Time to revisit BBC Question Times political balance… 10 days ago, you may recall, Andrew Hintons Mindrobber blog questioned the omission of a Lib Dem representative from the panel, following on from a Lib Dem Voice thread. Andrew crunched some figures, which suggested parity between the Tory and Labour parties, with a lower number of [...] 
In which someone styling himself a Christian cleric devises a warped scheme to pick favourites and plunge England into a different century. But dont worry this villains rewriting of history is less demented than the Archbishop of Canterburys plan to turn the clock back, and youll find last weeks Doctor Who DVD release infinitely more entertaining than watching Rowan Williams. Set in 1066 (when the Church had a monopoly on reading and writing rather than just an Archbishop pretending they do), the centre of the story is a fabulous face-off between two Carry On stars, William Hartnell and Peter Butterworth. ...
The next meeting of the Selly Oak Ward Committee (the 3 ward councillors) will be held at 7pm on Wednesday 20 February 2008 in the 1st Arial Scout Headquarters, Gibbins Road, Selly Oak. The agenda is available on the Democracy in Birmingham database and items include: an update on the licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and the public register of HMOs; a discussion on the use of
No, not me its the Lib Dems Scottish leader Nicol Stephen who has been earning plaudits from The Scotsmans Hamish MacDonnell: A couple of weeks ago, Wendy Alexander held a dinner for some members of the Holyrood political press corps. Her aim was to explain her thinking on the constitutional convention but, in the course [...]
Number of votes cast in Lib Dem Voice’s poll on how long detention without charge should be allowed: 447 Number of votes cast in LabourHome’s poll on how long detention without charge should be allowed: 104 Exit stage left chanting, “Our poll is bigger than your poll, na na na. Our poll is bigger than your poll, na na na.” Etc.
Damn my forgetfulness! In my banning things post I forgot to include my gag about the irony of the UK government defending something which can be described as ‘wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats‘ (if you’re under 30 or over 45 and don’t get this, trust me: it’s fucking hilarious. Really). The Mosquito sound also randomly reminded of cake and make me wonder if those crazy kids are getting off on it (see 4.30 into to video): Share This
In case you've not seen any reports of this so far - at least one local person has been conned by a group of people pretending to be Haringey Council waste collection staff. The scam seems to be that they spot properties with rubbish in the front, offer to remove it, charge a small fee and then just dump the rubbish round the corner. Needless to say - they aren't genuine Haringey staff. If you spot anyone trying out this scam, or are suspicious about someone passing themselves off as a council worker, you can ring Haringey Customer Services on ...
I've come up with a solution to the issue of Game 39. That's the crazy scheme from the Premier League for each of its clubs to play an extra game in some foreign clime as a means of building the fabric of the game around the world. So far the US and Far East authorities have poured cold water on the idea and it looks like it might be dead in the water. Well, in the spirit of Bob Hope, I propose that the extra games are played in the countries that most need a boost of pure westernisation - ...
I continue to be amazed, not only at Derek Conway’s appalling behaviour, but by the relatively limited measures that MPs are proposing to put in place in response. It’s time for a higher standard. I’m genuinely surprised by how many MPs employ family members. It feels like a throwback to an earlier age. It’s hard to see how this would happen if they used a properly open and fair recruitment process, open to all and selecting only on performance related criteria. I don’t think it’s enough to wait for ‘the authorities’ to sort this out - and I also don’t ... 
Cringeworthy stuff from Gavin Whenman on the topic of positive discrimination again: To elaborate: Discrimination, of any kind, on a criteria which bears no relation to your ability to do the job, is wrong. It is fair to award party posts, such as PPCs, on the basis of merit only. It is not fair to award it on the basis of skin colour or ethnicity. To say that black or other people arent good enough to be MPs unless they have help from the white man is possibly the most patronising, shameful position we can take on this issue, and ...
Some say that Ethiopia is a country blessed by God but cursed by nature. Climatic cycles brought famine and disease, which laid low the great Empire of Axum thwarting what could have been one of the world's great civilisations. Is this an excuse for the lacklustre food, or the sluggish and often bemusing service at Addis Ethiopian restaurant in Kings Cross No, it is not. There is something rather wonderful about sampling a new cuisine for the first time and I was excited to visit Addis. My dining companion, a fragile Irish girl, giggled with anticipation. A spectacularly conservative eater, ...
