A couple of things that have struck me this evening; Is it not slightly odd that, of all the Lib Dems he could have chosen to join a government policy review, Gordon has taken one who is standing down at the next election? Heck, a person of suspicious mind might think that yon scunner Broon was planning to call a snap election and thus quietly invalidate the appointment...Can people please stop 
Wakoopa might be of interest to fellow bloggers. It installs a tiny application* on your computer that tracks the applications you use and can then display them on your blog. For those of you worried about privacy implications, it tracks only the apps, not what you are doing inside them. *Seriously tiny, it takes up barely any system resources at all.
Caledonian Sleeper tips Unless you are the heaviest of sleepers, I suggest Nytol to ensure you actually get some sleep. A friend of mine tells me that if you travel in the car with seats and no beds at all, you can forget any chance of sleep altogether. If you want a seat in the Lounge Car, bag it as soon as you can (i.e. before the train leaves its first stop), though the Lounge Car is restricted to first class customers for the first hour or so on busy journeys, and they do enforce that rule - in my case ...
{Uig Bay in the sun} Last night, the Muslim group cooked a huge dinner for themselves. They practically dismantled the kitchen, taking the table out in to the car park and taking over every hob. Those of us who weren’t in the group read our books and our papers, and waited, quietly seething, for it to be over. Then, out of the blue, the group offered us a share of their food. They served the group outsiders first, before settling down to eat their dinner. I was totally bowled over by this simple, unnecessary gesture of kindness to strangers. I grinned my ...
{The Quirang caught in the sun} My hired trusty steed and I set off to a do a circular route of the Northern half of the Trotternish peninsula - over the pass to Staffin, and then around the top of the peninsula and back home. About 23 miles all in all. At the top of the Staffin pass (above), I decide I must pelt down the steep downward road at full speed, singing in a patriotic Scottish song. Whatever comes to mind first. This I do, and once I’m up to fourty or so miles per hour, I begin to ...
{Sunset over Uig Bay} Last night the German evangelicals were replaced by a large Muslim group. I respect people of all religions, though I do wonder when you find people washing their feet in toilets using water from a used Lucozade bottle, whether that was really what the Prophet had in mind. Still, I commend their dedication to their faith. 1400 Uig Hotel Guests aren’t allowed back in to the Youth Hostel until 5pm, so I decide to spend the afternoon in the comforting embrace of a pint or two of cider. I enter the Uig Hotel. “Can I help ...
{Panorama view over Trotternish Ridge towards Staffin} {Ordnance Survey map} {Ordnance Survey map} {Ordnance Survey map} I open up the OS map, and spot a likely easy circular walk up to about six hundred feet according to the countour lines. I take a quick glance - I walk up one road, follow a footpath up to a ridge, walk along the ridge, find the path back, which leads to another road. All very simple. I have bought a number of hiking-type goods to equip myself for this and hopefully future, walks. Among the armory is one of those aluminium drinking ...
For a healthy planet we need healthy seas. The RSPB has launched a campaign to urge the new PM to put a Marine Conservation bill in the next session. Follow this link to sign this petition. Last Friday we had a very unfortunate incident at our city mosque. Two men went in the front door and urinated on the shoes of people who were at their prayers. This despicable act has shocked the...
I sitting in my casa today, minding own business, when phone ring. I pick it up and imagine my surprise, as on end of line, it no Liberali caller, but broguish snarl of Don Brown, il Padrino of the Labouristi. "Liberali" he say "I am glad to find you in today." "Um, what can I do for you Don Brown." "Liberali, I believe that the Territories needs a new kind of Family. A Family which embraces everyone. A Family built on consensus, not street fights. A Family that draws on the widest range of men of honour and solidarietà, not ...
