting her own Government’s [...]

The Amazing Mrs Pritchard

Reaction from Lib Dems to The Amazing Mrs Pritchard has been mixed, but I feel that detractors are perhaps being a little harsh. The premise of the series does require us to ’suspend disbelief’, after all if breaking the mould was that easy we’d have done it years ago! This week’s episode did lurch between [...]

Britain's Coup

General Sir Richard Dannatt made some perfectly sensible comments in the Daily Mail and on the Today programme this morning. Only thing is... I'm sure the generals in Thailand has some perfectly sensible ideas that they tried to express. They eventually did this by replacing the elected government with the military's own particular form of direct action.

Jack Lammiman

is a regular search request that brings people to Lunartalks. He's my kind of anti-hero and if not a liberal he should be, and his story bears retelling. In 1992, he wanted to sail from Whitby to Jan Mayen Island in his aged sailing trawler Helga Maria. He wished to take passengers, so the Department of Transport got busy, inspected his boat and ruled it unseaworthy. Jack, a master mariner,

Why are the prisons full?

Yes, Prime Minister has many lessons for any observer of the political world. Every episode was instantly quoatable but none more so than the time Sir Arnold, the grand wizard of the Civil Service, advised Sir Humphrey about Politicians' Logic. It goes like this: All dogs have four legs; my cat has four legs; therefore my cat is a dog. Politicians, Sir Humphrey translated, think: Something must be done about this problem; this is something; therefore we must do it.Politicians' Logic is even more prevelent when analysing the causes of problems - such as explaining why our prisons are full. ...

‘Troops out’ - but we still have responsibilities

Sir Richard Dannatt’s comments about British presence in Iraq are welcome and overdue in public debate. On the issue itself, Sir Richard is doubtless right that ‘coalition’ (Anglo-American) forces in Iraq are part of the problem, not part of the solution. Seen as a hostile occupying force, our troops are increasingly counter-productive to the stated goal [...]

“Be quiet while I speak”

Ow… just… ow… Sion Simon MP, when you wrote for the Guardian you were funny, but you’re now officially a tit. Watch, and if you’re a fan of ‘car crash’ TV fast forward to 1 minute and 30 seconds in.

Dr Rant on Health Statistics

"The BBC is reporting that 43% of Hospital Trusts were caught by 'lie detector software'. "What does this tell us? "It tells us that the lie detection software gives a false negative 57% of the time." Dr Rant is a perhaps slightly less vitriolic version of AngryNHSDoc, who was forced by management to take his blog down. AngryNHSDoc made a number of useful points that it is worth people being aware of: Statistics are fiddled (see also Dr Rant). People abuse the NHS. Doctors don't think NHS Direct is of much benefit. The way in which things are ...

"Troops Out" - in the Daily Mail ?

It is not surprising to have people calling for the withdrawal of Troops from Iraq. It is not surprising to have people saying that the presence of British Troops: a) Makes the security situation worse in Iraqb) Causes problems for Britain around the worldc) Causes further difficulties in the UK. What is surprising is that it is the Army Chief of Staff Sir Richard Dannatt and it is in the Daily Mail. The article is a good article that I almost agree with entirely. However, I do have a disagreement about Afghanistan. I think that the actions ...

Poor Fred

Fred Elliott is barely dead in his grave and yet Assembly Members are claiming his endorsement for the promotion of Welsh beef. In question time on Wednesday the Labour AM, Christine Gwyther showed a frighteningly detailed knowledge of the soap. Alas, the Minister was not so clued up: Christine Gwyther: Will you join me in congratulating Meat Promotion Wales on its innovative use of product placement? I was watching Coronation Street on Sunday night, as you do, and there was a very long and poignant scene between Fred and Ashley in Fred Elliott’s butchers shop, where there was ...

One of those days

After the meeting at CAB on Wednesday evening I drove down to Brighton. I was due to speak at a conference the following morning so a room had been booked for me at the conference hotel, the Hilton Metropole. I arrived at 11pm, rather tired but still needing some time to look through my presentation. So it was a bit of a shock to be told at Reception that the hotel had overbooked and...

Day 2107: Shadow of Doubt

Tuesday: Cuddly Cthulhu has taken some OFFENCE at my diary of yesterday and would like you all to know that HE is founding his own society to be called: The Great Old Ones Do Exist Let People Understand or there'll be Smiting club – which has the acronym: GOD'ELPUS. If you do not believe HIM then you had better see this: fhtagn!

Kingston Citizens Advice Bureau

The Kingston Citizens Advice Bureau does a spendid and much needed job, providing free advice to anyone who needs it. It holds advice sessions at its main suite of offices in Eden Street, and also in New Malden, Chessington and Kingston University. (See here for times and venues) You can also phone on 0870 126 4019 (24 hours) or read through the national online AdviceGuide....

Fears of flooding in Bangkok

Oh well it is Friday 13th so here is some news about some more bad luck which has befallen the Thai people. There have been a lot of floods in Thailand in the last couple of months and now according to the Bangkok Post there are fears that Bangkok itself (which is already suffering from flooding) may suffer disastrous flooding on a scale even greater than the floods which submerged the city in 1995. This is partially because because residents in upstream provinces have opposed the diversion of run-off from the river into the vast fields along its route. There ...

Broadcasting Liberally

There's a good article on the Lib Dem policy towards the BBC over at Stephen Tall's gaff. You should go and read it. And not just because I want you to read my comments. Oh no.

Filming Dr. Who

One for the Dr. Who fans. Actually this is not a very good photograph. It is the best I could do with a camera phone in bright sunlight. The contraption shielded by sheets and information boards is the centrepiece of the Dr. Who filming currently going on in the Senedd. The building is standing in for some sort of futuristic house but that is all I know of the storyline. I popped over there after all my meetings on Tuesday night and the place was a hive of activity. The building was brightly lit up, with white panels on the ...

Friday 13th October 2006

Previous days:

Archives

Search for...

Adverts

Buttons

LibDem Blog Box

Contributors

Campaigns

From the BBC...

Backlinks...

From the LibDems...

From the Independent...

From Politics.co.uk...

From the Guardian...

Adverts