The art of portraiture is alive and well, as witnessed by the Royal Society of Portrait Painters’ Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries, whose vernissage I attended this evening. I was particularly wanting to get to know the work of a relatively new acquaintance, Jane Bond (whose sensitive oil of Mrs Victoria Power I loved), [...]
A plea for help: as I’ve mentioned before, I’m sitting on the Lib Dems’ Better Governance Working Group. I’ve been tasked with coming up with some detailed policy on what the Lib Dems would do on the thorny issue of privacy. Specifically: would we reform data protection? What is our response to [...]
Today has clearly ‘bin’ a rubbish news day. The Daily Mail are crusading to stop councils from moving to fortnightly collections. Outgoing leader of the LGA and Tory Peer Gideon Sandy Bruce-Lockhart has been defending fortnightly collections (and can I take a moment to reflect on the wonderful name that is “Doretta Cocks”?). Meanwhile, [...]
Last season I got very excited about the young Yorkshire batsman and leg-spinner Adil Rashid. After a quiet tour with England A over the winter, he is back in the headlines: Adil Rashid again shone with the ball for Yorkshire but Durham showed plenty of fight at Headingley. Dale Benkenstein held the visitors together, following his century against Worcestershire with a battling 83 as the top order stuttered against Darren Gough and Tim Bresnan. However, when Benkenstein and Callum Thorp fell in consecutive deliveries to Rashid the innings stood at an unimpressive 207 for 8. Ottis Gibson and Graham Onions ...
Well, some of them: Peter Hain's past (Guido Fawkes);Was Ted Heath gay? (Tim Worstall);Philosophical politicians (Julian Baggini on Comment is Free).
I have to admit that, when I first read that scientists had written to Mark Durkin to ask him, out of the goodness of his heart, not to make DVDs of the Great Global Warming Swindle available for sale (credit: Rob), I blanched. I could more or less have predicted what a drama queen [...]
One of the many lovely things about Doctor Who being a big TV success again is that people are buying the books in huge numbers, too. Right now, you can also get some for ‘free’ – some online, some with a magazine (requiring cash). So, should you? For me there were two golden ages where Doctor Who novels really seemed to matter: the scintillating New Adventures, aimed at older readers, which came to an end ten years ago yesterday after keeping the series going once the television dropped it; and the cheery Target novelisations of the original TV series itself. ...
More worries for the Conservatives in Essex. The Echo newspaper has a copy of a memo sent out by the Chair of Rochford and Southend East Tories: CONSERVATIVES must fight to avoid the "shame" of losing the second leader in two years at next week's elections, a leading activist says. Catrina Lambert, chairman of Rochford and Southend East Tories, has sent out a stark warning to grassroots
Labour are, according to the Eastern Daily Press, up in arms over Breckland District Council running an advertising campaign just ten days before the local elections. The campaign highlights the virtues and policies of the Tory run council. Just to add balance, does anyone else know of any other councils that do this with tax payers money ?
Wednesday 25th April 2007 - Today, President Abdul Kamal became the first Indian President ever to be invited to address a plenary session of the European Parliament. It's a sign of the ever-increasing close relations between India and the European Parliament, which have come about after the adoption of my EU-India Trade and Economic Relations Report in September last year. The President gave a 
Libby's birthday present. (And yes, it is what she wanted).
When helping a boy undo a knot in his sewing today in a Design Technology lesson, another second boy came over to me and said in an urgent, rather pained voice " I've just stuck a needle right up my foreskin !" The first boy I had been dealing with who had the knot in his work looked at me with a look of horror on his face, we both turned and looked at the second boy who was in pain with his needle. "Shall I show you ?" asked the boy I turned again to ...
I read this story about Blue peter but i cannot help but wonder is it True?
Dan insists I tell you something of last night. One of my flatmates plus myself and Daniel headed to the notorious Retro Bar music quiz - although we got there a little early, offering time for several bottles of Magners before the quiz commenced. Despite this, and more trendy cider during it, we managed to score [...]
East Walworth Lib Dem councillor Jane Salmon has been praised by the RSPCA for her campaign to persuade Southwark Council to stop using rodent tape to control rat and mice populations. Rodent tape often leads to animals causing severe harm to themselves and enduring unreasonable pain before death. The RSPCA advises local authorities to use other methods of controlling pests. Piers Claughton of the RSPCA wrote to the council to thank them for taking animal welfare into consideration with regard to pest control. Cllr Salmon's campaign has been agreed by the Housing Scrutiny Committee and the use of rodent tape ...
