LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Sunday 19th August 2007

A sad loss to Oxfordshire politics: Brian Hodgson

Many words have been written about John Biffen and Bill Deedes, Tim Garden and Tony Wilson in recent days. I suspect somewhat fewer will be written about Brian Hodgson, chair of the Labour Land Campaign and former Labour group leader on Oxfordshire County Council who sadly died following a heart attack and short illness from which he had been expected to recover on Saturday 18th August. But that belies the affection with which he will be remembered by anyone who had the good fortune to know or work with him in Oxfordshire or Georgist politics. {Brian Hodgson - fair use ...

Blyth Street and Fleuchar Street - white lines

Having had complaints about the worn junction lines here, I have taken up the matter with the City Council and am pleased to note the feedback : 'I agree that the give way markings at the junction of Blyth Street and Fleuchar Street require to be refreshed. As such I have arranged for this junction and others locally to be repainted. A work order has been issued to Tayside Contracts and the work should be carried out within the next few weeks.'

Alistair Darling's bizarre economics

Following George Osborne, the second in our new series. The other day I thought I heard Darling say something odd about the economy when he was interviewed on BBC radio about Tory plans for tax cuts. Freedom and Whisky heard it too: I just heard my MP on the radio a few minutes ago. He was talking about the Tory noises about tax cuts.Darling said:Take £21 billion out of the economy and it's bound to have an effect.Does the Chancellor really think that the economy consists solely of the state sector?And he obviously dyes his eyebrows too.

Alcohoodies: not all police are the same

Following hard on the heels of Chief Constable Fahy, the head of Oxfordshire area's police, Chief Superinendant Shaun Morley, demonstrates what I have come to expect from Oxfordshire's top policemen, a more generally liberal attitude whilst being mindful of the harm some people are inflicting on others and their communities with their irresponsible actions and attitudes. He clearly talks sense, and from experience. It is utter nonsense to increase the age at which people may buy or consume alcohol. It's arbitrary and unfair to those who are able to enjoy a drink responsibly: "I am not especially convinced that the ...

And one makes two

The second member of the clan arrived this weekend. Lego is a cinnacott girl-hedgehog from the West Midlands, who is currently making noises like a coffee percolater in response to meeting Sticklebrick, who is making high-pitched squeaky sounds. A sort of girl meets boy hedgehog-thing. Pygmy hedgehogs tend to be solitary creatures by habit, so we'll be keeping them mostly apart until they're a little older. After that, we may well have some have some little bundles of prickly joy looking for good homes...

Ludlow Town Council: "I'm not allowed in the chair"

Remember the recent troubles at Ludlow council? The Ludlow & Tenbury Wells Advertiser reports a new development at England's most, er, colourful local authority: Sarky, the eight-months-old borderline terrier of Ludlow town councillor, Mitch Mitchell, has now won the right to attend meetings with his master. A council resolution states that no objection be raised to councillors being accompanied by a pet dog.But I am not sure the borderline terrier is a breed known to the Kennel Club.

Welcome Journal Blog Central

Our regional morning newspaper, The Journal, has set up Journal Blog Central which effectively goes live on Monday morning. My blog is one of a handful from across the North East which will be featured on Blog Central. There will be a feature article about the new site in the Journal on Monday morning so hopefully there will be a few additional hits on the blog. I am described on Blog Central as

Skons Park Opencast Appeal Withdrawn

I shot this video on Saturday for constituents to bring them up to date about the latest regarding plans for a giant opencast site in my ward in Gateshead. The site is next to the Gibside Estate, one of the most important landscapes within the ownership of the National Trust in the North East. I have been fighting against this proposal since the plans were first submitted to Gateshead Council 2

Penmaenmawr Beach, North Wales

This is the last of the videos I shot in North Wales when I was there earlier this month. I stayed in Penmaenmawr, the village frequented by Gladstone in the nineteenth century for his summer holidays. (A statue of him is in the village.) Pen has some of the highest sea cliffs in Europe and the area is definitely worth a visit.

