I left the office in Cowley Street at about 9.15pm and called into Sainsburys on Victoria Street to get something for dinner. It was the cheapest dinner I have ever bought. For 59p I bought a bag of bagels, a bag of pork sausages and an onion. I am not a vegetarian but I rarely buy meat when in London. Meat production is more environmentally damaging than non meat production. Animal welfare is 
It looks as if Ken Livingstone's chickens are coming home to roost. Not only are there police investigations now into six different grants made by Ken & co in City Hall and the London Development Agency (LDA) but we also have a damning report into a series of major grants - including £4 million which was given to the Bernie Grant centre in Tottenham. These grants total £18.5 million - the sort of sums you would have though would have been carefully looked after! - and the report has found serious flaws in the controls put into place (or rather, ...
Danny Finkelstein raises some good points about the odd caucus system employed in some states to selet their delegates to vote for the Democratic and Republican candidates for the US presidency. But then he goes and spoils it all by saying "There was so much fuss about what happened in Florida in 2000. But whatever your view of that, isn't this at least as bad" Actual Mr Finkelstein. No it isn't. Let me explain why. In Florida in 2000 there was mass fraud. Firstly not everyone's votes were counted because the counting machines did not do their job properly. Then ...
If the current polls are anything to go by then we're going to go down to the wire in the Democratic race. We might not get to the political anorak's fantasy of a brokered convention (see the West Wing series seven for details), but we could easily get to a point where the invalidation of the Michigan and Florida primaries will be all important. A reminder - the state Dems in each of these two states decided to bring forward their primaries in order to secure a bit more attention. The Democratic National Committee objected and insisted they stuck to ...
A year ago I pointed out that some British films of the 1940s had to be censored before they could be shown in America. This puts in question the common view that the Britain of the period was hopelessly genteel and insular. Equally, my recent reading has suggested that one of the reasons for the extraordinary flowering of music in Britain in the 1960s is that we were a very tolerant country, at least when compared with the USA. In his memoir White Bicycles, the record producer Joe Boyd ("I was there, and I do remember") writes: By the mid-sixties, ...
It's great to see Alex Folkes firing on all cylinders under the title "Lanson Boy". It's not often you see Iain Dale on a blog roll next to the Cornish All Blacks. Marvellous!
I think I have found an example of sensationalist reporting in the Guardian. I am not sure, but this report seems to be telling us that texts by the likes of T.S.Eliot and E.M.Forster will be replaced in the A-level English curriculum by the autobiographies of Billie Piper and Sharon Osbourne. The Telegraph put salacious articles on their Page Three which are called something like "Cornflake
House of Lords daily business always starts with oral questions - half an hour is set aside for four questions which are tabled in advance. A Government minister answers the original question, and the subsequent supplementaries. My Noble Friend Lord Greaves tabled a general question about the Roberts Commission, which for those unversed in the minutae of local government, is a recently published report on the work of councillors. It's full of all sorts of useful suggestions about increasing diversity and compensating employers whose employees are councillors, but fails to address the fundamental question of whether or not today's councillors ...
Today's news has been full of accounts of the Munich air disaster, which took place 50 years ago on 6 February 1958. Somehow it all feels longer ago than that, with the primitive flying conditions and the modest lifestyle of the players. Yet, as I have heard Bobby Charlton point out, Duncan Edwards would have been only 30 in 1966 and might well captained England in that World Cup. But Munich is not the only football-related air disaster. In May 1949 the entire AC Torino team died when their plane crashed just outside the city as they returned from a ...
John McCain's people are busy telling everybody that their man has already won the GOP nomination. According to the completely excellent politicalwire: "It's virtually impossible for Romney or Huckabee to be the nominee just based on the arithmetic." -- McCain adviser Charlie Black, quoted by NBC News, noting that McCain has 775 delegates, Romney had 284 and Huckabee has 205. Added Black: "It takes 1,191 to clinch the nomination. There are 963 left to be chosen, so Romney or Huckabee would have to have all of them -- all of them -- to get to 1,191. Now you can't do ...