The party’s Chief Executive, Chris Rennard, recorded an hour-long interview for 18 Doughty Street yesterday. It’s being broadcast tonight at 9pm or you can watch it in their website archive.
The only story that anyone’s talking about in Southwark this week is that the attendance records of all Southwark Councillors has been released. Three councillors had a perfect attendance record at all meetings they were due to attend, of which I was one - having attended 31 out of 31 meetings. My Lib Dem colleague Paul [...]
Cllr Lisa Rajan, Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Environment on Southwark Council, has confirmed that the council will not end weekly bin collections in the borough unless such a change is wanted by residents. Cllr Rajan’s statement comes amid much press speculation about moves to bi-weekly collections. The Labour Party has proposed fortnightly collections in many parts of the country. “In councils across the UK, Labour has moved to fortnightly collections or is proposing to do so,” said Cllr Lisa Rajan. “I want to make it quite clear that the Liberal Democrats in Southwark have no plans to change the ...
All good things must, so the cliché tells us, come to an end. And so it is with my year’s tenure on Oxford City Council’s Executive Board - what some places, with more pretensions to grandeur than us, call a cabinet - as portfolio holder for Better Finances. I decided way back in October last year that, if the Lib Dems continue to run the City Council as a minority administration, I would step
The City Council has advised me of Notices of Proposal related to Traffic Orders that will be advertised in the local press on Friday of this week : PROPOSAL 1 : "DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL (VARIATION OF WAITING RESTRICTIONS) (NO 2) ORDER 2007 Dundee City Council propose to make an Order under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of varying the provisions of several Waiting Restriction Orders affecting the City. The effect of the Order is set out in the Schedule below. Full details of ... 
Cllr Richard Thomas, Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Regeneration on Southwark Council, has slammed plans by the Southwark Labour councillors to illegally siphon money into their areas from the north of the Borough. In an interview for a local newspaper, Labour Leader Peter John is reported to have said he believes the planning gain cash from developments in the north of the Borough should be re-allocated to areas that see less big development, such as Camberwell and Peckham. “Labour’s plans to siphon cash from local projects in Bankside, Bermondsey, Walworth and Rotherhithe into Camberwell and Peckham are outrageous and illegal,” ...
15 Things Kurt Vonnegut Said Better Than Anyone Else Ever Has Or Will
Via Pickled Politics I have come across the Guardian piece on John Reid. Sunny (for it is he) puts it like this The home secretary, John Reid, today cautioned against scaremongering over the nature of the terrorist threat facing Britain but then went on to warn about the “devastating consequences” of a potential al-Qaida assault on Britain’s financial markets and energy supplies. [Guardian] Well there’s a surprise - John Reid makes contradictory scare-mongering statements. The Guardian also says that Despite the high-level denials, the Liberal Democrats produced a dossier of what they said were “numerous ...
OK, so I know that Polls are the last refuge of the scoundrel, etc, but I did think it was interesting today that the Guardian ICM poll shows us not only up in the straight voting intentions poll, as Paul has already pointed out, but also, we have seen a bounce in the "if Gordon Brown was in charge" question. The GU website is a bit useless, and their "full results" thing does not show these
Sir Menzies asked: "Does the prime minister believe that Members of Parliament should be exempt from freedom of information legislation? "Why should there be one law for MPs and a different law for everyone else?" Blair responded that, "this is a matter for the House". "Since this is a private members' bill that is before the House, it would not be appropriate for the government to make a commitment one way or the other," the prime minister said. But Sir Menzies said: "The failure of the government to oppose this Bill, which emanates from a former ...
On Monday night, I joined host Zoe-Anne Phillips, fellow LibDem blogger Andy Mayer, Conservatives Caroline Hunt and John Moorcraft, and Australian Liberal (no relation to the Liberal Democrats) Michael Medway for three hours on internet TV station 18 Doughty Street. We had some lively debates, to say the least. You can watch our first two shows, [...]