Have the Mail write a leader saying it's time for him to go....
Justin Webb has been doing a great job for the BBC in America. Here he reports on the potential advantage of Obama in Texas due to the heavily Black districts having more delegates attached to them than the heavily Hispanic districts. It's all getting fascinating isn't it
Blogging is likely to remain light for a while yet but I had to break radio silence to protest about the latest attempts by the US Government to discourage anybody foreign ever going to the US ever. As the Girl is a US citizen, and currently living in the US (this week at least), I have a vested interest in travel across the pond being as easy as possible. But trying to look at this objectively
By all accounts Hillary Clinton is now staking it all on the states of Ohio and Texas whose primaries are on March 4th. Clearly both are important states with lots of delegates and whoever wins them will be a big step closer to the nomination. But can Hillary afford to wait for these states Since the score draw on Super Tuesday, Obama has swept the board, winning in Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington and Maine. Before March 4th, there will be today's contests in DC, Maryland and Virginia, as well as Hawaii and Wisconsin next Tuesday. The serious talk is that Obama ...
Haven't had a chance to blog this, but am really pleased that Lib Dem- run Islington Council has got such a positive score in the Audit Commissison's Comprehensive Peformance Assessment(CPA), for the third year running. We got special praise and recognition for working well with our partners, in particular the Police, to help cut crime rates. Also worth a mention, we have seen an 18% increase in the number of BME pupils achieving 5 or more A*-C GCSE's, a significant achievement, demonstrating that policies where the schools work with the family and the communities, contribute to better results.
I can't take it any more!
Inner Circle meeting today Don Clegg raise difficult matter of Family diversity. "Gentleman... er... and ladies we are not making progress fast enough. I have therefore decided to back Signor Vaz's call, and in principle support the idea that Capos, in all Families, may need to be chosen, if all else fails... er... on the basis of not being Sicilian." "Isn't Signor Vaz the fat sleazebag who got suspended from the Labouristi for selling Family favours to his non-Sicilian mates and obstructing an investigation into it" Ask Signor Baker looking rather cross. "Er... yes... he has a bit of past... ...
It’s pretty much a given in the Liberal Democrats that the party doesn’t talk about Europe in its leaflets. It’s with good cause too. Firstly, it isn’t actually one of the top concerns of voters when they are asked in opinion polls what their biggest issues are. Just like electoral reform, it [...]
I have received many comments regarding the planning application for 105 high street application number 07/03748/FUL and all of them so far have been negative. I would like to thank all of those who have been in touch so far with regards to this application and for their thoughts on this very important matter. I have taken seriously the comments made by residents and have passed these...
{Oyster card reader} Following on from a conversation I had with a friend the other day, I thought I’d mention this idea here. I’m sure it has been proposed before, but why aren’t London parking meters made a part of the Oyster network The advantages would appear to be legion: 1. Per minute billing would encourage people to vacate the space as quickly a possible. 2. It could be easily integrated with residential parking passes (just as Oyster is already used for complementary travel). 3. Traffic wardens would have less of an incentive to hover around parking meters waiting to ...
I have mentioned before that putting out podcasts and other videos on the nest is all fine and dandy, but if they dont have subtitles it rather excludes deaf people who cannot make out what is being said Some of our party stuff does get subtitled, and thanks to all who make the effort to get this done. But with the growth of Web2.0 facilities there are fewer excuses for leaving of titles. Check out this BBC access page which describes the self-help dotSub tool (where you can take an online video and add captions yourself, making it available publicly) ...
Madsen Pirie wrote the following on the Adam Smith Blog last week: Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has a real problem. Last week one of his MPs tabled a bill in Parliament to force pubs and bars to sell wine in small measures only, while one of his party’s MEPs called for a ban on patio heaters. … The result is that poor Nick Clegg has seen his party made to look stupid yet again. He needs to take a lesson from Peter Mandelson, who introduced tight controls over what initiatives individual Labour politicians might launch or pontificate about. It ...
