The BBC World Service this evening put on a briefing on Iran, in the grandiose surroundings of Committee Room 10 in the Houses of Parliament. An unlikely cross-party trio of peers — Avebury (LibDem), Lamont (Conservative) and Temple-Morris (Labour) — were in the audience as my old Bush House colleague, the BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan [...]
“What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare? No time to stand beneath the boughs. And stare as long as sheep and cows. No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hid their nuts in grass. No time to see, in broad daylight. Streams full of stars, like skies at night. No time to turn at Beauty’s glance. And watch her feet, how they can dance. No time to wait till her mouth can. Enrich that smile her eyes began. A poor life this if, full of ...
Various Lib Dem bloggers are celebrating David Willett's announcement that the Conservatives no longer believe in grammar schools. For instance, Norfolk Blogger writes: David Cameron has highlighted that Grammar schools are full of middle class kids. This is a glaring admission that selection favour's (sic) the middle classes at the expense of the poor.Unfortunately, that is true. But the trouble is that the best performing comprehensives are full of middle class kids too, as this news release from the Sutton Trust shows. In the words of the charity's founder Sir Peter Lampl:These findings starkly underline the extent of ...
It's been a while since I mentioned Youth Communications. I am chair of this organisation, which was set up to work with young people to provide journalism experience and an outlet for the views of young people across the City. The aim has been to produce a magazine, written and edited by young people. Well, we are nearly there. The first issue should be out in June.. and we have secured an interview with McFly for the cover story! Sam, one of the young people involved, is doing the interview tomorrow. We met this evening to go over some ...
So it's going to be a coronation: Gordon Brown has secured the backing of enough MPs to ensure he will not face a contest to become the next Labour leader and prime minister.Mr Brown has 308 nominations prompting his only rival, left-winger John McDonnell, to concede. He was 16 nominations short of the 45 required.Mr McDonnell said he was disappointed on behalf of Labour Party members and it was a "blow to democracy".I'm no fan of John McDonnell, but I think he is right. The lack of a contest or even a debate will reawaken every doubt that the wider ...
Writing from the blogging capital of Sandwell, it’s sometimes easy to forget that the whole world hasn’t joined the blogosphere. Having said that, I’m glad to read it’s not just me who thinks it’s strange a judge in an internet case has never heard of the term ‘website’.
My blogging has been thin on the ground recently. A post-election rest, a Eurovision party, holiday booking and football playing have taken over. Also, an interesting opportunity has arisen at work, which I can’t blog about at the moment, but hopefully can in a few weeks! Normal service will be resumed… soon.
I couldn’t help but smirk when I heard Gordon Brown say he would welcome a leadership contest. The membership at large seemed to be crying out for the debate that the Tories and ourselves have both had in the last few years, thanks to a leadership contest. I personally wanted a Labour leadership contest to watch [...]
In case you have been worrying since last September, the latest news is here. It's not as bad as first feared.
This is a first - a blog entry about something that is going to happen!! I had the distinctive pleasure of presenting the Chard in Bloom organisers with a sum of money to help them toward the magnificent job they do, purely voluntarily, every year in making Chard look so fantastic in bloom! Whilst I was speaking with them it occurred to me that as a County Council that collects mountains of compost-able waste every week, and one who has just entered into a relationship with a waste services provider, that we could, if so minded, arrange to have ...
Even Liberal Democrats are calling lawyers as soon as they fall over these days. Thank goodness Norman Lamb is an employment lawyer and not a "no win no fee" lawyer or the local council could have been in trouble.
I suppose this is the modern equivalent of "Who are the Bee-at-tles?"
Today's Guardian carries the welcome news that Tate Britain is to mount an exhibition devoted to the work of John Everett Millais. It will open on 26 September 2007 and close on 13 January 2008. The paper's report has the story about the model for his Ophelia catching pneumonia. It further says that her father insisted that Millais pay her medical bills. But it does not have the story about Millais's first application to the Royal Academy. He was a child prodigy and one of the examiners suggested that he should be sweeping chimneys instead. Another story is ...
