...because she's the only one left. My younger brother, Kirk, has now taken up blogging, much to my surprise. He also contributes to a comic strip blog called Robogeek, words by his friend Assif, art courtesy of my brother. If you have a sense of humour, take a look...
The police have been gathering in new witness statements for the forthcoming trial of Labour councillor Miranda Grell. She has been charged with making false statements about her Liberal Democrat opponent, Barry Smith in the May 2006 elections in Waltham Forrest. The trial is expected in September.
Finding that this blog has been quoted on an Italian website, I naturally turn to Babel Fish to tell me exactly what it says. But I fear a little fine-tuning may be needed... Nothing panic, we are English. Great Britain is under shooting, has endured three terroristic attacks (to London and Glasgow) in little hours and the alarms in all the Country are multiplied. But the British citizens by now seem to be accustom you to these emergencies and react with proverbiale separation. Flavored from an irony typically british.At least, he is what he observes himself from the reactions ...
With the Liberal Democrat front-bench reshuffle complete, Lembit Opik has been moved to the position of spokesperson on business. Surely this is at last our chance to shake up the city with a little glamour and a sensational new Liberal Democrat ethical business campaign slogan against the Gordon Brown's numerous tax loopholes for Private Equity. Touch my Assets Lembit I await your call...
Leader The Rt Hon Sir Menzies Campbell, QC, MP Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and Deputy Leader Vincent Cable MP Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Michael Moore MP Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor David Heath MP Shadow Secretary of State for the Home Department Nick Clegg MP Shadow Secretary of State for Defence Nick Harvey MP Shadow 
Labour and the Tories have had a reshuffle, so we have had one too. Details on the BBC site. Despite its limited scope, their are things to welcome about it. Norman Baker is back and David Heath has a job that will suit his talents. I am also pleased to see David Laws get the schools job. In recent years the Liberal Democrat approach to education has generally been to agree with the government in a grudging tone of voice. Laws may offer some fresh thinking.
The Guardian corrects a piece on the Tour de France from 30 June, ending with the words: A panel accompanying the article estimated the tourism windfall at £115. That should have been £115m.
My first reaction to Brown’s plans announced today for constitutional reform, was to be pleasantly impressed. An end to some elements of the royal prerogative, such as institutionalising Commons votes before going to war, had seemed unavoidable for quite a while. But he went further than that, also ending the Prime Minister’s role in appointing [...]
I have just passed Battersea Park on the train and the rooves are covered in what appears to be snow! It must be a heavy hail storm that caused it. And this is July! What is happening to our weather?---Sent via BlackBerry
Here's another curious blog to visit : Paleo-Future - a look at how the past imagined the future to be. For example: Author and critic Henry L. Mencken makes some pretty bold predictions in the February 12, 1923 article, "Thinking Men and Women Predict Problems of World Century Hence," published in the Bridgeport Telegram (Bridgeport, Connecticut). A hundred years hence the United States will
I sat on the first train out of London this morning watching the sun rise over the Thames, having spent the day and night at the Ealing Southall by-election. It was Nigel Bakhai's birthday yesterday and I reflected on his belated birthday present that I knew was due to arrive a dew hours later. As has been reported in numerous places such as the Ealing Southall website , Lib Dem Voice , Saj Karim
Sky News reported earlier today that Gordon Brown no longer wants the UK government to refer to "The War on Terror". This is because it allows all people involved in terrorism to be able to join in and have a sense of "belonging" in the battle against Britain and the US. Well, there you have it. That's the reason why we are being attacked by terrorists. It is because we are labelling them all incorrectly. Any ideas what it should be called instead of the war on terror ?
The betting books are open and the verdict of the punters so far? The Liberal Democrats are the best bet to take the seat from Labour. These odds are aided no doubt by today’s news of the switch of a key Conservative activist to the Liberal Democrats, unhappy with David Cameron’s leadership and the way their candidate, [...]
Much excitement here at the Ealing Southall HQ over the news that a senior local Conservative has joined the Lib Dems. Mr Brij Mohan Gupta, Deputy Chair (Political) of Ealing Southall Conservatives and Vice-Chair of Southall Green and Southall Broadway Conservative ward parties, has joined the Liberal Democrats and backed the Liberal Democrat by-election candidate Nigel Bakhai. He said: "Under David Cameron the Conservatives have become a party of style over substance. I agree with everything that Quentin Davies said about Mr Cameron. "This by-election reflects Mr Cameron's contempt for local Conservative members. His spin doctors ...