Leeds United: Ankergran, Kenton, Marques, Michalik, Sheehan, Hughes, Prutton, Howson, Johnson, Beckford, Kandol. Subs: Richardson, Sweeney, Elding, Flo, Lucas. Nottingham Forest: Smith, Wilson, Breckin, Morgan, Chambers, McGugan, Cohen, Commons, Bennett, Hoskins, Tyson. Subs: Richardson, Perch, Holt, Clingan, Davies. Referee: M. Holsey. It was another fast-paced start, in front of a big and noisy Leeds crowd, with United hell bent on attacking the Forest goal but it was not until the 14th minute that United managed to get a shot on target. Jonathan Howson sent in a screamer from 25 yards but it was easily caught by Paul Smith in Forest's ... 
According to the Western Morning News the Chief Fire Officer for Devon and Somerset has been given a 16.5 per cent pay rise - while drafting cost-cutting plans to axe frontline firefighter cover in re...
There is some good writing on the tail end of the Archibshop row in the Guardian today. Their top leader article reflects on the "Archbishop of Canterbury - Wounded and wiser". Quite rightly the leader shifts attention to Williams' next, and more substantial challenge, which is the Lambeth Conference and the extnded debate on sexuality in the church: For the reality, as Dr Williams made clear
A beautiful dream like laughter in summerA ripple of water over stonesA moment of silence before the song startsA voyage home A forest caught in the late rainstormA shiver from the open windowA cobweb of rainbows in the sunlightA moment alone ~And where the skies and waters meet Pour my eyes to sleepI'll wait and see ~I'll wait and see a beautiful dream
So says our glorious leader, Mr Nick Clegg, by today supporting Keith Vaz’s Ten Minute Rule Bill* which allows for the creation of shortlists on the grounds of ethnicity in the selection of parliamentary candidates. The Cleggy one has indicated he would use the powers in this Bill "if existing and planned resources fail to [...]
Liberal Democrat Councillors fighting to prevent Post Office closures in Bath and North East Somerset are taking their campaign to the Guildhall. The list of Post Offices under threat will be published on 26 February, but as the next Council meeting is on 19 February, Councillors have tabled a pre-emptive motion calling for the Council to oppose closures and respond to the consultation...
Somewhere, probably in the Guardian or Comment is Free or as a press release from one of the puritanical environmental groups, there will be an article about how Valentine’s Day is not only a commercial aberration but it is also destroying the world. The CO2 emissions from growing and transporting all those flowers around the [...]
A bit of historic background to the bill currently before Parliament calling for Parliament to have a say in Classification (read censorship) of films and videos. It was the fire regulations that did it originally. A wonderful example of government by creep and a warning on the need for watchfulness in the defence of liberties. And also a reminder that making things local can have odd consequences sometimes. When the cinema came to Britain in the early 1900s nobody quite knew how to react to it officially. At the time stage plays had to be pre-approved by a government official, ...
I am temporarily off-line for most of this week, so I doubt there’ll be any blogging. I am busy nonetheless. Last night was a meeting of the Bury Council Lib Dem group, where we talked about the Council’s budget and caught up with group goings-on over the past few weeks. Tonight it’s another meeting of the Resource and Performance Scrutiny Commission. Once again I am disappointed at how ineffective we’re going to be as a Scrutiny panel. Last time I wrote about my disappointment that the Executive Member didn’t turn up for the meeting. This time the papers haven’t turned ...
I visited Woodland Grove nursing home on their Open Day on Monday 11th February. The staff and friends are trying to raise money to buy a Nintendo wii for the residents with a car wash and a raffle. I had a lovely visit in Woodland Grove met all the residents and staff and had a tour around the home which was lovely warm and friendly.
Tony Blair led Britain into an illegal war in Iraq, against the wishes of millions in Britain and most of the countries in the world. For this reason, not to mention many others, he is unsuitable to be President of the EU Council. There is a website petition No to Tony Blair as President of the European Union Council and there is also a Facebook group
I recently arranged for the Council to take away some bulky waste for me, and I have to say I was mightily impressed by the service they offered. So often I come on here bad-mouthing the Council, especially environmental services, for being awful, but on this occasion they excelled themselves. I put the stuff out the back of the house, and the next day it was gone. I assume it wasn’t looted, so it must’ve gone in the back of their lorry. Well done! Rick
A bad bit of news for China's Internet users of all stripes. Whilst maybe we could say that we expect that from the Chinese lets not forget illiberal internet laws in force in liberal democracies like Australia and Italy.