I think, on the whole, that David Cameron is a vacuous politician who thinks more about style than substance and whose main policy seems to be "look at me, I'm like tony Blair, but nicer". However, today he has made completely the right decision on Grammar schools and deserves praise for doing so. David Cameron has highlighted that Grammar schools are full of middle class kids. This is a glaring admission that selection favours the middle classes at the expense of the poor. The Tory party have a long way to go on this and David Cameron ...
Radio Five Live reported earlier on their Drive show that a judge called Peter Openshaw had to halt proceedings in a case he is presiding over involving using the internet to incite terrorism because he did not understand the words being used. In particular, the words he was having a problem with was "web page" and "website", according to Five Live. Isn't it absolutely astonishing that a judge put in charge of a case in which the internet is central to the alleged crime does not know what the internet actually is ?
I have just watched the second - rather sombre - programme in the series Jonathan Meades: Abroad Again. There is a good review of the first on Off the Telly: Lord Reith was a Presbyterian Scot, a Wee Free wallah, among whose folks the most timid involvement in sensual pleasures had you hellbound. Strange, then, that perhaps the greatest living embodiment of Reith's dictum "inform, entertain, educate" should be a bohemian epicure from Salisbury who extols indulgence in food and architecture. Jonathan Meades' new series from BBC Scotland (the irony!) looks very much like further confirming this stature, ...
The Irish General Election is coming up soon - it's on Thursday 24 May 2007. Last time round it sort of passed by my sister, who lives between Carlow and Kilkenny. Except, that is, for one event. She was out shopping with her five children and husband when they stopped for a coffee break. As the children were racing round, shopping bags spilt over and general mayhem was erupting, a smartly dressed man walked up to Penny and shook her hand. He then talked to Dom for a few minutes and shared a joke with the children. As ...
There have been many pixels spilt (and some amount of hair pulling) since the local elections about the shortcomings or otherwise of our Glorious Leader and the position the party finds itself in. Amongst all the finger pointing and name calling I haven't seen mention of the name of the person who must carry a share of the responsibility, Charles Kennedy. One of Ming's main problems, from where
A nagging question in my mind is: why was the late swing in Scotland earlier this month to the SNP and not to the Lib Dems? Following yesterday's FPC meeting I am none the wiser. But I vividly recall the speaker from Scotland in the Trident debate in March who told the Federal Conference that the Scottish Lib Dems really, really did not want to retain Trident. And I have been told that a balloon shaped like a Trident missile was being towed round Edinburgh's streets during the election. A very effective campaigning tool, I ...
Covent Garden’s scabby old website has been swept away and replaced with a shiny and new offering - with the best booking system I’ve seen on any London theatre website… before you choose your seat you can click a nearby icon to see what the view is like from it. Simple, yet genius. 
An email has fallen into my inbox from Ming Campbell: This Friday the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill will once again be debated on the floor of the House of Commons. Liberal Democrat MPs at Westminster, spearheaded by Norman Baker and Simon Hughes, are working hard to stop it. You can help us by contacting your MP - via www.writetothem.com - and asking them to publicly declare their
Various organisations are working together to organise an environmentally themed event for all residents of Selly Oak to help raise awareness of local environmental issues and how we can all help make Selly Oak cleaner and safer. 11am - 3pmSaturday 9 June 2007Tiverton Primary SchoolTiverton RoadSelly OakActivities on the day will include:The Rat Race/Squelch!Splat the RatSumo WrestlingThe
Sir Alistair Graham, former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, has strongly criticised the axing of the Serious Fraud Office’s investigation into the Al-Yamamah arms deal. According to the BBC: He said he felt “personally affronted” by the decision to stop the SFO probe, as he had given lectures abroad, at the request [...]
I’m currently house hunting - not to buy that would just be stupid with the current prices - a three bedroom house in Jersey averages £350 - £400 thousand - no I’m just looking to rent. I want a three bedroom house with a garden, even a small garden would do, for my family - it [...]
I'm really excited by an estate-based composting project I went to visit in Hackney last week. Hopefully we can roll out something similar on our housing estates. Actually it's not really about composting - or at least that's not the main attraction for residents. It's about rat reduction! The organisers believe, and the residents confirm, that everyone will buy into recycling of kitchen waste if vermin eradication is the main goal. Compost is simply a fabulous by-product. The Nightingale Estate in Hackney is right next to a railway line and as a result used to be ...