The London Borough of Bexley Pensioners Forum and the National Pensioners Convention Greater London Region have both called for the immediate resignation of Derek Conway MP: STATEMENT BY LONDON BOROUGH OF BEXLEY PENSIONERS FORUM EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 6th February 2008 DUE TO THE SERIOUS DIVERSION OF PUBLIC FUNDS BY MR DEREK CONWAY, MP FOR OLD BEXLEY AND SIDCUP, WE, THE ABOVE COMMITTEE CALL FOR HIS
I don't normally link to Guido, but Tom Watson's return to government when he previously promised not to make one is worth pointing out. Tom Watson MP: Liar.
I have heard about an exiting new discussion platform called the Better Bath Forum, which sets out to promote public discussion on important local issues. I have attached a document that I have received that explains a lot more about what this is all about. I would recommend that you take a look at it or follow the link to their Web site at http://www.betterbath.org.uk/ I...
Another Wednesday, another PMQs (Prime Minister's Questions) in Parliament. What to make of today's Punch and Judy show between Cameron and Brown First - I guess, as Nick Robinson points out, that Cameron has forgotten his professed distaste for Punch and Judy, you say one insult, I'll say two back more loudly style of politics. Perhaps he genuinely meant it when he said it, but if so he's long since changed his mind. Second -Gordon Brown really ain't that sharp or fast when it comes to PMQs. He was always going to have a tough act to follow after Blair ...
One interesting common feature of the three likely candidates for US President is that they are all serving Senators. The last time the USA elected a serving Senator was in 1960. Since then, being a state governor, or former state governor, has been a more reliable route to the presidency (i.e. Carter, Reagan, Clinton and George W Bush). The exception to the rule was Michael Dukakis, serving
Yesterday Ros Scott wrote about Emily Wilding Davison: Whether or not she intended to kill herself under the Kings horse at the Derby well never know, but the extent to which she was prepared to suffer for what she believed in still amazes me.Theres a cupboard in the depths of Parliament which has a link to Emily Davison she spent the night of July 13th 1911 hiding in a tiny room next to the Chapel. This was the night of the census and it enabled her to give the House of Commons as her residence.This is probably not the time ...
Stitch 'n' bitch on! Homemade by Jill rocks!
Apart from grabbing headlines and squeezing margins on their suppliers, what is the value in a £1.99 chicken from Tesco Tesco and free market nuts will say it is a good deal for customers, but good value for the customer should also relate to good quality and good proce for the supplier, thus making the whole process sustainable. It appears in this case that the National Farmers Union are not keen, suggesting already that Tesco are expecting their supplier to cut the prices they charge rather than Tesco taking their own price cuts on the chin. How can Tesco get ...
I attended the Bath & North East Somerset Council Conservative cabinet meeting tonight and asked a formal question concerning the standard of cleaning in the City of Bath. The question I raised is as follows, With regard to street cleaning: What is the Cabinet member doing to improve the cleansing standards in the City of Bath I got a reply that seemed to make no... 
Nice sounding girl (hereafter NSG): Hello there, Im calling from Exeter University, do you have a moment to talk Me: Er, I suppose so. Look if its about the mug I stole from the Duryard library, you have the wrong guy. Andy Turner took it. He probably still has it. NSG: No, no. Did you receive a letter from the Vice-Chancellor Me: I no, I dont think maybe. What did it say Im not very good at post. NSG: Haha! Well, do you know what the annual fund is Me: I can guess. Im afraid I really dont have a ...
Ed Fordham over at Just 474 votes to win, asks "Hampstead Brewery - bring at back!" I know the site he is talking of well, but one I know even better is the site of the former brewery in Bexley. Opened in the late 1850s and closed in 1957, one year after Courage took it over. The story is on the Reffells Family History site. And as the gallery shows, the buildings are very much still here in
You can always rely on the Tories, can't you In Scotland they stand under the banner of "The Conservative and Unionist Party" and claim to be totally opposed to Scottish independence and tribal nationalism. So when Alex Salmond announced that if the Scottish Parliament did not pass his SNP budget, he would resign, you'd imagine that the Tories, true to their "unionist" principles would have jumped at the chance to vote against the SNP, wouldn't you Don't be silly, they then voted with the SNP whilst strangely, according to the BBC, the SNP's own Green allies abstained. The Lib Dems ...