{Climate Change Calendar} It’s great to see that the “Climate Change Calendar Competition” which was run by Bury Council together with Bury Friends of the Earth has at last made it onto the web! My council colleague Cllr Ann Garner was heavily involved in the project and I know how important it was in raising the profile of this important issue. Earlier in the year Bury and FoE ran a poster competition for the young people of Bury with the theme ‘our global future’. Some of the posters from the competition will be used by Bury Council to promote a ...
Heres a dilemma for somebody as vain as me! Or perhaps Im just falling prey to 36 years of socialisation that tells me that the most important thing a woman must be is attractive And if you dont think such socialisation exists then may I just point you to the furore over Hillary Clintons ankles! From the well respected New York Times columnist, Nicholas D Kristof comes an op-ed piece entitled When Women Rule. Its an interesting article suggesting the proportionately women monarchs have done a far better job of ruling than men and that democracy just allows for the ...
The Times on Monday reported that the BBC is looking to appoint some new news rottweilers as John Humphrys, Jeremy Paxman, James Naughtie and David Dimbleby retire. Putting the respected David Dimbleby to one side (bizarre image) for a moment, two thoughts come to mind. Firstly, the day the three other goons step aside will surely be one of carnivals, fireworks and general celebration as millions of people realise they can once again turn on Radio 4 in the morning and actually hear some news, rather than a grumpy and rather dim old man trying to string a sentence together ...
I don't know if anyone else has had this problem, but I cannot get the BBC domains (mainly news.bbc.co.uk) to resolve. The BBC have four name servers. I have tried each of them in turn and they don't give out news.bbc.co.uk or www.bbc.co.uk although they do give out other domains.
On 30 January the Met confirmed that they had received a report of a possible crime. They confirmed this to the press. Though haven't contacted the complainant, nearly two weeks later. What is a reasonable time to give them to consider something like this before kicking up a fuss
Current policies for dealing with the greater middle east (Atlantic to Kashmir) are destined to fail not because a lack of desire or good will but due to a flawed understanding of the people that stretch from the Magreb to Afghanistan. Must of the western commentariat and foreign policy elite were shocked to discover that Iraq did not contain Iraqis, the unit of individual spoken of in Iraq during the sanction debates of the 90s. Influenced and effected by the anti-colonial nationalist and pan-Arab movements, western minds and discourse began seeing the peoples of the middle east in either an ...
I suppose it’s hardly surprising that Kerron Cross, the Leader of Labour on Three Rivers Council, has such an issue with the Liberal Democrats. Not only is Three Rivers dominated by the Liberal Democrats, and it has been for over 20 years, but Labour remain in a poor third place. But despite this I was [...]
Whats the NHS doing to the worlds health The day my daughter was born, it was snowing and it was -5. We arrived at King's Lynn hospital around 5am in that first timers state of shock and awe, to be greeted by a friendly midwife and her calming air. We were shown to a room and my wife got as comfortable as she could, bearing in mind she was in labour. Despite the freezing temperature outside, the room was boiling hot. You couldnt touch the metal cage that enclosed the radiator as it was almost glowing red with the heat. ...
On 22nd April there will be Earth Day events around the world. Burnham Deepdale, a village of just 40 permanent residents, is joining in with those events, as Deepdale Farm hosts an exhibition of environmental technologies and advice. Its free to visit and you can talk to any of the companies exhibiting and have a tour round the eco friendly backpackers hostel and campsite. For more information visit www.deepdalefarm.co.uk/earthday
Is it really true Is Aylsham leading the way and becoming the first town in Norfolk to become Plastic Bag Free This historic market town would probably be described by most people as sleepy, but yet its actually a real mover and shaker. It was the first town in Norfolk to become a Cittaslow town and Im told that in May 2008 will be the first Plastic Bag Free town. Im sure there will be more on this soon, but may I be the first to congratulate you Aylsham, an excellent move!
Scottish imperialism is thriving, apparently. Not satisfied with getting their paws on the reigns of power within our current borders the Scottish National Party is busy formenting rebellion in what were Scots lands in days of yore...Bring on the battle for Berwick upon Tweed. According to the newswires, "Christine Grahame, MSP for southern Scotland, has "invited" the people of Berwick to "come back into the fold" and swap their allegiance from England to Scotland. Historically, the town has been a battleground between England and Scotland for centuries. It has changed hands between the two nations no less than 13 times ...