Tomorrow night sees one of the more controversial awards shows in music. The winner of the 2007 Mercury Music Prize will be announced. I’ll be rooting for the Northampton-based Maps (a.k.a. James Chapman), for whom my old school friend Adam sound engineers. It’s a decent album with nods to Spiritualized, Mercury Rev and Sigur Ros and must be the outside bet of this year’s shortlist. If you have iTunes installed, click here to hear a 30-second clip of every track on the album. Favourite in most quarters seems to be another solo artist, Bat for Lashes (a.k.a. Natasha Khan) but ...
Residents in Birmingham and the rest of the West Midlands metropolitan areas now have quicker and easy access to information on air quality in their area through a new website (http://www.wmair.org/) launched by local councils. Air quality is a particular issue in the Selly Oak Ward around the stretch of the Bristol Road that forms the Bournbrook High Street (because of the congestion on that
I watched The Colditz Story on your behalf, but I shall not remember it as one of the highlights of the BBC season. There was little shape to: people turned up at the start of the film and immediately started trying to escape. And the presence of John Mills and Bryan Forbes made it seem just another British war film. I am sure I have seen an escape attempt made during a theatrical performance - putting the camp into prisoner of war camp - many times before. Here Richard Wattis and Ian Carmichael provided the comedy double act. And to ...
Amazingly the Tories think the best way to shift Labour from government is to promise to match labour's spending pledges for three years. Students of politics will know that Labour promised something similar in 1997, but this was widely seen as a means of easing fears on the foreign exchange markets and in the City of London about Labour's relative lack of economic success when in government. Are the Tories saying they have lost the confidence of the City of London to the extent Labour had in the 1990's ? If so, its an shocking indictment of the modern Tory ...
Electric Cars have generally had two problems: poor range and long recharge times. Unless you can recharge in not much more time than it takes to fill a petrol tank, then the popularity of the electric technology is not likely to be more than a niche segment. However, in today's Telegraph there comes news of two significant breakthroughs. If the reality of the technology is anything like this then there is the possibility, very soon, of fast, long range, rapid rechargeable, even sexy, new electric cars. Given the price of the new Audi Supercar is about the same as this ...
Who said the Australians have never invented anything ?
As a Liberal Democrat I'm fully committed to community politics - no, put that the other way round; it is because I am committed to empowering citizens in their local communities that I joined the Liberals back in the 70s. And last year I contributed to a Liberal Democrat publication "Community Politics Today" which revisited the ideas that fired us up with "pavement politics" 30 years ago. It...
As a 16 year old I was promised by the Labour candidate (now MP) in my parents constituency that it would be a 'cold day in hell' before the Labour party introduced tuition fees for higher education. I paid £1000 a year for my BA. As a student protesting against the possibility of Top-Up fees the local Labour students insisted that there 2001 election manifesto meant they wouldn't happen. I
It’s a good job I was staying at a hotel on Saturday because if I’d been in the privacy of my own house, I’d have probably put my foot through the telly watching News 24’s coverage of the so-called “fat epidemic“. Apparently, 50% of boys will be obese by 2050. This is one of those nonsense statistics where you take the current trend and just continue it across time until you have a satisfactorily scary sounding soundbite to regurgitate ad nauseum. In reality, I suspect that even if climate change doesn’t radically alter all our eating and exercise habits by ...
... it's when they write something in a leaflet. A big hat tip to lib Dem Voice for pointing out that in May, during the elections the Tories claimed in Guildford that they would keep weekly bin collections and now, in September they are introducing fortnightly collections.
One of the things that most irritated me about the Orange Book a few years ago was David Laws hectoring the Lib Dems for not doing enough to acknowledge how the fear of crime affects people’s daily lives (I paraphrase as I don’t have the book in front of me right now). Boris Johnson made a similar comment during the launch for his bid for London Mayor today and last week the Observer wrote: The state cannot order civil society back into being, but it can facilitate the process. A first step is to recognise fear of crime is not ... 