The announcement today that the Conservatives are scrapping their support for selective education will come as a great relief to Margaret Thatcher. As everybody knows more comprehensive schools were established during Margaret Thatcher's period in office than under any other Education Secretary. I recall it well, the day I left my first (selective) secondary school to move borough was the day it
The Tories are all in a lather over grammar schools (again). David Willetts has publicly acknowledged what those of us in selective areas already know - that eleven plus selection is fundamentally unfair. But like his policy-light leader, he stops short of being willing to do anything about it. Of course, it’s easy to see why [...]
Perhaps one of the best results in the West Midlands for the Liberal Democrats and all credit should go to the whole team there, including Lorely Burt MP and Claire O'Kane. We were facing a tough fight and could have lost a few seats. Instead we held all of our own seats and Tim Hodgson took Shirley South and Leela Widger took Silhill.
Ming Campbell has today emailed party members and supporters urging them to lobby their MP about Friday’s freedom of information debate in Parliament. In the email Ming wrote: This Friday the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill will once again be debated on the floor of the House of Commons. Liberal Democrat MPs at Westminster, spearheaded by Norman Baker [...]
Apart from some Arsenal fans with long memories, most people probably instantly recognise only one of the names of the five finalists in the Great Deaf Britons vote over on the BBC 'See Hear' webpage. Even if you are part of the hearing world, its worth having a look at why Cliff Bastin, Francis Makenzie (MP), Harriet Martineau, Joshua Reynolds and Francis Maginn all made contributions to a richer and world and showed that wonky ears need not be a barrier to a full and rich life. Our own Emma Nicholson is backing Francis Makenzie - see ... 
The police are changing the way they do their community forum events. And it can only be a good idea. A lot of effort has been put into organising the events in the past - with senior police and police authority representatives in large venues with (sometimes) catering. And the turnout by members of the public has been really poor. Now that's not to say they wouldn't have had issues to raise.. merely that the prospect of sitting in an evening meeting is probably not that attractive. Anyway, now the police have decided to ...
The Australian Government has banned the national cricket team from playing against Zimbabwe. Australian PM John Howard threatened to seize the players’ passports if they didn’t fall in line, claiming that their presence in Zimbabwe would be a “propaganda boost” to the “grubby dictator” Robert Mugabe. It’s been a popular decision; MPs from across the political spectrum tabled an early day motion in Parliament welcoming the move. Whatever people think of Howard, he’s shown a lot more gumption than Jack Straw a few years ago, who shied away from a difficult decision. Straw, then Foreign Secretary, passed ...
It was with great sadness that I heard of the death of Sally Hannon earlier today. I express my sincere sympathies to Sally's family at this very sad time. Sally was a very long-serving and consistent Liberal, having been a Young Liberal, a member of the Liberator magazine editorial collective for many years and, since 1991, a councillor on Newbury District Council and then West Berkshire
Initially I thought this was a typo: But no, they do actually look like they’re staring, don’t they? Stop it!
New insider blog, Ministerial Briefs, reports that the deadline for recalling the Assembly in readiness for a Wednesday 30 May meeting to elect a First Minister is Friday 25 May. This is going to cause a few problems for those parties committed to consulting their members on any deal. Welsh Liberal Democrats are due to convene a special conference on Saturday 26 May in Aberystwyth. I believe that Plaid Cymru's Council will be meeting on the same day. If either party has signed up to a deal subject to member endorsement then the pressure to back the ...
Alright the headline is a bit of an extreme, it isn’t the BBC and it isn’t even the full BBC website but it is a small side site. The BBC have launched a seperate website to host videos and ratings for the school choirs hoping to perform with the Any Dream Will Do, Joseph winner. Basically [...]