In October of this year, Blackness Library celebrates its 100th anniversary (as does Coldside Library elsewhere in Dundee). I have been in touch with the City Council's Leisure & Communities Department already to ask what plans are being considered to mark this important milestone and I am pleased to learn that plans are well advanced. Here's part of the response I have received from the department : " A number of library staff have been tasked to plan appropriate celebrations for these events and will be holding their first planning meeting shortly to discuss initial proposals for a programme of ...
This morning, members of Bristol No Borders staged a protest at the offices of the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) in Portishead, nr Bristol. Jo Freeman, who helped organise the blockade, said that the aim of the protest was to prevent agency staff from carrying carry out "inhumane" dawn raids to remove families living in the UK unlawfully. By all accounts the protest was a success. Well done Jo, you must be pleased However, before anyone gets too carried away I think it's important that the protest is not solely aimed at the BIA staff. I have a degree of ...
For every page on the internet that talks about potatoes, there are approximately three that mention chocolate. That seems to me the right ratio (though glad to see that pages mentioning bones are way out there ahead of both. We dogs use the internet a lot you know). Woof woof.
Peter Black and Liberal Revolution's comments in particular have sparked off my second moment of insight. Much of what John is arguing for on Liberal Revolution is actually flexible working for all. If everyone was on flexi-time at work there wouldn't be an issue with taking time off for religion, football, seeing auntie or whatever you want to do. With manager authorisation and consideration to the needs of the business you would be free to take days off whenever an occasion arose. I don't see any problem with having time off for personal reasons...as long as those rights are extended ...
I refer to Peter Black’s comments earlier regarding cultural exceptionalism - whereby people have opt-outs from the law on the grounds of faith. One finds this in employment practice too - people allowed to have particular days off to meet the needs of their faith/spiritual calling. I have no problem as long as they give me [...]
Ah, the Smiths! Anyway, work has been heavy and blogging has been light. I can only promise more when my schedule opens up a bit. In the meantime, here is an interesting profile of Lib Dem mayoral hopeful, Brian Paddick. Clowns to the left of him, jokers to the right...
The perceived wisdom that raising interests rates has got to be questioned in the light of another hump in the inflation rate. All the reports on the TV news today suggest that the rise in inflation is down to a rise in pricse of essential food items and fuel, not consumer goods. Whilst raising interest rates (or even taxes) might stop people buying a new DVD player, it will not stop people buying essentials like bread, milk and petrol, which are the key causes for the rise in inflation this month. So given that the economy is rather up the ...
The oil-producers’ cartel, OPEC, is actively considering delinking oil prices from the US dollar, and switching to the euro instead, according to the organisation’s Secretary General, Abdullah Al-Badri. Since 2000, several OPEC member states have seen their relative earnings decline because of the dollar’s slide, while imports have become more expensive, fuelling inflation. As Mr [...]
Reports from America suggest that a full vote count is going to be held in Washington State after the Republican Shairman in the state called the result with 12% of the votes still to be counted. he decided to call the result in favour of John McCain even though he was just 242 votes ahead. It is a strange system they have in America that it is considered abnormal to count everyone's votes.
James Graham has pinpointed the real problem with the Archbishop of Canterbury's speech on Sharia law. He tells us that Rowan Williams has argued for a system of exceptionalism, whereby atheists (or, as he put it in his speech on Thursday, sterile positivists) must abide by the rule of law while anyone of faith can negotiate whatever opt-outs they wish. At the same time, of course, he insists that the Church should be established and retain its existing seats in the House of Lords....In short, he believes absolutely in equal rights with the modest proviso that the religious are more ...
A very good report from Briony Leyland on the threat to Winchester’s Textile Conservation Centre. What’s becoming increasingly clear is that the Government are flunking their responsibilities here. Ian Pearson’s answer to a question that Mark asked in Parliament makes this particularly clear. But it’s probably best to let the report speak for itself! [See post to watch Flash video]
Mohamed Salmawy, Egyptian journalist and president of the Egyptian Writers Union, among others, called for the boycott of the Turin Book Fair in May. The boycotters object to Israel being the guest of honour this year at the fair. They feel insulted because of the Israeli states politics towards the Palestinians. Tariq Ramadan, who joined the boycott being always so keen not to miss an
The East Timorese President Ramos-Horta has been shot, he remains in a serious but stable condition. Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao was also targeted but he was not injured.
