Cruel "animal rights activists" want to murder Knut, the world's cutest bear cub. They must not be allowed to succeed. Meanwhile, there is time for an old joke... Mummy, am I a polar bear? Yes dear, you are. Mummy, are you sure I'm a polar bear? Yes dear, I'm sure. Mummy, are you really really sure I'm a polar bear? Yes dear, I'm quite sure. Now why do you keep asking? 'Cos I'm bloody freezing, that's why.
Dave Cameron burnished his modernising credentials again last night as he led his troops into the aye lobby to support the sexual orientation regulations (details of the vote here courtesy of the public whip). Unfortunately by a margin of 3:1 his backbenchers went into the no lobby. And, as the Torygraph has pointed out, although this was officially a free vote the frontbench where whipped to
Islington’s Lib Dem council has broken new ground by setting up a £3M climate change fund to take local action on climate change, through promoting renewable energy, energy conservation and sustainable transport (walking & cycling). This is despite Islington’s council tax rise being around 1.5% (continuing to deliver a longstanding pledge to keep Islington’s tax [...]
The former Labour/Lib Dem/Labour MP for Shrewsbury has written a book: The Blackfriars of Shrewsbury: History of the Dominican Friary. If anything can bring you back into this blog's good books it is contributing to Shropshire local history. Reader's voice: But are you sure it is that Paul Marsden? Liberal England replies confidently: It says so in Wikipedia, so it must be true.
I'm guessing coaches everywhere will be showing their teams this object lesson in how not to celebrate scoring a try....
Young Lib Dem blogger Leo Watkins has written an excellent article on electoral reform. It's well worth a look.
Continuing my "spend more time on politics and less on being a Councillor" thread I tried to rediscover my roots on Thursday evening. I have been an Amnesty Member for 16 years and was very active when at University. As a College Rep in a (pretend) collegiate University I had a crucial role in Campaigns and learned a lot about organising things. Since then thought I have been a passive member, I write a few letters about cases in the magazine that comes every few months and pay my membership Fee, that's about it. The Leeds group meets monthly ...
A fascinating story from the BBC: A species of wild animal which used the Skye Bridge to cross from the mainland to the island has spread faster than expected, experts believe.Pine martens first arrived on Skye shortly after the bridge opened in 1995, according to Roger Cottis of the Scottish Wildlife Trust.He said the population had spread nine miles (15km) south and west from territory near the bridge.But it may not be good news: "They are a predatory animal. Certain birds and small animals are vulnerable and there will be an impact."On the mainland, the birds and animals have come ...
I ask Lembit what it was like growing up in Northern Ireland with an umlaut?A pity, because apart from that it is a good line. And it comes from a good interview with Lembit Opik from the Belfast Telegraph. It is conducted by Deborah Ross, but for once in her work it is more about its subject than, er, Deborah Ross.
Is "Ethical Consumerism" really a way forward on our environmental challenges or merely "Green Wash" allowing us to pretend we can continue to consume without consequence? My own view is the question isn't quite that stark but I have been thinking over the last 48 hours as M and S has rolled our a publicity Campaign in store around its "Plan A" initiative. www.marksandspencer.com/planA I doubt whether Greenpeace and Jonathan Porritt lend there names to something lightly and wading through some of the detail when its was launched nationally a few months ago it seems impressive. But ...
This evening I am out leafleting hte Mountside Crescent route, which also includes Church Drive, Carmona, Clough Drive, Sunny Lane, Herbert Street, Arthur Street and Mellor Street. I say that of course, but all rests on the ability of my hands and fingers to withstand the temperatures, which have plummeted in the last couple of days. This morning, for the first time in its five year life, my car
Like Ireland vs Zimbabwe, it's a tie. There's Alexis Rowell, a Lib Dem councillor, with: It's not often I find a reason to disagree with Polly Toynbee.And there's Randy from Big Brovaz with: We entered Eurovision because we thought it was about credible acts.