I finished an analysis of the local elections in the North East last night for the regional newsletter I edit for Lib Dems (called North East Democrat). We easily out-performed the Lib Dems in the rest of the country making net gains of 29 seats. The Conservatives had a net gain of 18 (but they had far less to lose!) In terms of seats won, Lib Dems strengthened their position as the 2nd party
I am currently watching PMQs. Blair is away in Washington sucking up to Bush so Prescott is the stand in. For the benefit of the nation, thank goodness Prescott is retiring. An appalling performance from a worn out politician. His attempts to pepper all his replies with jokes was cringe-making. They fell flat everytime. And the worn out over spun messages convinced no one. Prescott used to
Today's Western Mail highlights the real cost of private finance schemes and their impact on the long term funding of public services in Wales. The paper features a report from the Public Accounts Committee, which lists 26 Welsh PFI schemes, ranging all the way from the Severn Crossing down to a hospital heating system. The eventual total payments for each contract are shown to be about five times the original capital cost of each project or building: Yesterday’s report found private profits had swollen by hundreds of millions of pounds through refinancing their PFI debts – usually ...
The planning and development committee, forced by judicial review to re-consider its decision on this matter, has again rejected the, in our view, reasonable objections of the residents to the siting of this plant. More details when we get them. - Frank Little
The thing with stopping being a councillor.. is that the work doesn't stop! Since 3rd May I have had several people in touch about various bits of casework. This includes a man who came to the house yesterday (this is not uncommon as I always published my address). In some cases I have been able to help and have done so (while explaining that I am no longer the councillor). In other cases - issues that look to be long running - I have offered help and left it to the (former) constituent to decide whether they want to pursue ...
The future of the Grange Centre for adults with learning disabilities continues to be under threat. Lib Dem Social Services Chief Cllr Denise Capstick is backing the campaign by users and relatives to persuade Southwark College to change their minds on plans to close the centre and relocate services. The Grange Centre is currently a speicalist centre run by Southwark College and dedicated to educating people with learning disabilities. The College is currently planning to close the Grange and move courses to other locations within Southwark College. However, users and others fear that the new facilities will not be enough ...
Just imagine you were a Scot living in the parallel universe where John McDonnell has a hope in hell of winning the Labour Leadership. Confusion between him and Jack McConnell (who similarly seemed to think he has a hope in hell of being elected First Minister) would be a nightmare. The sooner they both bog [...]
A project to help dyslexic pupils which is being piloted at a Southwark school has received national recognition. The No to failure project at Lyndhurst Primary School provides specialist support to identify and assist dyslexic pupils within mainstream schools. It was launched by the organisation Xtraordinary people and has now been backed by Schools Minister Lord Adonis in a visit to the project.Taking part in the visit was Southwark Education Chief Cllr Caroline Pidgeon who said:"With specialist teaching, all dyslexic childrne can get the standard of education they need. But this isn't about specialist schools; this is about specialist ...
Ahead of Tony Blair’s last visit to Washington as Prime Minister, Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell said that the uncritical relationship between the Prime Minister and President had resulted in untold damage to our reputation at home and abroad. Menzies Campbell said Tony Blair’s slavish support of President Bush had undermined the special relationship. He also [...]
To coincide with the Police Federation conference, the Liberal Democrats today released research showing that prison overcrowding has resulted in 20,000 prisoners being held in police cells in the last year at a cost of £2.6 million per month. Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell said: “The job of our police forces is to catch criminals, not [...]
Responding to Gordon Brown’s first interview with the Today programme since launching his leadership campaign, Liberal Democrat Leader Menzies Campbell said: “In spite of having been by Tony Blair’s side throughout the debacle of Iraq, and having signed the cheques, Mr Brown was unable to point to a clear way ahead. “As the American Congress, [...]
Harlow party ‘a joke’, laughs Tory blogger PARLIAMENTARY hopeful Robert Halfon has reacted furiously after Harlow Conservatives were labelled “a joke” - by a senior Tory. Mr Halfon branded Tottenham Conservatives chairman Justin Hinchcliffe a “complete idiot” for publishing the jibes on his Hunter and Shooter internet blog. And that’s the Harlow Star calling him a senior Tory [...]
Stop e-mailing me it - I don’t do polls. Not even today.
Fascinating stuff. At the next election we'll have a Conservative party which won't or can't promise tax cuts and won't support Grammar schools. This is, no doubt, the apotheosis of Cameron's plan to rid the Conservative party of any historical "baggage", including the annoying baggage of being a Conservative party. However, it seems that David Cameron's soggy liberal solo is going to be
It has been suggested to me that I ought to transfer the vast Hooting Yard Archive 2003-2006 into this blog format so that readers can skip happily about tracking down their favourite items with ease. That sounds like a job for a factotum. Is it possible to be one’s own factotum? While I ponder [...]