Sunday Lunch

I was at the Orpington Liberal Club earlier today, for one of their periodic roast lunches. They are always popular events, and the conversation is both lively and long. This is how it should be. All too often in Britain, eating is seen as an animal necessity — a sandwich snatched at one’s office desk, or a late-night kebab or take-away Chinese — rather than a proper sit-down meal in which the inter-action with family, friends or colleagues is as important as the food. One of the things I loved about living in Brussels in the 1970s was the civilised ...

Tabby's First Day

Haven't had a chance to blog anything this last week so this is just a quickie to prove this blog is still alive.... Barcharter-ette is 18 on Friday, (yes, that DOES make me feel old), so just ahead of going away to Worcester for a week to visit and go to her party I've hunted out the camcorder. Checking what was on the tape inside it I found this footage from last October when our new cat Tabitha first arrived from the Cats Protection League. It's probably fair to say that her arrival didn't exactly cause delight with our other ...

Hurricane

I'm getting very concerned about the many people we know in Jamaica. By chance my cousin, who is the British High Commissioner, is out of the country visiting my brother in the other Kingston in Ontario. He is trying to get back to Jamaica as soon as possible. In the meantime we can only pray for the safety of friends and colleagues.

Monkey: I'm sorry

Voice recognition software? Of course! How could I have ever doubted you? I'm pink(er) with embarrassment.

Earthshock: Cybermen meet the Women's Institute

I have been resting my weary paws this weekend and watching Peter Davison in Earthshock (that's a Dr Who story - but if you didn't know that, you're not really a proper Liberal Democrat are you?). Pretty good. Only two complaints so far: a. The big surprise at the end of episode one is the appearance of the CYBERMEN! However, between grabbing the DVD box from the shelf in my mouth and flicking the DVD player draw shut with my tail I had to wade past six pictures of Cybermen on the packaging, in the packing and all over the ...

Australian Election - overview

The expected election in Australia hasn’t been mentioned yet and there seems to be lacks of politics going on here so here’s my quick brief to the Australian election should it come. There are three main parties in Australia, the Liberal party led by nasty ultra conservative Howard, and Labour led by photogenic new leader Rudd. The Liberals are supported in coalition by the National Party, so despite a choice of three parties at a national level it is a choice between Howard or Rudd. That said the Greens, Family First and Australian Democrats may manage to hold the balance ...

A Seriously Funny Attempt To Get the Serious Fraud Office In the Dock!

Russell Brand and several other comics are putting on a one of show to raise awareness/money to get the BAA investigation back in the stand. Tickmaster link here

Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #26

What has the blogosphere been reading this week? As usual, the Golden Dozen is your much-loved round-up of the seven best click-throughs from the Lib Dem Blogs aggregator (13th-19th August) with a specially-selected quintent you might have otherwise have missed. Without further ado, here were this seven top clicks: 1. Cowley Street’s Wikipedia habits EXPOSED! (in [...]

A clever piece of conceptual art or a bloody stupid idea?

As The Telegraph reports, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) recently asked various people to produce a postcard-sized piece of original work epitomising the countryside for a fundraising auction. The Archbishop of York, for example, painted a scene of green fields, nuts and berries. As for David Cameron? Well, for his submission he cut out [...]

Transport Issues by 23 August please

Are there any local transport issues which people would like me to raise? I need to fill in by 23 August a questionnaire for the next meeting of the Transport Liaison meeting between the local public transport operators and Lewisham councillors.

Keep Guinness Marmite

I have just launched a group on Facebook to keep Guinness Marmite.

Autumn Election?

