Tomorrow (Saturday) is the annual Bury Liberal Democrats Action Day. Last year we managed to deliver 4,000 Focus leaflets to residents in one day, and this year we’re hoping to beat that record. Although sadly, nobody from the Guinness Book will be on hand to give us a certificate! This year marks a departure from normal. After success in Prestwich in recent years (we now have 6 of the 9
I've never tried taking photos of fireworks before - they are not brilliant but hopefully my technique will improve! Several thousand people turned out for the Kingston Fireworks at Kingsmeadow this evening. It was organised by the Council, sponsored by The Accessory People and staffed by Rotary and Round Table - thanks to everyone for an excellent...
Theo "As I look out over this magnificent vista..." Butt-Philip has details of a John Stuart Mill Institute event being held at the National Liberal Club on 13 November.
1224 people called Jones met in Wales to break the world record for people with the same name meeting up. Read about it HERE. Never one to turn down a challenge, I've decided that the Starling's will take up the challenge tomorrow at 9 am. Anyone called Starling is welcome, but e-mail me first for directions !
Here she is in today's Guardian, commenting on the IPPR report on British teens: The number of badly behaved teens in Asbo-type trouble, drinking, taking drugs and having too-early sex mirrors the proportion born poor in their generation. As Nick Pearce, the IPPR director, says, this is all about class - again. There is no great mystery, no strange British pathology or innate savagery in our genes. These aimless, uncared-for young people are the price paid (mostly by them) for gross inequality of opportunity and reward.Radical politics used to revolve around the belief that the poor are as good ...
My column from today's Liberal Democrat News. 2003 and all that When Tobruk fell to Rommel on 29 June 1942, two Conservative MPs tabled a motion of no confidence in the direction of the war. Churchill mounted a robust defence of his premiership and received the support of 475 members. Even so, there were 25 votes against him and 27 abstentions. That is how the Commons behaved when Britain was fighting for survival. On Tuesday, by contrast, ministers repeatedly told the House that even holding an inquiry into the Iraq war would be a mistake. In the ...
Allegedly Guido Fawkes' secret identity is Paul Staines As we can see the alleged young plotter (pictured supporting UNITA )in his early days went to Harrow School, but did he? According to his Friends Reunited entry he actually went to Salvatorian College a Roman Catholic Comprehensive and Harrow Weald Sixth Form. Maybe Guido will put us right on this intrigue.
I returned to Cowley St on Wednesday. As expected my inbox was bursting at the seems. 400 emails have arrived in my absence. And add to that the 250 I received on my blackberry whilst on holiday. So much of the day was spent dealing with them. The rest of the time was spent eating Turkish delight with the Policy Unit who share the same room as me in HQ. Back at the flat in the evening we
The BBC reports that the sister of a Blue Peter presenter wants to be the Labour candidate for Bethnal Green and Bow. Presumably, if elected, her sister will make her a miniature version of the House of Commons from sticky backed plastic, two old yoghurt pots and some modelling clay !
Of course, if I'm going to sit here all week being critical of things going on within LDYS, at some point you'll have every right to ask me what I'd do about it. And to be honest, I've spent all week struggling with it, until just now I realised that actually I have a get-out clause (but more of that anon...) Meanwhile, I think it's only fair that I tell you what I disagree with; We must not
You always know when November 5th is approaching by the fact you suddenly start hearing fireworks going off at 4 o'clock in the afternoon or at midnight. I love fireword displays and I think the whole Guy Fawkes thing is a tradition to savour and preserve. But the moden habit of kids terrorising neighbourhoods with fireworks in the wake of their previous week's halloween horrors, is one we could do without. The government claims that the tightening up of the laws on selling fireworks two years ago has made significant improvements, but they ignore the fact that it has ...
The Liberal Democrats have published new research showing which areas of Britain emit the most carbon dioxide. The data has been released to coincide with the Stop Climate Chaos march and rally in Central London tomorrow. You can see more here. Do come along to the march if you can - there seem to be two choices. [...]
Before I forget, here's a link to the piece about Winchester on Channel4 last week. Yes, it is the best place to live in Britain, and Oliver's Battery and Badger Farm are the best places to live in Winchester! OK, Channel4 didn't say the last bit, but we all know it's true.