I received an invitation to the "Approved Parliamentary Candidates Reception" at conference a few days ago, I note "Sponsored by Tesco". I am not going to conference anyway, but if I were, I couldn't possibly go to something sponsored by Tesco. The constant bullying by Tesco of councillors in North Norfolk who oppose plans for a Tesco in Sheringham, the lies they told about the impact of a Tesco on Stalham in North Norfolk and the quite awful way they lied and manipulated information when getting store built in completely the wrong place in my old District Council ward, coupled ...
David Laws probably thought it was a good idea to run a story about school in the week that most children in the UK return to school. And in many ways, in terms of publicity, it was good way of getting lots of publicity for a Lib Dem news story. The shame of it was that it was a seriously flawed proposition the Lib Dems were trying to make and I found it really embarrassing. "The Liberal Democrats claimed that the 250,000 drop in meals served in secondary schools meant that the school meal service was in meltdown", said the ...
The Guardian is running a series of awards to “recognise and celebrate innovation across the media industry”. Most of the awards are paid-to-enter (hmm) but the first three invite nominations from the public. {Guardian MEGA awards} In the best independent blog category, I have nominated Pete Ashton’s brilliant Created In Birmingham blog and I’m sure I wont be the only one. Created In Birmingham brings together anything and everything “creative” from around the city and beyond, including brilliant photography, graphic design, media, music, arts, crafts and exhibitions. It’s a daily read for me and as Pete hints at on his ...
Nigel Jarrett had a letter published in the Guardian on Friday about blogging. He says that blogging has no "filtering value system". Of course it does. The bloggers themselves. But like newspaper editors, those bloggers have "value systems" of which some might not approve. Mr Jarrett was replying to an article by Scott Rosenberg on the tenth anniversary of blogging.
I have recently been reminded of two of my spiritual homes. One is Rough Tor (above) in Cornwall. I had my modest 21st birthday celebration there. It really is a remarkable place. With our offspring and two of my nephews, we had a wonderful afternoon there yesterday. Another sort of spiritual home for me is the Guardian Diary column. If anything sums up what I enjoy most, it is that column. Jon
From today Atticus is now serving real ale, if memory serves me right it is Timothy Taylors. I’ll be sticking to lager, vodka or diet coke though {:)}
The Guardian reports a number of translational problems. This one is a beaut. ...The former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke left his Japanese audience bewildered when he used the Australian colloquial phrase "I am not here to play funny buggers" to dismiss a pesky question from Japanese officials."For Japanese interpreters, however, this was a real problem. They went into a huddle to
Ann Widdecombe is standing down at the next election. So that's why Iain Dale was so compliant to Grant Shapps during the Ealing/Southall by-election. Joke. More interestingly, Widdecombe turned down an offer from Sony to star in an advert with Alice Cooper where he would have appeared in a state of marital bliss with Miss Widdecombe. It appears that Widdecombe turned her nose up at this
There’s been some hoo-haa recently about Emily Thornberry MP buying up former housing association property at auction. Interestingly, she denies it is an investment, claiming the property will be used to, as Ms Thornberry puts it, “provide cheap and cheerful accommodation for some young people,” while the Islington Tribune article that appears in suggests it will be used for renting out to her “Parliamentary aides”. Does this mean she will be subsidising staff income by providing subsidised property? If so, my reading of the PPERA 2000 is that she will need to declare it as a donation in kind, either ...
Luckily, I take the bus to work and back. This is normally quite a stress-free experience - over the past year, the bus had to stop once because someone had kicked the door in and another time because a stupid woman insisted that an emergency stop (caused by someone running into the road at Brixton) had injured her extremely noisy child. I'd go for the bus over the tube any day. I am at a total loss to see what on earth the Tube maintenance staff are striking about. According to TFL, all the deals which the union had negotiated ... 