Paddy may be well out of the Afghan mess and it looks as if he was rejected because his proposed appointment was seen as a façade for UK and US meddling in Afghan politics. It seems that the UK and USA are trying to find a worthy successor for President Karzai if Afghanistan, whos term of office ends in 2009. This involves boosting the profiles of various Northern Alliance regional leaders (sometimes known as local warlords) and carrying out clandestine negotiations with the Taliban. . As the Asia Times commented (6 Feb 2008) Karzai seems to have decided that he ...
Deepdale Backpackers and Camping have just been awarded the Gold Award by the Green Tourism Business Scheme, the highest award available. Since Deepdale Backpackers opened five years ago, theyve won awards for both the environmental nature of the business and the quality of the product they provide. These awards include the Tourism in Norfolk Sustainable Tourism Award, Food and Farming Industry Award for Rural Regeneration and the Best Rural Retailer Diversification Award.Being awarded the Gold Award by the Green Tourism Business Scheme confirms the environmental status of Deepdale and bench marks them against over 1400 businesses in the United Kingdom.The ...
I often slag Guido/Paul Staines off on this blog. The truth is, I don’t like the man’s politics which veer wildly between being an apologist for the Conservative Party under the guise of neutrality and total nihilism. But the truth is, if he didn’t exist we’d need to invent him. His latest post on Tom Watson is a case in point. Utterly shameless, if ever there was a poster child for all that is wrong with that partcular faction of New-Labour-Same-As-The-Old-Labour MPs, it is Comical Tommy. Share This
Just like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton is using old archetypes for her political narrative. In todays New York Times, Maureen Dowd says that Senator Clinton is portraying herself as a slayer of dragons. "As she talked Sunday to George Stephanopoulos, a former director of the formidable Clinton war room, Hillarys case boiled down to the fact that she can be Trouble, as they say about hard-boiled dames in film noir, when Republicans make trouble. " I have been through these Republican attacks over and over and over again, and I believe that Ive demonstrated that much to the dismay of ...
A timely reminder that there is no such thing as THE Free Market untrammelled by government. All markets exist in some form of framework, if only to give us confidence to deal with strangers. In the Financial Times (Feb 5th 2008) Martin Wolf explains why it is so hard to keep the financial sector caged and why it is important nevertheless to make the effort. .. the banking sector is the recipient of massive explicit and implicit public subsidies: it is largely guaranteed against liquidity risk; many of its liabilities seem to be contingent claims on the state; and central ...
After this weeks controversy about bugging of MPs, Nick Clegg used his two questions to the Prime Minister to ask directly about Labours desperate efforts to keep tabs on every man, woman and child in the country. In particular, Nick focused on the fingerprinting of children at school, and demanded the Prime Minister stop the [...]
Ward: Combe Down App Ref: 08/00237/FUL Parish: N/A Registered: 16th January 2008 Expiry Date: 12th March 2008 Location: The St Andrew Centre Hawthorn Grove Combe Down Bath BA2 5QA Grid Ref: (E)374924 - (N)162366 LB Grade: N/A Proposal: Erection of a new single storey Community Church containing meeting rooms, cafe, kitchen and office Officer: David Audsley Applicant: Ms Rosie Coates Agent: Hetreed Ross Combe Down PCC Holy Trinity Church Office EI Nido The Avenue Combe Down Bath BA2 5NE Attika Workspace Bath Brewery Toll Bridge Road Bath BA1 7DE Ward: Combe Down App Ref: 08/00272/FUL Parish: N/A Registered: 1st February ... 