More quality journalism from the BBC (cf From fact to headline: how the media distorts news): Headline: Brown ‘may not face leader vote’ Okay, so this presumably means that a) the other potential candidates are unlikely to stand or b) that if he is the only candidate he will be declared unopposed. First para: Gordon Brown will not [...]
With my Lib Dem Devon MP colleagues Richard Younger-Ross (Teignbridge) and Nick Harvey (North Devon) I took a little trip up Downing Street today to present a few thousand signatures on our Post Offic...
A surprising statement from Deputy Leadership hopefuls Alan Johnston, Harriett Harman and Hilary Benn ? Apparently Gordon Brown, their would be boss and the man you wouldn't want to make an enemy of if he becomes Prime Minister, which looks likely, is not a Stalinist control freak after all. They would say that, wouldn't they ?
So, I was having this row with my girlfriend... Bad territory for the blog to open on, I’m sure, but bear with me. The row in question, on a Sunday night wandering back to her place from the cinema, was on the possibility of applying pressure on the chain chemists to publicly back legalisation of cannabis (on the basis that they are the most likely candidates for the “government regulated
Probably not the build up to his last budget that Gordon Brown would have wanted. In an interview with the FT, Lord Turnbull, former permanent secretary to the Treasury, talked about the Chancellor's "Stalinist ruthlessness" and how he treats cabinet colleagues with "more or less complete contempt".Then again, the Chancellor has had reason to look more statesmanlike of late - is this all an elaborate publicity stunt?Probably not, and it detracts from the real question of the day: what surprises are in store tomorrow?A quick glance at the papers gives a bewildering list of demands, predictions and condemnations from all ...
Apparently you can tell if Al Gore is running for President or not by his weight. If he loses weight, he's running (presumably literally as well as figuratively). If he remains in a...ahem... porked-out state, he's not running. His weight has certainly yo-yo'ed over the years. During his 2000 bid for election, he was described as having the looks of a "quarterback". Now he seems positively hewn
Community safety warden Carolyn Bircham has scored a personal triumph for her work in setting up football with matches for young people and giving them the chance to help design a new play area. Carolyn's extra commitment to her role as Redcar and Cleveland Council's warden supervisor for South Bank, Grangetown and Teesville was 'highly commended' by the annual North East Regional Wardens awards, organised by the Middlesbrough-based North East Regional Resource Centre. The Council's warden service was also applauded by the Centre, funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government, for achieving a distinction for the ...
It's not often I find a reason to disagree with Polly Toynbee (below right), but I have felt moved to write to the Guardian about her comments yesterday on Lib Dem-led Camden: www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2037972,00.html Not increasing our share of the Council Tax is great news for the least well off who struggle to pay this heavy financial burden. Securing value for money has got to be more important than tax and spend. And that's what we're doing. But don't take my word for it - ask the Audit Commission who recently commended Camden as one of only 10 "four ... 
A point that I forgot to mention in my post about the Tories and the environment yesterday. Boris Johnson is quoted as saying: I associate road humps with the Liberal Democrats. I blame the Lib Dems for speed humps, which necessitate the need for 4×4s. It is an interesting causal link. The flaw in this [...]
Admittedly 6.6 million passports are issued a year, but 10,000 passports were given to bogus applicants last year. That seems an awful lot, especially considering several were given to terrorists. For example, an al Qaeda terrorist who plotted to blow-up a train under the Thames and flood the London Underground managed to obtain two British passports. Given the very thorough forms that have be
Yesterday Susan Kramer MP and others presented the latest batch of Liberal Democrat ’save our post offices’ petitions to 10 Downing Street: The Liberal Democrat petition is online at www.libdems.org.uk/postoffices
Check out the home page for the latest links.