The other day I received a hand-written letter from Hampshire, from a man asking about his grandfather, who had been a Liberal Councillor in Ramsbottom in the early part of the 20th century. Last night I penned a reply saying that, after asking around likely party archivists in the area, I’d had little success. Most of our archives relate to Prestwich, and there’s not much that goes back more
Last night I went to see my Councillor “mentor” Vic D’Albert, to talk about some of the things I want to do as a Councillor – for St Mary’s and Prestwich, for Bury and for my own development. It’s great to have an experienced Councillor to bounce ideas off, especially since I don’t really know what’s going on half the time at the moment. For instance, we talked about the procedure at Council
Sadly we lost a seat - Roger Evans in Hanwood and Longdon - to an Independent. The Independents also lost a seat to the Conservatives allowing them to slightly increase their majority.
Towards the end of last month, I mentioned Dundee's participation in the Six Cities Design Festival (click on headline above to view story).If you've passed the City Square recently, you can't but help notice the work underway to transform the Square into a temporary park (see right). As the Six Cities' website puts it : "Dundee City Council’s Landscape Design Team had the incredible opportunity to construct a park in City Square. Using revolutionary synthetic yarns manufactured in Dundee, the design team plan to roll out the ‘green carpet’ across the city’s civic space to create Design Park. This temporary ...
Until I became the Council's Finance Convener during the last council administration, I sat on the Ward Road Gym Board. The gym board has had great success in ensuring the refurbishment of this much-used City Centre sporting facility, with co-operation from the City Council. Was pleased to learn earlier this week that the gym now has its own website - click on the headline above to view it (and very professional it looks too). The gym was in my old Tay Bridges Ward, but due to boundary changes, is now part of the ward adjacent to ...
Been a really busy couple of days (since the Mighty secured 5th place on Sunday). Absolutely flat out at work, Monday night had both Overview & Scrutiny and governors meetings, tonight had another council meeting and then went straight to our HQ (at The Three Compasses pub) to bundle up leaflets ready for delivery, until the pub closed. But while work is still pretty manic, the next two nights I'll be staying at my sister's - it's Tamsin's 2nd birthday this week and my parents will be visiting too. So I'm really looking forward to the break (sort of... ...
Good to see that MPs are concerning themselves with the important issues of the day. I don't mean that of course, what a ridiculous waste of time. Eurovision is just meant to be a bit of fun (apparently)? Or did I miss something? Having said that, I did see part of the winning entry at the weekend and that wasn't fun at all. Terry Wogan will no doubt be happy with the MPs' efforts, obsessed as he is with the idea of political voting. Is it really that strange that countries that share similar cultures might also like ...
How long will it be until we see a political version of the celebrity tracker website, Gawker Stalker? Although celebrities consider such sites an invasion of privacy, could they be beneficial in politics? The lives of congressional members are already mapped out in minute detail. One of Senator Jon Tester’s (D-MT) first acts on arriving in [...]
Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) took matters, and literally the camera, into his own hands yesterday when he announced he would produce the first video “of a committee hearing from the chairman’s perspective.” Markey, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, made the announcement before a startled audience at the [...]
Thanks to Andrew Noyes at National Journal’s Tech Daily Dose who pointed out a great innovation by Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE). After returning from a recent tour of Iraq, which the Senator helpfully explains is called a CODEL (congressional delegation - getit?), the Senator used Google’s ‘My Maps’ and Google Earth to inform constituents about [...]
Funny viral videos featuring American politicians are nothing new. However, they have mostly lampooned politicians and not one has been created by a politician themselves. Consciously creating humorous viral video is very hard. Could Democrat presidential candidate Bill Richardson be the first? 88,456 views, 260 comments, 15 honors on YouTube later and still going strong…
Have a close look at this sign...
David Maclean's Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill the Private Members Bill which would exempt MPs from the Freedom of Information Act on the grounds that constituents should have their privacy protected (correspondence between MPs and their constituents is already protected by the Data Protection Act) is due for a comeback again this Friday (18th May 2007) which means that, once again, opponents of the Bill will have to try talking it out or voting it down. | < | May 2007 | > | ||||
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