This blog has drifted into too much of an ego-trip for me. My excuse is that it has been necessary to keep the thing going, and it is so easy to fill the space with personal reflections. However, things have come to a head with an interchange, on the subject of the future of power generation, with Councillor Ioan Richard. My own views are not entirely on-message. I don't want to embarrass fellow-moderators by arguing them here, nor be constrained. Therefore I have revived an old internet nickname, ffranc sais, for a more personal and wide-ranging blog. Frank Little
Today sees the publication of an opinion poll commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust. Not only is the majority of the population opposed to ID cards, but 25 percent are deeply opposed. A sizeable number of people are likely to simply refuse. So why on earth doesn't the government just recognise now that its not going to work, stop getting labour members to defend the indefensible, and just stop the scheme. They have the power to spend the money on other things.. more police springs to mind.
Well, it's the day after Super Tuesday, and I feel like crap. Mostly to do with the Super Tuesday drinking game that I and a few friends concocted, and being awake until the first signs of California going Clinton came in this morning. On the plus side, my copy of The Time Meddler turned up today, and it looks bloody good (it's open in a window next to the one I'm typing this in). But enough of
There’s been a weird rumbling noise in Islington today and I’ve been trying to work out what it is. But at last I have the answer. It’s Emily Thornberry grinding her teeth. Share This
When I think of villains, I think of Kevin Stoney. By all accounts, he was a lovely man, but among the dozens of characters he played in TV series as diverse as I, Claudius, The Avengers, All Creatures Great and Small and Bergerac I treasure two charismatic would-be dictators in Doctor Who. He was even voted the Daily Mails 1965 Villain of the year (presumably handing over to Roy Jenkins for the rest of the 60s). He was a marvellous actor, and after two decades of false reports of his death, sadly the news that broke on Monday is true. ...
Just popped in to my inbox, if spam has to stick around, this is the kind of stuff I want to see in the future: "Good Day, old chap! Want to be ready for sex in a minute If so, our products are for you!" Preferably, I think, said spam should come with this picture attached: Just [...]
Children can step back in time for a series of half term activities linked in with the Tudor Lives exhibition at Kirkleatham Museum, Redcar. Throughout the holiday, from Saturday, February 16 to Sunday, February 24, children can be Tudor detectives, dressing up in costumes, then explore the exhibition to solve clues and complete a quiz. From Tuesday, February 19, you can design your own coat of arms, just like all the noble Tudor families, with shield shapes, paper and pictures in the exhibition's craft area. All children must be accompanied by an adult. The Museum's Outreach Education Officer Liz Vine ...
A free six-week course introducing people to the basics about computers is to be held in the White Horse pub at Shophouse Road. The course is organised by the Council and will start in February or March 2008. Book your place now by calling Christina on 01225 396834. The White Horse is also putting on a number of social events during February. They are displayed on...
Have you logged on to our latest service to keep residents of Westmoreland up to date as to what we are doing in your local area and what is happening on Bath & North East Somerset council. Every month we send out a digest of all the latest news via email to local residents who subscribe to this service. If you wish to avail yourself of this service then email...
{Sky News presenter in front of Capitol} Of the UK news networks, I prefer Sky News over News 24 but when I switched on this morning I was a little puzzled by their choice of location to present their Super Tuesday coverage. That’s the Capitol building in Washington in the background, the home of the Senate and Congress, so not really relevant to Super Tuesday. And it’s, as I say, in Washington, which wasn’t a super Tuesday state. Odd. Probably relatively cheap, but still odd.
The race to be the Democratic nominee for President is still wide open after Super Tuesday, with Obama winning more states but Clinton winning more delegates.
It looks like John McCain is set to be the Republican Presidential candidate after the results of Super Tuesday.
In the last few days we’ve bought tickets to two events, Supergrass at the Engine Shed and Hard Graft at the Drill Hall. Supergrass tickets were on sale at £17.50, so for a pair it should cost £35. However I was also charged £2 per ticket booking fee and £1.50 postage taking the cost to £40.50. (Collection would have been £1.75) Hard Graft were on sale at £8, so for a pair it should cost £16. However I was also charged 50p to pay via card, and 35p to have them posted. So the question is, how do venues and ...