I have been asked to highlight a petition on the 10 Downing Street website asking for a bank holiday on the second Monday in November. It would be a Bank Holiday for Remembrance Day.
Approximately every 2 weeks I receive an awareness bulletin of health related information that has come to the attention of the hospitals library staff. Now, whether it was by design or simply a coincidence (I guess I'll never know) but I couldnt help but notice that 3 of the stories all appeared to share a common theme - women. The first explained why men and women think differently, the second reported on how rising numbers of women consultants could lead to a long-term decline in productivity and the third talked of payment by results. First, here are the links: WHY ...
A press release from the Conservatives is so stupid that it is worth reproducing in full: Figures unearthed by the Conservatives reveal that under-age children who try to buy alcohol illegally are going unpunished.Over a million youths are refused alcohol in pubs every month, and there were a further 300,000 refusals from one off-licence chain alone last year.But fewer than a hundred individuals a year are punished for trying to buy alcohol illegally, meaning there is less than a 1 in 100,000 chance of under-age youths receiving any sanction whatsoever.Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis, said:"The government's basic failure to enforce ...
In the latest Sunday Times Magazine, Bryan Appleyard has re-assessed the seventies and decided that they werent just a ten year long bad hair day. He concludes: The full reassessment of the 1970s must . . . take into account two great truths. First, it was the age of transition from then to now. Battles were fought and won that made us who we are today. Some victories were benign few now would argue against the liberation of gays and women, and environmentalism. Others were distinctly ambiguous hyper-individualism has gone, everybody agrees, too far, though nobody knows how to restrain ...
Today's Echo carries a report about the City Council and Merseytravel taking action against bus drivers who park up for a break with lights on and engine running - polluting parts of the City Centre as well as doing their bit to encourage climate change! At last. Getting a lungful of exhaust is annoying - particularly so when the bus isn't even attempting to move.
Anyone remember that big row a couple of weeks back, with several Liberal Democrat bloggers complaining about Lib Dem Voices Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen The result was that regular compiler Stephen Tall announced he was throwing open the nominations, and the other day I sent in a bunch, expecting my suggestions to be counted as votes amongst dozens of others. So Im sorry, I havent a clue why it turns out I was the only one who sent any in. Surely Liberal Democrats are people who, rather than just whining, get off our backsides and do something ...
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Checking out the popular lovefilm.com website, I find the following explanation for their video download service not being available on Macs - Support for the Apple Mac platform: * This is an industry-wide issue caused because the accepted Digital Rights Management (DRM) system used to protect online video content, which is required by our content owners, is not compatible with Apple Mac hardware and software. * The closed DRM system used by Apple is not currently available to licence by third parties and there is no other Mac-compatible DRM solution which meets the protection requirements of content owners. Unfortunately, we ...
James Purnell is following in Peter Hain's footsteps as Work and Pensions minister in more ways than one. His approach to incapacity benefit is equally prescriptive, no doubt dictated by the Treasury. Commenting on last weeks Public Accounts Committee report, "Helping people from workless households into work", Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Danny Alexander said: This report highlights problems that have been evident for a long-time: the Governments one-size-fits-all programmes are ignoring hard to reach groups that must be supported back into work. A fifth of Incapacity Benefit claimants suffer mental health problems, yet the Government has done ...
I went away on holiday for a week, and have had real trouble restarting the blog. Hats off to those bloggers who keep going week in week out. Whilst away I had a letter from a Cornish Rugby supporter regarding the proposed stadium at Threemilestone ( see below under Planning Again). I did a lot of work trying to assist Truro City relocate to Pencoose Farm. A £6 million developement that would have had real benefits for young people in Truro, and a scheme that was deliverable within a reasonable timescale. Mr Heaney came along and spoke at the public ...
The speech I’d like to have seen some political leader make in the past week, which would, of course, have required a pair of rock-hard testicles: "Faith has corrupted, and it has divided us from our fellow man and woman, breaking communities apart. It has led to segregation, intolerance and suspicion. "Faith should play no part in [...]
I was in Forest Hill last night, speaking at the Lewisham local party's social event and fund raiser, held in a local Bangladeshi restaurant, Kafe La (worth a visit if you happen to be in the neighbourhood). If he's free from the machinations of Party bureaucracy, Mark comes with me to these events, only partly for the pleasure of my company. As a London Region officer, it's useful for him to get round local parties on a regular basis. I was particularly appreciative of his awesome, some would say sad, knowledge of public transport in the capital, especially the maze ...