I have held back from comment on Paul Rainger's departure from Cowley Street until I knew he had told everybody that he wanted in person. Although it found itself all over the political bloggersphere with indecent haste in the race to be first with the news. I have worked with Paul since early 1998, and for much of this time we have sat in the same 3rd floor attic office in Cowley Street - I
Today is Dress Spotty Day. This is to draw attention to Bowel Cancer and the importance of spotting the symptoms. Lynn's Bowel Cancer Campaign was founded by Lynn Faulds Wood after she beat the disease herself. She wants everyone to know what to look out for, so they can get treatment in the early stages, and also how to prevent it. So I'm very happy to endorse...
HMRC Call Centres Q:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether HM Revenue and Customs has implemented the informative message to stop silent calls in its call centres. John Hemming) A:holding answer 30 October 2006 HM Revenue and Customs is currently undertaking work to upgrade the outgoing telephony systems in its contact centres and expects to have the technical ability to play such
The Register has an article reporting on the Data Protection and Privacy Commissioner's conference which reports the stark warnings given about the creeping surveillance state which we are being subjected to. The parallels between schemes like the National Identity Register and the tools of totalitarianism are startlingly similar. Key quotations are: The pervasive use of surveillance undermines
It is very sad when someone is embroiled in a scandal, mainly of their own making. I feel great sympathy for Pastor Ted Haggard, and more especially for his family. But you have to ask how anyone could be so stupid. Ted Haggard is the accepted leading voice of 30 million Evangelicals in the US. Wikipedia says: Author Jeff Sharlet reports that Haggard "talks to... Bush or his advisers every
When I'm not studying for my LLM or doing LibDem stuff I am Hon Secretary of the John Stuart Mill Institute. As such I am currently publicising this event. I hope to see lots of people there (so far the response has been great). THE JOHN STUART MILL INSTITUTE “Islam and Liberalism” – November 13th The John Stuart Mill Institute is pleases to announce that it is organising a lecture on “Islam
Here's a test of Tony's newfound scientific ardour. For the past five years scientists have recommended leaving the North Sea's under-the-cosh cod stocks to recover. And for the past five years politicians have ignored them, the UK (Prop: A Blair) included. Here in Whitby there is a small fishing industry but one to which the town is intensely emotionally attached. The idea that we should stop trawling would be local political suicide. But this isn't a local problem: the seas will be fished out in 50 years unless we manage our fisheries better. The Guardian reports: Cod ...
A big victory in Tory-dominated Havant Borough Council last night where LibDem Faith Ponsonby took the Battins council seat from the Conservatives with a three-figure majority. That takes the LibDem group back up to four; we are defending another vacant seat on the 30th. In Stratford upon Avon, however, the result was the other way [...]
Unbelievably, it reportedly costs 10p to clean up every "gum turd". I'm not in favour of the Singaporean solution of banning gum altogether, but I am very much in favour of a tax! This problem is just one example of people's attitude to litter, but many chewers seem to see it as fair game to empty the contents of their mouth onto the pavement!
We may speak the same language but… An American who has been helping in my ward told me how relieved she was to discover my campaign to 'remove the chicanes' was merely about a traffic calming ...
Last night was the city council's regeneration select committee. I had "called in" a decision by the executive board about the planned expansion of Liverpool John Lennon airport. Calling something in is basically a way of getting a bit more scrutiny of a council decision. The decision in this case was a response to the airports published masterplan. So anyway I had organised a call in - along with four other Lib Dems - in order to look more closely at a whole load of things which people in Speke have raised with me. Some ...
A remake of a classic 1974 film opens in December, written and directed by one of The X-Files‘ regular writers. In the tradition of such remakes, and in light of some reviews, I don’t hold out hope of it being particularly good, but I did enjoy the trailer I caught at the cinema last night: Tags: [...]
If you were as hacked off as I was that last night’s Question Time had three Conservatives on it, do take the time to send in a complaint to the BBC. Menzies Campbell did a good job on the panel, but both he and Charles Clarke were largely drowned out by Heseltine, Platell and the increasingly barmy [...]
..about science as part of 'Our Nation's Future', a 'series of lectures from the PM on vital issues'. Mr. Blair also spent 20 minutes with New Scientist editor Jeremy Webb. Podcast here or read the transcript here. Update: BBC news Become scientists, Blair urges young.