As Ros and Jennie have already noted, it is 90 years ago today that women got the vote. 80 years since they got the vote on the same terms as men and 50 years since they were allowed to enter the House of Lords. And, although all is technically equal on the legal front, we are still having to loosen, finger by finger, the grip that men have on power and money. We have just 19% of our MPs female, even less running our top companies and the pay gap, well, it's still the pay gap and interestingly (or if ...
Caroline Flint’s Guardian piece has certainly sparked a debate. Her big idea - that access to social housing should be linked to an obligation to paid work - is clearly impractical; what about carers, seasonal workers, mature students How can losing you home help you get work, when getting a job without a home is [...]
Last nights meeting with the CPA inspectors was like pretty much everything else that I experience at the Town Hall - it had its good points and its bad. It was very refreshing to see five members from three different parties sit in a room for an hour and not have a single petty political squabble. Despite us talking about the hottest of hot political potatoes in terms of issues in Bury, the debate stayed high-quality, and the discussion stayed out of the playground. The group of backbench members was made up of me, Cllr Ann Garner (Lib Dem), ...
The civil defence sirens throughout the whole of Switzerland are being tested this afternoon. Although we were warned about this and I know the French aren’t about to come marauding over the border I have to say the echo of all the sirens going off really sends a chill down my spine. Think I might go hide down in the Bunker for a bit!
If you think that the Lib Dem policy on getting more women MPs is a bit wishy-washy then contrast it with Gordon Brown's latest idea. At PMQs he has just been asked what he plans to do on the matter. His answer Put up a statue to the suffragettes.
Serial blogger Tim Ireland has a bit of an ill-disguised vendetta "thing" for fellow serial blogger Iain Dale, which borders on, well, let’s put it this way, if they were in primary school now he’d be pulling Iain’s pig-tails and pushing him down right around now. It’s love, jealousy and hatred all rolled into one [...]
At PMQs just now, Labour MP Chris Mole asked about the objections that the Ministry of Defence make to new wind farms on the basis that they interfere with radar. Gordon Brown said that the Government is going to have to deal with the problems. I'll read the transcript in due course to see if I can glean whether he means that the Government will tell the MoD to cope with wind farms or whether they will just have to site wind farms elsewhere. But this brings up an big issue here in Cornwall. Cornwall is in the face of ...
Today’s Guardian brings news of the latest poll asking the public for their views on ID cards. Overall, the public oppose them by 50% - 47%, which continues the recent trend of polls showing a majority against. (Looking at the state of the Home Office, would you trust the government to run ID cards successfully or sensibly) The proportion of people who strongly oppose ID cards has grown noticeably - from 17% to 25%, whilst only 12% strongly support them. For more details, see The Guardian website, but don’t forget also, if you haven’t yet, to pop over to the ...
Wednesday: Above the Law; Beyond Belief; Out of Control; Round the Bend! No, it is not TORCHWOOD I shall get to that in a minute but I am too CROSS about this not to mention it first it is the Government's crooked contrivance to corrupt our coroners' courts: their latest angle on abolishing the Rule of Law. How IMPOSSIBLE it seems that we are sending our young soldiers off to fight wars in Afghanistan and Iraq allegedly to try and bring the Rule of Law to those countries, while at home we are casually tossing it aside. My Daddy Alex ...
Just occasionally you come across a politician from another party who knows what he is doing. Sitting 300 miles away as I do, Alex Salmond seems to be one of them. He has managed to lead a minority government in the Scottish Parliament for nine months that has not collapsed under the weight of its own acrimony. Indeed, it spent the first few weeks taking all the popular decisions and gaining huge kudos. Now it is crunch time with his budget and he has threatened to force a new election if he doesn't get it through. I have a sneaking ...
Look at the picture in this story and see if you can guess how old it is.
Computers, just like tortoises, need plenty of time to hibernate. If you leave them on all the time they cost a small fortune in energy consumption and lettuce. Using Windows XP, and even better in Windows Vista, you can adjust the power settings on your pc and laptop so that no unnecessary energy is consumed and you can wake it up whenever you want to without re-starting it. So why isn't this
The Government will back the use of intercept evidence in criminal court cases. And do we get credit We’ll be lucky if the one-eyed wonder even mentions our name.