Finally the Alan Burkitt saga has been resolved - he is punished with a 12-month sentence, suspended for 2 years. This means he is automatically disqualified from Sandwell Council, but only after the last date for an appeal has passed, another 21-28 days. I assume this means there will be a by-election sometime in the summer, rather than [...] 
Really not sure what to say on this but... A Tory councillor who sold a woman with learning difficulties for sex has been given a 12-month suspended jail sentence, he had pleaded guilty to causing or inciting prostitution. Councillor Alan Burkitt, of West Bromwich, advertised the woman on the internet to help pay his mortgage.
The system is really stacked against grandparents. They have all the powers of the state aligned against them and generally cannot get legal aid. It is also not in the state's interests for grandparents to look after children as it does not satisfy the adoption targets and the money machine that has built up around child protection is insufficiently fed.
Four years ago, at about this time of year, I was relaxing after the conclusion of the selection of our European Parliamentary List for South East England, when I was sucked into an argument about the absence of ethnic minority candidates from that Region's shortlist. At the time, I was a mite defensive, perhaps because, as a member of the ethnic minority community myself (and that is a somewhat
Attempts to filter out hoax e-mails from the Assembly system have been less than successful it has transpired. The e-mail I received today actually came through in triplicate. I thought the attempt to disguise its intent was clumsy but also slightly amusing: Dear Mr. Peter, I am really sorry if this mail gets to you without any notice for It has become really difficult for me to get a reliable person to assist me because of the rate of scams that I hear about. This letter may come to you as a surprise ...
Curious dead horse flogging from Lynne Featherstone yesterday, which I’m rebutting here in a vain attempt to stop yet another conspiracy theory gaining ground: But there is one point that has struck me as valid - why do we keep on being told Lord Levy’s middle name? It’s Abraham – and so telling us his middle [...]
I have to admit that I am getting more and more bemused by the claims and counter-claims being made by Labour and Plaid Cymru over their respective pledges to end child poverty by 2020. You would have thought that as both parties have made the same promise that there would not be much disagreement between them on this issue. And yet we are treated to an unholy row about whose commitment is the most efficacious. Having made the promise herself to end child poverty, Leanne Wood then says that it is politically irresponsible to be basing an Assembly ...
From The Globalisation Institute I found this. According to recent surveys, an increasing number of Hungarians oppose the immigration of Pirese to their country. Never heard of them? The Pirese were invented by a research institute to compare the attitude of Hungarians towards existent minorities - Roma, Germans, Slovaks, Serbs - with their feelings towards a [...]
I was not able to hang around after the Swansea University College Council meeting yesterday to hear the First Minister deliver the National Centre for Public Policy's annual public lecture, but judging by reports in today's Western Mail it was quite a thoughtful talk. It was good that Rhodri Morgan was able to criticise the initial devolution settlement for Wales and also that he has expressed an intention to make the maximum use of the Assembly's new powers. It is to be hoped of course that if he were to return to his present post then that would involve ...
Joan Ryan today announced that 10,000 fraudulent passport applicants were granted passports in the last year. Dhiren Barot, serving 40 years in prison, apparently had 7 fraudulent passports. Of course, they’re telling us this to convince the British public that ID cards are necessary. Is this the first time the government has boasted about its own [...]
I've been meaning to post more about Conservapedia, the indispensible 'right-wing information resource'. However that won't make much sense until I put it in some context by talking about Wikipedia. The Wikipedia you see today is a work in progress. It might be the 10th most popular site on the internet and everyone and their aunt might use it as an information resource, but it's still in many ways not very good. There might be an article on just about everything you can think of, but many of them are fairly weak - lacking depth and lacking any ...
Jonathan Calder has nominated me as a thogger - i.e. a blogger who makes him think. This is all very flattering, but leaves me in a bit of a quandary - I now have to come up with five more names, ideally missing out the ones that have already been mentioned. And Jonathan has already [...]