I only have to read Andrew Rawnsley's weekly column in the Observer to realise why skilled journalists should command a high salary. The man put the dillema of Cameron brilliantly in this week's edition. Tish and drat. I didn't spot this one. But Rawnsley did. The huge gulf exemplified by Cameron's emblematic "before and after rightward lurch" statements on youth crime: Before lurch: "We have
I am rather intrigued by the high profile which the Tory party have recently given to John Redwood. In particular, on GMTV's Sunday Programme he said: Over the last ten years, the big success area has been the colossal growth in business and financial services, particularly the growth of London, and you wouldn't be able to achieve that without sufficient airport capacity. (I'll put aside the
What the Conservatives said in Guildford before the local elections: Guildford Conservatives have pledged to keep weekly refuse collection. And I think you can guess what they’ve decided to do now the elections are over, can’t you? Yup, here it is in all its glory: Fortnightly waste collections waiting in the wings AROUND 1,800 Guildford households having all recyclable [...]
At a recent barbecue, we very much enjoyed sitting around a chiminiere. But this thought occurred: Chiminieres - good? Patio Heaters - Bad? Or both bad? Probably.
Bad new on planning applications locally - Haringey Council are not letting residents come to site visits by the Planning Committee. This is ludicrous. What better way of understanding objections than to hear from people on site what their case is and why they are objecting? Now - of course residents mustn't intimidate or bully, nor must the Planning Committee members be partisan in their comments - but for heavens sake let the people come! As my colleague, Bob Hare (Highgate ward councillor) says, the gold standard for site visits is those conducted by Planning Inspectors at appeals. VERY tightly ...
As a regular visitor to Fowey in Cornwall (my mother was born there) I have to salute Dawn French's decision to buy Point Neptune House there (it is revealed here and here so I am not giving away anything). The woman has taste, I'll say that. Point Neptune House is a gob-smackingly stunning house which obviously has unbelievably beautiful views of the port and the sea. But, my goodness me, if
It is interesting that the latest policy statement regarding news broadcasting has come from Channel 5, bless them. I am not aware that Channel 5 have been implicated in any of the recent furores over television faux pas. I heard some numpty on the telly describing Channel 5's policy change (saying they would not, in future, use "Noddy shots" and "walking along St Stephen's Green shots") as an
I literally ran to get to the telly in time for the start of "The Queen" last night. In one sense this is a mildly entertaining film. Myself and my dad laughed heartily at several of the bon mots from the "Duke of Edinburgh". But it was based largely on supposition with, annoyingly, an eye on the American market. It was a bit of a saccharine confection, in other words. I have heard Helen
The BBC have announced that there will be a fifth series of Doctor Who - but not until 2010. After next year’s series, 2009 will see three one-off* episodes starring David Tennant. No words on whether he’ll be back after those. The full story is on the BBC News site. *Technically not one-offs if there are three of them, of course.
Going back through the year of this blog’s life, it does appear that I draw a little too much inspiration from otherwise throwaway comments. Indeed, Sir Humphrey’s description of something “running around Whitehall like a grenade with the pin taken out” seems apt at times. Nevertheless, I have indeed been set off once again by one of the women in my life (and no, I most definitely do not mean
{minsk-ghetto-memorial.jpg} Tucked away in an area of anonymous apartment blocks in the Belarussian capital is a chilling reminder of the fate of what used to be one of the largest and most vibrant Jewish communities in Europe. The 1926 census showed that 40% of the city’s population were Jews at that time: 53,700 people — a figure which rose to approximately 90,000 by June 1941, because of incomers fleeing persecution in occupied Poland. Within hours of the Germans arriving in Minsk, they started a process of registration, which led to Jewish boys and men, in particular, being led off, sometimes singly, ...
Switzerland's biggest political party - The People's Party has been accused of racist campaigning. It has issued posters showing three white sheep on a Swiss flag kicking out a black sheep with the caption "For more security".
Dunkirk veterans will be among special guests who are beating the queue to see 'Atonement' before it goes on general release. They will be among the 266 strong audience at The Regent Cinema in Redcar on Wednesday, September 5, for the official Community Premiere of Joe Wright's adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel 'Atonement'. Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has worked with Northern Film and Media, Universal and BAFTA Films to bring the multi Oscar tipped film to the town where some of its most memorable scenes were shot for the official regional premiere. Last Autumn the beach and a section ...