A new poll in today's Guardian newspaper reports that the number of people strongly opposed to the introduction of a national identity card scheme has risen sharply: Those campaigning against ID cards said last night that the poll, with results showing that 25% of the public are deeply opposed to the idea, raises the prospect that the potential number of those likely to refuse to register for the card has risen. If the poll's findings were reflected in the wider population, as many as 10 million people may be expected to refuse to comply. The ICM survey also shows that ...
I just don't understand it. While we expend vast amounts of energy frustrating Turkish attempts to join the European Union - despite Erdogan's best efforts to reform it in line with our rigorous standards - we approach Serbia, that hotbed of xenophobic nationalism and protector of war criminals, with open arms. Indeed, if all goes 'well' the Slovenian Presidency will sign a Stablisation and Association Agreement with the Serbs this Thursday, offering them closer trade relations and relaxed visa requirements. My question is, in exchange for what Why exactly are we handing all of this to Serbia on a platter ...
Step forward Mike Huckabee. No, really. He went into yesterday's polling as the third candidate in a two-horse race and came out of it as the man who controls the South. Of course he isn't going to be in the Oval Office next year. But he is now firmly positioned as the running mate for McCain - who even said some nice things about him in his speech last night. By taking a slew of Southern states - yes, all of the bible belt - he exceeded the predictions that he was only going to take his home state of ...
I'm being trained to be an 'initiative facilitator' today, and am away from my normal environment, perhaps a good thing under the circumstances. Business Balanced Scorecard is a management tool which is designed to achieve enhancements in performance and efficiency and, in principle, it sounds like a good idea, albeit a distillation of concepts that coalesce into my existing impression of what
Disease-free babies with three parents - Daily Mail
I was just picking up a coffee this morning by Victoria station, when I passed a couple of French girls. They were standing outside the restaurant 'Chez Gerard' and laughing helplessly at it, repeating its name over and over. French people are such good value.
People who recognise the characters of Birmingham Politics will see Cllr Paul Tilsley addressing the empty rows of Labour Council Seats. Cllrs Len Gregory and Mike Whitby are looking at the camera. Labour will say that they did not turn up as a matter of principle. Why then did two Labour Councillors turn up to support a Labour candidate for Lord Mayor - for 5 minutes, but no Labour
This weekend and next, Friends of the Earth in Liverpool want people to come along to events focusing on climate change. This Saturday and next Saturday there are events at FACT. They include a screening and environmental speed dating event (next Saturday) and a stall and filming session this Saturday. Do go if you can. It looks like I will have to be at work though!
www.think-differently.org.uk
Have you had a weekend stuck indoors due to bad weather/colds etc and wondered how to keep everyone entertained These websites are endless entertainment for budding engineers and designers - but be warned - launchball has the whole family hooked! http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/launchpad/launchball http://www.lego.com (At the lego site the instructions are available to rebuild all those creations whose leaflets have long since been lost!)
To celebrate Shove Tuesday I held a bit of a pancake-come-birthday party last night (it was Beatrix Lawrence's 1st birthday) for a number of friends. Good fun was had by all by I am still feeling stuffed - maybe I need to give up eating completely for Lent to make up for it!
Yep, here I am... again, apparently some trouble accessing my blog on other sites so have returned back to blogger! I shall endeavour to make this the blog bit of ripplestone.. you can still catch me at www.myspace.com/ripplestone and also www.ripplestonereview.co.uk (mini arts and nature ezine) and of course the ripplestone garden on flickr...
Just for a bit of fun, below are the first 20 questions in a quiz devised by John Jenkins of the BMA about the Assembly and its members. The answers are in the comments. I will publish the remaining 140 questions spasmodically in due course. 1. Who is captain of the Assembly football team 2. Which AM enjoys traditional Dixieland Jazz from the 1920s 3. Which AM still has a French pen-friend 4. Who would like to be a stage manager if he/she gave up being an AM 5. Which AM has been a lobbyist for the tobacco industry 6. ...