Many years ago I followed Shirley Williams into the SDP and then the Lib Dems because she was and still is one of my political inspirations. For me she is one of our greatest assets, so I find myself somewhat perplexed at the idea of her, along with others, joining the Brown "war cabinet". To quote a pal, "this is not a Lib Lab pact - where we negotiate terms, howsoever unfavourable. This is not 'negotiated' with the government party, and we have thus, nothing in return. This is a major change in government without an ... 
Just a bit of fun: Betfair have opened a market on the Ealing Southall by-election. At present the Lib Dems are 8/13 on to win the seat. Labour are current favourites at 1/5 on. The Tories are languishing at 11/5 against. (Note: I'm not encouraging anyone to bet - betting is generally a fools' game - it's always the bookies that win!)
A sympathetic friend has drawn my attention to the unfortunate layout of the BBC's news about the Lib Dem reshuffle, which includes the following jolly juxtaposition: In full: Lib Dem front bench All belly and no brains
Last Friday, Jonathan Ross had on his show a drug taker who also plays some music by the name of "Pete Docherty". On the Jonathan Ross show he made mention of his court case (which was today), which begs the question if he knew about it last Friday why did he fail to attend today before an arrest warrant was issued for him ? Why do the press, journalists and TV types (Jonathan Ross included) fawn around these people ? It seems to me that if you are an ordinary member of the public and you commit ...
Sir Menzies reshuffles top team {Sir Menzies Campbell} Sir Menzies has rejigged his frontbench teamLib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell has reshuffled his front bench - promoting some of the party's rising stars. David Laws takes on the children, schools and families brief and Danny Alexander goes to work and pensions. Lembit Opik is moved from Northern Ireland and Wales to become Lib Dem spokesman on business, enterprise and regulatory reform. It follows reshuffles by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron. ...
My complete despair when it comes to American politics continues to deepen. The widely publicised news of the day is that Bush has 'spared' Libby from 2.5 years in jail. His reason? It seems that he thought it was an 'excessive' punishment, so obviously 'no jail at all' is the correct amount for lying to a grand jury and exposing a CIA agent, potentially threatening their life, because their
Gordon Brown has announced his package of constitutional reforms. Give MPs power to decide whether to wage warSetting up national security councilParliament to ratify international treatiesCommons committees for each English regionNew ministerial codePM no longer to choose Church of England bishopsElections moving from Thursday to weekendsMPs to hold hearings on key public appointmentsPeople to
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. A senior Conservative in the by-election seat of Ealing Southall has defected to the Liberal Democrats, following the imposition of a candidate on the local party by Tory spin doctors. Mr Brij Mohan Gupta, Deputy Chair (Political) of Ealing Southall Conservatives and Vice-Chair of Southall Green and Southall Broadway Conservative ward parties, has joined the Liberal
to celebrate independance day in the US msnbc.com has published a little quiz on American History , which is made up of questions anyone wishing to become a citizen should be able to answer. in theroy anything more than 85% correct, and u should be able to become a us citizen. the web age also says that anythign more than 85% and u probably know more than most americans :) oh btw i got 90% :)
The new development "Under the Bridge" has been underway for a while now.. you've been able to see roofs and the sides of new houses. Last night though part of the hoarding had been taken away and there's a clear view of how nearly finished the first stage is. The houses look great and once the roads are done and named it'll be like life coming back to that part of the area.
As I blogged earlier, it was clear that many of the local Tories in Ealing Southall resented having a candidate imposed on them while local talent was passed over. I think this will prove to be their undoing, since having a demotivated local team is not a good start! Now I hear that a senior local [...]
Not good news for DC's Ealing by-election team today with the news that the Deputy Chairman of the local Conservative Party has defected to the Liberal Democrats. Brij Mohan Gupta is protesting at the imposition of an outside candidate against the wishes of the local party (sound familiar), so expect the Tory A-List bloggers to ignore this one. A quick quote from Mr Gupta: "This by-election reflects Mr Cameron's contempt for local Conservative members. His spin doctors ignored our wishes and forced the branch to accept someone whose commitment to the party is less than a week ...