Rowan Williams, like so many other public figures over the past couple of months, sought to co-opt William Wilberforce in a speech yesterday. In an act of stupendous logical contortion, he uses Wilberforce, an elected politician (albeit in an era of rotten boroughs) as a tool for his argument against reforming the House of [...]
Only a few days of campaigning to go in our two by-elections here in the City of Westminster. Three things to remember about campaigning. First, enjoy it. Second, enjoy it. And third - you guessed! From that flow good things: the team works well together, we keep going, and new helpers come forward. They can see we are effective and doing stuff that's worthwhile. Out delivering in Marylebone again yesterday, how could I not enjoy it? Finding a quiet garden off Paddington Street. Meeting the kind people in the Blandford Cafe who ...
Wednesday: I read in the paper that there is SIXTY-FIVE MILLION POUNDS in lost PENNY COINS out there! I do not think that these pennies can be THAT lucky – after all they were not lucky for the person that LOST THEM! According to the latest BARMY survey, the top places to look for free dosh include #1 £26 million on the streets, #2 £11 million in handbags and suitcases, #3 £8 million in the car and #4 £6 million down the back of the sofa. Maybe I should have a look down the back ...
One of the big arguments against fortnightly collection is vermin. Now in Lincoln fortnightly collection came in with the wheelie bins. Which of the two pictures below do you believe would result in more rats?
Ukraine seems to acquire notice only as a place of shifting and unstable politics these days. The euphoria of the Orange revolution seems to have given way to a war of attrition between the different Ukrainian political blocs. Many are dispirited by this constant bickering and the political merry-go-round in K'yiv. However it seems to me that the situation in Ukraine is drastically better than in neighbouring Russia, despite the negative parallels that some have wished to draw. Firstly the political problems reflect the fact that Ukraine has a political system. The various regional and economic interests in ...
Leading scientists, including at least one who appeared in the programme, have written to Martin Durkin and WAG TV - makers of the Channel 4 Documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle calling for them to abandon their plans to release it on DVD: “We believe that the misrepresentations of facts and views, both of which occur in your programme, [...]
The British political world is more uncertain than for many years- the end of Blairism raises many questions, but what remains surprising is the the fact that so few are convinced that the Conservatives are the inevitable answer to a decade of Labourism. Will David Cameron be able to make enough progress to get into number Ten? Will Gordon Brown turn out to be triumph or disaster for Labour? Are the Liberal Democrats poised to advance or decline? No one really knows. So, political pundits cast around for any event which can shed light upon the darkness. ...
I promised I would blog about India, which I will, although the stuff about Daisy Angus will have to wait until she is safely back in Dorset. The start is below: My plane touched down just before midnight in Mumbai airport. Heather had said she would pick me up. I was very glad she did. As I walked out of customs, having done battle with a very white German male for my bag (round one to me), the first thing I saw were camera crews and hoards of aggrieved cricket fans waiting for the India team, who had landed ...
Those of you who enjoy listening to the Hooting Yard On The Air podcasts, be warned. Following an important meeting chaired by Mrs Gubbins, the programmes will shortly be recalibrated, and you will no longer be able to listen to them on such equipment as iPods and mp3 players. Instead you will need to obtain [...]
Following on from the previous quotation, the same letter goes on to discuss Queen Elizabeth’s actions in declaring patents given null and void at the request of the lower house: But whereas great complaints were made in the lower house, relating to the engrossing practice: (for it seems there were some, who, under the colour of publick [...]
I'll be off in a little while to an open day event at "Church Fields". This is the name for the development of houses "under the bridge" in Garston. It's really come on apace and people living nearby can see the new buildings really clearly now (as opposed to seeing the hoardings round the side of the site). Speakers today, I am told, include John Aldridge.
Am I the only person who finds getting onto Blogger impossible at times? I have tried several times to blog over the last few days only to find logging in either impossible or so slow I have to give up to do something else. If you are a constituent with an issue, can I suggest that you e mail me directly rather than trust to the blog as if I can't get on I can't answer any questions etc. My council e mail address is paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk (also listed on the council's website at www.liverpool.gov.uk).
It's my birthday and I've drawn Question Number Six to the Prime Minister today. What to ask? There are so many issues but do I just attack the Government's record, raise a policy is...