Congrats to the Liverpool Echo for highlighting the issue of female genital mutilation - not a subject you often read about in the press. When I worked for the Refugee Council you would often hear about girls who had "gone away" for a while to have the (illegal) operation. I can only guess at the trauma it caused - not to mention the linked health problems.
Last night's "Evening Telegraph covered what I described as the mindless vandalism of vehicles in Benvie Road, Rosebery Street and surrounding area that occurred on Monday. Given residents' concerns about the vandalism to vehicles, I contacted the Police about the possibility of mobile CCTV use in the area and I have been advised that the use of a CCTV van has been discussed following the incidents. You can read last night's Tele story by clicking on the headline above. The Tele also covered the continuing attempts to find a new occupant for the Vision building at Seabraes. The building has ...
When it comes to class size, yes it does. Somerset County Council says, 'big is best'. The Government says, 'small is best'. But who is telling the truth In January 2008, Schools minister Jim Knight wrote to all local authorities in England to remind them that they should not close rural schools. Yet, only yesterday Somerset County Council announced that they are considering closing six village schools in Somerset because they were too small. So, who is right The government or the local authority Councillor Gloria Cawood, of the council, thinks the council is right; children would have a better ...
So Labour Minister Caroline Flint thinks it would be a brilliant idea to chuck the unemployed out of their Council houses. You couldn't make it up! How are you supposed to get a job if you are homeless It's rich coming from a Government which has not yet eliminated the poverty trap and has invented a tax credits system so complicated and unable to cope with changes in circumstances that in itself is a great disincentive to employment. This has to be one of the worst examples of scapegoating and pandering to the Daily Mail I have seen recently.
Last night was the termly meeting of St Margaret’s CoE Primary Governors. This is one of the two schools in the ward on which I serve as a Governor. There were a number of important things to report: - The school is doing really well. In terms of average achievement, it is the second most achieving primary school in the whole of Bury, a brilliant achievement for our part of Prestwich! As a result the school is very full and there have been some pressures as a result of appeals to school for places. - A priority for the school ...
What a night. Its going on and on. I'll be up for hours, even though I have had a hectic day (was in a play - details later). From my quick crunching of the exit polls and the votes already in, BHO is going to get around 1300-1400 delegates (not super) and HCR is going to get 1200-1300 delegates (again not super). I could look very stupid in four or five hours.
Not the most obvious local fact, but yes, there was a Hampstead Brewery just off the High Street. Established in 1720 by the owner of Jack Straw's Castle (a coaching inn) and on a location on the High Street which could access the recently piped water that flowed through Hampstead. The Brewery serviced amongst other places the old Hampstead pub, The King of Bohemia. This frontage of the brewery was re-built in 1869 and is a great feature of the High Street - the houses behind in the building itself are now Old Brewery Mews.Landlords/owners of the Brewery John Vincent ...
The bird on the acompanying recording has been singing now for about an hour - ie from 1am onwards. Can anyone tell me what it is NB - don't turn it up too loud - about 1:25 into the clip it gets quite gusty windy!
{Traffic light - green} One thing I’ve been pondering about this evening… I write a lot of sarky, piss-taking posts on this blog. Sometimes I’ll have a rant about something that I’m not being entirely serious about but which lets off a bit of steam. The thing is though, what often happens is people take me rather too seriously. Worse, I often kind of forget that I was only really being half-serious at the time and set about defending myself as if it was the most important point of principle ever. So, to try and ameliorate this, should I include ...
Remember the Labour Governments plan to get rid of embarrassing inquests by removing juries, sacking independent coroners and replacing them with their own compliant coroners I raised the issue at FPC tonight. Good news: unanimous opposition to Labours crooked justice, and a message from the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Home Affairs team to say theyre against it, too. Bad news: something Id missed is that the new law allows remuneration outside the usual pay-grade for their hand-picked puppet coroners And, get this the Government will be able to hold back deciding on the variation until after the verdict. Bribe on delivery! ... | < | February 2008 | > | ||||
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