Liberal Democrat Leader Menzies Campbell today showed his confidence in the strength of his front bench team as he unveiled his new Shadow Cabinet. Commenting, he said: “We are fortunate in having some of the brightest and most able people in the House of Commons. I am confident they will continue to hold the Government to account [...]
Tuesday 3rd July 2007 - With a relatively quiet diary for today I decided my time would be put to best use hopping on the Eurostar and heading for Ealing for a couple of hours to lend a hand to the by-election campaign. I was able to join Party Leader Ming Campbell for the official opening of the campaign HQ close to Southall station which is is now open from 9am EVERY day until polling day and
It seems people look at my attack against the smoking ban and assume I’m somehow asserting a right for smokers to smoke wherever they like. That is not the case. I do defend the right to do to your body what you like, that includes smoking, taking drugs, engaging in consensual sexual acts which society frowns [...]
You may have noticed a gap in the last few days when my blog postings were not appearing. Sorry about that, but Blogger wasn't playing ball. Although when I contacted them, Google eventually replied saying "There's nothing wrong" (and asked me to check things I'd already told them I had checked!) lo and behold next time I tried, it worked. Lucky coincidence hey!
Heard that one of the Haringey Lib Dem councillors, Fiyaz Mughal, has been given a really fantastic award – Ambassador for Peace. The prize is handed out by the London-based Universal Peace Federation, in recognition of his bridge-building work between the Jewish and Palestinian communities in Israel and Palestine. The award also recognises Fiyaz's economic support for the region, in the form of promoting micro-finance, especially for businesswomen. Well done Fiyaz!
Meanwhile, Wales Labour has its own problems. A paper written by two activists from the left-wing Welsh Labour Grassroots group has concluded that Labour failed to win a majority in May’s election partly because of the poor quality of candidates. Obviously, one has to be wary of the Hayzell David controversy in discussing such press reports, but assuming that the paper is genuine it cannot be very welcome reading in the Labour Assembly Group. The authors state that the party’s selection procedures need to be revamped to make it easier to get rid of AMs and MPs who are ...
The EU, not normally known for producing riveting 45 second adverts, has posted this on their newly launched EUTube channel on Youtube:
David Cameron has run into more problems with the modernisation of his party after a senior Tory MP questioned the direction in which he is going. Congleton MP, Ann Winterton, told the Parliamentary Monitor magazine, that some of David Cameron's attempts to shift the Conservatives' direction have left much of the party's traditional support baffled: "People are willing to give him more time to establish what the policies will be at the time of the next general election but I am very concerned about the leadership of the party, and I don't just mean David Cameron." She ...
Sometimes I get asked why I’m not a Tory. Apparently this is because I’m broadly a libertarian (although I am really a radical liberal) and the Tory party is apparently the natural home for libertarians (I’ve never succeeded in working out why - it goes against all the history of the Tories until the anti-socialism [...]
The BBC reports that the Nintendo Wii is outselling the Sony PS3 by six to one (in Japan), and as of last Saturday, I am the proud owner of this bestselling console. Is a Wii Fitness age of 32 good or bad for a 22 year old? PS. This is my 400th post since the blog launched! I really should get one of those life things everyone keeps talking about.
A senior Conservative in the by-election seat of Ealing Southall has defected to the Liberal Democrats, following the imposition of a candidate on the local party by Tory spin doctors. Mr Brij Mohan Gupta, Deputy Chair (Political) of Ealing Southall Conservatives and Vice-Chair of Southall Green and Southall Broadway Conservative ward parties, has joined the Liberal [...]
I’ve just had YouGov’s tedious BrandIndex survey. At the end they ask some political questions. This time round we had: * How good a job do you think Tony Blair is doing as Prime Minister and * How good a job do you think Gordon Brown is doing as Chancellor of [...]
So, the application to allow a limited (further) opening of the Family Courts has been accepted by the issuing office in the Queens Bench Division. I have issued it in Queens Bench because it is an application that links really to administrative law rather than family law. Although Master Turner will be looking at it for directions I am expecting a judge to have to consider it.
Tonight is the first meeting of Youth Cabinet for the municipal year, where issues to do with the provision of youth services are discussed. As one of Bury's younger Councillors (and, credit to Bury Council, there are a fair few of us to choose from), I hope to be able to give views on the issues that might be a bit more in touch with the young people of the Borough than is typically the case
Last night I attended the Hadley Residents Association AGM. A very good attendance and a fascinating talk about the History of Hadley. HRA are very well organised and very effective at getting things done especially on Hadley Green where they make a real difference.