It’s like watching a stubborn quadriplegic play tennis: He can never fucking win, but he keeps on trying anyway. After Iraq and after Afghanistan, we haven’t learnt, we can’t go riding into countries, topple the government and expect everything to be peachy. Whisper it softly children, but maybe some countries need security before they need liberty.
Which is worse for the evironment Which do you think takes a bigger toll on the environment, owning a dog, or owning an SUV My bet would be on the dog. I’m thinking of all of the resources that go into dog food. I agree, it probably is the dog. The comments point out that a dog has [...]
I'm quoted in The Times today, talking about the Government proposals to cut off the phone lines used in newspaper or phone booth adverts for prostitutes: Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat equalities spokeswoman, said: It is a very good thing that the government is looking at this, but there is a danger that it could drive prostitution underground. Any moves to try to eradicate the client side would have to be incredibly carefully handled. In an ideal world prostitution shouldnt exist, but we dont live in an ideal world. You can read the full story here.
… isn’t often a sentence that ends happily (they don’t seem to really like us over there, you know), except of course when it was praise for Ming Campbell’s use of Facebook (which, slightly bizarrely twice triggered the most positive words about Ming that The Sun published during his time as leader). Today though brings another [...]
It would be worth listening to BBC Radio 4 at 8pm tonight to listen to a File on Four report about the BNP and it's somewhat dodgy financial recording. The BBC aclaims that they have evidence of records and receipts being shredded and burnt by the BNP and that some donations have not been properly declared. The BNP have already come back at the BBC claiming it is a conspiracy, but anyone interested in politics ought to listen to it and find out for themselves.
Listening to R4 this morning there was an interview about the legal ramifications of Gitmo. One of the interviewees said that the legal process could be in sync with external matters - ie elections! Could it be that the Republicans want to take peoples minds off their failings by diverting their attention to whether or not the [...]
Congratulations go to the Archbishop of Canterbury for opening the Pandora's Box of our time: what it means to be a multicultural society. A lot of fluffy nonsense has been spoken about multiculturalism in recent years, partly through ignorance. For many of those who employ the term prefer to use it as a catch-all for feelgood liberal inclusiveness while overlooking what the logic of applied multiculturalism means in practice. Wikipedia defines multiculturalism as a "de facto state of both cultural and ethnic diversity within the demographics of a particular social space" - merging it with the concept of pluralism tout ...
Those of you with an eye for the arts may be interested in what is going on at the Royal Victoria Art Gallery below is information released by Bath & North East Somerset Council. Why not pay the art gallery a visit and see for yourself what is going on. Bath & North East Somerset Council's Victoria Art Gallery is staging an exhibition of proposed architectural schemes for the city that...
A court case involving Bath and England rugby player Olly Barkley, was yesterday delayed for three days. Why Because of his work commitments. Can that be right Should someone charged with assault causing actual bodily harm be allowed to effectively pick and choose when and where they appear in court. I can't help wondering if this decision had anything to do with Mr Barkley's celebrity status It certainly looks like it to me. Somehow I doubt whether I would be afforded the same privilege if I asked for a delay because I was busy at work There must be cost ...
I was stuck at the back of an inordinately long queue in the central Post Office yesterday so naturally I picked up the in-house magazine, put there to divert customers' attention from the fact that their lunch break is being frittered away, whilst half of the counter positions remain unstaffed. Inside was a feature asking people's views as to whether the internet should be censored. Presumably, the editor felt that it would make a good talking point. Unfortunately, none of the proffered arguments convinced me. I am not a believer in banning things without a very good reason. My starting ...
Monday: If there is one GOOD thing come from the Beardy Weirdy of Canterbury's daft pro-theocratic pronouncement it is that the people of Great Britain have risen up and said with many different voices and for many different reasons: "Noooooo!" Because if people have misunderstood the Archbishop, it is that they have misunderstood the SCOPE and BREADTH of his offence. He has not, as some people seem to believe, suggested that the Sharia should be the law of Great Britain. No, he has said that HE silly old buffoon that he is HE should be the law of Great Britain. ... | < | February 2008 | > | ||||
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