Never let it be said that this blog doesn’t confront the issues. In today’s ‘Dynamite Debates’, I tackle the complex issue of industrial relations in the capital, with left-wing firebrand Bob Crow, head of the militant RMT Union. From: Bob Crow [mailto:b.crow@rmt.org.uk] Sent: 03 September 2007 15:03 To: Paul Evans Subject: Re: Dear Mr Crow Thanks for your loyal support comrade -----Original Message----- From: Paul Evans To: Bob Crow CC: bobcrow@rmt.org.uk ; Info Sent: Mon Sep 03 13:58:50 2007 Subject: Dear Mr Crow You really are a total arsehole. Kind regards, Paul Evans What was Crow doing in the hour ...
Back to blogging after a Summer break! Over the Summer I was on tenterhooks waiting to hear from the Parliamentary Ombudsman whether she would investigate the way the decision to downgrade Frenchay Hospital was taken. After a pretty detailed investigation she has unfortunately decided that it doesn't fall within her remit. One of the paradoxes is that the Ombudsman looks at cases where people have suffered 'injustice' because of 'maladministration'. But because Frenchay hasn't gone yet, it's hard to identify someone who has already 'suffered injustice'. And by the time we do have people suffering from Frenchay's closure it will ...
Posted by Glynis The resident of 127 Sandringham Road, Redcar woke up to this damage to the rear fence and garden hut this morning. The fence fronts onto the West Dyke Road car park and it seems that someone has reversed out of a parking space, damaged the fence and pushed back the garden shed eighteen inches, damaging it in the process. I understand that this is the second time that it has happened. It has been reported to the police. Did anyone see it happen?
Redcar and Cleveland Council has organised a temporary road closure to allow a day of nostalgia events in the build-up to the regional premiere of the movie, Atonement, at Redcar's Regent Cinema on Wednesday, September 5. Traffic will be banned from a stretch of the Esplanade, from its junction with Arthur Street to the junction near Station Road, from 8am on Tuesday, September 4 to 2pm on Thursday, September 6. The closure will allow work for creating a 1940s day of entertainment, including a stage for music and dance performances as well as room for the red carpet to be ...
With regard to the Labour motion to delete Yorkshire from the postal address of Redcar and Cleveland Council and change it with Redcar and Cleveland. Here is confirmation that Royal Mail think the idea of using a unitary council name in the county part of the address is "nonsensical" Below is a copy of an email to Peter Boyce Chairman of the Association of British Counties from Royal Mail's Address Management Centre at Portsmouth, dated 31st August 2007. The AMC is the authority on postal addresses. As experienced in the past, if you ring the local office you get the ...
As the forecast credit crunch continues, it is interesting to note the themes coming out of the Jackson Hole Fed conclave. While Central bankers like Axel Weber of the Bundesbank spoke of the reaction of the markets being "a classic bank run"- in fact the fear persists that under the crisis of liquidity there is a more fundamental real economic crisis. As my friend David Hale notes, there is in fact a "crisis of information"- and in uncertain times, the fear is becoming all too real and filling the information gap with horrible imaginings. After the Great Crash of 1929, ...
Three new campaign staff officially started working for the South East Region this week. Michael Wilson is the new regional campaigns officers. Season Prater becomes campaigns development officer for Kent, and James McLeary takes on the same post for West Sussex. In relation to these two appointments, local parties and council groups in both counties deserve much praise for together succesfully raising finance for these brand new positions. All three appointments are very welcome news. James was recently involved in the very successful Maidstone North East by-election that won 56% of the vote for the Lib Dem candidate, Ian Chittenden. Growing our ...