The second quarter fundraising numbers are in for the 2008 US presidential candidates – the big news is the astonishing amount raised by Barack Obama – $32.5 million, with almost all of it available immediately for the primary campaign. This eclipses Hillary Clinton’s $27m – of which a much larger proportion cannot be used in the primaries and can only be used should she win the democratic nomination. Obama’s fundraising prowess is the result of a massive grass roots campaign – in terms of the number of donors, he far exceeds Clinton, with 258,000. With John Edwards raising $9 million and ...
Betsan Powys helpfully links to a piece in Scotland on Sunday that has been little reported in Wales, if at all. The paper reports that Gordon Brown is about to ditch the Barnett formula, which determines how much money Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland get to spend. Treasury attempts to find an efficient solution to the problem of ensuring the neediest areas in the UK got the money they deserve means that the whole funding settlement must be reviewed and possibly redrawn. We have already made our case in Wales for money to be allocated according to ...
A prediction of an effect of the smoking ban- bar staff and others who worked in smoky environments will be paid less (unless of course they’re already at the artificial minimum wage). Of course, nobody asked them if they’d prefer to earn less in a nicer environment or more in a less pleasant one, they’ve just [...]
Today's Times comment: It was entirely right that the Tory leader repositioned his party towards the Centre. But it was wholly unnecessary to keep travelling and to woo social workers by entering “hug-a-hoody” terrain (Mr Cameron did not use those words but the caricature is not totally unfair); or invoking a trendy environmentalism that led to a policy of sharply increasing taxes on flights; or
Conservative Home reports that the Tory grassroots are none too keen on Mr Cameron at the moment: After satisfaction with the Conservative leader slumped at the end of May to 61% and dissatisfaction rose to 39% (following the grammar schools row), there has been another very slight deterioration in June. Just 58% of Tory members are now satisfied with David Cameron and 40% are dissatisfied with
Iain Dale has written on his blog about Pauline Neville-Jones appointment to the shadow cabinet "On the face of it this is a seriously good appointment, but I am nervous about how she will fit in with the Home Affairs brief, or whether she will want to be independent of it."The excellent Cicero's songs blog has a much more historical account of Pauline Neville-Jones work in government. Anyone who reads this cannot help but think this is a shocking appointment from David Cameron and a bizarre reward for someone who ought to be kept as far from government as ...
The Times reports a Populus poll this morning that puts the LibDems up one point on 18%, with bad news for David Cameron. Hat-tip to David Morton, who also makes some other good points about the current scenario. I am a great fan of the Norfolk Blogger. His post on Ming is thought-provoking. We were told when Ming was standing to be party leader that Ming's greatest assets were his experience
There is a great piece on the Cicero’s Songs about Dame (soon to be Baroness) Pauline Neville Jones’ involvement in the UK Government’s deeply depressing Balkans policy of the early 1990s.
You may remember a little while ago Roger Helmer, Conservative MEP for the East Midlands held a conference to deny climate change. Tomorrow he is holding another one.
The link is to the FASSIT website which is one of the groups trying to help people fight the miscarriages of justice in the Family Courts. On 19th June the London Borough of Enfield obtained an interim injuction preventing people from talking about one particular miscarriage of justice. This resulted in the fassit website being taken down whilst it had all references to this case removed from
So, I’ve tidied up the flat, booked the car in for a service, paid any outstanding bills and made a cup of tea. After 10 minutes of Living TV, I realise it’s time to do something productive with my time off. I’m off to Ealing to give Nigel a hand!
David Cameron Leader of the Conservative Party William Hague Shadow Foreign Secretary George Osborne Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer General Election Campaign Coordinator David Davis Shadow Home Secretary Liam Fox Shadow Secretary of State for Defence Lord Strathclyde Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords Caroline Spelman Chairman of the Conservative Party Philip Hammond Shadow
Just seen the news that George Bush has interfered with the criminal justice system to stop his pal Scooter Libby going to prison. This is Lewis Libby, involved in leaking the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame, putting lives at risk, and sentenced to 30 months in jail. He had just been told that he could not remain on bail indefinitely while he exhausted the appeals process, so was due to get locked up. But George Dubya waded in to save him - read the BBC article, the quote essentially says "I wanted to let the legal process ...