{[00000002.jpg]} This week rumor is rife that the Chancellor is about to double car tax on 4x4s. This could see farmers paying over £400 per year just to tax the vehicles they need to carry out their livelihoods. Welsh Liberal Democrat candidate for the Assembly, Mark Young is calling for the Chancellor to “show some heart” for farmers as well as for all people who live in rural communities and who need 4x4s. Whilst he understands that we all have got to get greener, Marks point is that it is not acceptable to impose taxes ...
Here’s how: The government has admitted that the chief lobbyist of Britain’s biggest arms company was given an official security pass allowing him to wander freely around the Ministry of Defence. There’s more in today’s Guardian.
Luke Croydon from the press office at Cowley St took this photo yesterday of me and Susan Kramer handing over the Poat Office petition to Downing Street. These were the petitions collected together at Harrogate conference from campaigners across the country. There are however plenty more petitions still out in the country and I have heard that a number of MPs are planning their own hand overs.
Ming will be one of the keynote speakers at a public rally in support of the Sustainable Communities Bill on Monday March 26th. Further details are on FlockTogether. The bill would give local communities much more say over what happens in their areas. You can read more about the bill in the articles by Lib Dem [...]
Thanks to the marvellous BBC programme catalogue prototype, you can - assuming you’re, er, not too old - see what was on TV on the day you were born, and even, if you know your time of birth, at the very moment you entered the world. My mum was missing out on Sunday Worship: I, Where [...]
On Saturday I did the godmother/Aunt thing, full on, and in the process came face to face with the realities of urban teenage life. It's not pretty. Actually it is rather violent. Having spent a lovely day with Kate, my youngest godchild, celebrating her second birthday (I arrived with tadpoles & present wrapped in pink with a big bow - went down well), I decided to pop in to my sister's house. As her front door opened, I was greeted by one of the twin teenage nephews with a bit of a shiner, a smashed ...
Today is the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Iraq is now a complete disaster, civil war looms (if not already happening!), many tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's have died - no one know the actual number as no one is really counting!
Cllr Nick Stanton, Liberal Democrat Leader of Southwark Council, has described the Lyons review of Local Government finance as bringing disappointment and worry to the people of Southwark. “The Lyons review has been three years in the making but has brought no relief for Southwark residents from the iniquity of council tax,” said Cllr Nick Stanton. “And the prospect of a revaluation of all properties will concern many who worry that their tax bills will rise. It seems clear that Gordon Brown has blocked any meaningful reform of this terrible system.” “The Lyons review has recommended that every home be ...
A walk to the bingo will be a lot smoother for pensioners in Brotton and Lingdale thanks to Redcar and Cleveland Council's £1million additional investment to tackle unmade streets. Community Campaigner Norma Morris is pictured, left, with Brotton Ward Liberal Democrat Councillors Val Miller, centre, and Kay Walker in one of the unmade streets on the Park at Brotton which could benefit from the funding. Pensioners in the two East Cleveland villages have given the thumbs-up to the start of work in tackling unadopted streets in an ongoing investment that has already allocated £1.3million to tackle 19 schemes ...
News that 1,000 solicitors marched on Whitehall yesterday to protest against changes to Legal Aid makes me fear for the stability of the State. So, I place a call to my mole in the DCA for the inside track. Fortunately, ‘Deep Pockets’ reassures me - the government is not about to be overthrown, I dont need [...]
I was in Sutton tonight for Pizza and Politics with Nick Clegg. Nick had to keep his comments fairly brief, as the Pizzas had been standing for a little while and were destined to turn to cheesy gloop! An interesting commentary, mainly obviously on his Home Affairs portfolio. Setting out why he thought our stance on the major issues is totally liberal. One example is the "life should mean life"
Apparently it wasn't obvious at first, but when he came over the tannoy and announced the crew for the flight, he described them all as his best mate and insisted that the flight would be going via Cyprus so they could go and get a kebab ! Read about it HERE. | < | March 2007 | > | ||||
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