Aaron Sorkin, at his best, has produced some fantastic television. The West Wing, for all its flaws, had some great moments and is remarkable as one of the few pieces of drama that presented politicians as sympathetic human beings. I’ve now watched the first six episodes Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and I like it, but whether it could have extended beyond its first season is open to question. It seems to be already running out of steam. The fact that it tackles the subject of live TV comedy with the same reverence as the top tier of US ...
Chris Huhne’s new zero-carbon Britain proposals - which Chris wrote about for Lib Dem Voice last week - have met with the glowing approval of Guardian economics correspondent, Ashley Seagar: At last someone in the mainstream of politics is taking climate change seriously. … when one of the main parties comes up with a coherent strategy [...]
A guardian investigation has found UK shops using sweatshop factories in India and Bangladesh, thank goodness some of the media is capable of investigative reporting - even if they "provide balance" by including statements from companies denying e... Read and post comments | Send to a friend
Writing on Matthew Taylor's decision to accept Gordon Brown's invitation to lead a review of planning and land-use policy in relation to rural and affordable housing, Hug A Hoodie says: Ming needs to put his foot down. Active Lib Dems in elected positions should be working for their party, or for parliament, but not the PM.But is this is really a case of the leader failing to put his foot down in time? Isn't a closer relationship between the Lib Dems and a Brown-led Labour Party what Ming has wanted all along?
I've been juggling two Local Parties for some months now, Dulwich & West Norwood, where I lived for so many years and am Membership Secretary, and Brent Borough, where I now live and am Secretary. And now I kind of have a third, so step forward Bury St Edmunds Liberal Democrats! Ros and I threw a small cocktail party for some of her oldest friends on Saturday evening, as much to renew old
Because apparently that announcement six weeks ago was really a pre-announcement announcement. This is the real announcement. Anyways, it gives me a chance to link back to my previous post on Boris Johnson's pros and cons from when he made his pre-announcement announcement.... Not this announcement you understand. A Boris Johnson campaign button from his site. Unique to say the least.
Liberal Democrat MP Matthew Taylor has accepted an invitation from the Prime Minister to lead a major review of land-use policy, with the aim of improving affordable housing in rural areas. Menzies Campbell welcomed the appointment, claiming it as a victory for Lib Dem policy, and as an admission of defeat by the Government: I am delighted that Gordon Brown has once again recognised the knowledge and experience that Liberal Democrats have to offer in tackling major policy challenges that the Government has proved unable to solve. His analysis is optimistic at best, and at worst, appallingly naïve. Gordon Brown ...
I have been on to the council today about the recycling issue at Tesco. Their respinse was typically buck-passing, saying that it was part Tesco’s fault, and part Greater Manchester Waste’s fault. Well, the site is run by the Council, and GMW has a couple of Bury Council representatives on it, so you’d think someone might be able to give a more positive response than that. I have asked for such a response. getting fobbed off like this is not acceptable and I won’t stand for it. The people I represent deserve better. Also today, I have arranged for a Six ...
Firstly Barrie Wood from Devon whose inclusion was prompted by his posts on choosing the Lib Dems over Labour (for now) and also an interesting local debate over a casino which I’m sure other Bearwood Bloggers will find of interest. Also a warm welcome back to blogging to Sandra Gidley, Liberal Democrat MP for Romsey.
Here is a useful new service from the McDemo's site: In this busy 24/7 world you often don't get the time to make your voice heard, so isn't it about time you contracted your protesting needs out? We'll ruin multinationals while you relax with a cocktail by the pool. We'll force MPs from office while you catch up with Desperate Housewives on E4. Let us demonstrate for you! We provide bespoke or off the peg demonstrations against governments, corporations and occasionally neighbours at a price to suit all pockets. No job to small or too big, from a discrete "boo" ...