We may be miles away from London, but even here in Cornwall October election rumours are circulating and causing the expected fuss. I'm no expert but a few things make me think that it won't happen. Firstly, Labour are in £22million of debt. The threat of an election will raise cash for the Labour party - but even my crude maths tells me that more cash would be raised over an eight month "election threat" than an eight week one. Secondly, Cameron is in the process of imploding and being exposed as the vacuous-voxpox-old-school-Tory-in-sheep's-clothing that we all knew he was. ...

Council Tax Collections

Figures are out for uncollected Council Tax for 2004/05. Here are the numbers and rankings for the Cornish Districts, for 03/04 followed by 04/05 149..... North Cornwall...... 701,000 .......1,176,000 226..... Carrick ....................804,000 ..........796,000 243..... Restormel............... 634,000 ..........718,000 256 .....Caradon.................. 494,000........... 676,000 286 .....Kerrier.................... 733,000........... 526,000 327 .....Penwith................... 277,000........... 356,000 351 .....Isles of Scilly............. 19,000.............. 22,000 Totals for 03/04 0f 3,662,00 and for 04/05 of 4,270,000 What does all this mean. Well the residents of Carrick and Kerrier have benefited from improvements in collections, but something shocking seems to be going on in North Cornwall. I've alerted LibDem Councillors up there ...

How dim is the Daily Mirror ?

The story about The Daily Mirror trying to infiltrate CCHQ on Iain Dale's blog is slightly disturbing, but also highlights an incompetence in the Mirror which leaves you questioning whether the Mirror can be trusted on any issue. I am sure the Mirror thought this was a great wheeze, but choosing a journalist whose name was already known, and putting an e-mail address on the application form that could be traced to the Mirror is so dim as to make you think the Mirror wanted to be caught. The bigger issue is whether The Mirror can be trusted on anything ...

Could withdrawal from Iraq boost chances of an early election ?

According to the Independent, the military have conceded that there is nothing further to be gained from Britain's presence in Iraq and that we should "get out now". This differs strongly from what the army have been saying for months and make one wonder if thew army has, in the past, been saying what tony Blair wanted it to say, and with a change at the top, now perhaps asking for the truth rather than the propaganda, the armed forces have finally told Gordon Brown what everyone else has known for some time, tat being, we should get out of ...

Candidate vetting

I'm off this afternoon to get vetted, or maybe that should be "doctored", for next year's council elections. It always seems early, but I guess it's only eight months away from elections with maybe another election in between where candidates for the next locals can get their face about a bit. I thought I would share some of my candidate approval form with you (there's some of it for the panel only I'm afraid!). Would you allow me to stand? Full name Jock Coats Present job and place of employment Office Systems Analyst, Oxford Brookes University Computer Services and Hall ...

Covert Tape Recording

One of the issues raised in the Sunday Telegraph today is that of covert tape recording. The recording of Video pictures with CCTV is covered by the Data Protection Act because it records someone's face. As far as I can tell a Public Authority is prevented from doing a covert tape recording unless it is done in accordance with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. However, as it

London & Quadrant Housing Improvements

London and Quadrant Housing Trust have written to me saying that they will be undertaking improvement works in properties in the following streets in Lewisham Central ward: Blashford Street, Littlewood (off Hither Green Lane), Mount Pleasant Road, Lewisham High Street, Blessington Road, Torridon Road, Limes Grove, Mercator Road and Harvard Road. The works are due to be completed in the current financial year All I can say is, in some cases especially the Littlewood flats which I have complained about, about time too!

Shrimpers first to shrivel under the heat of passionate fans

Leeds United are top of League One, that is if you disregard the little matter of the 15 point penalty. Ken Bates letter to members and season ticket holders clearly sets out a strong case for encouraging the feeling that Leeds have had a raw deal and Ken is the man to lead us back to the glory days, that is if you disregard the petty digs he can't resist having at his rival bidders. His promise of investment in the youth policy and his realistic assessment of the way forward is encouraging. Listening to Saturday's game against the Shrimpers, ...

Could YOU be the next Birmingham Poet Laureate?