It would be indecent for me to show any glee in reporting that it looks as though Katherine Harris will get well and truly stuffed in her bid for the US Senate. Or, as the BBC puts it more reservedly: "Recount Unlikely". Forever engraved on my brain, will be the image of Harris announcing in 2000, with all due pomp and ceremony that, surprise, surprise (as she was both Co-Chair of Bush's Florida election campaign and the person responsible for purging the Florida electoral rolls of anyone remotely likely to vote for Gore) Bush was to receive Florida's electoral ...
Oh the sheer variety of a City Councillor's life! Wednesday evening saw a short, only 2 hours, but interesting full Council meeting. I spoke a couple of times. First to ask a question about the move of the City's Museum Service from the Hyde Historic Resources Centre, I'm really concerned about how this will work, it's a subject I'll return to in a future blog entry. Second, to speak in the discussion on a petition calling for speed reduction in Battery Hill. Hampshire County Council seem very reluctant to take the sort of action necessary to protect residential roads from ...
Reuters are reporting that "Sen. John Kerry's "botched joke" about the Iraq war riled fellow Democrats and temporarily energized Republicans, but it is unlikely to have much, if any, impact in Tuesday's congressional elections." They go on: While a Republican backlash against Kerry could help determine the outcome of a few razor-close congressional races, it's highly unlikely to change enough votes to determine the battle for control of Congress, analysts said. "The impact will be very, very minimal," said Stuart Rothenberg of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report. "This election is not about John Kerry. It is about George Bush and ... 
As happens on all blogs, there’s been a collective bout of grumpiness in the past few days in the comments. I’ve just gone through the blog and deleted the variously abusive, rude, and fundamentally pointless messages. Please think before you post comments, it’s not in anyone’s best interests that comment pre-moderation gets switched on, or that I have to force people to [...]
In four days’ time, 7th November, Americans will go the polls to elect 435 members of the House of Representatives, and 33 members (one-third) of the Senate. What will happen? That’s the question I’m asking over at m’other site, and you have four possible options: A clean Democrat sweep: gain both House and SenateDems control House, Republicans keep SenateRepublicans keep House, Dems capture
The US blogosphere is buzzing with good news for the Democrats in the run-up to next Tuesday's congress elections. But my feeling is: It can't be this good! A remarkably frank "Republican strategist" on Channel 4 news last night, who freely admitted Bush's unpopularity, predicted Democrat control of the House with a 3-4 seat majority and Republicans keeping control of the Senate by hanging on in Montana, Missouri and Tennessee. If the Democrats manage just that, plus a clutch of gubernatorial wins, then at least we have got to the end of a dark, Bushy tunnel! However, ...
The Wrekin Labour Party has selected Alison Wedgwood as its candidate for the next election. According to the Labour Party Alison is a 36 year old mother of two from Staffordshire, the daughter of a Staffordshire coal miner who became a mining engineer. She is married to Tom and has two daughters and another child due in December. A Cambridge graduate, she is an international expert on environmental and economic development and has worked on forestry and water projects for the World Bank and Water Aid, in many countries across the globe.
Busy day today, attending the opening of much needed industrial units followed by South Devon College's student awards and then a meeting with the housing department. Also have a couple of... 
Yesterday the Conservatives gained a seat from the Liberal Democrats on Stratford-On-Avon District Council. Kineton Ward is in the new Kenilworth and Southam Parliamentary seat - it was noticeable that Labour didn't even bother standing in this election which is fairly odd as they are currently selecting for the Parliamentary seat.
Did anyone else get a press release from a group calling themselves the Prophets of Hope? Their statement read as follows: "Last night (wednesday) climate activists carried out a daring night time art attack. Using powerful projection equipment the activists displayed their message onto leading London landmarks: St Pancras, Battersea power station and the Houses of Parliament. The two pieces of projected text read "How ironic to live in fear of terrorism and die of climate change" and "The ultimate terror threat is climate change". The projections were carried out by a group calling themselves The Prophets of ...
Did anyone else get a press release from a group calling themselves the Prophets of Hope? Their statement read as follows: "Last night (wednesday) climate activists carried out a daring night time art attack. Using powerful projection equipment the activists displayed their message onto leading London landmarks: St Pancras, Battersea power station and the Houses of Parliament. The two pieces of projected text read "How ironic to live in fear of terrorism and die of climate change" and "The ultimate terror threat is climate change". The projections were carried out by a group calling themselves The Prophets of Hope. Mark ...
There will be no enquiry into decisions leading up to the Iraq war. But ordinary British citizens are subject to levels of surveillance without parallel. | < | November 2006 | > | ||||
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