So what are we to make of Mr. Cameron's bright new team? Oh dear! Not exactly a "cabinet of all the talents" really- with Osbourne actually being promoted to election coordinator, it seems more like a cabinet of half the talents. We can only assume that this is an interim move- but another example of how Gordon Brown is putting all of the opposition onto the back foot.
I see somebody unlocked Michael Grade this morning. As some sycophant interviewed him he put forward the faintly preposterous view that people don't like television because they "feel deceived" about the phone lines scandals. Er NO. They may have an insane number of TV channels (I only have Freeview and I think I can get around 50) and the quality on offer depends on how many repeats of quality programmes are available: the more repeats the better, because contemporary programme makers are producing mostly brain dead rubbish. In the words of The Boss. 57 channels (and ...
I’m now beginning my second working day since leaving Lode Lane for the last time. Yet I don’t feel I’ve left, with speculation on Land Rover’s future still all over the news. The latest whisper is that Shanghai Automotive are sniffing around. I’ve been frustrated with the media coverage of this, as have many people. The [...]
Stagecoach Strathtay is to introduce major changes to its local bus service network with effect from Monday 13 August 2007. I list the major changes below (but only insofar as they affect services that serve parts of the West End), provided by the Stagecoach East Scotland Network Manager. Stagecoach will commence marketing iniatives over the coming weeks, and Dundee City Council will ensure that www.dundeetravelinfo.com will be updated by mid July and that all at stop timetable displays will be updated also. REVISED BUS SERVICES in the Arbroath & Dundee area Commencing 13th August 2007 New service 5: Dundee ...
I only ask because David Cameron has appointed one Sayeeda Warsi as Shadow Communities Secretary and to the House of Lords, whilst this Sayeeda Warsi was called homophobic following her election literature. Would be a bit of a problem if they are one and the same wouldn’t it?
“It’s a good thing to be shifty in a new country” - Johnson Hooper, Some Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs (1845).
I attended a Governors meeting last night at Ridgeway School which caters for children with special needs from across the area. The hot topic on tonight's agenda was the rebuild of the school. Ridgeway is currently housed in old buildings that are considered 'not fit for purpose'. The plan was that Ridgeway would move to the old Round Oak buildings in Lillington while the school was being rebuilt around it. Recently though we have learned of a decision to rebuild the school while it is open. Have they gone totally mad! The school is on a small ...
Those of you who were involved in the 'Lamido affair' over the past months will occasionally have wondered why I've been defending her to some extent in that time. As previously mentioned, I tend to the view that there is a right to self-expression, as long as that right is used with a degree of integrity. Following the revocation of her membership, Susanne repeatedly asked me how, and when, she
As a loyal Liberal Democrat I include the party's campaign buttons on my blog. At present one of them reads "What did Gordon say to Shirley?" and leads to this press release. I would be more interested in knowing "What Anthony and Julia said to Ming" - if they have told him yet. Incidentally, Anthony Lester and Julia Neuberger are old friends. It was Lester who persuaded Neuberger to join the SDP at its formation.
I knew that the old days of teachers having to spend months preparing for an Ofsted inspection were gone, to be replaced by a ‘light touch’ inspection at short notice. That seemed very sensible – the effort required just to prepare for the inspection did seem to be rather disproportional to actually teaching. I got [...]
The Sunday Telegraph claims that Ming Campbell will be defenestrated unless we come second in both forthcoming by-elections;Norfolk Blogger wishes he had never voted for Ming in the first place;Iain Dale passes on a particularly imaginative Tory smear.
David Willets has been punished for putting forward his leader's education policy. That'll teach him.
Peter Tatchell has written an article on the Guardian website about how the Queen's lack of financial transparency fuels speculation that she is avoiding tax.
Saturday: It is all over for another year! What are my daddies going to do! And what will Dr Who do next? Christmas on the Titanic: that promises to go down well. Will there be a special guest star? We should be so lucky! Oh, I suppose I had better let daddy finish his reviews… So, now we know. The Master would rather die than appear in "Scream of the Shalka". Seems a bit harsh… Okay, this was the climax of Doctor Who's third season in the new millennium and while the season as ... | < | July 2007 | > | ||||
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