Birmingham Library and Archive Services are currently searching for Birmingham's next Poet Laureate. This is an honorary position for someone that is willing and able to perform their own work and prepared to get involved in key high profile arts and cultural events/activities throughout the year. The Laureate must live or work in the Birmingham area and will be commissioned to write some poems

The Land of Oz: Lewisham Centre Sat 25 August

For those who tragically missed my councillor's surgery yesterday, something almost as good is coming to Lewisham Town Centre on Saturday 25 August. The "Beautiful Bondi - adventure from down under". Apparently, you can ride the surf simulator, take part in the Aboriginal dot painting workshop and 'enjoy' the Crocodile Dundee adventure show. Crocs in the centre of Lewisham? Who needs a dispersal zone? And if you want to make a career in crocodiles, on Friday 21 September there will be a Jobs and Recruitment Fair in Lewisham Market. On Sunday 23 September (which by a weird coincidence is the ...

The return of the economy?

Do you remember what the news was like during the 1980s? (And I'm envious if you just say you're too young to know!). Back then, economic figures - the monthly inflation figures, the latest unemployment rate, the new balance of payment figures and others - all featured regularly as major stories in the main news bulletins.For a long time now they tend to feature only occasionally in the news - but the recent turbulence in the world's financial markets have seen financial and economic news back in the headlines repeatedly.I'm not a financial commentator - so I'm not going to ...

The erosion of liberties

While many may say that we now live in a more liberal society, I have certainly come of the view that as far as the "police state" goes our liberties have been progressivley eroded to such an extent that we are getting frighteningly close to Orwell's 1984. I remember as a councillor in the mid 1990s in Bromley discussing in Policy & Resources Committee whether we would install CCTV in Bromley

Connections

When I blogged yesterday about the return of the Wispa chocolate bar I failed to recall the connection with the Liberal Democrats. As I was reminded in the comments it was Welsh Liberal Democrat Councillor, Veronica Watkins who, as a young scientist, put the bubbles into the Wispa bar. Veronica is also Mike German's better half and was number two on the South Wales East list in May. Could this revival be a good omen for the Welsh Liberal Democrats in that region?

Big brother across the pond

The Observer tells us that new law pushed through Congress by the US government will give American security agencies unprecedented powers to spy on British citizens without a warrant. Although designed to help the National Security Agency in the fight against terrorism, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act gives US security services powers to intercept all telephone calls, internet traffic and emails made by British citizens across US-based networks. As a large proportion of the world's telecoms networks and internet infrastructure runs through the US, the new act will give the security services huge scope for monitoring and intercepting Britons' private ...

In the Sunday Telegraph Today

Quis custodiet ipsos custodies A proposal to take a newborn baby into care in Calderdale The first of the stories is important. It recognises that the people investigating the public family law system are those who do not wish to recognise errors in it because they are responsible for errors. What is actually needed is a review that looks at a wide range of cases and what is done in other

Tories tell different things to different people on bypass plans

Oh dear, the Conservatives in the South West seem to be in a bit of a mess. Not only do they have one Parliamentary candidate campaigning for a bypass that another of their Parliamentary candidates is opposing, but they are also telling different stories about what David Cameron’s position is. The bypass in question is the [...]

In the old days you knew where you were with record releases

Yes, I know I am old codger. This isn't a moan. It is just an observation. In the old days with vinyl record releases on 45rpm, you knew where you stood with the release date. You saw the song reviewed in Record Mirror, or NME or Melody Maker. The next day it was on Emperor Roskoes round table show on Radio 1. Then you could go to the shops and buy the blessed thing. It seems to be all

Everybody say “Aww…”

Everyone’s favourite sometimes-RO and Liberal Bureaucrat Mark Valladares has announced on his blog that he is engaged to be married to local government guru Ros Scott. Lib Dem Voice sends its best wishes to the happy couple!

Sunday 19th August 2007

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