Oh please. This is so childish. Gordon Brown meets George Bush, so Gideon Osborne instantly has to do the same. You can just imagine his whiny voice down the phone to the White House ‘It’s not fair! It’s not fair! And Gordon Brown smells of wee!’ Share This
The link is to the case where Ken Livingstone appealed the decision of the Adjudication Panel for England. The Standards Board and associated Adjudication Panel have done a lot of damage to democracy in the UK. The courts are, however, bringing them into more sanity. The point about Ken Livingstone's case is that it was high profile and he also could afford to appeal. The Standard Board has a
At Full Council last night we elected Councillor Shiraz Mirza as the incoming Mayor of the Royal Borough. I was delighted to be the first to congratulate him. He will be installed as Mayor at the Annual Council on 9th May when he'll don the robes that I take off - in his case for the second time.
This stunning set of textile panels were displayed in the Mayor's Parlour on Monday. They represent the four faiths of Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, incorporating key symbols of each. Although each panel is separate and distinct, they are linked through swirls that represent water and light, both of which are common to all four faiths. The panels will tour...
Yesterday my dad decided he wasn't going to pay the £800 for repairs so he set about looking for a new car. He enlisted the help of my uncle, and after a chat about what had happened they went off to another garage to ask a second opinion. The garage owner checked it out and said the repairs would only cost around £150 and a second MoT test would be the £50 - making a total of £200 - much less than the big manufactors garage! To top it all he said that some of the work the ...
Monday night was our first experience of the year of canvassing in the rain. I forgot my umbrella and had to borrow one from Cllr D'Albert, but managed to acquire one that was completely beyond control, which couldn't be tamed no matter how hard I tried. Thus I abandoned the early policy of trying to handle it, a clipboard, some leaflets, and myself all in one go, and decided to drip onto
Lots of leafletting in the rain yesterday, a walkabout in Port Talbot Town Centre with Mike German and a tiring three hour hustings session with the BMA in Swansea. I have always been sceptical when watching Superman films as to how it is that people never identify Clark Kent with his alter ego. It does seem obvious after all. However, yesterday I had a better understanding when I bumped into Barry Kirk in Port Talbot and failed to recognise him as the better known Captain Beany. This is despite the fact that I have been locked in a cage ...
The Guardian ICM poll today finds that one in three voters "have turned their backs on Labour and the Conservatives and now back the Lib Dems or a smaller party such as the Greens or the SNP." The Liberal Democrats, campaigning hard to defend half their council seats on May 3, rise three points to 21%.
This morning's Guardian has a very encouraging opinion poll that could set next week's elections alight. This is the second successive poll that has shown the Liberal Democrat vote rising. For the first time however, it shows a fall back in support for the Conservatives: One in three voters have turned their backs on Labour and the Conservatives and now back the Lib Dems or a smaller party such as the Greens or the SNP. Support for Labour is down one point on last month, at 30%. The Conservatives have dropped four points to 37%. The Liberal Democrats, ...
Taking a few minutes out of the local election campaign last night, I have now created a Friends of Magdalen Green blog - with thanks to the Group for the material and photographs used to get it started. You can access it by clicking the headline above.
Tonight I found myself at yet another event with Jonathan Fryer. I don't think I have seen so much of him since I was his agent at the 1987 General Election! As he says, good debate in a very informal setting, moving effortlessly between subjects.
For those of you who know me well, you may recall that 22 April was my wedding anniversary. The advantage of crossing the international date line from west to east is that you miss a day completely. Guess which date?…
And so I safely reached the southern hemisphere after a remarkably uneventful journey. The plane landed at Sydney to the strains of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in rather dark skies leaden with the promise of rain. Me, I was in Sydney solely to get wet and, fortunately, the shower in the business class lounge was free so that I could freshen up before my journey onwards to Melbourne. So, what does an
Tuesday: MAN THE BARRICADES, SIR MR THE MERCILESS! Another UNDEAD CONSERVATORY is on the rampage! Despite the excellent efforts of our own Professor Van Helsing, Mr Norman the Baker, the Bill to Exempt Parliament from Telling People What They Are Up To has returned… FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE! I want to see sixty-five Liberal Democrat BUMS on SEATS in the House of Commons this Friday, all of you with good, LONG speeches! And if you're not there, I shall be wanting to see a note from your MUMMIES and DADDIES. This includes YOU, Sir Mr ... | < | April 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 | |||||