I like culture, and could debate policy on the issue for hours. In fact, in an earlier life, I was the European Liberal Youth representative on an ELDR Commission on the subject (after eighteen months, we had reached a broad consensus on the definition of the word 'culture', at which point it was decided to suspend the Commission...). However, I am ashamed to admit that most of the movies I see
I have already confessed to a loss of focus in recent weeks and, in truth, this had been a problem for some time, entirely unconnected to Ros. However, inspired by the need to be there for her, I've been working on getting things in order, a task which has been made unexpectedly more difficult by technology. Since moving home, I've had broadband difficulties, in that I haven't had it. I fully
To actually be tough on the causes of crime and immigration means doing almost exactly the opposite of Tory and New Labour's rhetoric. Fortunately, even if it's only in one area, the Lib Dems are pushing something powerful through - if you legiti... Read and post comments | Send to a friend
September arrives with a bang - an important and busy week ahead. Today we meet with the Barrister to discuss the Railway Club Appeal, then off to interview people who will speak up for the Club at the hearing. Tonight we've got a full session of Truro City Council. Tuesday sees preparation for the hearing and dealing with my in- tray, then Wednesday and Thursday are taken up by the hearing itself. I really hope we can do a proper job for the people at the Club, they don't deserve all this hassle. Squeeze in a quick meet with the ...
"Now is not the time", according to Gordon Brown on The Today Programme and despite Iain Dale's and Dizzy's assertions otherwise. Could this just be a clever double-bluff, or did Brown offer a hint on the radio of his big Tuesday announcement: lots of tripartisan appointments to his "government of all the talents"?
Prime Minister Gordon Brown - as part of his New Politics / Big Tent relaunch of Labour - has appointed Matthew Taylor, Lib Dem MP for Truro & St Austell, to lead a major independent review of planning and land-use policy in relation to rural and affordable housing. Lib Dem leader Ming Campbell has [...]
Life is slowly getting sorted. The office move has happened. Things aren’t working properly (of course) but that’s not my problem… (although the office being a bit warm is a pain) On the home front a fish tank will be arriving today (my wedding present for Carrie) so tonight will be setting that up to get the [...]
It was hard to avoid the item on the news this morning about a group claiming that 'green taxes' are 'making billions'... far more, it is claimed, than the cost of pollution itself. Stating that fines and taxes are 'revenue generation' as if this is a bad thing is an old argument of course, and one that is often used against speed cameras. However, in this case the target is a much more serious
Depressing sights of Borehamwood number 94: A mother pushing a pram loaded with cider bottles and her child walking alongside. I shit ye not.
Norfolk County Council's consultation on the future of childcare provision in the Heartsease and Thorpe Hamlet areas has come to an end. The consultation comes in advance of a decision to close either a nursery in Thorpe Hamlet, or in Heartsease.
Which Lib Dem MPs received the most media mentions between 1st September 2006 and 31st August 2007? To find out I trawled Lexis-Nexis’s online database of all UK national newspapers (and a huge number of regional ones), feeding in the names of each of our MPs in turn, and seeing how many returns were generated. [...]
How disappointing to see local boys Midas diqualified from the charts this week, especially as their single Red Shoes was expected to hit the Top 20. You can hear the song on the Midas MySpace page. The band sold pre-loaded mobile phone SIM cards at gigs, pointing fans to the download link for the song. In an era where bands need not release a physical single to chart at number 1, is there anything wrong with this? It’s a very interesting debate which brings into question the whole function of the singles chart. The original aim of singles was to ...
The finger-post showing where to pick up St Illtyd's Way in Crynant is picturesque, but next to useless. It's easy to miss if you don't have a map, its lettering is almost obscured, and, if it leans any further, it will bury itself in the shrubbery. Further up the hillside, it needs an expert orienteer or a lot of trial and error to find the way across a field into woodland, where virtually all the waymarks have disappeared in a fire. The trees have survived, but loss of cover has allowed brambles and ferns to proliferate in the unaccustomed sunlight. ...
For those who don't know Kent on Sunday is a Tory/UKIP leaning newspaper, but even I was rather surprised to see this headline in it today: By the time I looked at the story on line I assume the journalist had learnt what Liberalism means!
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